raisin27

Im a Ford guy, but I have to say there are some pretty great looking Chevelles here! I built this one last year...........

Circumstances have kept me away from building for most of the year, but I recently was able to get back to the bench for a bit. I started this one awhile ago so the paint and foil was already done. I did get some of the engine details done and started on the interior. I cut the hood latch and wiper motor from an AMT 58 Edsel along with using the battery and master cylinder. The small hubcaps are from Modelhaus. I do plan on trying to make the Derby City Shootout this year and with any luck I may have this one done. Thanks for lookin, Raisin

Took the "Liner" to the SEMMEX show on saturday and the AUTORAMA on sunday.

Good to see you back Craig............the El Camino is looking good, but I never expecxt anything less from you! Raisin

This is funny..........I just read your comments on my Starliner build, we said the same thing! LOL, Raisin

Thanks to everyone for the comments. If anyone knows where I can find a nice 1/1 example..............Oh and yes Harry the gold scripts are photo etch. Thanks again, Raisin

Incredible! That build shows great creativity. Everything just comes together as it should. Raisin

The Pontiac is my favorite, Looks great in white. Raisin

Just the way I like em..........clean and not all cluttered up. Nice work. Raisin

Finally got the 'Liner done......... This ones for you Dad, Raisin

When I get a chip I dab paint into it with a paint brush in layers until its just above the serface of the finish. Then i sand it smooth with a fine sanding stick, then polish. Raisin

Its been a long dry spell for building here. My father passed unexpectedly and my heart just wasnt in it. The fact that this is a replica of one of his favorite cars from the past didnt make it any easier. I did however get back to the bench this week and made some progress. Finished the interior and most of the engine bay. Thanks for looking, Raisin

I think your going to love this kit, its one of my favorites. The motor is the best representation of a big block Ford I have seen in plastic. Im working on a factory stock version right now myself. When I foiled mine i taped a guide to my exacto blade to get the trim straight. I cant wait to see the magic you work with this kit. Raisin

Some real beauties there. That Impala has my jaw on the floor! Raisin

Thanks guys, hoping you all have a great new years. Raisin

Here is a linc to what I was able to coble together this year................... http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v19/amaz...ss%20of%202008/ Thanks for looking, Raisin

Thanks Bill, yes the caps are from Modelhaus. Probably my biggest complaint about this great kit is that it doesnt come with full wheel covers. I certainly agree with you about the 60 Ford styling. I think GM tended to "overdo" most of their designs. They would take a good idea and "overstyle" it. A description I heard once of the 60 Starliner pretty much nails it.............."They took a 59 Chevy and did it right"

Been a long time since I was able to make any headway on my models. Went back to work the begining of Dec. (YAY!) and its cut into my modeling time. Anyways, I painted and foiled the Starliner for the second time. This is a replica of the car my Dad bought new in '60 and after doing the first body I noticed in my pics that his car didnt have the rocker panel trim. Back to the drawing board! I did a second body removing the molding. Now I dont know what to do with the first! Paint is Tamiya Thanks for looking, Raisin

Not really an answer to the question, as much as an explanation as to why the wages are what they are....... Auto workers have been paid higher than average wages since Henry Ford perfected the assembly line, long before there even was a union. Car builders found employee turn over to be so high they had to offer higher pay just to get people to do this type of work. I personally have witnessed in my 16 years at ford that whenever a group of new workers were hired, they had to bring on more than needed because generally about half quit before the first month. They think they are in for easy money and discover its real work for hours without stopping. In other words the wages are what the market will bear. When the unions did come in in the 40's most of what they were wanting wasnt more pay but better working conditions. I would think that in a bad economy when work is hard to get (like now) people might be willing to take less, and starting wages have dropped dramatically at the big 3. Even the transplants that pay a little less than UAW wages pay far more than what the typical wage is in their region. Maybe Toyotas method of compensation is worth examining.........they get a slightly lower per hour wage (i have read about $24 compared to $28 for a big 3 worker), but they get bonuses determined by how well the company is doing. For the last few years Toyota workers have outearned their big 3 counterparts in America.

