johnbuzzed

Very cool, even if it's not "perfect".

What is that red and metal-colored ring on the front bumper of that Chevelle? I have seen them but never had the chance to ask that question.

I went for the pickup and Hemisfear. I do hope that whichever two Revell selects, those kits will be actual replicas, in particular the pickup.

I built one back in the... late '70s, with no problems. Maybe the doors weren't a perfect fit, but I wasn't too fussy particular at that time, and the finished model looked great on my shelf. I currently have one of the green&white kits in my stash, with some modifications in mind, and the use of magnets to keep the doors from flopping around. Like the majority of kits, it can be improved by those who choose to do so; left as is, it still looks good when complete. Ironically, I had been hoping for an all-new '57 Ford for years, to get a better chassis, etc. Now that one is available, I still bought the vintage kit, probably because I prefer the body style- maybe for nostalgia, too.

So, you are both using comparisons. How 'bout that? Why would you compare two totally different vehicular designs, if you think it wrong? The world is not a totally logical place. Science has been proving that for years.

And the Cutlass of that era was one of- if not the- best-selling vehicles on the road.

Art, you may be right- but we are the same people who were building way back when, and started swapping parts between models way back. We had some support from a few magazines, parts packs, a few nationally-known contests and some well-known builders- but little else. If we could do it then, using less-sophisticated tools and techniques, as well as being far less experienced at building anything in scale, then modelers with any interest would surely be able to do it now with the existing support structure. If anything, our hobby and those who supply it tend to encourage modelers to push the envelope more than anyone did back when. I believe that the number of members in all of our hobby's many forums, Facebook pages, etc, is growing, and I doubt that the growing ranks consist of just us older guys. And I really don't think they're all building box-stock.

You could duplicate the main portion of the under-dash unit with styrene, then use Model Car Garage photo-etched vent grilles and A/C controls for the outlets and switches.

No problem. But, I will hunt down and find any of your spelling errors... you can run, but you can't hide...

Umm, yeah, I have been known to do that. Why? Because I stated a fact? "Criticisms, comments and sarcastic remarks are kindly welcome. I'm a big boy, I can take it."

Maybe the gas pedal stuck?

Yes, you can compare today's cars with cars of any other vintage; one can even compare apples to oranges. One of them is usually more round, mostly orange in color and has a textured surface. The other is usually lobed and not round, can be red, green or yellow and generally has a smoother surface, with a protruding stem. Things do not need to be alike for a comparison to be made.

Customizing is an art form. Most art is subjective, left to the beholder's opinion. That's life.

Yet, Revell is doing very well with the Deuce kits, and they seem to be offering parts options in the '29 Ford, too. I would imagine that their '69 Charger, with two engines and drag parts, will always be a good seller. We might not see the options in all kits, but I think it will be available more often as new kits are introduced.

A friend (of a friend) is currently enjoying the Hot Rod magazine Powertour in his 2014 Mustang. He's 75 years old... Yep, seventy-five... how cool is that ? This is his second tour; he got hooked last year when the event started down here in Charlotte. He did that trip solo. This year, he asked our mutual friend to ride along, but plans got in the way. The next person he called was- you guessed it, me. Unfortunately, all my vacation and sick time has been delegated for early July, when my kids come down from LI. You bet your @$$ that I wanna see my kids, but there's a little part of me that's making that trip with Harry. He is keeping us informed via Facebook, and he's sending pictures, too. As my wife says: "Next year". And, she's into it, too. Now, we just need a cool ride... the Sonata just won't cut it . "Isn't life strange?"

A shelf model is kinda like a real car that looks nice from a few car lengths away, but when you get closer, there are some things that could be better. It's a not-too-detailed, not-too-corrected, not-meant-to-be-as-perfect-as-possible model that wasn't built with any leanings towards model contests. Paint the chassis flat black (no one's gonna look), paint-detail under the hood, basic interior with no flock or embossing powder, decent,but not absolutely flawless paint... a nice, basic model that probably won't win at a contest but looks great adorning one's shelf.

