MrObsessive

I just uploaded a couple quick vids that I took at the show.......nothing like the sound of engines revving up at full song! A fellow in his AC Cobra replica about the leave the show........

Today was the annual car show held the LCBC Church here in Manheim, Lancaster County PA. LOT AND LOTS of cars there, and there was no way to see all of them! I'd say roughly 1000 cars were there, as well as an RC event and model show. I took pics of what most captured my fancy, and there's no particular genre of car I focused on. To see the pics best, use the "roll" feature as for me they seem to load easier as you scroll along. You can see them if you click here. Enjoy!

Well, I think I beat the model doldrums and finally got this old gal redone! It's by no means perfect as I did leave some aspects of it untouched from 1987-88, but it sure beats the sad state it was in when I "rediscovered" it and decided to give it a new lease on life. No doubt, I was inspired by Jason McMinns super nice Speedster, and it's made a good impression on me. So, here's the pics of what she looks like now............. Before as posted on the WIP section.............. After........... I couldn't resist and took a tip from Jason McMinns build here on the board. The kit is missing the twin coils that this car should have since it's a dual ignition car. So I scratchbuilt the coils with some scrap plastic and made the brackets from a sheet of stainless steel that I have. It fills up the engine compartment better, and I like the symmetrical appearance of them sitting on the firewall. If I were building this today, I'd mask off the rubber moulding areas to make them a bit neater looking. One thing I wanted to avoid though is as much repainting as possible as I didn't want to possibly ruin the original paint. As you can see, BMF was used to brighten up the window mouldings, and the lower rocker trim. I spiffed up the wheels and outside mirrors a bit with the Molotow marker silver pens, but I can tell you it does not like to be handled much after applying! It's best to make the use of this the very last thing you do and totally minimize handling of it as little as possible. A HUGE shout out I must give to Dominik of Germany! He was nice to enough to send me replacement parts that I had either missing or were broken! A BIG THANK YOU Dominik! I have a Cabriolet version (a 356 C car) that I had built a few years after this one. It's not in as bad a shape, but could stand a thorough resto as this one. It would be a nice bookend to the coupe. Then there's a Speedster I built that had a "cat accident" many years ago. Unfortunately I can't find that one, and I think it was one of the models lost when my place was flooded years ago. I have a new kit of that one, so I'd like to build it but I have no idea when. So, now that I got this one back together, it's back to the Shelby and I hope to have some more good progress on that on in the coming weeks! Thanks for lookin'!

Absolutely Gorgeous!! If you broke the pillar I've never would have noticed save for you mentioning it! Super-duper clean build, and I like how you brought out the separation for the heat shield in the intake manifold.

I'm not up on my Ford history, but the Cougar (along with the T-Bird) was all new for '89 and I believe the Mark VII (1984-92) still used the older T-Bird chassis ('83-'87). The Mark VIII was all new for '93, and that's when it was built on the newer T-Bird/Cougar platform. Monogram made a '87 T-Bird and while it's 1/24, it seems to me it'd be more accurate for the car he wants to do. You Ford guys out there, can you vouch for this?

Gene, I was so impressed by your build of this Lincoln that I just went on eBay and snagged a nice restorable one for less than $40. I seldom do that..........buy on impulse, but inspiration is a great motivator and I'm very impressed with this one!

I have to wonder while AMT was doing the tooling for the '61 (Late '59 into '60 perhaps?), Ford DID have intentions of making the Continental a pillarless four door, but changed up at the eleventh hour deciding to put the B pillar in? The shape of the roofline screams pillarless hardtop, but maybe Ford was worried about side impact troubles with the suicide doors and all. Of course, they did a convertible so who knows??

Ooooh that is a Beeeeyootiful Lincoln! I've got to find me one of those! I've got a '65, but I like the '61 better! After all, it IS my year dontcha know!

