iBorg

Restore that piece of worthless ######? Dispose of it! Get it out of the house! Get it out of the state! Better yet put i into the mail to some unsuspecting sap. Heck, I'll even nominate myself to receive it. Should be a relatively easy restoration although the glass will take a bit of work. Mike

You're kidding me. I've never seen anything like that before. It's amazing that it cooled it down to 210. I'd try to flush out the engine while you're at it. I have to question where the pieces went to. If they broke loose and are somewhere in the water jackets you're still going to have a problem when you're done. Mike

Jim: What a piece of rubbish that scratch built piece is. I'd love to be able to build something so nice! If it was a kit based build I'd congratulate you on a very clean build up. When I consider its a scratch built (if I remember some magazine featured it), I'm in awe and have great respect. Mike

If he doesn't want it, I'd like it. Great inspiration! Mike

Take a look at roddersjournal.com and look in their back issues. I think it was featured about two years ago. You may also want to try to locate the Larry Davis book Gasser Madness. Mike

I appreciate your idea. Now I'll have to build something modern to try this on. Mike

Wonderfully inspiring models. Can you give some details about the modifications you made and the base kits. I'm assuming their the AMT kits but I could be wrong. Mike

I truly think that many companies DO make the profit off of shipping. First they are able to do most of their business out of a warehouse or storage facility rather than a storefront. Storefronts are much more expensive. They're able to reduce their store personnel with a few people to pull stock and prepare it for shipment. They do need someone with internet web site skill. Once the site is created, up keep of the site is an issue. There is NO reason I should pay for their employee to pull an item and putting it in a box. Do I pay for the clerk putting the item in a bag? Then there is the BS about paying for shipping materials such as boxes. The US Post will provide boxes free for priority mail. To charge me $4.00 to put something in a box (allowing $3.00 for a box and packing material) is criminal. I know such practices have prevented me from paying from several on-line retailers and auction vendors. Mike

Hey fordsixty can you send me a link? Those are great! Mike

SWEET!!! One of the things I really wished some quality aftermarket vendor would have released is a photo etched detail set for the PL cars. A good model to start with (and your build is great) that could benefit with a few enhancements. Mike

You need to find the September 1993 Racer magazine. It has a great In-focus of that car. In-focus was a series where they took a car into a studio and did a great series of photo documenting the car. Sadly they dropped that feature. Also Motor Racing Motor News did a feature on it at some time in its brief run. Mike

First offf...Mac gamers are a rarity. At one time there was a Nascar group that raced under the MaCar banner. It was very active with custom car sets and tracks. That ended at least ten years ago. You should be able to use almost any USB steering wheel with you Mac. Logitech and Thrustmaster are two of the major players. I'd find the model I like and then contact the individual companies customer support and see how well they support the Mac. Good luck....I'll have to look at the Colin McRae game. Mike

Carl is back in business? His stuff was quite good in the early 90's. I believe the quality holds up with most "quality" resin casters. I really enjoyed his line. Would you be so kind as to post contact info on him? Mike

Card stock models are an interesting challenge. While they eliminate the need for most painting, the neatness challenges of not having glue smears on the card has always got the better of me. Where did you get the pattern? Mike

Strange as it seems, this strange thing actually was built. I don't know whether it or the model came first. See barris.com: http://www.barris.com/gallery_cars/Novelty...thtubbuggy.html. Mike

I think Ken is onto something. The two kits will share a lot of same tooling. It is an interesting mind exercise to think what could be added or changed to make a presentable offset chassis like the Hustler. I think it could be done with one small tree with a marginal loss of accuracy. This has been done on more than one occasion. The bodies are another story..... I find the subject odd. The Charger seemed like the PL kit that didn't sell all that well. Besides the Hustler, there's no that many (maybe Custom Body Ent.) of the name Chargers that weren't in the PL offerings. I don't believe the chassis will be that much better than the PL's. What would be wonderful would be if they have the old Jo-han molds, but that's too much wishful thinking. I really wonder if this is a trial balloon to create a buzz to measure interest. Am I interested, yes. I'll buy one of two of the Chi-towns and several of the Hawaiians (part sources). I'd be much more excited over an accurate USA-1 and Dick Harrell Camaro. Or they could do a Nova funny car (already have the body for that) with Jungle Jim lettering. These suggestions scare me as I'm a die hard Mopar fan. Mike

The lost molds of Jo-han are the things of myths and legend. Here's some of the facts: A lot of Jo-han was bought by Okey Spaulding of Northern Kentucky from the bankrupt Seville Ent. He maintains a web site at johnamodels.com. He has a checkered reputation as a seller. Some molds still exist. These include the AMX, SC Rambler, Sox and Martin Cuda, and the Mercury Comet Pro Stock and some early promo bodies. These were last released by Testor's. Jo-han has released a few promos in the recent past. These include: the Chrysler Turbine, Rambler Station Wagon, and the Rambler Unibody Promo. Possible remnants of the Ford Maverick exist. When I personally inquired about it about eight years ago, I was told that the licensing was too expensive from Ford. Mold repairs may also be involved. The mid 60's Cadilliac Ambulance may also exist. Another possibility is the 1975 Oldsmobile. Any other molds are likely incomplete, damaged or totally missing. I've been told by more than one source who supposedly had been to where the molds were stored, that they were poorly stored and a full inventory had not been made. Legend is that many of the molds were stolen by employees who took molds in exchange for pay they felt owed by the original Jo-Han. Other legends are they were sold as scrap due to the high value of the die material. What truly exists? Odds are the only way we will ever know is the passing of the molds from Mr. Spaulding to another company with the knowledge to evaluate the molds and restore those that can be restored. As it is, I doubt we'll ever see any more models with the Jo-han branding.

For a funny car, take a look at Comp Resins. AMT made a fairly stock body that was sold as a funny car. The AMT kits are of course plastic and could be converted with a stock Vega into a pretty good replica stock. Mike

I just bought a replacement for my Aztek off an auction site. After going to Harbor Freight to get an airbrush hose, I went looking for some info on Harbor Freight airbrushes. In that posting someone questioned why buy a HFT airbrush when you could go to Badger's Gararge Sale. While I have not purchased from them, the prices for the Badger airbrushes are quite tempting. If you're in the market visit: http://www.badgerairbrush.com/Garage_Sale.asp Mike

You're missing my excitement. GET out of my way and give me that Dragon Wagon!!!! I want it. Most of the others, just seem like something I'd set on the shelf and ignore. Mike

I received an email from him on April 2, 2009. His address in that email is: paul@fishermodels.com. Hope this helps. If it does, just send me an unbuilt Fisher kit. Mike

Great paint! Nice look! I'd love to see a tutorial on your paint. Mike

Hot diggity now that's one great idea! Mike

I'm pretty sure its either the Model King reissued Funny Hugger Camaro or something derived from it. These are the things its' not; MPC or Revell. It is not the Jo-han Pinto or Mustang. The rear end housing and seat are wrong for that. Mike

You inspired me enough to pull out my XXX that I started over ten years ago. Nice looking build. One thing, strip the chrome off the disc and spray them with some metalizer. Mike