Once again I think you missed my point entirely. Perhaps its my fault, Im not a writer. What I am trying to say is this..........If people think autoworkers are overpaid making about 55 grand a year its their right, just dont say they make 150 grand. If people think autoworkers should not get half there pay when laid off thats your right, just dont say they get full pay. Dont just assume the union is a greedy monster.........look at what they have done. I could go on and on, but basically all I ask is that people get the facts straight before forming an opinion. I guess I cant blame people as they are bombarded with half truths and wrong information in the media. I generally believed what I read too untill the news started coming out about what was happening at our plant. Through first hand knowledge I knew much of it to be totally off base. If they get so much of this wrong how can I trust anything I read? If you are bitter that someone has something you dont have then I am afraid you will always be bitter. I ran a small business for 5 years and then owned it for 8 years after that so I know of the perils of being self employed. I also know of the rewards. You just have to decide if the rewards outwiegh the perils. I took a pay cut when I came to work at ford, but for me it was worth not dealing with the pressures of running a business. An autoworker can live a comfortable life but will never be rich. The entrapenuer might go broke, but he also might be the next Bill Gates. Self employment isnt for everyone, like any profession some have the aptitude for it and some dont. This country hasnt been a true capitalist society for nearly a century. If it was GM would be the only car company in America. They would have crushed all others before the 60's I find it curious when you say we should be capitalist on one hand and on the other want to limit the type of vehicles we can drive to what you feel is "best" for us. (please note I havent endorsed either capatalism or socalism) I also find it curious that you feel it might be ok to help foriegn car bulders, but its definatly not ok to help domestic car makers. And finally you say I am only looking out for my own interest. I disagree. I want what is best for America. If I was only looking at my own interest I would want GM and Chyrsler to fail. I dont! To many families in the U.S depend on the survival. Not just people in the industry either.........people like you. When this is all said and done I think the result is going to be the demise of Chyrsler (but I hope not), Jeep will probably live on owned by someone else. GM will pull out of it a much smaller company, and Ford will remain pretty much as they are now.

I have an adgenda? What might that be? I have never publicly stated my opinion on whether the loans should pass or fail! In fact I only last week made up my mind about it and still havent told anyone. I do however get sick and tired of reading in the paper, hearing on the radio, seeing on telivision, or reading in these posts information about me that is totally false! I do not earn 150 grand a year!I am a skilled tradesman and am at the top of the union pay scale. I earn 33 dollars an hour. Do the math........how many hours would I have to work to make 150 grand! I read in another post here that we get paid 60 bucks an hour to sweep floors. Well if your sweeping floors at ford you are making somewhere between 14 and 28 dollars an hour and doing one hell of a lot more than just sweeping floors!! Forgive me if I come off a bit short, but I am fed up with hearing "I talked to a guy whose cousin knows someone at a bar that told him he gets 80 bucks an hour to play solitare at ford!" Part of the problem is the UAW, they let these rumors and stories run wild without ever disputing them. Let me ask you this.........if every GM union worker worked for free how much of a difference would it make in the 38 billon in losses? The wages are not the problem. The workers were making just as much (actually a bit more) when the big 3 were making all those record profits a few years back. Even so the UAW has agreed to take wage consessions. They just ask that they arent the only ones shouldering the burden. One other random thought that burns me.........if there is a huge wage gap between the Detroit brands and the Japanese, wht do you complain the big three pay to much and not that the Japs pay to little?

