Chuck Most

Leaning more toward the '01 and '08 styles here, with a bit of my own 'what-iffy' ideas thrown in. I am toying around with a blacked-out shaker hood scoop like the '01, and I'm thinking throwing in a few Shelby cues just for kicks. The grille insert (modified, of course) and wheels will likely come straight from an '08 kit.

You likely won't be seeing much of my '10 Bullit, as for the most part it will be box stock. I'm going to mostly focus on the modifications I make to turn it into a phantom Bullitt and skip over the 'out of box' portions. Just hitting the highlights for this project.

In case anyone needs any more inspiration, or possibly some cool Photoshop/diorama ideas... http://www.madmaxmodels.com/bhdiorama.html

There was a model airplane in last year's Christmas episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In the episode, Charlie Kelly was looking back on his dysfuncional childhood and some of the gifts he'd recieved. Present-day Charlie narrarated "I didn't know what some of the stuff was, but I always had fun with it", as young Charlie removed the tube of glue from the box and tossed the rest aside.

Okay. A darker silver basecoat might help, but I think Donn's suggestion of using Sky blue would be pretty much sure-fire.Sky blue is pretty close to Ice blue and would be a great base. It's been a long time since I used any Testors Boyd's colors, so I don't really remember how opaque they are but you did say you added quite a few coats of color, I think with Donn's method you'd be more or less 'tinting' the Sky blue base with the Ice blue pearl for a darker shade of Ice.

I'm starting to warm up to the second-gen 'new' Charger- I think it's way better looking than the '06 style. I had a Michigan State Trooper Charger in front of me last night (NOT behind me for a change!) and the taillamp design is very cool, especially at night. I'd agree- I don't want one, but they are a marked improvement over their immediate predecessor. I'm even beginning to warm up to this Dart- it's being posted quite a few places I frequent online. And in the end I don't think it matters if I (or anyone else) likes how it looks or not, I just hope it does well. Dodge needs a hit, other than the specialty versions of the Charger and the Challenger, there really isn't much to get excited about. Maybe a compact that looks a little more agressive than its competitors will be what makes it work.

Another question- how long are you waiting before you spray the Ice Blue over the basecoat? I've had issues in the past where I would spray my color coat over the base or primer coat when the initial coats were not fully cured. That can dull the color/gloss coat or change the shade of the paint. I began making sure my primer or basecoat was fully cured before spraying any color or gloss coats, and haven't had the problem since. Really befuddled me for a long time before I realized what I was doing!

That can wait until I don't suck at making molds and casting anymore. The process is taking longer than I'd like, but I'm getting there.

This is kind of what I have in mind for the Rambler. The 2003 JoHan includes pointers and decals for converting it to an Ambassador, so I think that's the route I'll go on that one, with one extra step- I'll make it a hardtop as well.

That's the one thing I don't like about the Jimmy Flintstone resin body- it is chopped way, way, way too much (at least to my eye). I think Todd nailed it with his chop, and the hardtop conversion seals the deal. Sectioning a Hudson would be a chore in 1:1 (it's a unibody) but I have seen it done. Doing it in 1:25 should be VERY workable- my next project will probably be chopped and sectioned.

I'd love to see somebody do a Jeep CJ Zinger. Too bad all Casey's Zinger parts are belong to me. Guess I might have to do it, then.

I've seen an unsecured tank fall out of a truck and land on the valve. It's a pretty chilling sight to see... a large, pressurized tank spinning around like a top with gas hissing out of the broken valve. I don't think I've ever run that fast before or since in my life. I've also seen the aftermath of one that had the valve shear off entirely, which caused the tank to take off like a torpedo and blast through a concrete wall. Like Joe said, nobody is going to listen until it happens to them or someone they know.

A coupe version of the '48 Chev? Or something a bit more out of the blue...?

Knew I shouldn't have popped on the Veyron when I did. Sure wouldn't be able to swing the payments on both.

I have an old lazy-Susan type cassette tape rack I use as a turn table for painting. I don't have too many cassettes these days, and it was my favorite price (free). There's never a shortage of useful modeling tools/supplies if you consider what something could be used for besides its intended purpose.

Only slightly off-topic, but I thought this was kind of cool- a 1965 Mustang with a Ferguson four wheel drive conversion! http://bringatrailer.com/2011/12/06/ferguson-ff-prototype-1965-ford-mustang-4wd/ Seems like it would be a relatively easy conversion to replicate, and it would make quite a few people scratch their heads.

Beautiful Cats, Mike!

That's actually the first good arguement I've ever heard against the 'paint it on the sprue' technique. Usually when someone tells me I shouldn't paint parts on the sprue, and I ask why, the answer I get is "You just shouldn't". Of course there are always exceptions, but for me, getting in and dealing with mold lines/flash is pretty easy with a piece of sandpaper folded back on itself or a thin emery board. I also like leaving those small, fiddly bits on the sprue because it reduces the chance of me losing them while prepping or painting them loose. There are times when it just simply isn't practical, or even possible, but in most cases the method works very well for me.

Well, I'm a liar. I had the intention to take a break from the Matador and work on one of the Ramblers, but instead the big AMC ended up back on the bench for a few aero mods. First up was the chin spoiler... no idea what kit it is from, but it fit perfectly against the Matador's splash apron. I also added some spats to the wheel openings, they were made from .020" styrene, then trimmed and sanded to shape.

It's not the riding position that hurts. It's trying to stand up straight after a long ride that is uncomfortable.

Well, Quantas is the only major airline which has never had a fatal crash- I wouldn't feel too uneasy flying with them.

Very, very minor progress report on whatever thing I'm working on...

That's the rule I follow as well, just thin it until it's the right consistency. It does seem to vary just a bit how much you'll need to thin it from color to color and batch to batch, at least in my experience. I've used Tamiya's reccomended thinner, but I've had pretty good luck simply using distilled water, too.

I meant selling the Dodge as a Fiat in Europe. I think Americans have pretty much all but forgotten about Fiat's woes- the 500 seems to be selling pretty well over here. But in Europe (where the Fiat Freemont is being sold) the wounds are quite a bit more fresh. I'm just wondering if selling it as a Fiat when trying to sell it as a Dodge didn't work so well will pan out.

Doors aren't too bad- it's the flip front end that can be a bit fiddly. Each fender is two pieces (upper and lower) the stock clamshell hood is separate, and all five pieces fit together to form the flip front. It isn't anything too hard to deal with, just gets a little tedious during the process.