Bill Eh?

I'm not sure if such a site exists. What is the kit you need help with? Maybe someone here has it, and can scan the instructions. Long shot, I know...

Welcome to the forum Sam. You will find an amazing group of people here; all extremely helpful. To get an answer to your query about the Tamiya F2001, you might also post at a forum called F1M. That forum specializes in Formula 1 related models.

Every time I saw a front tire lift and then come down with a wobble... Kind of hard to comprehend knife-edge control like that.

You're right Harry, me included on this one. LOL That one got away from me!

Howard, I am still an elementary school teacher. I have been for over 18 years now. Your reference to the challenge of teaching 'grammar and correct usage of punctuation, capitalization, etc.' pertains to a much broader group than just the one you eluded to. LOL

Awesome story, beautiful car.

Outstanding attention to detail inside and out. Excellent painting skills. A person who believes in the value of getting rid of mold separation and seem lines... Fantastic!

Mike, that is excellent news. Although your wife probably knows this already, she is going to make all those lucky enough to particpate, very happy!

A meticulous build of this little gem. I have a stalled yellow version of this, tucked away some place. LOL

A beautiful, clean build of one of my favorite 900 series Porsche race cars.

Mike, When I used to be with the model club, Group 25, we used to do this as a youth activity at the club's contest run annually. I was usually in charge. The 'Make It 'N Take It' all comes in a large cardboard box, about 1 1/2 foot cubed. If I remember correctly, you get twenty-five kits, one in a regular box and twenty-four which come individually bagged. The decals and instructions come bundled together separately. They also provide a bag of slot blade screw drivers. Since I was regularly doing an after school program at the time, I provided mini loaner tool kits to use in the building process. Each tool kit had a set of sprue cutters, a sanding stick (finger nail file), some round tooth picks, and tube glue (only if required). Some kits are better than others in terms of the snap together process. Some snap and hold, while others do not hold together well, or the pins break off easily, hence the possible need for cement. I would recommend going onto the web site to see which kits are being offered in the program. I would then go to your LHS and pick up 1 or 2 of the possible choices, and then assemble them. This way you can find out ahead of time how well each one goes together and possible issues that the students might face. For example locator holes on chrome parts get filled in by the chrome process. They may need to be drilled out again for pins to snap in, without breaking them off. This is a terrific, low cost, fun activity for kids. From a teacher's perspective, I'd say that your wife should definitely go for it!

Daniel, I think any sort of hands on, building activity is a good thing. Mark, your bias is the same as mine. I get more of a sense of accomplishment from something I make rather than just buy. Thanks Shane. No comparison between these and my first car models, some of which eventually received the firecracker treatment! LOL! It is a rare moment when you can wrap a learning situation in a bundle of fun. You're right there Kevin. I should have said that these builds were 'based-on' the Daytona kit. I took one look at the rear wing assembly, which had an abundance of flash and no locator pins, and thought no way this is going to work! Teacher's shouldn't have favourite students, but one of the kids really took to this and was sincerely appreciative, so I gave him the Tamiya Spray-work to further encourage him. Again, thanks for all the reads and responses. Maybe there are some fellow teachers reading this who might try a similar activity in the future. Bill P.S. I went to a LHS yesterday, and they told me that one of my students had been by last week to buy a model and some supplies. That's the kind of thing that encourages me!

Thanks Austin, it would be nice if that happened.

Thanks for the kind words Jim. The built kits in this thread were not donated. All expenses; Charger kits, tubes of glue, finger nail files, Tamiya acrylic pints etc., were all out my pocket. The donations my friend made were kind of like the icing on the cake for the kids. I like your Springsteen quote. LOL

Jeremiah, I sure hope some of them take it on as an alternative to video related activities. Thanks again Andy. Ray, I'm lucky to have such a generous friend. Thanks Chuck. Thanks Bill. I believe that patience and teaching kind of go hand-in-hand. LOL

Thanks Andy.

Teachers had to electronically submit report cards by the first week of June. What better way to fill the remaining 2 1/2 weeks of school than to build models, especially car models!

I had a great group of kids this year. That was a major factor in my decision to take on this 'Hobby-happening' in my class. The following are selection of various finished models. Of my 23 students, 21 went home with a finished model. There were however different degrees of being finished. I hope all the kids took away something positive from this and will continue to dabble in model making now and possibly into the future. All of the models that I managed to photograph can be seen at: http://s1213.photobu...ished Chargers/ Again, thanks for stopping by, I'm sure my kids would appreciate it! Bill

Here is the rest of the 'in progress' part of the story. In order to encourage the kids to build models, a great friend donated many kits to give to the kids. Here are a few shots of some of the kits! Here is a sample of various car bodies that have been painted. Here are a couple of shots of the engines after they have been painted by the kids. All of the pictures can be seen at: http://s1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc473/Bill_Eh/69%20Chargers%20for%20Portable%203%20Part%201/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ20 A sample of the finished model can be seen in the Under Glass thread, which I am about to create. Thanks for looking in on this modelling journey! Bill

The project wrapped up just a couple of days before the end of the school year, which was on June 28. I was afraid to try to put too many pictures in one posting, so I will do this in a couple.

This started back in March when I bought enough AMT/Johnny Lightning '69 Dodge Charger Daytona's, so that every student would have a kit and 2 kits would be for the required 'replacement' parts. This will mostly be a photo journal. The starting point. A couple of shots of me making Hemi Orange from Tamiya regular Orange. I built up one engine ahead of time, and the fit was not so good. This would be problematic for my students. So the answer was to to do a mass assembly of all the engine blocks for them! I did a lot of test fitting of parts in order to stay one step ahead of the kids. Another area that had the potential for headaches were the holes in the chassis for the front wheels and the solid metal rear axle. These were all drilled out by hand. It does not help when you have not brought your pin vice to school!. Here are a few random shots of kits on desks. Most kids had never built a model, let alone used an airbrush. This is the gear we used - Tamiya Spray-work. To be continued...

Welcome to a great forum. You're right, there is lots of great reading here!

Mike, I think many of us here ask that same question over and over. I believe that I have far more "Why Did I Buy This Kit?" moments, than "Why Didn't I Buy This Kit?" moments. LOL

The progress so far is great. You might not be adding a lot of details, but it sure is easy to appreciate your clean building style.

I was going to ask which kit, but then I saw the instruction sheet behind the model. Looks like super clean painting and assembly so far. I'll come along for the ride.