von Zipper

Conway Twittys 1958 original version of 'It's Only Make Believe' Misfits 2003 cover

What ? The 3rd generation Econolines were built on as 'body on frame' construction not unibody ,

Nice job Ray , it took my eyes a minute to focus between your diorama and the marble countertop but I really like the modular design . Easy to move and store and easy to add on to later . Very creative .

My birthday is coming up soon , So my wife surprised me last night with these Even though one of them is for her to play with - It's one of the coolest gifts I've ever got , Not so much the cars themselves but that she wants to share the time with me .

A family friend came up to visit this weekend and brought 2 dozen paczki from Hamtramck 8-lemon , 8-prune and 8-apple (my favorite)

Fantastic workmanship ! thanks for sharing .

In Ron's 2nd picture of the Sox and Martin '71 'cuda , ---- can someone tell me what the slot opening under both head lights are for ? I was planning on filling them .

With a little sanding , the Revell '70 'cuda is a great donor to use with the Johan '71 'cuda kit I'm thinking along the lines of a Barracuda Gran Coupe for this .

Our 2004 E150 Club Wagon aka 'The Pizza Wagon' wearing it's Christmas outfit .

..........but you're still sending me $20.00 Right ?

Merry Christmas , Dan .

I thought it was pretty nice of Charlie to send me $20.00......................

It seems that good 'ol Charlie Larkin sent me $20.00 via e-mail at 1:36am -that's weird because I've never e-mailed him nor has he ever e-mailed me .I think Charlie has been hacked .

......because Jantrix started a post about 30 dollar (plus) kits and how it affects you? Did I miss some thing ?

This is mostly correct , although the 8N did not have any "Ferguson System' markings-it still had the Ferguson 3 point implement hitch system-THAT is and was Harry Fergusons only contribution to the Ford tractors . By 1947-48 when the 8N was coming out Henry Ford himself was either too old or died to be involved with production-Henry Ford II and Harry Ferguson were in a patent battle as to who owned the 3 point system-The Ferguson 3 point system is the same basic idea being made today on most modern tractors . Google Harry Ferguson and read about the "Hand Shake Deal" To my mind , trying to make a Ford out of the Ferguson is like trying to turn a IH Scout into a first gen Bronco=Close but no cigar ! Besides that-Ertl made a very nice 9N in diecast that looks like it could have been a Franklin or Danbury Mint . The one I have is either 1/24 or 1/25 and is very nice-No need to do any thing to it .

$30.00 for a model car kit is sticky kid stuff-I'm trying to come to terms with 50 thousand dollars for a new pick up truck !

Sorry-this project is back in the box and in storage at the minute , I'll take a look this weekend and If I can find it I'll take a few pictures and post them . I think these old AMT Comets might be off scale a bit much like the Johan Ramblers were-you'd think the '67 Mustang would be a tad bigger and as long or longer than the Falcon/Comet of this generation . I remember adding .020 flat stock around the fender edges to build it up and can be seen in the first picture . The Mustang inter fenders and fire wall are glued in permanently with the chassis cut just past the curve of the fire wall to the flat under floor-then when the rear part of the chassis and rear wheels are set in place there is about an inch gap-I need to find another Mustang donor to stretch the floor-but when I get the rear section done it will have to go in last so I can get the glass and interior tub into the body before the rear section of the chassis goes in . I've got to the point with this project and a few others That I'm not opening sealed mint kits to steal a few parts anymore so until I find donor parts this one is on hold Chris

Thanks for the comments on the van everyone . This Econoline was a welcomed addition to my collection . I don't care if models are made from plastic , die cast or cheddar cheese as long as they are cool . Larry-after I took the two screws out at the rear, I took a pair of needle nose pliers and worked the spring/shackle mounts off at all four corners it really doesn't matter though because it is not a mounting pointing nor holds anything but it helped by getting it out of the way to work . There are clips on the inside of the front wheel tubs and thought they might be snaps for the chassis , broke one trying to get it to un snap and found it was a seat clip-no big deal to glue the seat back in place . I ended up using a #17 X-acto chisel tip blade and worked it in between the intr. panels and the body (that's where the front axle being off helps)- the interior has an inside tub for the rear compartment which I left off when I put it back together , very carefully cutting & wiggling it until it came out of the body. As I remember there was a spot glued together where the glass met the front interior tub under the windshield behind the dashboard . The windshield glass is held in with smash rivets to the roof , I used a pencil soldering gun to melt the plastic around the rivet heads to get it out . Used a small ball nose grinding bit in the roto tool to grind the hinges on the two side cargo door then used JB weld to attach them permanently from the inside before it was panted . I didn't want to use the ball grinder to get the glass out because of the sparks inside the windshield might scare it , thought about some masking tape on the inside to protect it from sparks then figured melting it would be faster and cleaner. Go slow and be careful-share your progress .

This is an AMT '62 Comet that I started a few years ago using an AMT '67 Mustang as a donor along with a Ken Kitchen 170 straight 6 - the Mustang parts fit pretty good but was about and inch to short over all I had to cut the chassis pan and still need another donor to fill the gap .

Over the years that I have dealt with Modelhaus this did happen a few times to me . The last time was a few years ago when I ordered new chrome bits for a 1965 Barracuda , when the box arrived I checked every thing in the box against the order form and found the front bumper/grill was missing . Called Carol and told her-she started laughing because that part was sitting on her desk and she didn't know where it belonged . Mistakes happen . But on a lighter note , Toms comment made me think of the movie The Godfather , there is a scene that was cut from the original but does appear in the chopped up TV version where Fat Clemenza is in his garage showing Michael his brand new Cadillac- he said he ordered it long before the car factory's resumed civilian production and when he finally took delivery it had wood bumpers until they could resume chrome production.

Fellow model car builders enjoying the World Series

That's good advice , there was a promo just like yours on ebay a week or two back and some one bought it for $24.00

You got that right ! A few weeks ago TCM played one of my favorites - Walter Matthau in "Charley Varrick" from 1973 ,

Thanks for looking and commenting , the wheels and hub caps are perfect for an early Falcon . I put them (wheels/tires) on a 1961 2dr. Falcon and they looked great-the chassis & interior tub is made out of plastic so its easy to take apart and work with . The chassis is simple but done well ,I would have had to change the stance to get the mags under it , that's why I didn't use them . I just wanted to get it done and not have another stalled project . I took a couple of pictures out side and it seems the color looks more like it does in person . It might be time to buy a new camera .....