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Entering this a little late but I picked up the Fruit Wagon, I didn't think that the amount of flash was that bad. I have noticed that on some kits that I've bought multiples of that there is always one kit out of the bunch that has a little more flash than the others, probably the fault of an individual set of molds versus the kit. There are a lot of things that could be done to tighten up molds, it has to be cost effective for the manufacturer to do so though.

Drew, That's beautiful! Did you do anything special to those wire wheels? Those have to be about the most realistic wire wheels Ive seen in scale. Your clear coated plastic is amazing, can't use a "Hot" Clear Coat and get away with that too many times I'd bet. Love going to the "All British Field Meets", there are a couple within an hour or three that the Mini Club I belong to attends as a club every year. Morgan is always well represented, from the vintage to nearly new what a beautiful car in full size too. Lotus is another Brit manufacturer that always has a lot of cars in it's group, especially the Sevens and variant spinn offs. Good place to get fret reference pictures for British cars, they're held all over he US even UK!

As a "Actual Size" Mini owner, I like it! Good job! Thanks for sharing.

I understood the question from the beginning, this same ideology pervades nearly every hobby where creativity and skill is a factor. I see it when I attend nearly any car show, whether it be a Mark Specific, British even Hot Rod show. There are rivet counters in nearly every hobby. This type of mentality both burns people out on their hobbies and creates bad feelings which eventually lead to people leaving ______________ (insert hobby). Look at the Riddler Award competitors, until recently the builders were an ever changing group, it would drive the average person nuts to build to this level each and every car built, to ask a person to build to that level on every project is too much to even expect. That's where the personal drive and devotion to their hobby come into play, it has to be up to the builder alone not the minions. Do individuals owe it to the hobby to knock it out of the park with every single model they build, no they don't. Why shouldn't a highly skilled builder be forced to build super detail every time they build, sometimes it might be something they choose to build to experiment with a concept of a highly detailed model. I think we saw this in the 80's with the "Slammers" models which focused on the body and bodywork, executing the best paint the builder could pull off. These models were both criticized by some and loved by others, from what I remember they started out as design concepts which were entered in contests. From what I recall there were people as upset with this type of model as a village chasing Frankenstein with garden tools! Let people build what and how they want to build, if it bothers you maybe you're the one with the issue not the builder. Only then will the hobby grow and attract new blood, acting like a bunch of inbred whiners will do nothing but drive accomplished builders as well as the prospective builders of the future away in droves.

Only one mistake! The New MINI is spelled in all caps, while the Classic Mini has only the "M" capitalized, I used to know why, if I remember it had to do something with Liscensing when BMW bought the rights to the Mini name and concept. Now for your MINI, that's a nice job, checkered roofs are always good, surprised that you don't see a whole lot of modified MINI on the road. I would have thought by now that the prices on the MINI would have dropped enough that more of the Tuners could afford to be modifying them.

Very Nice Rendition of a '67, you did good!

Morris Minor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Parklane That reminds me of one of (I think) Steve Stanford's designs of a '55 or '56 Ford 2Door Wagon that he rendered with Crown Vic' Molding over the roof, he showed it in the Aqua and White, the Minty Green color here would look good too. Now that's a Ford I could like. I'd love to see a '55 or '56 come out too, I'll be getting one or two of the '57 wagons they look really sweet with all the Hot Rod trimmings, doll that Y-block up with the T-bird aluminum valve covers and air cleaner and you've got a winner. The Auto Transport trailer, even though I'm not much of a truck modeler im thinking it would look pretty sweet loaded up with a whole bunch of Rods & Customs. Then you'd have to find something equally as cool to tow it...

This is not the first one of these that I have seen sell from this same builder. This is the highest I've noted selling on eBay. I think that someone one here mentioned another one of this builders models. It may have even been the same year and model. I'm not into MOPAR's but I know a cleanly built when I see one. As a builder, I cannot see paying $850 for a model, especially a station wagon that's just me. I agree with the assessment that for quality artisan craftsmanship the price is probably not to at far off of the mark. There is probably a market for quality built models the average Joe doesn't think exists. If they see something that appears to be either difficult to build or obtain, they can justify paying this kind of money for it. It's also something that has been going on with quality built aircraft models for some time. This shows that there are fewer people than ever building models, they figure they cannot build something like that because they've never built anything. I see nothing wrong with being able to market and profit from your skills, happens every day. Actually I'm sort of envious!

