Wayne Buck

:lol: I LOVE these kinds of pics! LOL

Also, with shots like these, it seems like the driver is almost always moving the wheel back and forth like it has as much steering play as a well used dump truck from 1970, all while they're just driving straight down the road. Another thing I've noticed with 'in car' shots is, sometimes the actor who is driving will just hold the wheel in any position. The movie "The Chase" for example, I've caught a few shots where Charlie Sheen is driving straight down the highway in a brand new BMW while holding the wheel almost 90 degrees off-center.

Yep, drag race scenes are usually pretty bad... Even on the show "Pinks". They show the cars leave the line, go to an on-board shot, back to an outside shot of the cars pulling ahead of eachother back and forth, go back to an onboard (of the driver shifting gears or something, back to an outside shot...over and over. And the "quarter mile" run seems to end up being like 30 seconds long. LOL

I absolutely agree here. I used to work with a guy at a fabrication shop that was located inside of a small (non-commercial) airport complex about 20 miles from where I live. On the other side of the runway (across from the shop) was a rather large patch of open asphalt where we used to have the pleasure of watching the Wall Twp. Police train for all kinds of driving and chase situations. There were a bunch of Crown Vics and Caprices with cones and other obstacles set up. They would practice all kinds of things, chase eachother around through the cones, practice turning around fast (tires squealing and a little smoke), etc... It was REALLY COOL!! All I kept thinking was: "Man, I wanna do that!" I definitely agree with ya, though... They practiced hard and quite frequently, and IMHO, they did an awesome job of handling those cars. (Sorry to be kinda off topic, BTW... Just popped into my head and wanted to share. )

There are a lot of mistakes in the world of Hollywood, but one that always bugged me every time I see it, is in the "newer" Gone in 60 Seconds. During the chase scene near the end where he is being followed by the chopper, you see him pushing the Mustang pretty much as fast as it can go, (and it clearly shows a shot of the tach at around 8 grand) then he hits the nitrous button and the thing takes off like a bat outta hell, while the guy in the chopper is saying "120, 150, 160... he's gone." By the time he disappears from view, you would think the engine would have to be turning like 12,000 rpm or more for that to be possible...

HOLY MOLEY!! That is BEAUTIFUL!!! Definitely a LOT of talent here!

X3... almost lost a perfectly good fingertip to the Revell blades. I usually go for the Micro-Mark blades as well (Item # 14178). Maybe they're not the absolute best in the world, but they work pretty darn good IMHO... and for the price, I don't even think twice about replacing them when they start to get dull. (Although, I do have a pile of about 30-40 that I save for 'other things', like the Doc was saying)... I used to get the x-acto ones at Wally World, but they seem to be pretty hit or miss. Sometimes I'd throw one in my handle, try to make a cut and throw it right in the trash. Also, I just tried the new x-acto "Z-series", zirconium nitride coated blades and my conclusion is: don't waste your money. They were a whole dollar extra for the 5 pack and I honestly didn't notice much of a difference (if any at all).

I don't really know if they're considered "rare" or not, but here are two kits from my collection that I've always liked a lot - Revell Honda XE-50 (1:12 scale) IMC Bonanza Mini Bike with Hodaka ACE 100cc 2-stroke (1:10 scale) The mini bike kinda holds a special place in my heart because my father bought a real one (same exact bike) about 10 years ago and I thought it was one of the coolest mini bikes ever. It was missing a few parts, just like my kit... , so he wound up selling it. I was so upset! Mini Bikes are another hobby of mine... As of now, I have 14 of them, 12 ranging from the 60's to late 70's and 2 that are only a few years old.

AWESOME JOB, Niko!!! Your Nova turned out really great! Love the red on it and all the extra details. Excellent work!

VERY NICE Job!! Lookin' Awesome! ... REALLY AWESOME!!! The rims look excellent as well. Are those valve stems I see?.. or is that just my crummy laptop playing tricks on my eyes?

*raises hand*

I've always wanted to build something like this in 1/25th... Or maybe even two - Brizio, that car is AWESOME! I LOVE it!!