I'm not a truck kinda guy, but I really DO like this one! I'll pick one up as I love the way the 1:1 looks, and if nothing else----the low parts count makes it an excellent slump buster!

Interesting that Revell fixed the roof on the first run of their '69 Chargers. That one was so way off that it literally looked like a custom chop job right out of the box. Revell sent replacement bodies to whoever got the botched bodied kits as the tooling was pulled to be corrected not long after it was intro'd. Since they haven't done that to the Mustang as of yet (I'm not familiar with the car but I can see where they messed up), don't hold your breath for them to ever fix it unfortunately. This has been beaten to death but it bears repeating............just like AMT will never fix their woefully wrong '58 Plymouth--------a car I am intimately familiar with and just look to the time when I'll fix it (correctly) on my own. There are some other turkeys I could mention that aren't right either. Just one of those annoyances I've learned to live with, but can't quite wrap my head around with today's tech----how the model companies get stuff so wrong. Here I am a guy out here in the hinterlands with nothing more than basic tools and materials, can fix their mistakes with nearly 1:1 correctness.

You guys have me curious now about door construction on newer vehicles. Next time I'm outside and about to go somewhere, I'll have to check the doors on my Challenger. I DO believe the hinges are welded to the cowl structure, and not bolted on like in the old days. In fact, I'm gonna get nosy right now and take a quick look and snap a pic............. EDIT: OK, I just went outside to the back of the house where I park and snapped a few pics............ Lower hinge.......... I can't feel any bolts that would normally pass through this bracket if it were bolted on so indeed it must be welded. You learn something new everyday! And yes, heaven forbid if the car would get hit in this area............that would be one very expensive fix!

Thanks Snake, and thank goodness I have no kids in the house, 'cuz there was LOTS of cursing at this thing!

To date, this was THE MOST DIFFICULT model I've ever tackled, and it was SUPPOSED to be just box stock! Don't let the manufacturer name fool ya! This is actually a Revell of Germany kit in disguise, and fiddly it certainly was! Some folks complain about the Fujimi "Enthusiast Model" series and how tough those can be. Johan's Turbine Car comes to mind too. Well, I've built both of those models in the past, and they don't hold a candle to the absolute annoyance that this kit gave me. Beautiful car...........terrible kit!

Jonathan, any size and any scale is allowed here on the board! Most of us aren't "scale bigots" (there are some though as I've met them), so feel free to keep us posted with your project! At times, even though I build mostly 1/24-25th scale, I'll stray a bit and maybe do a 1/43 (been a while though), and I've got a number of 1/16 scale kits that I've got plans for in the future. That's an interesting project you got going on BTW!

To further express what Bill said..........in the event you need to repaint metallics, you'll want to swill the jar (airbrushing) or the spray can every so often to keep the metallic particles suspended in the paint. That way, you won't get a "rush" of metallic flakes on your paint job all at once in the event you need to stop for a bit, because the flakes have settled to the bottom of the jar or can. Hope this helps!

AMT's '60's version I built many years ago, and while it came out pretty good, one detail that I noticed compared to the 1:1 is the rear fender trim sits up too high on the body. AMT's '90's version is OK overall, but you mentioned about something being "off". I've always thought that the wheelwells for the body were a bit "big", and if I were building one now I'd have to do something to shrink them just a tad. Or, slap the fender skirts on it and call it a day! Also, it's been mentioned over the years that the car seems a bit wide in the roof area, particularly at the rear with it being just a bit wider than the front. I can't speak to that as I don't have a real '57 in front of me, but the roofline shape itself appears spot on to me. Now Revell's '57 sedan aka Black Widow and Bel Air............I'm not so sure Revell got that one totally right to my eyes as far as the roofline.

This story just broke over my news wire.........

