sjordan2

It wasn't until the 90s that Corvettes were any good.

A '68 was the worst Corvette I ever drove because of the following -- I had it on approval from a dealer over a 3-day weekend. It was owned by the wife of race driver Hap Sharp, and had every possible option on it -- vinyl removable hardtop, AC, auto transmission, power seats -- everything that made it as heavy as possible. Couldn't lay rubber with it, and the body roll and brakes were terrible. Everything I've said about pre-92 Corvettes.

If you'd driven the other European performance cars and then driven a pre-92 Corvette with lousy road manners, vague steering and inadequate brakes, you'd know what I'm talking about. Brute power with horrible driving characteristics. I was never bothered by the often-criticized cheap interiors, and I'm now a Corvette fan forever. My '94 was even more fun than a couple of V12 Ferrari 330s that I was able to drive often. Except GM has stopped providing parts for C4 and earlier Corvettes. Good luck finding body and glass parts which, though they look similar over the 12-year run, vary significantly depending on the model year of C4 Corvettes -- far more different than you'd expect.

After several years in the European sports car community, having owned a number of Alfas and a Porsche, I was somewhat drummed out of the cool car corps when I bought a C4 Corvette, which would have embarrassed them. But I silently chuckled to myself, knowing that I had more performance value, and more reliability, than any of the other guys and for a lot less money. As for myself, I had hated pre-92 Corvettes for sloppy handling, but the major changes they made gave me a whole new perspective.

The 1:18 Maisto diecast is a good start, but you'll need to paint the interior red and the steering wheel black, do a slight modification to the windscreen and open up the vents under the nose. At this scale, you'll need to make your own Lil' Bastard decals. http://i1-18sca.ipower.com/0Porsche_550_Spyder.htm You'll find some pretty good 1:1 reference here, though it's in somewhat unusual racing trim and has the banjo steering wheel. Unfortunately, there's not much on the actual Dean car to find, and the remains of the destroyed car have disappeared, probably stolen. http://www.autosalon-singen.de/en/archiv-Porsche%20550%20Spyder.html?fahrzeugid=02388_0005_03_02 If you ever get a chance, check out the cable movie "James Dean," which catapulted James Franco to stardom, who literally channels Dean. It's available on DVD.

Having owned four of them, I can say that anyone who has ever owned an Alfa Romeo from the 60s and 70s knows that there is no proper way to top up the oil, except every few days. Whatever, you'll still need a major valve job every couple of years.

Thinking of you Terry. My dad had his prostate removed at about 70, had a couple of weeks with a catheter, and lived to past 80 with no real problems, until his heart got him. My point is, there are plenty of examples to keep your spirits up.

Gorgeous paint. You certainly don't need any more wash on the door panel lines, though the cowl vent might use a little more.

Since I didn't know what the car looked like, I started Googling and found this, which shows the history of Monogram box art and the photo shoot, extensive magazine reference, plus an alternate paint job on the original, a cutaway illustration and a diagram of how a guy scratch built one. http://www.honestcharliesplace.com/theuncertaint.htm More here, with links. http://www.tbucketplans.com/steve-scotts-uncertain-t/

The crazy part is, if there's one mailing of parts per month for 85 months, it will take 7 years to get all the parts. This is obviously not for Baby Boomers over 60.

Is this what you're looking for? http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=76165

One thing I might add, which seems to be common among virtually ALL classic Rolls-Royce kits, except for Pocher, is the failure to accurately depict the radiator shutters. They opened and closed by thermostats, and every kit I've seen makes it look like they have thin, permanent vertical strips, whereas closed radiator shutters - the most typical - would look wider and be positioned at an angle. Pocher, of course, makes you jump through hoops to assemble those shutter vanes. A more realistic build would be somewhere between the wide-open shutters and the shot below. Shutters closed:

The Rolls Phantom III, I believe, was originally from Gunze Sangyo; it has been reissued by Anmark, Academy Minicraft, Entex and Revell, and I have all versions. Beautiful kit, but I've only seen 2 builds, and neither was well done. As for a broader view of 1/16 classic kits, please see the links I posted in reply #44. EDIT: I won't even go into the problems I've had posting on this thread, and why this post is redundant to the last one and I can't get rid of it. Let's just say I truly miss the Delete button. I have zero problems with any other forums or websites.

The Rolls Phantom III was released by Anmark, Academy/Minicraft, Entex and Revell. I think it was originally a Gunze Sangyo (I have only seen 2 builds of this kit, neither of which was well done, but it's a beautiful kit), But there are a zillion more, including Fords, Morgan, Jaguar SS 100 etc. I recommend that you look at the link I posted above, #44, for Martin Swire and eBay 1/16.

The question was whether a depiction of a non-original car could be called a model if it's in 1:1 scale (BTW, these are Mercedes Gullwings). Just funnin', as was Art when he mentioned the 1:1 clay models used by the car company stylists.

It will be a lot easier for me to print out photocopies instead of scanning 11 pages. PM me with your mailing address.

These might be called 1:1 models...(Looks like the first one might be a curbside)

That Aston is an amazing kit. More parts than a Pocher, and my math says it's about $1,275, if it's 85 monthly mailings at around 12 euros each. http://www.007db5.com/

No comprehensive list, but I keep the subject bookmarked for eBay listings, which gives a decent overview. http://www.ebay.com/sch/Automotive-/2580/i.html?_nkw=1%2F16&_armrs=1&_from=R10&_ipg=&_pcats=1188%2C220&_sop=10 Harry is probably aware of this, but the late Martin Swire specialized in building 1/16 classic kits and some other scales. You can see some of his excellent work here: http://www.freewebs.com/martsmodels/

Aha. Like the 1/8 James Bond Aston Martin from Goldfinger.

I'll repeat what I said on your "On the Workbench" thread: The best work on this kit that I've seen.

I thought the only one was the Heller 1/16 ( also available as a convertible).

For the 1/16 Gullwing, I recommend sanding down the front fenders, which are a bit too fat.

Just beautiful. The best build of this kit that I've seen, and I truly know what I'm looking at.

Yes, I have 3 copies of the JoHan Mercedes 500K Roadster Limousine; the original Gold Cup Series has beautiful wire wheels and very crisp molding, but the later reissue (red body) has quite a bit more flash, including spotty chrome coverage.