Beautiful work, Bernard, sorry to hear about the bump in the road on the paint. More like a Seattle Pothole! That interior should be something to see once finished.

A lot of those early model paint formulas more than likely included lead. The lead gave them better coverage, helped smooth things out a little. These old paints spray well with lacquer thinner.

I believe that Fiat is modeled or close copy of a real race car that appeared in Hot Rod back when the middle section was printed on pulp paper.

I checked in with my friend other day on Facebook, asked about his folks car. Yes it was a 429 SCJ, no Shaker Hood, at least that's what he says. I don't remember a Shaker Hood either, I do remember it being fast for a grocery getter! I can't remember if it had AC either, back then here in western Washington not many sprung for AC unless it was already on the car. His Dad was an Engineer for Lockheed Missle Division, he liked fast cars and could afford them. He at one time had a big Healey with a 351-W in it, kids and Mom were Banned from driving that one, I never got a ride in it but the stories were legendary even when he owned it. Anyway I remember a ride in that Torino Wagon, it was a nine passenger wagon, they had four kids. Everyone but the Dad was along for the ride we had gone to Tacoma (WA). I cannot remember just what got his Mom going but she got ticked about something, when she would (still does) get mad her normally heavy right foot got even heavier! She got pulled over doing almost 100, when the highway speed limit was 70. She calmed down and put her nice Mommy face on, telling the State Trooper there was no way this car could do that fast loaded with all these kids! "But Mam, I had you on Radar at XYZ MPH". OH, no this is a station wagon everyone knows station wagons can't go that fast, there must be something wrong with your Radar thing. "I see Mam, please try to slow down a little Mam, have a nice day!" The Trooper Let Her Go!! We were sworn to secrecy, something which worked in our favor a time or two. The end for the Torino came after his Mom got pulled over doing some ridiculous speed, after the Speed Limit got dropped,to 55 MPH; she wasn't able to "negotiate" her way out of that ticket. My Mom was in the car with her, I heard. The sordid details when she told my Dad. We still get a good laugh about her driving, when we get together, the Torino Wagon is almost always brought up.

A friend's dad ordered a similar '70 Torino wagon,it had a Super Cobra Jet 428 (I think it was a 428, could have been a 429) that one was a really deep burgundy with black interior. They ordered it from the local Ford dealer drove back to Indiana, picked up the Torino along the way and then took in the Indy 500. Those cars had to have been the ultimate sleepers! Up until now theirs was the only similar Torino wagon that I've heard of, probably a few more, back then you ordered whatever you wanted and they built it to order.

I'm a '56 model year, from a blue collar one income family, my mom never worked after the kids came along. Not sure what came before but they drove a '50 Olds up until around 1962, when a '57 Ford Wagon joined the family. Olds was sold to an uncle, probably again because of a lame trade in offer. They drove the '57 until they got a '66 Olds Vista Cruiser, 9 passenger no less! The Ford was another private sale, but the Olds was a year end Demo car probably half-year as was common then. They were still driving the Vista Cruiser when Dad finally broke down and got a second car which was a '61 VW Bug, a sunroof to boot. I think that it was probably around '67 when the Bug joined the family from then on dad's work car was a Bug, he'd run them until they literally wore out. Don't think he ever paid over $500 for any of the Bugs he owned either. The third vehicle in the fleet was pretty humorous when my dad got it was a '74 Chev Camper Special which had a 454 with headers, Edelbrock intake, Holley Double Pumper, RV cam and built up automatic, can you say Burn Out! Going from a Bug to a pickup without the camper must have been fun, he laid some pretty good Posi black marks out of the driveway, unitentional of course. (I can attest to that pickup's ability to churn the tires with it's Posi rear end, impressed a few of my friends, bought my first set of truck tires too.). They kept all their cars somewhat longer than most, they also paid cash for every car they owned.

