Bill Eh?

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.

Hi Alan, i think this is the link that you are after: http://www.thedpmcc.com/instructionsintro.html

Romell thanks for the great slide show. I really appreciated that the collection of photos was very eclectic and that you did not just include only a specific type. Thoroughly enjoyed watching this, and when it came to an end was caught a little off guard. I would have watched it for the whole afternoon, had it lasted that long. LOL Again, many thanks for the glimpse of the show!

A beautiful Ferrari. We are our own worst critics. What I see in this post is pure joy! Great model building Jonathan!

That is one flawless Evo; very well done!

Lee, I believe that HLJ is taking pre-orders right now.

A sincere thank you for all of the thoughtful responses to my inquiry. In the past, I have done a "Make it and Take it" model with my class, and with all of the children who have attended the Group 25 Model Car Contest. The first time with my class, I was using a C5 Corvette. It went well, except that there really was not that much to the kit. The second time was with the new Camaro. It did not go well at alll. Locator pins on the front grill assembly broke. The kids could not press the wheels onto the metal axles. Lots of broken pieces and unhappy faces. Even being only 10 years old, they will rise to the occasion, if you let them know that you believe in their abilities and are supportive of them. I have a great relationship with my kids and they trust me, in that I will back them 100%. We looked at another Johnny Lightning kit today in class. We looked at the instructions and how the parts are located on sprue trees. It was a snap-together skill 2 kit. They were excited at the prospect of building something like this. I also told them that it could not be played with afterwards, as the styrene parts could not hold up to this kind of treatment. Based on recommendations between the two kits, I think that I am going to go with the GTX kit. I have many bottles of Tamiya acrylic paints, and will probably at least have them spray paint the body. I have a couple of Tamiya Spraywork Systems that I can bring to school for this. I am glad that fellow members here are always concerned with health issues. My classroom is referred to as a Portable. It is separate from the school proper. I will be doing this activity in June, so both entrance doors will be open, as well as all of the windows. This will allow a good cross flow of air through the working space. One of my students even had the insight to ask me, what happens if they break a part. I told her that I buy a couple of extra kits to use for replacement parts, if this occurs. I will make the purchase tomorrow. I will post pictures of the kits as they are being built, as well as when they are finished. Again many thanks for all of your input! Bill Eh?

I am going to do an in class model building session. The supplier has offered me either a '69 GTX or a '69 Charger Daytona. He says the Charger Daytona comes with a 'Hot Wheels' style of diecast. That leads me to believe it is a Johnny Lightning packaging. Who would be the kit maker? He did not mention the kit mfg. for either. The kit with the diecast has the gotcha factor for these 10 year olds. More importantly though, is which will build up into the better model in terms of fewer issues to deal with? Any and all advice would be really appreciated. I'm really lacking in Mopar knowledge when it comes to kits. I hope to be able to pck them up on Saturday morning, so that I can take them into class on Monday.

Ross, your pictures show great progress so far. In spite of the small decal mishap, I'm thinking that you're having a great time with this build! You go Jenson! I'm loving those McLarens!

Danny, thanks for the feedback on Hobbysearch. I'll have to give them a try. Mike, the Iwata compressor looks nice. After you've used it for a while, could you let us know what you think of it?

Dave I found the HKS version for sale at Hobby Search. Here's the link: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10010407 Personally, I have never tried ordering from one of the Japanese online stores. Do I need more courage or faith in the system?

Scott, nice Skyline that you scored. Would like to get one of these myself, but then the decals might scare me off!

The painting call outs are quite remarkable. This is especially true when a single part can involve multiple paint colours to achieve the best authenticity.

Lee this is a very good score indeed. Fujimi had some of their enthusiast Porsche and Ferrari kits boxed and sold under the Testors brand. I have only seen Porsche kits boxed as Road and Track versions. In any event, a complete Porsche enthusiast kit for $5 is a bargain. By the way Chris, I don't think it says anywhere on the box that it is a Fujimi kit. I believe it is on the sprue runners. Might have led to the initial inquiry.

Quote "came up on the Oxfam website for £10" and "most importantly of all - unopened! " Supporting a good charitable organization and getting a great score! Double plus situation.

Jerry, here is a link to The Guelph Plastic Modellers Group web site. They are the hosting club and put on a great contest. I always try to go. You can download a contest flyer from the site. http://www.thesprue.com/

Ross, great to see you reentering the hobby. One other piece of advice which might help. I would have some decal softener on hand. Micro Set (milder) or Micro Sol (more aggresive). If this kit has decals made by Tamiya, then they have the flexability of a 3/4" thick sheet of plywood. You will need the softener to get decals to conform around curved surfaces. A beautiful car for sure. Have fun and enjoy the building journey!

Dr. Cranky, I'm not really convinced on the Neo yet. Especially after reading Don Wheeler's review. It sounds like the manufacturing process is not consistent yet, at least in relation to assembling the nozzle so that it is centred in the nozzle cap hole. I know that Iwata is really great with honoring product under warranty, but I would rather not have to deal with this particular issue. I think this is why that particular product gets inconsitent reviews... users either love it or hate it. P.S. got your book and love it for sure!

That's the first time I've heard of sealing putty with super glue. I'll have to give that a try. Thanks for sharing that tip.

Thanks Dr. Cranky. I am a self-professed member of the 'IAS' - Iwata Admiration Society. LOL It was interesting to hear an expert's opinion/likes/dislikes of all the models in the Iwata line up.