sjordan2

Well, you can print white if you use white decal paper. You can also print on fabric material made for inkjet printers - can't remember if I got mine at Michael's or JoAnn's (in the t-shirt art section).

It's sort of the forum's enema. A place where you can get this kind of stuff out of your system.

I have two of these in the stash, plus a pretty hefty amount of reference material that I can send to you on CD-ROM if you PM me with your mailing address. It includes lots of full walk-around galleries with interiors/exteriors/engine/mechanicals, individual parts shots, an illustrated gallery of all known surviving models (one shot per car), plus road tests and original parts manual exploded diagrams. The trickiest part is getting the wiring right. The distributor is nothing but a blob of plastic and totally unrealistic, so you'll probably want to re-do it. The thing is, this is a 6-cylinder car with 2 plugs per cylinder and 2 coils. So if you wire it, you'll have to configure 12 spark plug wires (picture below, which is from a later model but still accurate) and add two coils on the firewall. The other challenge is to add fuel injector tubes, which would make the final product very impressive. Plus, when I get around to building this, I'll want to bulk up the seats substantially and add the chrome seat hinges like those found on the Porsche 356 seats. The kit omits the battery, which should go behind a swinging door inside the right rear fender, plus the air filter that goes inside the right front fender in front of the wheel (these wouldn't really be seen unless you want to geek out on detail and accuracy). The main irritation is that the roofline at the windshield sits too far back and curves upward, unlike the 1:1, and the nose could extend forward a bit further. The kit supposedly has decals for scripts, but neither of my kits have decals. But there are plenty of opportunities to add extra detail for authenticity that most builders don't bother with. As 1:25 kits go, I think this is a bit undersized, and most aftermarket parts that say they are for both 1:24 and 1:25 models aren't for 1:25 models at all, especially this one. I bought a set of Model Factory Hiro PE wire wheels for this kit, and they're much too large. Also shown below is a pro-built kit (not mine) which recently went for $200 on eBay. It's about as good as this kit can get.(Note that the side window chrome would look a lot better if it was detailed with a wash or Sharpie for the black rubber seals.) Feel free to PM me if you want my reference material.

Functional or out there, if it isn't fun, why do it?

Love this car. I had a 1966 GT Sprint with the stepnose for three years, and despite its typical Alfa idiosyncrasies and penchant for bankrupting me, I adored it.

Seems to me that a Superbird is radical enough without those kinds of wheels.

Hats off. This goes beyond craftsmanship to art.

Just killer.

I'd love to see what you could do with the 1/16 Gullwing (if you're interested, I have about 2 GB of reference on 4 CDs that I could send you).

From a 2005 Motor Trend comparison of the 2006 PT Cruiser and HHR: GM was so convinced of the PT's winning formula, it used the same designer who styled the PT to conceive Chevrolet's latecomer to the segment, the HHR. You would think that Chrysler would have had some sort of non-compete agreement with the designer.

That's a very nostalgic thing to me. When I was growing up, ABC Wide World of Sports was the place that had Le Mans, Grand Prix of Monaco and great announcers like Jim McKay leading the TV team. Never mind that in many cases the action wasn't live, it was riveting, and the sportscasters were among the best that ever played the game.

No network has everything that appeals to everyone. I agree with all the offerings you mentioned. The online part of it also makes 24-hour races much more involving. I've always enjoyed Le Mans, et al., but never so much as this year.

That, too. I watch it on cable and online.

This began as an advisory on reruns of Barret-Jackson auctions on SPEED at 8 pm Eastern, July 10, on SPEED, but has resulted in some conversations about the strengths and weaknesses odf SPEED, which I think should be of interest to modelers, especially regarding their emphasis on muscle cars. I find the Barrett-Jackson auctions to be of value, though others do not: :lol: Additionally, I once e-mailed Meguiar's "Car Crazy" and asked if they couldn't spend more time showing off the cars in more detail. They responded that their format was working well for them and they didn't intend to change it. The result is nothing but a weekly infomercial, and I haven't watched it since. On another note and in defense of SPEED, they presented one of the best automobile documentary series ever, "Victory by Design," hosted by Alain de Cadenet. In each show (Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati, Aston, Alfa and Jaguar), he found survivors of these marques and traced their history up to 2004 by taking them out on the road. One of its greatest advantages was that the narration would cease so you could ride in the car and listen to the sounds. Lots of detail shots. Finally available on DVD, but at a mind-boggling $114 for the series. Unfortunately, SPEED has never seen fit to repeat the series. And I must say, that I find even the oldest repeats of "Overhaulin'"to be instructive.