Oh, no I wasn't referring that they were simple to make look right, I've spent more time on Roth and Weird Oh's kits making them look and fit right than I have any other kit I've ever done. That includes some garage kits that were pretty poorly executed. The "Simple" comment refers to the number of parts, the way that they were intended to fit together. They were originally designed to be a quick easy builder which I sort of see as the "Snap Kits" of their day. (Even though they were not easy to put together.) The original Mother's Worry kit that I built really isn't a whole lot better fit wise than the later reissue, normally that's not the case. it's really only been recently that I've seen these kits built with the attention they really deserve. No one ever really thought of using filler, or fitting them together correctly, you just needed to use a little more of that stinky glue to fill in the gaps and melt things together! At least that's what I've seen in the quality of craftsmanship with some of the ones I've picked up at garage sales and off of eBay. Actually Revell did a pretty amazing job of taking Ed Roth's (or Newton's) renderings of Rat Fink, Mother's Worry, Drag Nut, Mr Gasser, Angel Fink... and all the others they made. Ed made some serious money on the sale of those kits too, until Revell sidestepped him and released them under the "Advent" brand under different names, those kits go for ridiculous money on eBay. Ed didn't get anything out of the deal until Revell probably got a cease and desist letter, which is why they probably weren't re-released until the late 80's early 90's timeframe. Even though the earlier releases were going for silly money for the time, model building as a whole hadn't experienced its second wind yet so it's even more amazing.

Tim I remember this one as well. It was a jaw dropper then, just as it is now. That paint has held up beautifully.

Nice job, those are some pretty simple kits. They respond really well to a bit of imaginative detailing and scratch building. Like what you did with the shirt. I've seen Weldon's work on his versions of Mother's Worry and others, they're nice in their own sort of way. Like yours because you added your own details. Looks great! I've got two Mother's Worry on the bench right now, that I'm building for my nephew. First one is a first issue,it is built stock with the exception of plug wires and a mural on the back of the shirt. I wanted to build it like a well built 60's model. Second one is from the last release, which is being built with some additions, 389 heads from AMT original '36 Ford, blower from same or '40 Ford (parts given to me from late uncles stash), interior will be flocked, dropped front (resin) axle, scratch built quick change rear end, added bed from '56 Ford Pick Up not sure what vintage that part was, it is being painted with acrylic (Wicked Colors) will get a clear coat of polished future. Both models ride on stock wheels and tires. I've built quite a few of the Roth Kits, didn't realize they were accepted here as legit models or I would have posted one or three. A lot of people look down on them and Weird Ohs, probably because they are so simple that they never got built by anyone other than kids. Really hope that Ed Roth's widow would quit being so weird with releasing the rights to Ed's stuff. She is actively going after anyone who sells anything remotely related to Ed Roth's artwork, models or slogans, she wants money. She is the reason why Jimmy Flintstone quit selling his "original" mastered Ed Roth items. She wasn't even around Ed when he was doing his thing, she even discouraged Ed from doing his artwork, which is why after they moved to Utah that he only built a few "cars" and trikes. Too bad, there were a lot of interesting things that came from Ed's mind.

Spraying acrylic paints is sort of a learning curve for those of us who have sprayed toxic anything onto our models and other stuff for years. Lacquer used to be kind of fun until the "lacquer buzz" turned into the "lacquer headache"! One of the automotive Art magazines I subscribe to has a monthly column on materials safety, seems a whole lot of us Old farts are getting sensitized to the chemicals we've used for many years. I've been pretty careful over the years, I got laughed at once or twice for wearing respirators while painting even with rattle cans, I've had a Paasche spray booth for a long time. I've noticed the weird side effects of using many of the paints was lessened just by using a few simple safety items and techniques some as easy as reading labels.

