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Very High Quality resin, Steve's castings look like styrene. I was highly impressed with the parts that I bought from Calnaga Castings. Highly recommended. Super quality, speedy turnaround. I'll be buying more of Steve's stuff as needed, hope Calnaga Castings is around for a long time!

Jimmy, Used to subscribe to Signcraft for quite a few years, I've been subscribing to Bob Bond's "Autoart" magazine for a long time as it fits the stuff that I do a lot more. John's shop is about 45 minutes away, I stop by when I'm in his neck of the woods, super nice guy, about as humble as they come. The last Airbrush Action Getaway that my nephew and I attended in Vegas John was there. Nephew took the four day Pinstriping class from Gary Jensen, Tramp Warner showed up too. We had a great time panel jamming after the classes were done for the day. We hung out until hey literally kicked us out every night. Mentioned One Shot Size as I was not sure of your experience level, Luco and One Shot probably being the two favorites that I use on a frequent basis. One Shot is probably easier for a non-trade person to get anyway. I've tried the water based size, not sure I like them yet, they have a different "Feel" to me. Learned the Sign Trade in the late 60's early 70's as a pesky kid hanging around a sign shop, one day they got tired on me hanging around they handed me a used sign blank a brush, can of One Shot and an easy alphabet to copy. Then told me not to come back until I could do the copy; I showed up two days later proud of my effort, only to be ragged on hard! Took me a couple more days to produce acceptable copy. I got another to copy and practice the first, then another and another... Within a couple months I was doing easy copy with one caveat I had to keep up my grades in school or no sign work. Must have worked, I worked sign shops on and off through college ending up as a Civil Engineer. Still have my Sign Kit and keep my brushes "Wet" on occasion Striping and Signwritting.

Ugh! My first though was, "Bernard's building wrecked Custom diorama..." Then I read the reason behind the carnage, that's too bad looked like you had a lot of work into the body already. Besides, your dents on that hood are just too overdone, they just look unnatural, stick to what you do best Cool Period Correct Rods & Customs. Seriously that really stinks bad!

Nice mixer, great idea. I'd use it but I just got a brand new Badger mixer while ago off of evilBay for $8, free shipping. Deals are out there. Just have to look and be patient.

James, Not sure what size you are using to stick the Leaf or Foil. If you are using "One Shot" Size try this, it may work with other brands of size as well. (I've only used this with One Shot because that's what I was shown the trick with and all I use anyway.) Mix a small amount of un-thinned yellow or orange One Shot into the size you have paletted out until the size has just a slight tint to it. Doing so makes the size visible on the surface it is being applied to. (Can't take credit for that, it's an old Signwritter's trick passed among each other.) The other hint I would add is to never work out of the container, lessons the risk of contamination to the material in the can; I use a flat 3 inch long clean palette knife to transfer from can to palette. Seems to lesson the contamination by dust and other crud that can make its way into size (paint too), if the size becomes contaminated its junk the leaf will flake away from the dust / particles.

Go with the least invasive solvent base you can. You mentioned that the tape went through the dehydrator, is it still sticky or has it already gone to the kind of dry powdery very un-sticky state? First I would try vegetable oil, Ronson (sp) lighter fluid (basically the same as sticker adhesive remover), WD40, rubbing alcohol, mineral oil, turpentine. If the residue is really dry you will have to do something to try to rehydrate it like maybe the vegetable or mineral oil or start color sanding and hope it comes off. What ever you use I would test first on a painted spoon or sprue, some of the stuff that will remove the residue will also attack the paint too. Unfortunately you may have to start over, hope not.

As much as I liked the Blackbird, I have to say that I like your color combination better, it fits the car and is in keeping with Larry Watson's colors on many of the cars he painted. Not all of his panel paint jobs were done with candies and pearls.

Nice group of Minis, the Mini Cooper looks great with the arches and Minilites. Love seeing those colours, looks like you missed red though. Kind of partial to red, I've got a red/black RHD Mk III in the garage.

My great uncle was one who stormed the beach, wounded and went on, the scar from the German bullet just above his left a shoulder was the only thing that said he was there. He sure didn't, he never talked about it even on the day he died. He talked about his job at the Federal Prison in Cannon City Colorado and some of the though customers he dealt with there over the years. Never about "D Day" or About his experiences during WW II beyond boot camp or how sea sick he was on the troop transport being shipped to Europe. He wasn't the only WW II Vet I've known who left the war behind them when it was over. Another uncle was at the "Battle of. The Bulge", still refuses to speak of it. Earlier in my working career I worked with a soft spoken Engineer who was on the brink of retirement who had worked for Boeing during the design and testing phase of the Boeing B-17 as soon as it was accepted by the Air Corps, he volunteered as a flight engineer flying B-17's over Europe. I was always told that he felt bad about some of the things he had done, he knew he had to do it and why he had to do it just hurt him deeply. To those who served our Country during World War II for the hope of a better World, Thank You, the World was made better by your selflessness. True Hero's don't need to brag about their deeds. It's enough for them to know they did what they had to because it needed to be done.

So what modeling tools have you bought at Harbor Freight? What were the "Good Deals"? Which ones were Duds? Good Deals: 1.) 6" Digital Calipers ($14.99 current sale price) - Just make sure they're off when stored 2.) Safety Glasses (Couple of Bucks, Eyesight Priceless) 3.) Small Ratchet Bar Clamps ($2.00) 4.) 30 Peice Mini Drill Bit Set - sharp out of the package! 5.) DeLuxe Airbrush (Decent Starter Double Action Airbrush for the money) 6.) Dental Picks and Carving Tools 7.) Airbrush Compressor (Paid around $50 a while ago, still in use as back up to a higher $$$ Name Brand Compressor) What else have you found at Harbor Freight that you use on your modeling workbench?

Just got an order from Altered States Models yesterday before I left for work. I rushed home this morning so I could open the box and see just how good their stuff really is, I'm in awe. Everything I ordered is perfect almost styrene perfect, no flash, mold lines are nonexistent. Chuck's quality is amazing, even more amazing is the way that I was treated by Chuck he kept me informed the whole way through the process. Even told me that he thought one of his molds was worn a bit so he made another one, the part looks like it is straight out of a brand new kit, let alone a piece of resin. Dealing with Chuck is customer service the way it should be, he just earned a spot on my preferred vendor list!

Bernard, that's what I have been thinking, pretty much have the profile with the Revell Parts Pack Roadster (T Bucket) frame. Doing so would make for a pretty unique looking frame compared to the channel and box section frames that most Model T based Hot Rods are built on. In some of the old magazines I've seen more than a few cars based on this kind of chassis, so this probably wasn't the only prefab tube chassis that looked like the one in the article. Looks like it goes under anything from a 23 T to Model A Roadster Pickup or even a Bantam Roadster which is what interested me in it. I've had a couple of the Parts Pack Bantam Roadsters sitting for a year or two looking for a good chassis to go under it. I haven't found one that really looks right so will probably head in this direction with it.

This is the chassis that I was referring to, that weird kick up looks pretty similar to the one on the Revell T Bucket chassis. The profile of the frame rail is what I am referring to.

I have both versions of the Revell Parts Pack T Frames, the competition (Drag) frame in my opinion is the better of the two. I wouldn't use it under a Street T though. I was extremely disappointed when I first saw the Street T frame the kick up is just too weird, it may have been patterned after a frame that was used to build a T Bucket in Car Craft Magazine about '63 - '65 timeframe. The CC T frame was based on a production T frame if it was then Revell took some real liberties with it, the frame used in the CC articles was a parallel tube frame quite similar in shape. The tube frame was in production when Revell did this frame, so it's shape may have been somewhat "Borrowed" from that frame, the name Bird comes to mind, I'll have to dig the magazines out for a definitive answer though. (I got it to go under a Bantam body, and still may use it as it is close to the original frame of the Hot Rod I will build out of it, although it will be modified.) The two what I would refer to as "Classic T Bucket Frames" would be the ones under the AMT '25 T Roadster/Coupe and the monogram "Little T". Both look like the T Bucket Frames which have been in production by various companies since the early '60's. Having seen the TV Tommy Ivo T when it was displayed at the NHRA Museum; though the AMT / Monogram frames are not exact they have the lines and proportions which could be tweeked to look right. Not sure about the frame under the AMT Fruit Wagon T, haven't seen one in almost thirty years but I remember it being the same as the Roadster/Coupe Hot Rod Frame. Since your stash of vintage parts are 1/25th scale the AMT '25 T Hot Rod frame is a good starting point. If you were going with 1/24th scale the "Little T" is almost there, all that would be needed is the Injected Nailhead Buick. The '25 T Hot Rod Front end as mentioned looks odd for T Modern or Traditional as it is too narrow and doesn't have enough drop. Take a look at the Hot Rod front axles cast in Resin by "The Parts Box", they also have ribbed brake drums to go along with them, I have a couple of their axles they would look perfect under a T. Although 1/24th scale the Little T had a great front axle complete with period correct backing plates, it would probably be too wide under a 1/25th scale T. Hope that gives you an idea or two.

Looks too light to be "Washington Blue" looks great though. Tired of seeing bright Red Deuce Coupes so seeing blue is really cool!

Your Nana sounds a lot like my Grandmother, she was just a couple of months shy of 100 when she passed, very spunky gal too. She was still managing her stock portfolio almost to the day she died! (She did well on the Stock Market too!!) You don't get to live to triple digits being a stick in the mud. Wish her well. Just a few years ago a broken hip was almost a death sentence for older folks, now it's for the most part another dip in the road. Medicine has come a long way.

If you make it into production I will want to buy at least one. Funny we've had a few decent VW Bugs and Bus Variants but the engines have always been blobs that sorta looked like a VW air cooled motor. Any model company that would have done a decent air cooled VW engine would have had a hit on their hands, just for the engine alone.

I've never used it for this but what about the liquid tape vinyl stuff used to dip tool handles and insulate wire. Maybe use the black color applies with a sharpened toothpick or small bit of wire build up little dots until you have about the depth you're looking for. Then the lighter splash using acrylic paint black with a slight red tint either airbrushed or the same dip-n-dot method used for the liquid tape. Heavy burnout rubber builds up some dimensional buildup which is why the liquid tape. An alternate method might be to use black acrylic artist's paint starting straight from the tube, thinning as you go. It's all about the illusion of the real thing.

This one to me brings back memories of my high school parking lot with no less than three '61/'62 Bubble Tops and a few more Non-Bubble Top Impalas, most had small blocks. The one that did have a "W" block was only a 348, it was plenty fast though. Always wondered why someone ordered that car like that when they could have had the 409. Maybe they checked the wrong box! You've captured perfectly the '60's / '70's period when these were not quite as rare as today's prices make them seem. Your color is a perfect choice, nice break from the normal red on white. Nice detail. The lowered door window is a cool touch. I remember seeing most 61/62 Impalas running those J.C. Penney Scat Track tires than TA's, but that's no detraction. I like it a lot, Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.

I thought the same thing when I saw this one, it really turned out beautiful, all that chrome, the pastel colors just scream fifties American Iron! In the full size world, station wagons have been a long overlooked subject that's gained a "Cool Factor" just within the last couple of decades. Thanks for sharing your fine quality work with the rest of us, I like it a lot!

My first thought when I saw how old this thread is was like, "why is someone dragging up ancient posts again"; then I took a look at it and am glad it was brought back to the top, it was one of last years best models. So, thank whomever brought it back up again. This is one beautiful, imaginative creation, I see more of the talented, quality building techniques that didn't sink in the first time I looked at this beautiful model. Oops, I almost forgot the paint, it's so Swell it's (almost) by Mattel!! (The rest of you Old Farts will get/remember that commercial reference) I'm still thinking this kit would make a great start to some of the Model T Speedsters that are showing up lately. Makes me want to find one to use with some of those Stock '25 T kits that I've got Rat Holed. Now if I could just find a few more sets of decent Model A wheels and tires... maybe a set of Buffalo Wheels.... hmmm....

Can't stand the show, Really, Really Love your VW Pickup. Just the right amount of Stock and tasteful Modifications to make it believeable. Incidentally the reason that the VW Single and Double Cab pickups are so rare here in the U.S. Is that the Detroit Big Three felt threatened over the sales of "the Peoples Car". When VW started importing the then cheap Type II pickups cutting into domestic truck sales Detroit lobbied and got a signicant tariff applied to all import pickups.

Wonder if what you are seeing is the color variations between between solvent base single stage and the newer waterborne clear coat formula. Not to mention the original formulation probably had a bit of lead in it. Many of the newer metallic bits in today's paints were not even around when the original Plum Crazy Purple was new, they do reflect light differently. Another thought might be that the new cars are tributes to their originals, so they didn't adhere to the original color formulas but made it to look like the original Plum Crazy Purple.

The Superchargers were made by Judson.

The Slingster is becoming one of my favorite recent kits, I think I really need to "rat hole" a few more of them. I really like that body it makes the Slingster really "Pop". Love the great job you did on this one, the change to the headers looks right on! (Just put an order in with Chuck at Altered States, kinda makes me wish I'd included one of these bodies in it. He has them on eBay too.)