Harry, it is impossible to have any kind of a meaningfull discussion with you. You have an agenda and look only at what you feel supports your views. Just the way you chose your words shows you are more interested in advancing your ideas on others than in finding the real truth. When I brought to your attention that it was GM and not the union that started the job bank, you say it must have been to appease the union.......you dont know that to be the case (in fact it was not, its so hard to find people willing to work the assembly lines they wanted to keep the people they had when they reopened the plants) You feel unions are evil and greedy. You fail to mention the $70/ hour figure is an old one from before the union accepted VEBA. You fail to mention the union has lowered starting wages to $14 an hour. You fail to mention How many times the union has reopened a contract to help out an automaker over the last 10 years. You fail to mention the pay and benefit consessions made by the union recently even though they were not obligated to do so. Before I belonged to the union I admit I had some similar views as you do but in my 16 years as a UAW member I have found them to be quite resonable and fair in dealing with the companys even to the point of angering some of the membership.........believe it or not they side with the company more often than they dont. I admit my experience has only been at Ford where there is traditionally a good relationship with UAW, but contracts are very similar at the other companys. I am not saying the union is a perfect organazation, its not. However they certainly arent the evil monsters you make them out to be. Mr Gettelfinger made some very good points if you care to listen to them. Wouldnt you agree it only makes sense that sacrifices be shared by all involved and not just the workers on the shop floor? The bridge loan (not bailout) failed because southern republicans viewed this as a chance to weaken or break the unions. (read the memo they sent out to their members). Political payback for supporting Obama. I personally have voted Republican more often than Democratic, but I think after what I have witnessed I will never vote Republican again. They say they dont want to spend taxpayer money to help private business, but how much did they give to the forign automakers to locate in their states? They have given them land, and huge tax incentives costing the taxpayers untold dollars. Consider this fact too..........This is not just a big 3 problem. The US is the only Government not helping out their auto makers with loans and support packages.

Harry, this is exactly what I am talking about........the quoted sources in your post have several things wrong. Thats why I say dont believe everything you read. One major error is that UAW workers get 100% of thier pay when laid off.......The fact is they get state unemployment benifits like any other worker, and on top of that they get "sub pay" that brings thier pay up to 85% (not 100%) of the take home pay (not gross pay). The workers then have to pay all fed, state, and local taxes on this amount making the net pay roughly 50% of the working wages. Where does this "sub pay" come from? A Sub Fund that that is made up of both employee and company contributions. When this fund runs dry the workers no longer recieve sub pay. Not a bad deal at all for a laid off worker I admit, but certainly not as good as the article would lead you to believe. This i just an example and I wont go through every mistake the paper has made, but I bring it up to express my point.........DONT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ. The Wall Street Journal was the paper that said Fords Wixom plant would not close just a week or so before it did!

Harry,you wrote............. A perfect example of the union's part in the current mess: The infamous "job bank". In case any of you never heard of the job bank, here's the story: When American automakers began to try and streamline their factories and automate many previously "manned" operations in the 80s, in order to better compete with the Japanese automakers, the union, in return for the loss of some union jobs due to modernizing and streamlining operations, came up with a demand for the creation of a "job bank". What that meant in plain English is that laid-off auto workers couldn't really be laid off. They simply had to report to the "job bank" office every day and collect most of their salary for doing absolutely nothing! That's right... the automakers tried to save money by automating and streamlining operations, but because of the union demands, they wound up paying all those unnecessary workers to not work!!! I ask you to please get your facts straight and dont belive all these politions and newspapers. Just because they print something does not make it true. The "jobs bank" was started by GM, not the UAW. When GM was closing plants in Flint Mi. they did not want to lose the experienced work force they had so thet created a jobs bank. First off under the contract workers are laid off for 12 months before the company must place them in a job bank. The company can choose to place them directly if they want but are not required to do so. When my plant closed Ford put us directly into the bank so they could fill openings at other plants with lower wage new hires. The impression given by the media is that a huge percentage of workers are sitting in these banks doing nothing. This is simply not so. Here at Ford company wide there are less than 700 workers in GEN (Fords term for the job bank), and they are rapidly being placed as I speak. In fact I was just placed and started work last monday (THANK YOU!). In last years labor negotiations the companys stated they wanted the GEN below 2% of the work force. In fact it is closer to 1%. I dont mind if your of the opinion that there should not be a jobs bank, just please get it right. You seem to think the union is far more powerfull than it really is. The union cannot demand anything of the big 3 unless it is in an existing contract, just as the big 3 can demand of the uaw what is in the contract.

Dont believe everything you read in the papers or on the internet. At Ford a newly hired assembly worker starts at about $14 an hour, after achieving full pay he is up to about $28 an hour. If he passes a test and goes through a 4 year apprentiship for skilled trades he can make up to $33 an hour. GM and Chyrsler wages are very close to the same. Good middle class wages, but not the 150 grand a year that most think.