David G.

Roadster hotrods are traditionally simple. A running chassis, motor and body are all that one needs, chrome wheels and a nice paintjob are options. The one you've built here captures that elegance very well. Nicely done! David G. Nice display case BTW! I think I recognize some of those builds.

Thanks Carl! David G.

Beautiful masking work! Clean and tight, nicely done. David G.

That's one great looking little roadster Jim! You seem to knock these out rather quickly, what to you do with them when they're finished? David G.

Thanks Jim. I do like the way that they are working out so far. I think I'll be using them a lot more often in my future builds. I mean I do have 300 of the little buggers! ...well, 296 now. But at the rate I build that should still be more than a life-time supply. David G.

If you're referring to the movie from the early 2000's Carl, I didn't see that one. Thank you Brian. I heard that too. At least one of them had a Porsche six-cylinder. I also read that over the course of the first four movies Disney used up about 50 VWs. Thanks Jim. It'll not be nearly as nice as your most recent VW build but it will be just as much fun. Thanks Bob. Aside from the distributor/fuel pump flub and the weird intake manifolds, it's not a bad rendition of a VW engine. There aren't many out there, strangely. David G.

Hello Everybody! It's time for a quick update on the '57 Ford. I've installed the micro magnets in the body and doors. Now it's time to check the alignment and adjust as needed. This is just a crude test fit to check basic alignment and function. Assembly is just a mockup at this point. As always, thanks for following along and always feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and insights. David G.

All pinecones aside, it certainly can be a bummer to have a paintjob go badly Len. But I've had the second attempt often go exceedingly well. So well in fact, that I'm often glad that I goofed up on the first one. It's like there was a "bad one" in the system that needed to be pushed out of the way so the good one could come out. "Dirty Pinecone" It would also be a great name for a biker bar on the outskirts of Eugene Oregon. Seriously Len, I hope the paintjob goes well for you. David G.

Sweet body work on this! I hope you get a chance to finish it. David G.

The body rust and trim look great! David G.

The terrain looks good. Nice composition, good visual interest. The foliage and other features are coming along quite well, I especially like the little dock. David G.

Alas, Dean Jones & Buddy Hackett are no longer with us. Michelle Lee is still around but she declined to appear. It is a fun build so far, quick and easy. Thanks for following Len. I'm glad to see you back on the boards Dann. Thanks for your interest. David G.

Hello Everybody! This is the Polar Lights snap together kit of The Love Bug, the main character from Disney's 1968 movie by the same name. The car, more commonly known by the name Herbie is based on a Volkswagen 1963 Type 1 Deluxe. All the Volkswagen corporate emblems were removed by the movie studio to prevent copywrite infringment and the model kits follows suit. The kit itself is of good quality and engineering, as are all Polar Lights snap together kits I've built so far. Though simple in nature, Polar Lights kits lean more toward the complex end of the snap together spectrum and sometimes straddle the boundary between snap together kits and more traditional kits that require glue to assemble. This means that Polar Lights snap together kits can be assembled well enough without glue and paint but to achieve the kit's full potential, these kits should be regarded as simplified glue together kits. And I build them as such. This is the VW Love Bug, AKA "Herbie" kit by Polar Lights. Because everybody loves Herbie! The engine went together quickly and just as Herbie is a representation of a typical VW, this engine is a "representation" of the typical VW engine. This is of course painted and detailed. Just one example of why this is a "representation" of a VW engine rather than a scale model of one is the distributor. It looks like a fuel pump. There are a few other inaccuracies but as a whole, it does the job well enough. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to post any comments you may have. David G.

It's a good color choice and the paint looks okay from what I can see. I do understand the need to be done with a build though. It should look good when it's all put together. David G.

Excellent paintwork Tom! David G.

That's a wicked color combination Greg! It's going to look great when you get it all smoothed out. David G.

That turned out great Niko! Excellent photos too. David G.

Nice rust-work, very convincing! David G.

Cool plates! David G.

That's looking great! Nice work on the vinyl top! David G.

Yeah, you did!

Wow Greg, I thought you might be exaggerating about the crud in the paint but you obviously weren't! ? That looks like it was painted on the floor of a saw mill with a dirty pinecone! Hopefully you won't have to re-do any of the fine work you did to get the front clip in such great shape. David G.

Thank you Chaz! Thank you Andy. I usually only mask the trim like this when I have multi-tone paint jobs. I found that painting several colors with each color and having two to three coats, the paint tends to pile up rather quickly where the overlap is. Add to that the paint accumulation that piles up on the masking lines and it just makes a mess of things when it comes to applying foil to the trim. I figured it was easier just to try to keep the paint off the trim as much as possible, creating a kerf was an unintended side-benefit. Thanks also for the tip regarding the doors. I'm currently in the process of fitting them and it seems to be going well so far but I'll certainly keep your pointers in mind if the need arises. Thank most kindly you Sonny. They probably weren't as focused on the interior colors as those wouldn't show as readily in the box photos. Thanks Greg, I'm glad you like it. Thanks for all your kind comments and encouragements. David G.

Hi David. I think the windows you made for the build look better than what the factory gave you. I'm glad that it worked out well for you. Best of luck with your paint session. I guess I'm rather spoiled with the weather in North America's desert Southwest. As I write this at about 0500 local time it's currently 12°C with a projected high of 25°. I sometimes have the opposite problem in the summer with the weather being too hot and dry to paint. If I'm not careful, the paint will dry in between the time it leaves the nozzle and hits its intended surface and I end up "painting sand". Spray cans aren't usually too bad but an airbrush is almost unusable as the temp gets close to 40° with relative humidity in the single digits. Cheers, David G.

Hello Everybody! The interior is now completed! I like the combination of colors, I think they will work well with the colors on the body. Thanks for looking, David G.