Chuck Most

Lookie that box art- am I the only one seeing one(or two) of these paired up in front of a Fujimi Texaco station?

You know, I was one of many who liked the '99 Charger concept, but seeing it again... I have to really rack my brain to remember what it was I liked about it. Yeah, it's better looking than the production Charger, but so are about 75% of the other vehicles on sale today. Even that blocky Challenger! BTW- Dodge almost slapped that Challenger name on a four-door, Ram-based SUV that ended up being stillborn. Imagine the doo-doo storm that would have rained down had that happened.

Makes me wonder if people will hate the 4-door Charger 23 years in the future... even though everyone had forgotten all about the FWD Omni-based Chargers of the early '80's. For the thousandth time- don't care how many doors the Charger has. I don't like it because it looks like a squashed Dakota Quad Cab. End of story. It may be a fantastic driving car, but what car isn't these days?

Cool! This one's really heating up now.

And THAT led to stuff like this...

Well, might as well contribute! This is one of the first (if not THE first) weathered model I build, around 2005 or 2006.It's a 'yard truck' for a salvage yard, used as a portable engine hoist and for shuffling around the old junkers on the grounds. It is mostly the Beverly Hillbillies 1922-ish Olds truck, but as the years wore on and '20's Olds parts got harder to find, stuff that broke, wore out, or just plain fell off was either not fixed at all or was cobbled with donor parts from other inmates in the yard. Not legal for road use anymore (the floor-mounted fuel tank wouldn't meet standards, I'm sure), but gets the job done on the property well enough, and it's way cheaper than a skid loader!

Sweet '40= there used to be a '46 Chevy coupe in my area with a strangely-similar patina pattern on it.

Just backing you up.

I'm an assembler... but I might use parts from four or five different kits to make my model! I tend to agree with what is in your signature line- METAL AXLES AND HOLES IN OIL PANS? NOT A PROBLEM TO ME. I don't believe what makes a good kit (or a good build of a kit) has much of anything to do with parts count. Yeah, I know- a more detailed kit will always smoke a curbside in a contest, but I don't build for contests, so that doesn't concern me much. And personally I'd rather have a simple kit that looks good over one that's got a lot of parts but is kind of cruddy overall (Trumpeter Monte Carlo, anyone?). I don't know when people got so hung up on parts count- and the thing that really gets me is the same guys who gripe about how crude and simplified 'old' kits are are the same ones who swoon whenever some curbside Tamiya kit gets reissued. About the only advantage that kit might have over a golden oldie is it lacks that metal axle in the oil pan, besides that, it's just a matter of whether or not you like the subject.

A beat up green Effie... how can I NOT love this? You're really getting good at making them look well-used, Nick.

Haven't seen the Aoshima London Taxi until now. I thought Airfix did a 1:24 Taxi that was fairly well detailed.

Forgot all about this one- AMT's 62 Cat might be a good chassis donor- it has a proper perimeter frame. Again, though, some tweaking of the wheelbase might be in order- GM was running two wheelbases back then, not sure what was what. If I recall- the Cat was on the shorter wheelbase, and I'm not sure about the Starfire at all. Then you'd only need to worry about the engine- easy task, and the interior, which as Christain said is pretty much hopeless as far as more detailed choices go.

Arrrgghh! I was afraid of that. Thanks for the info anyway.

That's a Cad motor- though with a little work it could resemble a pre '64 Olds mill. For a Chassis, I'd go with the AMT '62 Bel Air or the Lindberg '61- I think those had the X-frame, though you might have to stretch the wheelbase for them to work.

Weird... first time I read this post, the logo was there- it was gone a few minutes ago, now it's back again. Forum itself is working just fine, as far as I can tell.

I've got something more along these lines in mind...

I too rely upon books and online image searches, but I often find what may be a great 'detail shot' may not be a great 'reference picture'. Practically none of the images you find in print or online are taken with being reference for building models in mind. Sometimes you just want to see where the voltage regulator attaches to the inner fender... and it's not even in view in EVERY SINGLE PICTURE you find! When I photograph a 1:1, I tend to take a quite a few shots of varios areas from as many angles as practical, so I'm not left wondering what goes where. But I do have to agree- if such an 'image database' were set up, I think it would be a good idea, but who would host the site (I'm not expecting the model manufacturers to do it), who would take the photos, and would the photos be any more beneficial than what can already be found? So, I guess the answer is 'Yes, I would like to see a site with images meant specifically for reference to modelers, and have the images sorted out in some logical manner, but I'm not sure how likely such a thing might be.

One I've been working on- I've wanted to build a diesel-powered rat rod for a while, and this is where I'm at with that so far. It's an IH V-800 engine in a modified Lil Mixer chassis- who knows what other stuff I'll use to fill it out. Just for fun... see how many kit parts you recognize in the photos.

People who evaluate car kits for a living! I guess...

Rob- LOVE that '36, but I gotta ask... where did you get the IH single axle tractor in the background?

It does depend on what kind of pen, too- most of the ones I've seen are either about the right height but too large in diameter, or way too small in diameter and too tall. I wouldn't say its impossible, but it would be a lot of searching.

Keep the freezer door shut, open it ONLY when you have to, and ice will keep for quite a while even without power. I still was able to enjoy scotch on the rocks during a three day power outage in mid summer.

Furniture engineers aren't qualified to evaluate car kits?

I'VE BEEN SAYING THAT FOR YEARS!!!! Lackluster chassis detail means little to me... though cruddy engine detail irks me to no end. Weird, huh?

You COULD put Crags on one side and steelies on the other.