MrObsessive

Good for you Terry! That's excellent! For those of you that know me, I went from 325-330 lbs as of May 2009, down to 245-250 today. I was up to a size 50 in pants ( ) and triple X shirts at one point. I'm about 6' 3" and folks didn't believe I weighed that much but I certainly would have crossed the 350 lb barrier soon enough had I kept going the way I was going. I hated the way I looked in the mirror, didn't like how my clothes fit (especially shirts) and most of all, my health was beginning to suffer as high blood pressure and high blood sugar were setting in. I'm now down to a 38-40 in pants and XL shirts, my blood pressure and blood sugar are normal, and I don't have the run down tired feeling from just simply walking up a a flight of stairs. I can tell you that it is a daily battle with me. There are certain things I just don't touch at all during the week. I do allow myself a "cheat" day (Saturdays) where I have just about anything I want for much of the day. Come Sunday, I don't want to see it again! This works for me, and has been working for the last 3½ - 4 years now. I've taken to heart some very good advice from and older fellow I was talking to in the gym one day and he said this................"Losing weight is part of the battle, the war is keeping it off!" How true that is!

Very, Very nice Jeff! I have to ask-----are those wheels in the kit? They look like the '68 Mustang Shelby hubcaps. They look great on your car, and that alone may be why I'll pick up this kit! I've already got several versions of Cobras (including this one), but those hubcaps would make for a nice future Shelby build.

Ahhhh Cruz! You're killing me as this reminds me very much of my MG Midget (nee Sprite), I owned back in the mid '80's. Mine was red though with the wire wheels and the "round" rear wheelwells (a '72). Yours is gonna come out great, and I hope the fellow you're building this for is going to make it worth your while!

To echo what Craig said, you may have to fudge the scale difference somewhat on a couple of them. For example, the only '53 'Vette I know that's available, is the Monogram one and it's 1/24. The '55 that AMT did was 1/25 not a HUGE difference in scale, but some folks get silly between 1/24 and 1/25. Sounds like a VERY ambitious project! I know I wouldn't have the time (or patience) to do all of them! That's a LOT of years to cover!

The Caddy is a '64. 1964 Cadillac rear bumper/taillights formed a sort of "V" shape, while the '63's were straight up and down.

Ahhhh..............that's how they get those doors to work! Love the hinging on the "trunk" as well!

Just a small update to show where I'm heading with this one. I don't care at all for the stock wheels that come in the kit. This is one of the few times that when I've done "replica stock" I don't stick to the script and build it as it came out of the showroom. Instead, I decided to go for an All American look, by mocking up some modern Cragars to suit the low profile tires. As you'll see in the following pics, the body is about half rubbed out and polished, and see how it looks with those Cragars. BTW, the wheels came from Revell's '69 Shelby GT500 kit that was reissued maybe 10 years ago. I knew that I would never use those wheels on that kit, so here's the perfect opportunity to use 'em on something really nice. As I mentioned in another post, I had to repaint it due to some overzealous rubbing out with the polishing cloths! I didn't strip it, I just added a few more coats to compensate for what was rubbed through. Just the same, the repaint was worth it as I think the paint looks richer and deeper the second time around, and now it's just a matter of spending some time and (carefully) rubbing it all out and polishing it with Zymol. Here she is so far........................ That won't be the final stance of the car when it's all done......sits just a bit too low for me, and I'd like to keep the original ride height for it. I've also been doing some work on the interior as well. Not wanting to leave well enough alone, I've decided to do a little extra with the dash, along with painting it the two-toned red/black per the pics as seen above. I got out my pin vise and round file and hollowed out the gauges as you see here. Since Revell gives you all of the gauge faces as decals, I figured they would look better over a nice flat surface, rather than simply putting them over the existing gauge faces. From the pics I have of the 1:1's dash, I was able to judge the "depth" of the gauge in each pod, and use some appropriate round rod stock to give me the depth I would need. Also, trying to keep everything symmetrical to each gauge I needed to do. Once the decal faces are put in (with clear paint or Future----I don't want to water slide them), I have some small diameter punches that can punch out some tiny "glass" covers to put over the faces, to replicate those seen in the 1:1. I'm going to use clear stencil sheet (acetate) to do this. Well, that's about it for now. If time allows, I'd like to get the rest of the body rubbed out and polished this week, and then get the interior done. I do have the lower half of the dash painted red, as well as the door panels, now it's just a matter of getting the seats painted, "flocking" (actually embossing powder) for the carpeting, and other little details done to get 'er all finished. Thanks for looking!

I've been recently selling on eBay, and I find I have a lot more foreign buyers of late than American ones. Our dollar is so weak compared to the other countries, that I guess our prices are real bargains for European/Asian bidders. For example, I recently sold on eBay the Revell '70's Custom Van. I had a buyer from Japan get this from me for $13.50. However to ship it to Japan, it cost something like $21.00! So yeah, the shipping costs can be a real bummer, but guys from other countries are buying from me left and right. And yes, like someone else mentioned-------you hang on to it long enough and it doesn't get reissued a million times, it'll be worth a bit more down the road. Otherwise, expect to take a hit for the time being----------if it sells at all.