I've always made a template to transfer one side to the other. If I dont I never get them to match. I use the methods mentioned above, drum sander, sandpaper wrapped around the tire. The only thing that you have to watch with sandpaper around tire or other round object is remember to allow for enough clearance.

jb, Joseph's description of "Reducer" is spot on with my understanding what it is. The term goes back farther than Acrylic and water based paints, it probably came about when paint manufacturers went to "paint Systems" I.e. Using same and or recommend thinners from the paint manufacturer. It may refer to the fact that there is a thinning agent only versus a thinning agent with an accelerator or retarder. Hobby Lobby (other dealers probably too) sells a DVD along with the Wicked Colors which gives some pretty good application tips. One which probably would have helped your first paint job would be to "roughen" the surface with something like a Scotchbrite pad to give it a little tooth. This probably is the reason you got a pilled effect where the paint beaded up on the surface. They go into reducing and the use of non-pigmented acrylic base mixed in with the paint itself as well as some basic manipulation of the air pressure. I would recommend picking up the DVD for anyone new to acrylic painting as well as watching Chris Chapman's Acrylic Tutorials here in the Tips, Tricks section. I currently thin the Wicked Colors with their Reducer right around 1:1, air pressure set at 20 - 25 psi, so far I have only shot through a gravity feed airbrush, it may need adjusted a bit for siphon feed. I haven't had a surface that I didn't do some bodywork on yet so I haven't just scuffed the surface and sprayed, it works on their DVD so I'm sure it will work on a models surface as well.

What a nice looking T Coupe, great color choice. W-Head motor is another cool choice, lakes style headers are perfect length. Notice that you did a bunch of great looking work to the frame, round tune crossmember updates the T-Bucket frame to current practices. Totally believable Hot Rod, (one of those things I always check out on most any model, is it plausible? This one definitely is.)

Actually supercharging is easier than turbocharging a Mini. Judson made one which I believe was the same blower as used on Aircooled VW motors. Recently a company called Minimania minimania.com here in the states and Minispares in UK have marketed a supercharger kit for the Mini targeting the 1275 cc engine. (for a model there is very little if any noticeable differences between an 850 through 1275 cc engines.). The attached pic shows a blown Classic Mini, one of the members of the Mini Club that I belong to has a Clubman GT Wagon (Traveler) with a blower on it, very quick Mini, Clubman had a squared off front end. His is almost the same color as this one he runs early Cooper S wheels. It's regularly thrashed on the local Auto-X circuits, no garage queen. Hope this gives you some ideas. The blower in the picture wouldn't be all that hard to model it could probably be scratch built out of evergreen or Plastruct shapes without too much difficulty. Sits on top of a stock type downdraft intake.

1965 Pontiac GTO, first car I bought and owned myself, right during the early '70's gas crunch, gas went up to a dollar overnight. Couldn't afford to feed the Goat on a daily basis, so it became a weekend cruiser. Enter a '57 Oval Window VW Bug complete with oil bleeding 36 fire breathing horses! Got better gas mileage, until I discovered Volks motors could be Hot Rodded 36 hp banished to a far corner of the garage in went a stroker big bore motor and all the other go fast goodies,,, soon learned to build a transaxle that didn't explode, next it was axles... I'm pretty sure I shoulda just left that leaky old 36 hp motor where it was in the first place. Then there was a ride in a real Mk II Austin Mini Cooper (it wasn't an "S" not all Coopers were S models), speeding around those narrow twisty Scottish Lanes. What a thrill! That memory stuck with me through my adult driving days, through Hot Rods, Camaro's and other cool cars. I kept going back to that little Mini how fun it was, how it made me smile, how it felt like you were doing 90 even though you were zipping along at 25 MPH! How it felt like a go kart! In 2000 I realized that memory, all those same goofy feelings rushed back, I get the same silly grin every time I drive it! My neighbors look at me like I'm nuts, or speeding through the neighborhood at 10 MPH! As silly as it sounds it's one of the most fun and eye catching cars I've ever owned, no ones a stranger, lots of people have Mini stories embellished or not! Kids think it's the coolest car they've ever seen, even a five year old claims he could drive it and he probably could! Lots of people remember the Mini's Ralley Days, winning the Monte Carlo, being cheated out of it for tons of modifications or other reasons besides the real one. It's non-stock headlights, which caused it to be disqualified. One guy with a strong Brit accent told me where he was from there were Mini's all over, well Duh and just how many of 'em have you seen here in the U.S.? Er uhm.... To say this funny little car made an impression on me would be an understatement! Edited to correct stupid alternate words inserted by IOS8's autocorrect, what will they give us next!

You should be proud of that one, very realistic clean model. '60 Ford Starliner is a favorite, don't see that many around.