PeeBee

I like the cannon poking out of the Shadow Can Am car. That's an effective way of eliminating competition, eh,?

I had Felsen's books "Hot Rod" and "Street Rod." Yep, ordered through Scholastic. Loved the cover art on both. Wasn't Hot Rod the book where the kid decided to paint the car pink? I have hundreds of car books from the early '60s to present, many mentioned in this string (Elbert's "Duesenberg...", Donohue's "The Unfair Advantage," etc.). One of my aunts gave me Stein's "The Great Cars" for Christmas when I was 10-years-old (52 years ago!). Still have it and still one of my favorites. I actually received "Speed, Style and Beauty" from my wife this Christmas. Beautiful book. Lauren's collection is right down the street from me; I passed his '58 250 TR traveling in the opposite direction a couple years ago. From afar I though it was an AC Cobra. Imagine my surprise when the Ferrari got up next to me. We were in light traffic, so I got a good look at it. Other favorite titles include Rasmussen's "European Sports Cars of the Fifties;" Ludvigsen's "The Mercedes Benz Racing Cars," "Corvette: America's Star Spangled Sports Car" and "Classic Grand Prix Cars;" Hugh Conway's "Bugatti: Le Pur-sang des Automobiles" and "The Amazing Bugattis;" Mark Christensen's "So-Cal Speed Shop;" oh, and Tad Burness's "Auto Album," of course (another Scholastic acquisition). Currently reading Harley Earl's biography on my Kindle. Well, I could keep going, but I have to get back to work. PB.

Yup, what Snake said. The Revell '67 Chevelle.

I've been using Microscale Liquid Tape to attach tiny PE scripts and emblems: Apply the Liquid Tape to the mating surface and let it "dry." Be careful to position the part (lightly) as close as possible to where you want it to go (I use masking tape to hold the part, but I think I'm going to try the Magic Tape that Tom Geiger has suggested) and make minor adjustments before burnishing it down because the adhesive has a "memory." In as that these parts carry absolutely no load, and don't weigh anything, I find that the Liquid Tape is more than adequate for holding them permanently in place; I have 10-year-old-plus builds with the PE still firmly attached. This way there's no risk of smearing CA all over the place or having to trust the tenacity of clear coat. PB.

What Steve and Big Tall Dad (BTD) said, although I've been foiling the scripts right onto the plastic, underneath the primer, etc. I think I'll try Steve's technique next time. I waiver between lacquer thinner and turps to remove the paint, using lacquer when something more aggressive is necessary. Like BTD, I apply the paint remover with balsa strips, and Novus No.2 on balsa for final clean-up on and around the scripts. Similarly, I use balsa strips for "intermediate" burnishing when applying foil onto chrome trim. Molotow ink is great for touching up chrome plating, but I use it mostly for interior bright work. I usually apply the Molotow first, bleeding it over the trim that is being "chromed," and then go back with the interior color and sneak up on the raised edges of the trim details. Then I go back to pick out the smaller raised details such as knobs, etc., with Molotow and a fine-tip brush. PB.

If I had a gazillion dollars I'd pre-order mine today. But, alas. Do you suppose Ferrari could be talked into recreations of the vintage front-engine Weber-carbureted 3-litre V-12 manually-shifted variety?

It resembles a Zagato-bodied Alfa. Though, an Alfa would be prettier.

I usually avoid old, sealed kits for all of the reasons that others have stated above. However, a couple of years ago I went ahead and bid (and won for $70.00) on a sealed JoHan '67 Eldorado, but not without trepidation. The kit arrived sealed, as stated, and the box is absolutely perfect. I was ready to experience the heartbreak of tire melt upon opening the box but I got lucky; everything is fine and like new, no tire melt and nothing warped, etc. I bagged the tires and added it to the line-up; this one is headed for the bench as soon as I decide what color to paint it. PB.

I've always really liked Corvettes, but this one does absolutely nothing for me (nor did the C7). Like all mid-engine supercars today, this one, to me, just looks like another "...angry appliance..." (thank you, Bob Lutz, for that term). I suppose 60K is a reasonable price for this Corvette (my brother-in-law paid far more than that for his pick-up truck, come to think of it), and I'd certainly consider buying one if I happened to like the styling and it had some "Corvetteness" about it, but they'd have to offer it with a manual transmission in as that I don't buy cars (for myself) with automatics. Oh, well, it doesn't look like there'll be a new Corvette in my future...

I have the '53 550 Carrera Pan Americana car ("coupe") in the works. There's a number of inaccuracies but it will build up into an acceptible rendition of the car. Carefully preassemble the car before you start painting and gluing. Also, I had to warm up some of the resin to get it to fit properly; namely the front hood and rear engine cover. The Maser 450S, the Aston Martin DBR1, and the D-type have more detail, and are a little more refined, but will still require plenty of clean-up and test-fitting.

What shade of blue is recommended for the chrome? And, taking my cue from AlClad, does it need to be gloss enamel? PB.

Indeed. Lucas. Brain fart.

Hot cha cha cha! Nice car. Nice color.

