Darin Bastedo

And do you think all aircraft and military modelers are rich? It boils sown to priorities. do you want to build three cheap kits or one really nice one? I don't have a lot to spend on my hobby, as I make very little and have a wife with cancer and a teenage daughter to take care of so I have to save up change sometimes to get what I want, but because the money is hard to come by, I tend to buy only the high quality stuff. no sense wasting money on the cheaper offerings.

It is a different scale yes, but it is based on the same I/10 scale tooling master as the 1970 mustang was. (very similar to how the 1/25 1969 Camaro and the 1/12 1969 are related) that is why both mustangs share the same flaws in the overall shape of the front end and nearly every detail. It has been repeatedly confirmed by several people involved with the project too.

What you suggest, is basicly what the resin and other aftermarket companies already do. Believe it or not, though it is not the mastering and casting that is the issue many times but the selling and maketing of the product. I have worked on many such projects, and many others have been proposed and decided against doing them. Many times there is something that sounds like a no-brainer that upon futher study turns out to be bad Idea. A better front end for the revel mustang sounds like a great idea, but what you need in reality is a new body. Part of the problem with that front end is that Revell based it on the tooling for their 70 mustang which has way too mich crown in the fenders and hood which thows off other critical demensions. In otherwords even if you re-designed the grill, it would still be wrong until you fix the fenders and hood.

Try this... http://www.nike2footlocker.com/2011-NFL-Jerseys-Denver-Broncos-15-Tim-Tebow-Orange-view-1890

I wasn't speaking specifically about his shop, as I've never been there. He obviously had a clue as he made it 30 years. Perhaps if the economy was better he could have found someone to take it over though.

When I ran the Hobbytown USA in Columbia SC years agao I had no trouble competing with the lower priced online stores. Those who cannot compete, can't for two main reasons; 1. They put all their eggs in one basket, such as the Hobby shops that are all plastic or all trains or all RC. When you cater to only one segment, when that segment takes a hit, so does your business. (ie. plastics don't sell well in summer, RC not so well in winter etc. ) Added to that, you have to make 100% of your profit from that segment. because I carried full lines in every segment from model kits to telescopes and even wooden trains for the kids, I could be more flexible on my kit prices, knowing that I would make up for it in a more profitable segment like warhammer and breyer horses. The trick is getting people in the door. 2. The second reason is the mindset that you need to make the maximum profit from everything in the store. I'd rather trim a few dollars off the Model kit, and make it up with nearly 7 dollars profit I made when you bought two cans of spray paint and a package of #11 blades. How many times have you gone to a hobby shop only to find they had shelves of plastic kits, but no evergreen, plastrct, or a decent selection of paint? I kept a large selection of plastic in the store, to bring in the customers, and sold them at just a couple of dollars above break even, because I knew that the 4.99 bottle of CA glue you bought with them was mostly profit. In the RC dept it was the repair parts that carried the segment, but it was the package deals I offered that included assembly, that brought people through the doors. I made them a great deal on the RC Car knowing that in a week they would be in looking for repair parts or upgrades. people who play with RC break their toys. I traced one kit I sold just to see if my theory was correct and in that instace I only made $25 profit off the original sale, but over the next three months of selling this same person Fuel, rapair parts, upgrades and accesories, I made another $125 in profit. Had I tried to get top dollar off the initial sale he may have gone elsewhere, and becuse that initial experience made the impression, that "his prices are too high" he would have gone elsewhere for everything else too. Most mom and pop hobbyshops go under because they have a lack of understanding of retail marketing and merchandising.

I don't mind an occasional off topic post, but prefacing it with "OT" is customary, either way, yes that is a very funny strip.

You lost your house? Did you check Kingsport TN? That's where mine always turns up! Seriously, though I'm sorry things haven't gone well for you . welcome back.

Very Cool, what scale are you working in?

you can block certain people from PMing you. I've had to do it to several forum members.

I have been contemplating doing a Mach One Conversion

You want crazy? I actually used Duct Tape two years ago repairing a duct!

At one point while I was heavy into vending at swap meets I had well over 10,000 kits. That is way too much. But I'm now down to a few hundred, and even though it still is a lot I like that when the time comes for a new project I have a lot of model to choose from. It doesn't cost me money to keep them so me and my wife are fine with that.

For day 11 I want to thank Gregg and Harry for putting some of my ideas in print, and to Marc Nellis, Bill Geary, Peter Lombardo. Ted "Chopper" Lear, and many others for inspireing me this year.

I have a humble request of all the members here. In light of the spirit of this holiday, I would like all of us to partake in a little goodwill to men. Everyday until Christmas eve, I would like you to start each visit to the forum, with a visit to this thread and post something nice, about another member here. It doesn't have to be elaborate or mushy, but it does have to be nice. It is my hope that it will put us all in a more positive mindframe and keep our spirits bright as we spend our time here.. I will start. To Art Anderson: Thank you pal, for being a friend and boosting my spirits when I need it.

Beautiful. I love it!

Really nice build of a tough kit. That is one of my favorite Roth cars!

Apparently someone here miscounted some rivits... Afterall, if somepeople here are going to take credit for them getting it right, shouldn't they also take the blame for dropping the ball on the fenderskirts?

It was more than that, they would strip down the complete car, rebuild or replace anything damaged and at the same time perform sometimes elaborate custimising, and still have it all done in 7 days. If you have never worked on rebuilding a real vintage automobile you have no Idea how insane that time frame is.

If you had 30 guys working double shifts on your model, yeah, it would be done in a day.

Yeah shocker. I guess we'll be on the "lookout" for his next venture

ah yes the Toyota Pious...oops Prius.

I betcha this one is more expensive...A truckload of vintage Porsches on the way to auction, creamed by freight train....

It's really not that hard to build an RC car that is that fast. 15 years ago when I was heavy into the scene, I had an HPI Pro II Touring car that did an easy 75mph. That was with only a 14 turn double motor, and a two speed transmission. a higher RPM motor would have made it faster but at 1/10 scale it was limited by the tires and suspension being able to handle higher speeds. a larger R/C car would definately be capable of 100+

What you don't understand, is those of us who use the correct tools on ebay will never have this happen to us, because it can't. I have been on ebay over a decade, and have never had even one instance of someone bidding from outside my shipping perameters. Don't be lazy, use the tools available to you and you will be able to say the same thing.