johnbuzzed

We all learn something every day, Rich. It's just remembering what we learned that's difficult .

Ok, this is a great kit..but I don't want to build a Ford pickup. What will follow this kit? Can we hope for a Dodge- an early '70's vintage, a current Ram or a late '40's Power Wagon?

When I enlisted in the Army in 1973, my starting pay as an E1/PV1 (no stripes) was $326.10 per month. Of course, there were the benefits and the PX. But, to me at 18, that was great money. And I didn't crack the 5.00/hr rate in the private sector until around 1981. Things do change, though not at equal rates and certainly not all for the better. I fell into the "You gotta buy this kit it's the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel!!!" mentality in the mid-late '90's. A lot of those kits were subsequently sold, swapped or given to my sons. I have since learned to buy and intend to build only what floats my boat, no matter how well-rated and -received any other particular kit might be, no matter how much the collective car modeling community might have or not begged, prayed and pleaded for it. I know the '62 Catalina is a nice kit, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna run out and buy one.

Rich, that really looks nice. I gotta see that up close and in-person one day. What I do for the fuel lines at the filter/diode is to slip a short piece of insulation from a small gauge (22 or 24, around there) wire over each end of the conductor and silde it up to the diode itself. This simulates the short piece of rubber hose that connects the hard fittings at the fuel filter to the hard steel fuel lines. Add a little BMF or some PE hose clamps at each end of the insulation. Of course, you need to install the insulation before you do any bending.

Perhaps if more "real" car magazines ran articles about our hobby, more people would take an interest and actually participate and build. Couldn't hurt. Street Rodder and Hot Rod magazines both ran articles some years back (if I remember correctly, Tim Boyd was a contributor to Street Rodder), and many of us remember the articles in Rod and Custom.

That's looking nice, Rich. Since you're on the Island, are you a member of the L.I.A.R.S. club?

Way back in 1983, my wife and I went to the first Street Machine Nationals East. I remember seeing a mid-70's Chevelle or Malibu, whatever they called it, done-up NASCAR style. It was fully street-legal and the roll cage wasn't even welded in place- it was strictly for show. But the car still looked like it could turn some hot laps. It's one option for you. Add some mufflers, head and taillights, some photoetched wipers...

Some really good weathering tips for buildings can be found in model railroading magazines.

And if a plastic kit is not offered, will the world end?

There's a brand of shoes here called "Rocket Dog". Sounds much cooler than "Rocket Bunny". Why is that text backward in the picture?

When I saw what kit you started with, I shook my head... then when I see what you've done with it, I'm totally nodding in agreement. It's really looking good so far.

I realized the meaning of this topic when I read the first post, and I can see why it morphed into a tire sidewall soapbox. I don't know the mechanics involved but I have read that injection molded styrene can be pretty tough on molds; I wonder if tire-quality rubber has that same property. If it does, how does Coker freshen up their molds to such pristine condition, while the model companies continue to produce sub-par quality re-issues of ancient kits? And, regarding the tire sidewall issue: the same company that habitually supplies no-name tires is also the company that produces all-new kits that are lacking fidelity in scale, contours and dimensions. I wonder why.

It's an investment in marketing. I would imagine that Coker has a lot more $$$ to spend than do the model companies, and the products they sell directly reflect on the original manufacturer. And, I would also imagine that the people who buy and use Coker tires have more $$$ to spend than a majority of car modelers do ( I mean no slight or disrepect to anyone out there). They bring the products wherever they go, as a result, many more people see the product in-person and up-close; those people are potential consumers of the same products as many of them probably share the same interests- i.e., hot rods, classic cars, muscle cars, whatever.

Ditto. Along the lines of that "rant", I do not appreciate NASCAR's green/white finish, nor do I like the fact that their caution laps are counted as part of the race laps. If the sanctioning bodies want to go along with the networks to keep the race as short as possible, along with NASCAR's...overzealous(?) desire for safety, why not run a bunch of colorful, 4door family sedans at a sedate 60 MPH for an hour or two? Heck, just have organized bumper-car competition at local amusement parks! Everybody wins! How exciting would that be?

I can't remember the last time I watched the Indy 500. Back in the '90's, possibly. I don't want to see it disappear, but I really no longer give a ratz @$$ about that race.

Very cool. I like it.

Tamiya also has a good selection of colors (in bottles).

Yeah, it's sad to see something like this. But, none of us know how the owner got all those cars, or why, or what he or she intends to do with them. It's like walking into a basement that's jammed floor-to-ceiling with thousands of unbuilt kits- what's the point or purpose? It might not make a lot of sense to many people but if the owner is happy, and there are no actual, physical problems resulting from such a "collection", so be it. I sometimes wonder what will really become of my meager "collection" of 100+ unbuilt kits. Sure, I have plans for just about all of them, and I know I will buy more, but will I ever get the chance to build them all? I really, really want and intend to- at least, right now I do- but who knows what little twists and turns show up in that nice, smooth road called life and how each of us will deal with them. And remember- not all people are as concerned with the almighty dollar as others might be.

WTF ??? That looks like one of those e-mails that lull you into a false sense of security until, suddenly, someone with a mask of some sort or something else meant to be frightening pops up, accompanied by a loud snarl or some other noise. Man, that's just freaky. A rat rod is a connecting rod from a 396/400/427/454 Chevy motor. No?

"Crybabies"? I think not. Rather, we're a group of adults who collectively wonder why a major model manufacturer cannot get the basic contours and dimensions of a relatively common car correct in scale form. It's not like the technology to be able to do so doesn't exist. We buy products from this manufacturer. We would like them to be accurate, fault- and trouble-free. I'll but the kit, flaws and all, but I'll still ponder the manufacturer's logic.

Harry's got a good point. An IPMS event is definitely not the place to start. If you want to be competitive, you can't just build for yourself and be happy for one of these events. That philosophy is all well and good for an NNL type event or your shelves, but it won't hold up well in IPMS competition. You might want to check out the entries on tables before you actually enter a model for competition; they might have a "display only" section, too.

Does anyone know of any celebrities (besides our own, here ) who build?

You think we car modelers take this stuff too seriously? Check out the world of military modeling.

First, you need to address all of the basics involved in building a plastic model. Once you have all that down pat, build whatever you want to build. If you want to do well at an IPMS (actually, any) event, get your model to look as much like the real thing as possible. The model that doesn't look like a model will always catch the attention of onlookers.

"I concur, in spades." Revell should be apologizing to the consumers.