David G.

Excellent work, I love the gritty detail work you've done. I'm curious though, why three header pipes per side rather that the typical four I've become used to seeing, is it a V-6 engine?

Excellent work. I particularly like the shot with the rusted-through fender and the brake detail.

I think you've hit on the core of this issue. Just as in any other cross section of society, there are a variety of personality types here. Some people will receive an honest critique or evaluation of their work as it is intended. Others respond on the opposite end of the scale and perceive anything they don't want to hear as a personal attack. Until you know what someone else's reaction will be, it's often best to say nothing. I invite and hope for honest comments on my builds. To me it means that someone took the time to really look at what I've done and formulate an honest, thoughtful opinion. That shows me that, on some level, something I've done matters to someone else. Granted, some folks do come here just to boost their own egos by berating others and stomping them down, but there aren't many of those and they're easily spotted. There's a big difference between, "You've got some orangepeel going on there. If you want to smooth that out, you could wet sand with some 1200 grit paper and respray before you polish it out." and, "dood ur pant suxorz!" There again, there are those who would see either of the above statements as a demeaning personal attack and reply in kind. Thankfully, most folks fall somewhere in between. Still, we should always strive to be courteous, polite and respectful in all our interactions on this and any other discussion boards. On a side note, it seems to me that some time ago, a couple of builders posted images of some really horribly built models with the intention of baiting just this type of empty praise response. As I recall, it worked.

That's just too cool! Great job on this one!

Beautiful work, everything just looks right.

Solid work, very eye-catching!

Hey, welcome back! I was wondering where you'd gone off to. The powers that be have laid down the law for all to see. The Rules Have Changed Lets Take A Look So you see, there have been some changes, hopefully for the better. Regards, David G.

I just popped in to see how your project is coming along and, as always, I'm blown away by what you've done! Amazing stuff, my friend! I'll bet you wish your 1:1 was coming along this quickly... unless it is and we just don't know it yet. Regards, David G.

From what I can see, it looks pretty good.

Sean, For tools, you can't beat Micromark, they've got more tools than any one human could possibly ever use in one lifetime and their prices are great. For advise and tips, this forum community is the best source I've found. Pretty much everybody here wants to share their craft and knowledge and help others improve their skills. Welcome Aboard! David G.

Awsome, as always! You sure know how to make the magic. BTW, Congrats on the article. Great work there too!

One of the fun things about a project like this one, Brian, is that there's almost no way to make it worse than it started out. Still, it looks like a lot of work.

I couldn't agree more!

Ooooo! I want one!

A couple of weeks ago, I received Monogram's (Revell) 55 Chevy Bel Air Hard Top kit as a gift. At some point I noticed that one of the chrome side moldings was either broken or short-shot as there was only a bout half of it attached to the sprue. Being one of those huge, 50's rear quarter moldings, not having it pretty much shut down any stock build options. On July 5th, I went to Revell's web site, but was unable to find any information about ordering replacement parts, so I e-mailed customer service about the issue. On the 7th, I received, via e-mail, detailed instructions for ordering the replacement part. The process isn't difficult, but it's not readily evident either. I placed the order on the 7th and received the part on Friday, July 16! Two weeks is quite a good turn-around for a situation such as this. Thank you Revell! David G.

Very nice, the paint and decals look great!

I got a laugh out of the first one. The second one gave me a chill.

I've heard of "Unicorns and Glitter" but, Firetrucks and Glitter? It looks to me like there might be room in/on the rear deck for a jet turbine engine!

My thoughts are with you.

Excellent build! I love your choice of colors, reminds me of the customs I saw the car shows I attended as a young lad in the 70's. I couldn't help but notice your service ribbon in the back, Vietnam, right? Regards, David G.

Off to a great start! Both the model and the pics came out great.

Welcome back! I've been away from the hobby for more than twenty years, myself.

I was kind of surprised to see this one come back out into the daylight. Coincidentally, I've been thinking about this build over the past couple of weeks. It's the one that started me building again after more than twenty years. Unfortunately, I ran into some obstacles that, at the time, I lacked skill and patience to overcome. Now that I've had some time develop some new skills and polish what skills I once had, I feel a bit more confident about approaching this project again. I never really gave up on this project, it's just that it's important enough to me to want to do it the right way and with a minimum of compromise. Thanks for all of you kind comments and encouragement. I'm beginning to feel a renewed desire to fire this one up again. First, I've got one build to finish up: It's Monogram's "Car Show" 55 Chevy Bel Air Hard Top. I've decided to build it as a mild custom, replacing the stock 265 V-8 with the 348 Tri-Power from the '58 Impala. I'll be using "Keystone Classic" style wheels sporting G-60's on the front and street slicks on the rear. In the vein of the classic 70's customs that I saw in the car shows of my youth, the front will be lowered just a bit while the rear will receive a moderate lift to accommadate the slicks. I'll add some side pipes if I can find them and the paint job, which I've nearly finished is (are you ready for this?) pink and white. I was trying to decide on a color for this one and I'd grown tired of the standard blue, white, red and black that I've too frequently used in the past, when I saw a can of pink spraypaint that was left over from some other forgotten project and thought to myself, "Hey, this is perfect, I hate pink! Let's see if I can make this into something I can like." So I decided to take a step outside of my comfort zone and do something I wouldn't normally do, build a pink model car. I'll post some pics as soon as I get the paint to where I want it. Thanks again guys, for giving me a boost on the Proton project, you helped me to kick it to the top of my to do list. Regards, David G.

I realize that you're probably kidding, but that's just the kind of thing started many of these companies' seek and destroy departments in the first place. As I understand it, there were companies overseas that were producing shoddy parts with major brand name logos on the packages and parts. When customers used these substandard parts and began to complain to the companies of their parts' poor quality, the companies tracked down the sources of the parts and worked hard to eliminate these sources. What started as an honest effort to protect their customers and their own corporate image has grown into a monstrosity. This is only partly due to greed created by a previously unrealized revenue source. There is also a legal aspect to the pursual of individual and "microcorp" misuse of trademarks; If they go after one, they have to go after them all. Once discovered, any infringement would have to be stopped or licensed. To do otherwise would open the door to countersuits from entities that may be using or wish to use the trademark. Any examples of current unlicensed trademark use cited as an example by such a company as a precedent would then have to be licensed or stopped. By protecting their trademarks in the manner we've been discussing, the companies are establishing a history of "due diligence" effectively closing that door. Unfortunately, it's usually the little guy that gets trampled in the process. It's hard for me to imagine that this is the "American Way" that Superman was fighting for

Got mine Thursday too. As always, it's well worth the wait.