Keep checking eBay for Johan Superbirds..........they can still be had for reasonable prices if you don't get into a bidding war. Builtups are even more readily available as I seem to see them all the time. In fact, I have a built up Superbird in the "to do" pile someday to restore. The Revell '68-69 Charger chassis should fit under them without too much trouble. Personally, I'm partial to the Johan bodied car............the Monogram one never quite looked right to me. Something about the rear window/roof shape isn't right to my eyes. Regarding the Daytona...........well I just gotta gives mass props to Revell's version! Somewhat exaggerated door scallops notwithstanding, I liked the way the body was tooled much more than the MPC. Now granted, MPC's version goes back a loooong way, and was a very nice kit for its time. As was mentioned though, the nose on the car seems a bit off to me, but with some work can be made to a very nice display model. Here's my Daytona that I built back in 2000............ This kit has a bit of a gaffe in the rear suspension............the rear wheels are not quite as centered in the wheelwells as they should be when building this out of the box. My car has working suspension, so I tried to fix that little foible.

Jay, you're just knockin' 'em out the park! Absolutely fabulous, and I have to say your door fitment is 'bout perfect! I've got this one too with the Rudge Wheels and tires from HRM..........I don't know when it'll make it to my worktable though! So many choices to build and not enough time!

Josh, that's a loaded question as everyone will have their favorites. Personally, I like to use liquid glues such as Bondene, Tamiya, or one that's available online from Micro Mark called "Same Stuff". It was called that as they used to sell Ambroid Pro Weld, but that brand is no longer. Others like to use regular tube glue, but I'm not a big fan of this because............. 1) Drying time 2) Messiness in applying it 3) The glue can continue to "eat" into the plastic years after applying it. Others can chime in, but one should have a variety of glues on hand for different tasks. White glue or 5 min epoxy for putting in windows, or attaching outside body parts. Super glues for general construction. "Semi Liquid Glue" (Testors) when you need something to hold, but don't want the too thick tube glue, or the pure liquid stuff which is best applied with some kind of applicator. Hope all this helps!

BEAUTIFUL!! I had one of these too, but unfortunately it was one the models lost when my place got flooded. Too bad AMT didn't see fit to model the clear hardtop for this car. IMO, that's the coolest thing about it!

Thanks for the info John! As far as transmissions, any ideas which would work as far as a Borg Warner auto? Interesting enough, in my 1:1 '69 AMX I was looking for a new clutch for it one time, and I was told that the four speed was actually a Chrysler unit-------more accurately that AMC and Chrysler shared trannies which I think were Borg Warner units.

Absolutely Gorgeous!! And that color! It's so-------------------'50's! This is another of my '50's favorites and for years I have this kit just waiting to be built. I've got the PE, decals for certain color seats, TONS of reference pics, and even a particular color in mind. Now I just need that little "oomph" to push me over the edge and start on one!

All I can tell you fellas is that if you're going to build this-------Patience, Patience, and some more Patience! This is one of those kits that demand attention to everything that's done. Moving too quickly building it will be at your peril. Considering when this kit was tooled (mid to late '80's), I look at all the Fujimi 1/24 Enthusiasts Models to be landmarks in the model hobby! I still have both their Ferrari Daytona Spyder and coupe to build someday.........the Spyder is actually one of my all time favorite Ferraris. I also have their Ferrari Dino, actually two of them. One I built around the time of this Porsche, but since has been totally taken apart and body stripped of paint, and an unbuilt one sitting among all the other models I haven't touched yet! Who knows-----I may decide to rebuild that Dino as another "slump buster"!

Chuck, the wheel arches are the same between them------I was talking about how they've been moved forward a bit. IMO, this gives the truck MUCH better proportions than what Ford originally did with their '56. And yes, the roof has definitely been lowered a bit--------subtly so, but certainly lowered. I'm also one of those a bit disappointed in the Moebius F100 roofline. I can fix it, but yeah......it's going to require some "cutting" and "lifting" to make it right. Those C pillars aren't quite correct either. The upper corners indeed are a bit too rounded to my eyes. Down the road, I may compose a little tutorial (like I did with the Road Runner) how it can be fixed.