I'm usually flame-proof on this forum, but here I go: I don't think you can compare Gerald Wingrove to Pablo Picasso, wether you like Picasso's body of work, or not. Gerald Wingrove was a (probably the) first-rate master at reproducing cars in miniature. He was a great problem solver and machinist, and he had an eye for capturing proportion, etc. A very creative man. Picasso was a great draftsman and painter, academicaly rendering accurate representative subjects when he was studying under his father, and then when he came into his own, conjuring stuff the likes of which nobody had ever imagined. Art is subjective, and I get that a lot of people might not get Picasso or care for his work. But I don't think a comparison to Picasso and a model-maker is reasonable; it's (insert old cliche here) apples and oranges. My career has been centered around my ability to create stuff from a "blank canvas." It ain't easy. What do I do to clear my mind and relax? Other than rebuilding the bathrooms and the kitchen in my house, and washing my Mustang, I go into the model room and work on my models. Sorry. It just drives me crazy when people discount the works and accomplishments of people who are probably a little bit larger-than-life than the rest of us. Best regards and sincerely, PB.

I grabbed the MFH Lusso the moment it was on the market; it's on the bench right now. I found an excellent resource for other MFH 1/24 Ferrari unobtanium (at "reasonable" prices) over the past two years and picked up: '50 166M/195S; '53 500 F1 (Hawthorne); '58 250TR; '59 250TR; '60 250 SWB; '62 (Climax) GTO; and the '68 312 F1 (Jackie Ickxx). I had collected these kits when they were released 10-15 years ago (already!) and then lost them all in a fire. I was happy to be able to replace them. Two others that I was able to get hold of are the Profil24 Maserati 450S (Fangio, Sebring) and Aston Martin R1 (Shelby/Salvadori, LeMans). When these kits were originally released I sat on the decision to purchase them and then they were gone. Profil24 re-released them in April and I had my e-mail listed with them (since 2017!) for notification when these kits would be available again, and I'm glad I did. They were sold out within 48 hours of the re-release! I picked up a couple of their D-Types, too, before they became unattainable. All excellent, well done full-detail kits.

Regarding the Milner coupe: The scenes taken of Milner, and the others, in their cars while cruising and talking from their windows were shot by a camera-man (the picture I saw has Spielberg himself doing a take) strapped to a rig mounted directly to the side of the cars. That may partly explain why the Milner coupe wasn't channeled; it could be that it would've been too low. Personally, I always liked the stance of that coupe. It had the classic California rake, and I think the grille helped emphasize that "look," wittingly or not. PB.

Indeed, waist heights were up there back then. I grew up wondering if my father had a navel.

In the following order: Model Factory Hiro; Profil24; and then Fernando Pinto.

Fernando is still casting this car. PB

OK. Thanks. Yeah, I've been stringing my own wires for years, which I really don't have the time and patience for anymore. I am currently drafting wires for the Southeast Finecast Vauxhall kit in SketchUp. I was initially just drafting the rims (and hubs) with "pre-drilled" holes to have printed (as I assume you did for your Duesenberg), but after seeing what Mr. Billingham has accomplished with his printed wires I've decided to take a shot at drafting and printing whole wire wheels as well. My next project is for a set of wheels for two Monogram Duesenbergs waiting in the wings, then a set of solid disc wheels for the Monogram Packard and accurate wheels for the Heller Type 50 Bugatti. And, yep, I'm fine using SketchUp. It's the only 3D program I use these days after years of 3D Studio Max, VIZ, Maya, etc. SketchUp has all of the basic architecture I need to model up parts, and with all of the extensions that are availble you can really take things pretty far. Thanks for getting back to me. PB.

Pico, who printed the Duesenberg wires? I searched on Shapeways and couldn't find anything. Thanks. PB.

...and thanks to our current anti-cop mayor here in fun city crime is starting to rise in the subways for the first time in years, not to mention the wonderful stench of urine and vomit creeping back into the stations and trains. I prefer to walk, even if it is 30 or 40 blocks (or more). Anyway, I'd say that most people today don't care what their cars are powered by, just as long as it's an SUV and there's a pedal to go, and a pedal to stop. Most can't drive a standard transmission so it's doubtful that many people care about real high performance anymore, either. Most cars, electric or otherwise, deliver plenty of performance nowadays, anyway. Funny that this is partly due to the stricter CAFE standards that we were all crying about back in the 70s when "they" were emasculating our Corvettes. And from Japanese competition, of course; remember the Honda CVCC? As far as I am concerned, most people these days may as well be driving electrics and hybrids rather than burning a hole through the atmosphere. That being said, I will continue to preserve and relish my 6,000-mile 2006 Mustang GT w/5-speed as I work my way toward the "exit door." PB.

I use Microscale Liqui-Tape. It's thin and flows onto the part nicely. It dries into a non-liquid adhesive surface; it's definitely a rubber cement but not as thick out of the container. You still have to be reasonably careful when positioning the part in as that the Liqui-Tape has a slight "memory" (as does rubber cement) if you try to adjust the part with a nudge after you've burnished it down; lightly position the part and then burnish when you have the part alightned to your liking. This adhesive provides plenty of adhesion for small scripts, etc.

I take my glasses off to see close-up. Although, I do have to squint more these days!