Thanks for the info Marty! I never knew that particular edition ever existed. I just thought it looked pretty cool with the two toned red/black combo instead of the plain basic black. I had to repaint the body the other day as I burned through the color coat with wet sanding/polishing. The repaint came out great---------I'll try to get some pics together later on if I can. Between work, and now getting rid of stuff on eBay------not much time for model building these days.

Excellent job Jeff! The bodywork with the opening doors looks really good! And yes, as Marty mentioned-------that's how the doors should open on a '66.

I have an '04 Saturn Ion Coupe that just turned over 125,000 miles and is still on the original clutch. One thing I learned years ago, is to not leave the clutch pedal depressed down to the floor when sitting at a stoplight or sign.........this can wear out the bearing. I also learned to let the car coast to a stop and let the brakes do the slowing down. Much cheaper to replace brake pads, than to replace a clutch. Some folks have the bad habit of letting their foot rest on the clutch between gear changes............bad news! You're also wearing out the clutch/bearing doing this as well. I also got into the habit quite a few years ago of taking my foot completely off the clutch pedal between gear changes. My car's clutch still engages with the pedal barely off the floor, so it still has lots of life left in her.

A GTO?? KInda looks like one under that tarp............ The twin scoops on the hood lead me to believe that's what it is as well.

I am REALLY Impressed!! That is some FLAWLESS kitbashing! LIke others have said, this restyling could do well in 1:1 it's that good! I saved all of your pics------it's too nice just to pass on by!

Beautiful truck Jim! I love that color! What is that? Of course, it's nice and SHINY too!

Peter, how about the interior out of AMT's '57 Chrysler 300C? The dashes are similar, and of course you'd have to rework the seats to a four door, and to suit the patterns for a '59. It would take some work, but that's the closest starting point I can think of right now. I know of no one that makes that interior in resin. That's a pretty obscure car these days.

Airtrax also does a Type 3 Ghia which is pretty nice. Sorry, I don't have contact info for Tapani at the moment. I'm sure someone later on will post it.

If you're interested, here's the video of the frenzied bidding for this car. I guess some folks have more money than brains...........

I built one of these also a few years ago, and while some of the parts can be a bit fiddly, it does go together nicely if you take your time. The in progress build I did can be seen here------I would post pics, but I don't want to hijack the thread. Yes, the show car chassis was from the 289 Cobra of the day, and yes the engine was set back a bit to give the car a more "mid-front" weight balance. Everyone expected Ford to bring out this car as the Corvette Sting Ray was wowing the public at the time, but the car was nothing more than a "teaser" for what Ford actually brought out a few years later. What might have been though!

I happen to like the new style 'Vette, as it is a nice departure from the same styling elements we've been seeing for years. I've gotten tired of the "bubbleback" rear glass, the too plain rear end, among other things. Sometimes, things need to change-------otherwise, where is the progress? When I first saw the spy photos and renderings of the rear end on the '14, I knew that would be a polarizing styling element. Folks either like it or they don't. I like it, because there will be no mistaking what's up ahead as you roll up on one. Now, if I could only AFFORD one!

The 1992 Cougar/Thunderbird chassis was a different animal than that era Mark VII. They were totally redesigned for '89 which IIRC, included a new floorpan and suspension. I have the Revell kit as well and am looking for "junk" body to "fix" the Revell one, which like Art said is out of proportion in certain places.

Ditto on that! Very gorgeous build! I'm a big fan of the '57-'58 Mopars as well as my Dad had one like the model shown. Chrysler was on a roll in those years, but completely lost their minds come '61!

Now ain't that cute?? I love the color as it suits it very well! I used to see these occasionally in the '60's as a kid, but never knew what they were until years later. Believe it or not, I once had an apartment above a garage that used to service Fiats. Every once in a blue moon, one of these would show up. I haven't seen one of these on the roads here in the States in years though. I have this kit as well, but have never touched it--------Hmmmm.......

Ernie! Thanks so much for the really nice words! For those of you interested, keep your eyes peeled as I'm in the process of writing an article for MCM on this very subject. My mechanism is somewhat similar to what Ken Hamilton presented in 1986, but possibly more simplified while yielding the same results. Hopefully-----with work and other things going on, I can compose something legible and worth reading, and have something to send to the folks at MCM in the next couple weeks. Stay tuned!

Ohhhhh that would make my year if I could have an inexpensive kit of one of those! One of my all time favorite Ferrari's! Maybe if we wish hard enough, we could get a 330 LMB out of that one too??

Exactly! Here's a pic showing how much of a difference there was in the width between the Lindberg '53 hardtop, and the AMT '56 lower body.......... Could be that the Lindberg '53 isn't exactly 1/25 or the AMT is a little large for its scale. I'd go with the former as the Lindberg always seemed a bit "small" to me IMO.