Jim Gibbons

I may have not understood your request clearly, but I was referring to the rod ends: http://www.modelmotorcars.com/large_pic.asp?ID=256 Hope this helps, and like Skip, I'd like to see what you've done so far on the Aston Martin.

Since I'm on the left coast, I can only wish I were there. The camaraderie and friendships I've read about in this thread prove what a great bunch of folks are on this board; egos left behind and sharing knowledge. I'm so glad to hear you folks had kids involved; I hope they continue with modeling, as they have awesome instructors. I have a few simple models I want to share with my neighbor's grand kids; get them away from the TV and video games and expand their creative horizons. Kudos to all of you!

Thanks for posting the pics, especially of the Packard plant. I get kind of a weepy, nostalgic feeling when I see pictures like these. The industrial might of the good ol' USA won wars; I find it a bit sad that we likely couldn't do it in the same way. I'll just use my imagination and pretend to see new Packards rolling off that assembly line.

Absolutely; trucks need that sort of longevity, where cars have that "planned obsolescence" mentality. That MB 190D was a car that was designed for the long run; the one my dad had was basically what they used for taxis in Europe. Rubber floor mats, etc. and a good car all around, other that being slower than cold molasses. The one task I sort of dreaded, yet enjoyed, was when my dad would have me help him bleed the injectors and pump annually. I was always the one under the car! The enjoyment part was my dad teaching me things which I carried over for the rest of my life. I learned back then what quality engineering and design was all about.

I vote for the redline tires, for the only reason that I still have an original redline Hot Wheels '57 TBird I had as a kid. It sounds like your orange mist paint job will be close to my version. I have to dig it out and take a pic.

It was pretty innovative, but they had their quirks. A good friend of mine had a new Porsche 914 2.0, and he had a fire extinguisher mounted just in case. My father had a '73 Volvo 144 (the car I learned to drive on) which had a similar D-Jetronic system. The fuel lines were a fabric coated synthetic rubber hosing, and after a relatively brief time after he bought it new, the lines would ooze a bit. I guess engine heat would degrade the lines, and after turning the engine off, capillary action would dampen the ends of them. At the same time, he had a 1965 Mercedes 190D with mechanical fuel injection. MB used metal fuel lines in the earlier days (starting with the 300SLR racing cars and the 300SL gullwing and roadster,) which were used into the late 60's I believe, until the electronic Bosch systems became available and required the flexible lines. It's amazing that more '70s imports didn't got up in flames!

Agreed!

Some neat old racing footage: http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/article/1960s-racing-video

Glad I found this WIP...really cool! Makes me want one of Junior Johnson's fruit drinks; the clear one with a peach in it.

I use "Black Wash" from Citadel paints (they make water based acrylic paint mainly for the fantasy gamer end of the hobby. (By the way - their color "Tin Bits" works beautifully as a base color for slightly burnt in exhaust manifolds.) It's basically black India Ink. The reason I use it is that it's totally water based, and will not strip the clear lacquer off plated parts that solvent based paints can do. If I'm not happy with the results, I simply wash it off in the sink, and redo it. I find that it may take two or three applications to get the desired result. After it is semi dry, I wipe down the plated part to highlight the chrome sections. Only drawback is when dry, it has a slight gloss sheen, so on a model like a '57 Ford grille with relatively large spaces to be done in black, it might not suit you. Next '57 Ford, I'm grinding out the grille!

Welcome to the group, Daniel. You'll find a great group of talented folks here. Your Land Rover models are very well done. I have to dig them out of storage, as I built the Tamiya 1/35 LR Ambulance and the SAS open version. The SAS kit was one of my early attempts at weathering and wear. I will post pics when I find it.

I can't add anything that hasn't already been said; I'm looking forward to your next builds.

Great to see it finished; just plain remarkable!

Very cool! I built one in the early '70s and still have it.

Simply beautiful. I always wanted to build a '48 Roadmaster convertible, as my aunt had a black one w/ red leather. It's one of my all time favorite '40s cars. I remember how long it used to take to wash and wax it when I would help her as a kid. After reading all the comments about TKM, I guess it will to remain on a wish list, or I'll have to hope for a good deal on a Danbury Mint version.

Love 'em, and keep 'em coming! (My avatar kind of shows why I especially like the Turner and Lorenzen versions!)

I realize you're waiting for parts, but I got this in my daily Autoweek email. Wish I could be at Pebble Beach Concours! http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100729/CARNEWS/100729817

Yay, Skip! Great to see Pogo back! I built a couple of the Monogram kits over the years; the first was back around '69-'70 where I pretty much only painted the taillights red, and black (incorrectly) for the instruments. A few years ago, I built another as a gift for my doctor (who is probably most responsible for saving my life) using Tamiya Racing White which is more of a warm white "ivory" tone than their Pure White, with a red interior. It came out beautifully. I even painted red piping on the black convertible roof. Unfortunately, all the pictures I had of it are on an expired computer which I'm hoping at some time to salvage. I do admit to cheating on the louvres, though; I used a silver Sharpie pen for the trim after attempting (disastrously) trying BMF on it. BMF would definitely be a lot easier on the 1/12 version. The original version of the 1/12 Cord had plated louvre trim, along with steering via the steering wheel, and movable headlights, all of which disappeared with the later releases.

I'm in full agreement with Dan here. As a former lighting applications/design engineer, one of the biggest complaints I had (and often verbalized) with the two companies I worked for was not doing sufficient product prototyping and review by the lighting specifier and end user. In defense of these companies (and my engineering staff,) it must be said that many products we produced were custom specials, and we often had to meet a construction schedule that didn't allow that luxury. However, it usually created problems that had to be fixed in the field which ate up share of the profit margin, or made a specifier or user angry enough not to use our products again. Kudos to Dave, Art, Moebius, and all the others involved for allowing us this input and showing us these prototypes. I'm sold!

That is just way too cool! Definitely a keeper.

Al, you might try looking at some of these parts: http://modelmotorcars.com/store/store_alfa.htm Look at the other parts listings for the other Pocher cars, too. The A033 part might be what you need, or you might find something similar. They have a pretty good hardware listing, too. I have to thank Skip for posting this site in the 1/16 Rolls Royce thread; wish this company was around back when I built some Pocher kits!

This builds into a nice kit. I built the early '80s release and it came out well. As mentioned above, I assembled the body before painting. In the late '60s, NBC produced "Stuart Little" for television, and they used this very kit for the car Stuart drove. I remember going on a class field trip to the NBC Studios in NYC in '69, and in the lobby, they had the model on display in a glass case. If I recall, it was painted red. Skip, I remember Glenn Pray's Cord 810. Pretty neat, actually. I saw one at a local car show about three years ago. They used a Corvair engine to power it. I still recall the Road & Track issue that featured it when it first came out. Several years ago, The History Channel had a car related show, and they had a segment on the Tom Mix crash. At least the car was saved. Also, Skip, being another Walt Kelly fan, I miss your Pogo avatar...you should add him to your signature line!

Love it!

This is too cool! Thanks for posting these.

Hey, no fair posting pics of real cars! Kidding aside, that's really sweet; the engine compartment is amazing. I'm with the others - keep posting when you can!