styromaniac

I spoke to him only briefly when I met him at the Mid Atlantic NNL many years ago....think he had an Isetta model that he had turned into a dragster. Seemed like a real jovial character.

Starbird's Futurista is pretty rare...especially in unbuilt form...almost never see one on e Bay..been looking for years. Same for the Uncertain T...its the plastic kit equivalent of Big Foot...or the Loch Ness monster.

Ditto. Sounds like you shared great times together.

Wow....its a grown up Annette of the Mouseketeers!

Dave Dickash....wasnt he a member of L.I.A.R.S. modeling club on Long Island? He passed away in 2004. His motto went something like "anyone can collect old model car kits, it takes a real man to cut them up". Met him at a NNL in Towson Md many years ago...built some crazy stuff. R.I.P.

From where I'm sittin looks like a super nice clean build. Agree about the wheels...the yellow on wide whites really makes it stand out.

At the height of the hot rod / car model craze of the early 60s it seemed you could find car model kits for sale everywhere...not just hobby shops but five and dimes, grocery stores. Stocking shelves with car kits was like printing money. I also recall vending machines that sold trading cards with pictures of famous show rods...

I like the low slung look. Any more pics?

One of my all time favorite kits...in all its variations. And not as easy as it looks...a bit finicky.

Lovely concept....Nicely realized.

It's a hot date ...cruising Mullholland Drive.

How about a vinyl L.P. car?

Cool color...what paint did you use? And those wide whites...where were the tires/wheels sourced? A really nice clean looking build!

I think Tim Sickle has some long standing issues with MCM so I don't think he would be putting together photos for them, but he might for that "other" magazine.

I'm pretty sure the photographer at the Mid Atlantic NNL in the OP was Tim Powers...not Tim Sickle.

Be interesting to see how the builders here rate these in comparison to other kitted versions. I've heard the 36 coupe holds its own against others.

I "personal messaged" the OP and suggested he do what StevenGuthmiller just suggested...go to the source...and ask how subjects are chosen. ( Should be easy since the photographer at the event also happens to be a member of the sponsor club....which the OP is as well ). In contrast to Steve G's point...I don't think it was incorrect to ask readers in his post what they thought of the situation...to get a sample of opinions to see if he is off base with his post. I think it served it's purpose, he is getting a good response.

Point taken...if Bob has the best builds in an NNL and the sponsor or attendees choose his builds as the best in that show...then so be it. But show coverage is a different matter...I bet there's been a lot of magazine contest issues that didn't even show the category winners...but preferred to show the "diversity" of the participants. Doesn't hurt the hobby in my opinion...and doesn't speak to "everyone's a winner!" either.

I've been in and out of the hobby for about 23 years...not including the formative years of my glue sniffing youth. Bought and studied a lot of modeling publications in that time. I've come to believe that contest coverage has different parameters than the show itself. When putting together a lay out for a magazine I think the editors want a degree of "gotcha" factor...in the form of unusual subject matter ( off the "beaten path" builds )....knock out paint finishes ( fogs and fades, miles deep candies )...or just plain off the wall crazy builds ( steam punk...sci fi...etc ) The perfectly executed & detailed rendition of a 32 deuce or a 60s muscle car might not get the nod on the contest pages if the editor just published an issue that had those subjects covered. Nothing personal. Besides...the only way to adequately portray a super detailed build is to feature it as a profile story...with multiple angle shots and close ups.

I don't sense the "everyone gets a trophy mentality" at all...the original poster asked a logical question regarding more inclusiveness as to magazine coverage...not contest awards. And as for "everyone gets a trophy"...dont some IPMS contests have rules regarding "sweeps" in categories....to prevent one outstanding builder bringing his collected works to a show and dominating the event?

Good question at the top of this topic...but there may not be a satisfying answer. I was at that show and was lucky to have one of my four entries in the competition class selected for photographing ...probably because it fits into the current enthusiasm for TROG ( The Race of Gentlemen ) vintage racing...and Tim Boyd did a "how to" article on this very subject awhile back (Build a Vintage Beach Racer)..but there were so many fine builds on display and such limited space in the magazine I'll be surprised if my entry shows up. I have to believe the photographer makes educated guesses on what he thinks the publication will find interesting and tries to cover all the bases, regardless of how many may belong to one particular modeler.

I'm familiar with the Tamiya rattle cans as I use them almost exclusively on my builds...from where I'm sitting the Camel Yellow looks like a good match to the posted photo of the real car...while Chrome Yellow looks more like the illustration on the box cover.

Paging DW Darby... Paging Ace Garage Guy...... Paging Tim Boyd.......

Nicely done! Think you nailed it. Many years ago when I got back into the hobby I cobbled together my own version of the Big Drag in 1/25th....took the turtle deck from the Revell Tony Nancy 22Jr dragster kit and filled in the cockpit cut out and mated it to the Revell T Bucket body...than placed it on a Tweedy Pie chassis with the kit's small block Chevy adorned with the blower from an AMT 57 Chevy and zoomie exhausts from the AMT Blueprinter Parts Pack Chevy small block. Whitewall slicks from the Monogram Little Coffin...other wheels and tires from the Revell Orange Crate. Overall a reasonable facsimile...