Chuck Most

I need to start checking out K mart more often, if they're selling cool stuff like die cast '65 Effies! Hey,Jeff? Maybe you could work out a deal to sell your stuff at K Mart! Right next to the Martha Stewart Collection... the "Jeff Ballard Collection". It could have your picture on it and everything!

I can't give you any specific stores or sites, but you might want to check into surplus and overstock stores. I've never seen a magnifying visor in any of these such stores I frequent, but then again, stores like that have inventory that changes constantly.

Well, Jeff, looks like you'll be sucking some more cash out of my wallet very shortly here! That is, of course, after I get the Plymouth wagon. And the Jeep Dispatch. And, possibly, five or six more Metros...

Well, there's a thriving thread called "What did you get today?" in the General section. It's a model car related topic, and I don't see any place that it fits besides the general section. So, there.

Lee's right- there are a number of kits that come with a cool Big Block Chevy engine, and that route may be cheaper in the long haul. Alternatively, you could always make up your own parts, or just modify some stuff you already have rattling around in the bottom of your parts box.

If you have a very low tolerance for alcohol (as I do) the Prius' body resembles an old, art-Deco styled sedan. I'm thinking narrow the body a bit, throw on some pontoon fenders, and head for detox!

Lookin' good- now who's gonna be the first guy to build a model based on one of these sketches?

I used to ride bike quite a bit, then I got a car and got lazy. Now, my once-rock solid calves are just jello-like flab.

Even though 90% of the model kits you can buy nowadays are 'Foreign Jobs'. When was the last time you bought a kit with 'Made in the USA' printed on it? Funny, they'll complain about a Japanese kit by a Japanese manufacturer in Japan but not about an American kit by an American company that's produced in China! (And no, my intent is not to turn this into some 'Buy American' rant- I just wanted to get THAT aspect out of the way first thing! ) I doubt I'll buy the Prius kit, but here's the thing- I'm still glad to see it. I know there is demand for it, and those people will buy it, and that'll make money for the kit manufacturer, and maybe they'll use that money to tool up a kit that others who don't like the Prius will buy. (Like a '57 Chevy 210, or something. ) I'm getting bored with most of the 'old standbys' in the hobby- to me, ANY new subject is a welcomed subject in kit form. I don't care if it's a Toyota, a Ford, or a Trabant... If I think the subject is cool, I'll buy it, regardless of it's country of origin. That goes for the 1:1 subject as well as the kit manufacturer. Oh, by the way- you guys know the Statue of Liberty? Yeah- that enduring symbol of American freedom? It's a 'foreign job', remember? It was produced in another country (France) and just ASSEMBLED here. Kind of like our models, now that I think of it!

They are, but I haven't gathered enough fortitude yet to tear into the bags!

Score!

Meh. I respectfully disagree.

Let's see... I have several AMT annual kit boxes in various conditions, a few old JoHan and Heller boxes, one AMT Silhouette limited issue box, and a couple of Renwal boxes... holy jeez, maybe I can afford that 2010 Shelby GT500 I lust after!

You know... I keep telling myself I don't want to buy this kit, and then I see another clean build like yours, and I have to second guess my logic!

Nope, it's not just you, Harry- I'm glad to see one as well, especially one this nice! Bill- what scale is that kit? Judging from the size of your hand I'm guessing 1:43!

I think the red thing is the latest Government Motors concept vehicle, the PT (phallic tumor) Croozer. Look for it in showrooms in late 2015.... IF there's still a GM at that date!

This is the old AMT Ecto 1a kit, with the rear windows blocked off and a Monogram grille- I've also got the JoHan Fire Ambulance, which I made into a hauler for the Honda chopper that comes with the MPC Monte Carlo, but it seems I don't have any pictures of that one at this time!

From the "Embarassment of Riches" Dept: From the USPS: Jimmy Flinstone '51 Buick and '51 Nash Sedan Delivery, plus a bonus Big Boy figure From Hulings Hobby House: Two AMT '25 Ford Model T kits From Some Guy: A leftover Fiat from a Double Dragster reissue. I don't think I've ever gotten this many kits before noon at any other time in history!

And to think, I spent years painstakingly building an exact replica of the Hammerhead i Eagle Thrust (aka 'Geoff'), and actually sent the model to them, and still have recieved nothing! Ungrateful limeys!

True, but a Hot Rod Deluxe cover without a girl on the cover is kind of like, well, pork rinds with no beer!

You mean, like this?

This isn't the exact model, but the first kit I ever built was this little Monogram Fox Body 'Stang... I have no idea what ever happened to the original, but I picked this one up built up about a year ago for a buck.

Now, I've got another DD kit, and I want to chop this one...

I finally got the chance, recently, to build the Fiat from the Double Dragster kit, but all it did was kind of whet my apetite for another one... I wanted to build not an altered drag coupe, but a '60's style hot rod. Shortly after I'd finished the mostly-box stock Altered, I picked up another DD kit and got to crackin'. The basics- it has an AMT '25 Model T chassis, with the dropped front axle from a '27 T kit and hairpins from a Grant King sprint car kit. The engine is the block from a '60 Starliner 352 FE with the heads, intake, carbs, etc, from a '65 Lincoln 430 MEL (I'm pretty sure MEL and FE upper end parts won't interchange 1:1, but I'm willing to sacrifice a little realism for coolness ). The wheels are from a Little Red Wagon, with MPC Budd Anderson '32 Chevy tires up front and those lovely new Round 2 Trophy Series narrow white piecrust slicks out back. The interior consists of a scratchbuilt floor, with a cut down Phantom Vicky seat and side panels, and a narrowed '25 T hot rod dash. I added door handles from a Revell Deuce Tudor, and the headlamps are '37 Chevy parts.

Nick- The hitch is from an AMT '76 Impala kit (or was it a Caprice... whichever, it's the one that comes with the tilting single axle trailer), and the flasher is from an AMT Peterbilt kit, with the base from a Jeepster Commando kit.