:lol: Additionally, I once e-mailed Meguiar's "Car Crazy" and asked if they couldn't spend more time showing off the cars in more detail. They responded that their format was working well for them and they didn't intend to change it. The result is nothing but a weekly infomercial, and I haven't watched it since. On another note and in defense of SPEED, they presented one of the best automobile documentary series ever, "Victory by Design," hosted by Alain de Cadenet. In each show (Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati, Aston, Alfa and Jaguar), he found survivors of these marques and traced their history up to 2004 by taking them out on the road. One of its greatest advantages was that the narration would cease so you could ride in the car and listen to the sounds. Lots of detail shots. Finally available on DVD, but at a mind-boggling $114 for the series. Unfortunately, SPEED has never seen fit to repeat the series.

All of these stories seem to indicate that it's a good idea to take lots of pictures of what you're sending and how you packed it. And make sure your buyer/trader sees enough to understand what he's getting. I've only bought a few built kits on eBay, but from glue-bomb to a beautiful build, the seller's photography gave the correct impression and I've almost always gotten what I expected, except for one purchase.

Just a heads-up for those who are interested – 3 hours of Barrett-Jackson auctions on SPEED tonight from 8pm Eastern to 11. Palm Beach 2009, and Orange County, 2010. Always a source for some inspiration and (usually) informed commentary. And always interesting to see how much people will bid after they've been drinking all day.

Humor aside, here is an example of an interesting current thread that has been sidelined by useless comments: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33059 We now return you to your original program.

Okay, so I've been seeing commercials for a paint masking tape called "Frogtape" which, supposedly, prevents bleed-through under the tape thanks to a "scientifically developed" process. Has anyone tried it for models?

Not going to spend time Googling this thing. Got any info on it? Looks like something that was rendered obsolete by electric golf cars or Gators.

Quotes: Dan , now that you made the posts what else is there to do In Phoenix these days ? Ed Shaver Danno Icon Posted Today, 03:50 PM There! Met my goal. Anything else that happens is "Exceeds Expectations!" Danno Icon Posted Today, 03:49 PM My goal is to make at least one more post this afternoon. Danno Icon Posted Today, 03:47 PM My goal is to make at least two more posts this afternoon. Danno Icon Posted Today, 03:46 PM My goal is to make at least three more posts this afternoon. Guys, it strikes me that this is the kind of post that needs more thoughtful responses. This is the sort of thing that Art Anderson could address with real authority. No offense meant, but it's interesting to note how much things have changed, and the above seems like an example of thread hijacking that is not at all interesting, humorous or advisable.

Back in the early 60s when I started to build, aerosol paint cans were virtually unheard of, or extremely limited in selection (everything I built was brush-painted) and airbrushes were something that only school art classes or professionals could afford. Few kits had chrome-plated parts, though that caught on quickly. Jo-Han kits that are prized today were seen as way too simplified, with proportions that were inferior to AMT who immediately set a new standard; Revell was still king, though their multipiece bodies were a bear to deal with. And finding 1:1 reference was difficult, especially if the car was somewhat exotic. A simpler time for modeling, of course, because we couldn't even imagine that the kind of resources we have today would ever develop. Also simpler: A choice of 4 TV channels (if you lived in a place with educational TV and UHF). 8-track car stereo hadn't been invented, or any kind of portable music except for taking your LPs or 45s over to a friend's house. Americans: Good / Russians: Bad. Little did we White, middle-class Americans know that we were soon going to have to leave the perceived comfort of the Eisenhower era and grow up to deal with a far more complex world than we realized. Yes, the challenges were always there, but it didn't hit us at the time. Especially if we were kids.

I know I was.

Good idea about the receipt – sort of like a "coat check" system. A numbered tag stays with the model and you get a receipt stub with the same number to use for ID at pick-up time. Or, you could get a duplicate of your entry form.

Glad to see you're using a darker red paint that was most common on Alfas of the era. These kits are often painted with a Ferrari red.