puddingwrestler

Now I wish I had 4.62 million...

Stop relying so heavily on re-issues. Okay, the elder modelers like them and they can be fun, but often they are subjects which do not appeal t the younger modeler, and they are often more work than new tools just to put together. When I first started modeling as a teen, I was put off car models when the third car I built was a re-issue with poor fit and detail which I didn't enjoy building one bit (this was the late 90s). I'd want to be issuing more new kits, and not all of older model cars. Kids are not as interested in those, you'd need to start issuing newer cars. Convert all model tools to 3-in-1 style so every kit has optional parts, and actually update them so that you're not buying a 1970s custom interior in 2012, but a current style hotrod interior. Also, have a small discrete icon on the box which tells you if a kit is a re-issue or not. Possibly put all the 'classic' reissues in their own series with their own distinct box art. Hell, have multiple series of kits with different box art aimed at different builders. Classic paintings for the traditional modelers, and flashy video game inspired versions for the kids. Also for the video game riddled younger generation, how about magnetic custom parts so you can interchange them on the model once built? You could ship the kit with two or three different spoilers or whatever, and also make seperate sets just of body kit parts which could be swapped on. Maybe develop a video game around the concept - look at what Lego have been doing with Video Games. Sales of bricks have taken a bit of a hit, so the company has diversified out into boardgames, video games and other areas. Not saying this will nessecarily work for cars, but the ability to build your own car for real to match the one you have in game is cool. You could even link up optional parts to game achievements. Maybe you get credit towards buying optional model parts through winning races or something.

There has been very little porgress on the GM three wheeler... On Saturday I collected a bunch of CNC workshop terrain kits my wargames club had won by porving itself the mightiest Warhammer/Warmachine club in victoria or something. I've been working on those a bit instead of the three wheeler. Today I picked up some auto touch up spray in a nice pastel green shade which seemed right for a cheap and cheerful machine of the era. I've re-sprayed the dash and wheels with it (previously I used tamiya blue spray, but it was not quite right...) I've made templates for the front 'fender-shaped' trim, but it's gotten no further. I've basically finished the first batch of CNC workshop stuff, but I got an email yesterday wanting a qoute on some ccustom built wargames terrain, so things might be delayed if that goes ahead...

Arrrr! The Great Grey and Green Land Whale! Whar be me Harpoon? ...I think I know this one, but I will need to think on it.

Not sure if this is the right place, but I have to share! Some chaps in Australia are currently developing a game called 'Automation' - it's a car industry tycoon game. If you remember Detroit from the early 90s, you'll have some idea. Except this is much more customizable. And 3D. And awesome. http://automationgame.com/

Got the plasticard glued to the hood, and putty is now drying even as we speak. (Unless you read this tomorrow, in which case it's now dry!) I'll be using the stock 39 Chevy grille, but attached INSIDE a newly cut La Salle-esque shaped opening. The paint colour has been decided, I managed to find some spare Chevy wheels to use in place of the 49 Ford units I was going to use (they were already glued to tyres, so I had to detach them and they were breaking... curses!). I've just sprayed the dash and wheels with Tamiya TS-15 blue.

I love the awesome combo of the rickety, almost 19th century looking cab and wheels with the enormous and brutal engine!

I'd say you should certainly use the dual rear wheels in keeping with the heavy duty truck heritage. Having those hugely wide dual wheel set ups at the back adds a very purposeful air and helps emphasise the massive scale of anything built from a truck. It ensures that no one will look at it and think 'oh, it's just another hot rod.'

Nice weathering! Always liked the early z... Apart from those wheel covers!

Thing is, i really want this to be a production model. Sething which actually got into the main stream - i intend to make a few of thse you see from diffent companies.

Googly eyes can be good. I cutthe lenses off to make hub caps,oryou can use them asheadlight lenses. Also got my carpeting flock from a craft shop. I have sixteen little jars, each of which has enough for about three interiors. