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OK, now that I've got your attention! When you post a picture what size do you post it so that it is bigger than a medium sized thumbnail picture like the ones I always get. I've tried messing around with the pixel counts but don't want to get something that is so huge that it takes up a whole screen, the one above is 800 X 597. Some of you guys get a really good sized picture in your posts. What's the trick for the rest of us "Image Post Challenged" users? Help please...

Posted the size only a while ago it is 48" X 30", finally got things together the countertop is now mounted on the wall, shelving is hung, best of all I can build again!!! Still have to get my paint booth moved and set up, still operationa where it is at so it's a matter of getting in mounted to a a benchtop and temp ducting set up. I use formica sheet with dryer vent to exhaust the fumes which has worked out great in the past, just open the window put the formica in the window then shut it and shoot. My wife and I traded our rooms, she needed a little more space for crafting and I got a perfect sized closet to hang my countertop in with two other 5 ft tables, one that I water color paint and another that I do smallish sign work and small pinstriping jobs on. The next step is removing the carpeting and placing some decent engineered hardwood floors. I'e always wanted to do a room in hardwood that looked like it was a part of a basketball/sports court with the striping for the top of the key randomly placed in it. I've done full sized sport courts in the past and it's not hard, stripe, seal and finish.

Occasionally I use liquid cement to glue butt joints or panels I have a dedicated cheap paint brush for this purpose that I've marked with tape to keep seperated from my other cheap brushes used for paint. It keeps the little bits of melted plastic out of the paint both on the model but in the paint container itself. img-03881.html

Both heartwarming and sad, very good story.

Nice Classic Mini Mk I. That Color/Colour always looks great on a Mk I, looks like it polished out nicely. (We have a couple of Mk I's in the Mini Club I belong to, Old English White top looks great on them.) Can't wait to see the finished model. I was checking out your wheel build up and thought to myself, "Hey where are the cooling holes?" Not a "Cooper S" so no cooling holes! Wonder when Revell will come out with the "S" version? Then again who's complaining that's one sweet Classic Mini.

You are getting to be a regular Mini-ac . Always liked the looks of the Broadspeed Minis, they look so much better than the Mini Marcos which is a similar Mini variant. With the "different" definition of vehical registration these body swaps are legal without any change to the car's paperwork; for some reason in the UK a car's body is considered a changeable part! As in if the body gets too rusted out, you could (maybe still can) buy another brand new Mini body and still be registered as the same year Mini. Keep up the good work, or should that be "Keep calm and carry on".

Anyone know how to get barf out of a keyboard? Maybe it's going to be in the next Disney "Cars" movie throw a wrecker on the back and it could be To'mater's long lost cousin from England.... Nah they have better taste than that. Back to cleaning the keyboard.

She probably does have an advantage on a short track where the driver is on and off the gas the lighter car is going to accelerate quicker. On a track like Daytona it's probably a moot point once up to speed they keep their foot planted. A restrictor plate track the heavier driver/car might have the advantage as the added weight makes for added traction, 20 pounds adjusted weight probably isn't going to make a huge difference. (Figure that's around 5 pounds a tire / corner.) The other thing to consider is that all of the cars on the track have the same issues poking a hole through the same air not just the light ones. Sounds like a lot of whining, if it were such a huge issue wouldn't it make sense to see a whole bunch of Nascar guys on Weight Watchers commercials and diets?

1965 Pontiac GTO (Real Hard Top) 1933 Willys Coupe / Sedan Stock height roof & Front Clip 1956 Ford F-100 Yeah all three have been done before, but all three deserve to be done right!

The sign industry has been using the Scraperite blades for quite a while, they do not damage paint with normal pressure. They will scratch with with a heavy handed pressure, as with anything you should try for the least invasive product. If it were mine I would try using Simple Green, Purple Power or Easy Off before scraping with anything. If you have a polishing kit you should be able to correct any cloudy areas from the paint etching the plastic (hopefully it hasn't). You didn't mention whether the paint in question was black or not, if it is black I would try the easy off first, then you may have to resort to scraping and may need to polish afterwards. Good Luck.

Thanks for the source, I've been watching the Dr.'s videos as well.

Quite similar to vacuume forming except instead of using suction to pull the material you are using pressure to form the part. Thanks for the styrene sheet source, I have lots of contacts in the sign world but never thought of looking for styrene sheet there.

It's such a great tip that I think none of us noticed the bit about the misplaced swaybar! Seriously that's a great tip to transfer the clamping pressure where it's needed.

I know everyone is already aware that you can find some commonly used model supplies in the craft stores; haven''t seen this source mentioned. The other day I was on evilbay did a search on flocking. Came up with quite a few hits from both model supplies and craft supplies catagories. Looked at the model flocking first hoping that there would be some cheaper than hobby shop prices, they were almost all the same. On to the craft stuff, there were a whole lot of the Martha Stewart at higher prices than the model stuff, then there were the bulk baggies of flocking at $2 for 1 ounce. Long story short. I ordered four of the baggies of the craft flocking and was pleasently surprised to find that this is the exact same type of flocking a lot of us use to represent carpeting in our model interiors. The other plus is that there are a wider variety of colors than the usual gray, black... that you see in the hobby shop. Not to mention that you are getting like 4 or 5 times the material at half the price. If you do go this route and buy multiple bags make sure you ask the seller for combined shipping the seller that I bought from combined 4 bags for the price of 1 shipping, further savings. (The only drawback was that my wife is now dissapointed. She was going to get th flocking for scrapbooking if it wasn't the same stuff as used for modeling. Hmmm maybe not, maybe I can convince her to buy some and borrow it!!) Note: I didn't supply cool pictures because nearly everyone knows what flocking and baggies look like.

Harry, I hope you were being just an tongue in cheek as my original reply to your fake Pocher "click here" as I was with my reply; either that or someone is pretty obtuse! I must have clicked on that silly thing for a good ten minutes before finally figuring out your crafty ruse!

My Grandfather had worked the oil-fields from Santa Paula clear down past L.A. area from about 1928 to 1938-ish when he packed up and moved to Washington. Whenever he or my Grandma would talk about living in California they would always take a sidetrack to commet on what maniacs the drivers down there were. Seeing Wilshire Blvd. without any traffic markings of any kind just added to their stories. Even if it does show rather well behaved drivers in the clip. Thanks for sharing it brought back a flood of memories! If this was 1936 it would have been in pretty much the middle of the depression. Most historians agree that the beginning of the lend lease program an the beginning of World War II was the end of the Great Depression. Lasting from 1928 - 1929 (with government economic stimulation) until 1938 - 1940 or 1941. That's why we have whole generations who grew up during the depression who saved everything from string to bailing wire never ever throwing away anything that could have a second life as something useful. It was that "make do" mentality that made our Grand- parents and Great-Grandparents some of the most creative in our history!

Come on Harry you give a link to a Pocher kit on the cheap and the it don't work! What kind of example is that!!

Let's bring this back to the top again, Mark derserves Kudo's for what he is doing for other hurting guys in his community.. What I would like to propose is giving Mark more than a pat on the back we as a community could be getting behind him to help him on his selfless endevor. I'd like to challenge others to send one of your dust gathering kits that you know you'll never get to this year or even next. How many of us have those kits we thought would be really great to build at the time then and now are looking at it for parts or whatever. How about giving it to someone who will give that styrene the renewed appreciation it deserves again? This week I sent him a package of a couple models, some of my excess razor & X-Acto blades, super glue and other stuff. I was greeted in my pm-box with an excited, appreciative, Thank You! You know what it was worth every penny to get that kind of appreciation for doing something so little. How about it lets give Mark and his guys a helping hand, you'll feel great knowing your stuff went to a very deserving cause! How 'bout it? P.S. I'm not looking for a pat on the back, I've already got more than I deserve with Mark's heart felt Thank You!

Nice looking Henry! Like it just the way it is. Regarding the inner fender well contriversy. The Henry J, Sears Allstate, Willys Aero, Ace were pretty much the predicessor to the Rambler uni-body, all with Kaiser Fraiser roots. I haven't been under one in years, if my memory still functions right; I remember that the Henry J didn't have a complete frame, (if it did it was extremely wimpy). More like front and rear subframes the front was stiffened a great deal by those inner fenderwells. (It was the same way on the '53 Willys Aero Ace that I had with a small block Chevy in place of the four cylinder Willys "Jeep" engine.) When a fiberglass front end or fenders are installed the fenderwells got hacked out with a sawzall or even a torch back to the firewall, everything was spotwelded together in the first place. Most of the Hot Rodded and or Gasser Henry J's I've seen over the years don't run inner fenderwells either. You are dealing with a smaller car with a larger engine installed. Most of the Gasser's have some "other" frame under them. The Revell Henry J Gasser has a frame swap under it. Gas Class rules at the time dictated a full frame at the time, a lot of Hot Rodders followed suit with what they saw work at the drags. Could be why you don't see too many full size Ex-Gasser / Hot Rod Henry J's with inner fenderwells still in them.

Harry, that's fine. If enough subscribers ask for better protection from the gorillas at the post office the publisher may listen and protect their product. I have had to buy copies of magazines that the postal service rendered unreadable. I had a copy of Rod and Custom ripped nearly in half, no damage notice form the post office just shreaded magazine. To Rod & Custom's credit they did extend my subscription an extra month. I have also received a couple issues of my favorite model magazine with a torn cover and corners. I am certain that I'm not the only one. Sorry to hi-jack the thread, now back to something completely different....

48" X 30" Counter top, if you count the shelves above it that would be another (3) 48" X 12" but I don't work on them, just shuffle stuff from the bench onto the shelves to get a bit of space to work. Some times I feel like a juggler! I think that's why I like to be organized with my builds. I like to have all or nearly all of the parts on hand before starting.

Like what you're doing with this one. I'm gathering parts for one, but will be using a Flintstone '26 body on the '25 frame instead, (like the looks of the '26 rear quarters a little better than the '25.) I really like the idea of the axel stubs on the '25 front axel. I'm glad I waited to start until the parts arrive otheriwse I wouldn't have got to "copy" your brilliant fix for AMT's eyesore of a front axle! Thanks! Like the color you used on the interior and seats. From the sounds of it my parts from R & M of Maryland should be getting here soon then all I need is a small block Chevy and Powerglide and I'll be off to the races so to speak. (Can't stand having to set a project aside to search and rumage for parts.) Come to think of it when the Replicas & Miniatures package arrives I will have stuff to start more than a few projects too! Should have a pic or two when things get rolling.

I do mostly highway / freeway driving with about 30% around town or stop and go. Always been pretty easy on clutches even in Hot Rods and Muscle cars. You don't have to dump the clutch to make a car go fast. Just makes heat cracks on the flywheel, spins the clutch and tires, both will get you in trouble one way or another! I knew an old Porsche / VW mechanic who was a speed demon on the Auto-X circuits, he never speed shifted ever, he used turn in some pretty fast and impressive times too. I asked him about it once, his reply was something like, "You have to shift like Lawrence Welk! You know ah one and a-two shift". It took a second or three to figure out what he was saying, off gas, clutch in, count one, then two, (pause) move the gearshift up to the next gear, slowly let out clutch, on gas and go until the gear is used up then repeat... I tried it on my old daily driver VW and it smoothed things right out from when I was trying to manhandle / speed shift it even with a weak second gear syncro. Been driving that way clutch since, it's noticably added to clutch life. My German and English cars have all appreciated this too with their fiddly at times transmissions. 1993 Toyota 4WD Pickup 118,000 original clutch, rear brakes replaced front pads at 90K just to be sure, it's never been babied and hauld some heavy loads. 2001 VW New Beetle (Turbo 4cyl) 92,000 original clutch getting ready for front pads, rears are like 60% still. 1989 Honda CRX had 60K on it when I bought it replaced the clutch at 230K only because the rear main seal leaked oil on it. 1988 Honda Accord original clutch in it when it was sold at 290K. 1971 Mini Cooper replaced clutch at rebuild 50K ago, lots of spirited driving and a few Auto-X laps, no signs of letting up! Edited to correct spelling, typing error there are probably others!

Magazine sources pretty much in order of shopping priority 1. Mailbox - (3) Automotive (including Model Cars Magazine), (3) Art & Automotive Art. 2. Local Hobby Shop - when I do pick up that "rare" copy of the other model car magazine, occasional Slot Car Magazines. 3. Barnes & Noble - Rod & Custom Little Pages specials, occasional Roddder's Journal, Street Rodder Premium, Art Magazines (hey what can I say, real car Auto Art is a sideline), occasionally Vintage Auto Racing has to have really interesting subject in it, Mini Magazine and Mini World Magazine (both printed in UK, Classic Mini magazines when B & N have them in), rarely Fine Art Magazine 4. Grocery Store - Occasional Hot Rod Delux, very rare Hot Rod (Has to have something real special to me in it) Hot Rod Deluxe, best of's. Bottom line the ones that I gotta have come to my mail box even though they are occasionally shredded by the postal maroons. How about some sort of protective sleeve or sealed plastic bag to protect the magazine, are you listening Greg, please. I'd pay more for it I like to keep my magazines in as pristine condition as possible, they are all stored in labled, sorted, banker's boxes. Did I mention that I was a perfectionist... I maintain an extensive library of Auto and Art magazines which to the best of my recolection I have never tossed one. I have Rod & Custom and Hot Rod (when it was a cool magazine every month), a few Model Car Science and Car Model magazines clear back to the late 50's and early 60's. (My collection was greatly added to when both Uncles downsized their places, they know where to come find 'em! They are also the only ones I have ever allowed to borrow a magazine vintage or new.) .

Absolutely beautiful! If it were art work (which it is, as in sculpture) it would be in the minimalist style. The return to the so called traditional style is in effect a statement against the "billet mania" which took over the Hot Rod hobby in the 80's and 90's. This car blends the best of extremely rare old Hot Rod parts and blends todays best techniques and materials. Takes a really talented bodyman and painter to get a dark color like maroon that flawless. For those who have opined that this isn't bringing the hobby forward, how many new ways can you hack up an old car to make a statement Vs. how clean can a car be made and still include all the essentials? Fenders would ruin the intent of this car all together. It's a "what if statement". What if todays building techniques and materials existed during the dry lakes period? Not sure what the criticism over the colors are? It looks like most are variations and or compliments of the deep maroon body color, i.e. red is a warmer variation of the cooler maroon says "Hot Engine". The wheel color compliments the maroon. The tobacco colored leather is a most likely a mixture of the natural leathers tan darkened with a touch of maroon and brown dyes, either way it is on the slightly warmer side of maroon's compliment. Did I say I love the colors...