I'd like to see the same done with Revell's big and litttle Americans and tires from their Deuce kits. As far as this Satellite, I haven't checked out the review yet as I do most of my forum stuff at work, and Fotki stuff is blocked (time to use the phone), but I do have the kit on my gottaget list. They will look nice displayed with those Polar Lights Coronets of the same vintage.

The Hobby Stop does have a decent selection of aftermarket stuff, especially decals. Their paint stock is weird- a lot of Tamiya paint, but not a big assortment of colors and not too much Metallizer. But, they do sell that magazine... err... what's it called... oh, yeah- Model Cars Magazine. I can't find it anywhere else around here. And, they do support the hobby by allowing a local model car club to hold their monthly meetings at the store. I hope to get to one soon.

For a few days some years ago, I did consider buying a Gold Spike Hobbies back on LI. Thankfully, the "angels" who might have provided the funding didn't. God only knows what my financial situation would be right now. Now, any ideas of a hobby shop are solely contingent on hitting Lotto. Then, I could spend all day building my inventory while hanging out with my fellow scale modelers. Free pizza and cold beer, too.

That's a cool project, full-size and scale. You might want to get one of the AMT/Ertl Duster kits for parts. The original version has the small-block with A/C; the street machine version with the blue car on the cover does not, from what I'm told.

Yep, the Hobby Stop will be the place. I'm not complaining. That's life, and it could be worse.

Bummer. I was in there recently and bought a bunch of paint. Yes, the plastic section had gotten smaller, but they had plenty of paints and styrene stock... Do you know if the HT in Monroe is still open?

I think we all could build a "decent" model in a week or less back in our younger days, when we weren't so critical of our own work. Of course, our own personal standards were probably lower at that time and technical realities might not have had the same importance as they do now. I remember building the first issue MPC Daytona. It was molded in red. Yep, I left it that color, but I did paint the sub-assemblies, add some decals and taillights (it was a "street" machine, after all) and by golly, it looked cool. Same with the original issue Revell '53 Chevy. Molded in light blue, almost pearl plastic; it, too, was paint-detailed and looked soooo cool when it was done. But, were I to put them on a display table today, they might draw attention due to their age (if I still had them), but the quality and craftsmanship would be sorely lacking. I have an MPC Jeep that I built in '77, the same year that I got married. I also had the measles at that time. My skills had improved by that time, I even painted the tire lettering (yes, with enamel) and the treads (PollyS "Dirt"). I modified the exhaust with a short length of aluminum tube as a tailpipe. It is a clean build, but the paint never was very glossy ("Polish a model? Why?") and I used un-realistic colors on the drivetrain. I want to leave it as is, but every now and then, I consider rebuilding that Jeep... but I won't, for posterity's sake, and as a reminder of my old days. Part of the problem might be the desire to have this model be better than the previous, and the next one will be even better. And, if you throw in what you hope to be a contest-quality model, well... Shorter attention spans as we get older, possibly even ADHD (or whatever), inspiration overload to start the next project and the next after that; then, if you start on a snap kit slump-buster, there's yet another one started. And, there is always the temptation of the newest, bestest kit ever that was just released and it's something that you always wanted to build and you just gotta get it. I, too, experience the sit-on-the-couch-with-the-wife thing. My bench and all my modeling stuff (except my spray paint area) is up in our loft, as is my wife's sewing machine, etc. That was one of the prime reasons why we bought this house. But, she just isn't as dedicated to her hobby as I am to mine. I remember telling her years ago, before we were married, that if I couldn't work on a model, I would go crazy. There have been times when I came close, especially when we were living with our daughter before we left LI. Seriously. My compensation for the lack of hands-on build time comes in the form of planning. I am fortunate in that I can do a lot of that during my "normal" 8 hour work day. Paint colors, details, modifications, parts to use, techniques, etc. I have built so many models in my head that I'm running out of room there, too, But, they all look so cool, with perfect paint and details just so right . I might seem like I'm rambling, but it all boils down to: be comforted in the fact that you are not alone.

Sonny, what you called "cam covers" are actually valve covers- or, rocker covers, to some folks. The Hemi was (and still is) an overhead valve engine. And that vintage Hemi had black, wrinkle-finish textured valve covers. But your models are your world, you can do whatever you want . I do it all the time.

You can do it- there's a lot of good help here.