Agent G

Thanks Harry! That's great praise coming from a talent like you. Here's the base I made today. I'm not done with this just yet, I will be working on figures for it as well. The rocks are Hydrocal, a lightweight plaster I poured into a rubber mold. The ground is air drying modelling clay with fine sand sprinkled on top. The bushes are a commercially available model railroad product akin to sponge. I painted the whole thing with acrylics. G

I'm waiting for some aftermarket decals then after they are applied I will begin the weathering. Meanwhile I'm working on stowage items. I found 8 jerry cans which would be used for gasoline. You see stacks of these on the tanks when on the march. Water cans are similar and had white crosses painted on them. I will build those next. I have a ton of stuff that I will use for bedrolls and various bits and bobs of stowage. It's soaking in Blechewhite before I can begin painting. Also, I finished the display base for the Befehlspanzer. G

A good friend and co worker just resigned to take a position with the Village of Gilbert, Illinois. I reminded him of the current weather situation back there and all he said was the job was way too good to pass up. His wife was already back in Illinois. Truth be told, once he takes over and determines if he needs an asistant, I'll go back there in a hot minute.He already offered me the spot if the budget allows. G

We were uppity white trash that moved to the county when I was just starting high school. The school was a good 30 miles away. Until then, I walked. G

I was born under a 48 star flag. I remember having party line phones, milk delivery, coal delivery and not having a color tv. My school did not have AC, neither did the school bus. We had honest to goodness windows, that opened. Our idea of a play station was the fort we built in the vacant lot down the block. I stayed outside until mom hollered for me to have dinner. Then I went back outside until the streetlights came on. Growing up in that era men were iron, ships were wood and Jesus was an instructor in the Police Academy. G

Donner, party of 8, Donner! G

Smoooooth. Love the colors. G

Awesome! G

Way too cool. G

Very, very nice. G

Semper Fi, do or die, gung ho, ouhh rahh, aye aye sir! I never made it there, but I did visit Tan Son Nhut. I also am a member of the Subic Bay Yacht Club, which is also a story for when the kiddies go to bed. G

I'll be right here for you Ray! Nice thing about armor is there is no "correct" color, no "correct" camo, just a good time weathering and making it come to life. Oh and no glossy finish to polish either! G

I drool every time I drive by that place. The trouble was the owner knew he had some good nostalgic iron and wasn't afraid to price it that way. G

Much better. G

I went to Auto Zone and bought a spray can of Chevy Engine Red enamel. Looks fine to me. G

I like the results but the black is a bit much for me. If I paint panel lines I use a darker shade of the base color. Dark green on a light to medium green car, Black green on a dark green car. I never use straight black, ever. Even on a dark gray car I use a charcoal gray color. Yellow red and orange cars pose a unique problem. Yellow and black make olive green, red and black make brown, orange and black make, well, mud. I mix a dab of dark blue into red, dark red into orange and yellow. Just my thoughts. G

Wonderful. G

After a marathon painting session the base colors are on! In primer. I began by using the mixes I prepared a week ago. These were MM Acryl colors that closely matched what I know to be the actual colors. Nothing worked. The paint gummed up in the AB, and wouldn't spray until thinned beyond use. I used MM Acryl thinner and the AB was clean as a whistle having been run through the ultrasonic cleaner a month ago. D*&n. Plan B, break out the Tamiya acrylics and mix on the fly. Base color is Tamiya Buff, Deck Tan, Flesh and White. I added a drop of white and panel faded the entire tank. It doesn't show well but it's there. I don't pre or post shade when doing a desert tank. The second color was made by adding a drop of Khaki to the original mix. The real colors were close in tone and some paints depict them as nearly identical. Photos reveal a bit more contrast so I went with that. Tracks were painted a mix of Tamiya Red Brown and Gunmetal. Spare links were sprayed with the above mixture plus Nato Black. I went dark on these for a reason. G

I volunteered for jump school. 'nuff said? G

When the police department closed the nine districts and consolidated into three "super" stations the braintrust laid out the parking lot. They used a current patrol car, a Celebrity, for the size of the parking spaces. Management was stunned! "LOOK how many parking spaces the lots have! everyone gets a space!" Yeah right, we transitioned to full size '90 Caprices the next year. Couldn't get out of the car. G

Oh don't you just hate it when you get all the way to this point and find something like that? There's a lot to be said for AM parts, but you have to weigh the benefits against the detriments. Good save on the tail. I added another horizontal bar to the back of the rack. I also found quite a few pics that show the majority of these did carry the jack on the fender instead of water cans. Stay tuned! G

My first thought is that the production crew put the wires on the car for the commercial. Black car, black wheels, it cannot be seen on film well. G

Here's the hull and what I've built this morning. I should have this in primer this evening and hopefully color tomorrow! The rack will be trimmed after the glue sets a bit more. I will make a wooden back for it as I have seen these in lots of photos. The jackblock was devoid of detail so I made a handle for it. Rear fenders, some PE tidbits and she'll be ready for primer. G

Physics. Same concept with propellers. The rotating object is a rigid structure, therefore the tip of the prop is always in the same postiion to the the hub, barring physical change. I don't get it, but what the hey........................ G

Ok turret, wheels and tracks are in primer. I'm putting the small details on the hull then building the rack. Pics tomorrow. G