Chillyb1

Do a search here for SMER or maybe the kits they made. They offer a range cars like this one. There is a modeler who I think is German and who builds these thing to an unbelievably high quality standard. I'm thinking he's posted a couple of his builds here recently. I've never built one of these though I do love the subjects.

Well, you certainly have good taste in modeling subjects. Welcome.

Despite the superannuated nature of this thread, you can still view the picture if you follow the link then click the "next" button and then "prev" to go back to the Porsche picture. However, it isn't a very good picture: I'd like to see more close-ups and detail shots. But, like all of Cruz's work, it is spectacularly done.

That is one of the most beautiful American cars ever produced in any era by any manufacturer. And think of all the abominations that Studebaker and Packard issued that were based on this car, thus negating Loewy's original.

He's one of the reasons I smoked Lucky Strike unfiltered cigarettes for so many years. He's one of my favorite American designers, along with Walter Dorwin Teague, Donald Deskey, and Henry Dreyfuss. Good stuff for the eyeballs.

Anybody else trade with Chas SCR? I did and I'm very happy to report that he is an outstanding trader. Thanks a million, Chas!

Yes you did, Jerk! But you also made me laugh. For an instant I was panicked and quickly looked over the decals, then...I realized I'd been had.

I wouldn't buy it but I'd illegally download it and make copies for all my friends. Probably listen to it once a year, maybe.

Cool, but shouldn't it be called Van de Graaff?

Bardzo dobry! The antenna is an excellent detail and looks just right. My brother almost bought one of these back around 1979. We test drove it together and I loved it. Now I have to go look as the Plymouth.

Don't scare me like that!

Thanks. They do. These pictures don't really do them justice because I was just taking some quickie shots. Usually a decal session makes my brain hurt and blood pressure rise, but this was just one home run after another. They practically applied themselves.

Welcome to the forum, lurker. Now start showing off your models.

The Pacer looks really good in a rally version. A very cool idea. Where did the stripe decals come from? Were they made for the Pacer?

Yes, that's beautiful. I'd love to get one or two. Well, maybe sometime in the future when I have the cash.

Decaling can be parlous and, for me, is usually fraught with anxious expectations that things are gonna go wrong. Decals that fragment, that fold onto themselves, that rip, that just plain refuse to cooperate and do what they're told. Well, I had a perfect time with these beautiful Cartograf decals: Strong, opaque, stuck fast, conform to curves. Just a dream to work with. Would that they could all be like this. Anyway, I thought I'd share my good fortune.

Super sharp and super clean. That is a fine automobile and you've done an outstanding job with it. The color suits the subject. Is the roof done in carbon fiber? It is hard to tell in the photos. EDIT: Nevermind. I just looked at the WIP photos and see the carbon fiber decals. What decals did you use? Also, if you don't mind my saying, you should add some pictures of the interior and undercarriage. They are beautifully done and I'm sure others here would like to see some more of your work on this model.

I started listening to the Velvet Underground in high school, circa 1980, just a few years before their resurgence both in the indie milieu and the broader musical culture, which led to releases of "The VU" and "Another View" in 1985 and 1986, both of which were essentially unreleased outtakes and demos. I already all this stuff on a rare bootleg (a three record box called "Everything You've Ever Heard About the Velvet Underground"), so I considered myself in the avant garde. I never bought "Squeeze" because that doesn't count! Of course this led to buying all of Lou's solo records, except for the first one, oddly, which has musicians such as Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman among other anomalies. [My brother and I also collected all the recordings of the other members: Some of John Cale's were great, some not so much; Maureen Tucker recorded only sporadically and Sterling Morrison not at all, except occasionally as a guest guitarist.] I was never all that taken with most of his records except for "Lou Reed Live" and "Rock 'n' Roll Animal" with fairly frequent listens to "Transformer" and "Berlin" while "Sally Can't Dance" and "Coney Island Baby" rarely made it to the turntable. With the release of "The Blue Mask" I was almost convinced that Lou was really making a comeback. However, I became disenchanted after that and really couldn't be bothered with any of his solo stuff, with the exception of "Metal Machine Music." I have that on vinyl with the continuous runout groove on side four and picked it up on CD as soon as it was released. A friend in high school even had it on 8-track tape, which we would listen to while driving around Sandusky, Ohio, while all the squares were into REO, Journey, Foreigner, Boston, Styx, Kansas, et cetera ad nauseum. In the event, Lou Reed was a huge influence on me because of all the other music the Velvet Underground led me to. I'm still an avid music enthusiast and have over the decades have acquired a wide ranging record collection and I listen to something at almost all times when I'm awake (and occasionally even when I'm asleep).

As the others have already said, that's a very cool build.

First off, that is outstanding work. The concept and its realization are utterly, fantastically perfect. Secondly, you are very lucky that you chose the spelling Z-O-M-B-I-E-T-L-E because ZOM-BEETLE is a registered trademark of Bertsch-Bilt Models. So you dodged a bullet and a major lawsuit. Here's a photo of the aforementioned Zom-Beetle:

That looks like really tedious work, Ray. I'm sure it will be worth it though when you are finished.

Good for you building outside your normal interests. I've built several Heller kits (1/24 and 1/16) and several of their Citroens, but I haven't built this kit. Heller kits are usually pretty decently molded and have lots of nice detail though they will challenge you at several steps along the way. You should test fit even more than you might normally. With some patience you'll be rewarded with very nice looking finished model.

That looks like an excellent kit of a very rare (in the USA) subject. All the parts appear to be molded accurately and with great detail. And those tires are spectacular.

Thanks anyway. I'm pretty sure the reissue of the kit has some decals that are different from the original ones that I have. I'm afraid that the ones I have are too old to be of any use. Still, a very cool build of a very cool little truck.

Cato, I've been wondering the same thing. Usually you see several of this kind of kit not too long after release. I'd very much like to see one built even though I'll never get one or try to build it.