Yup, a little too huge... LOL I can't even drive in any direction from my house for more than 10 minutes without passing at least 1 or 2 of them! I do love my Wawa cappucinos though!

I agree with Jim and Rodney, Nick! I haven't exactly been here super long like some guys, but I remember like it was yesterday when you were 13 and now you're driving! I really like your new truck, BTW

The rear suspension in Fox Mustangs seem to be pretty good with a little tweaking and reinforcing. If you're going for a more "stockish" setup, I'd suggest searching google and looking at what different people have out there. We've had no problem in the mid-high 10 second range hooking our '87 notch with just a few things. -Factory Five upper and lower chromoly control arms with urethane bushings (except new stock bushings in the top of the pumpkin) -Moroso drag springs, Lakewood 50/50 shocks -Torque box reinforcments and upper c/a mounts reinforced (wouldn't even bother with that on a model.. most likely won't be seen, unless you're planning on having no carpet or rear seat) -Anti-roll bar (That one really helped a TON) -Mickey Thompson "ET Street" drag radials (be sure to add a bunch of rubber 'specks' in the wheel well and lower quarter behind the wheel.) I'd say making tubular control arms and an anti roll bar setup for your model would give it that "hooks up and hauls butt without breaking the bank" look. Maybe do rear coilovers too, Instead of the springs on the control arms... or keep the stock spring location and maybe lower the mounting points at the lower rear mounts a bit. You can make your own coil springs with this setup and maybe stick an airbag inside the right rear one... There should be a ton of different setups out there on google for you to look at and decide. Personally, I'd go for whatever looks the coolest, since it is a model! Edit: Don't forget subframe connectors! They're a MUST!! ...and you're gonna need a driveshaft loop or they're gonna kick you outta the track

Really cool idea, Bob! I just joined as well. Thanks!

I kinda like getting newspapers in the box for that reason too... It's also interesting to see the pages with coupons from the bigger stores, such as supermarkets, that I never knew existed. Here on the New Jersey shore, you'll see Shop-Rite (supermarkets) and Wawa (convenience stores) everywhere. When I moved to Illinois for a year to go to school, it seemed to be Jewel Osco and White Hen Pantry everywhere. I was actually surprised to see that they didn't have the same stores that I was so familiar growing up with in Jersey (I was fresh outta high school and have never been anywhere else. LOL).

I'm not very photogenic, so I don't have very many good pics of myself, but here's one of my wife Heather (who is responsible for me getting back into the hobby!) and yours truly from 2 or 3 years ago... where my eyes are actually open! ...and here's our little pride and joy, Emily (4 1/2 years old now) P.S. I still have the gotee.. It's just not quite as "gnarly" looking these days. I feel naked without it. LOL

EXCELLENT JOB on this!! Very realistic, and the background blends in PERFECTLY!

GREAT IDEA!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to share and post this tutorial! I will definitely have to try and make up a few of these bad boys. I have a few engines sitting, soley because I'm too broke right now to buy more pre-wired dizzys, that I can now finish! Woo-Hoo!! Awesome!

There's one that really hits home for me! No matter how hard I try to be careful, I seem to cut myself on a pretty regular basis! I agree with a lot of you guys on the sanding of mold lines and fixing ejector pin marks. I can't say that I really HATE it, but it's just not really much fun and can be pretty time consuming, especially on stuff with tube chassis ( pro stocks, NASCARS, monster trucks, and so on...).

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! Awesome color, wheels look outstanding and VERY cleanly built. Everything looks GREAT! I love it!!

Thank you very much, Mike! Wishing you and your family all the best over the holidays and hope you have a GREAT 2012 as well! I LOVE that picture, BTW! Pure Awesomeness! Ed, that ol' pump is just THE COOLEST! I've always wanted a 'drag racing' x-mas tree in my living room all decorated up!

Prolly couldn't see where he was going!

Thank you too, Harry! You really go out of your way to help make this THE GREATEST modeling forum on the net! I certainly appreciate all of your hard work and I'm SURE many, MANY others do as well!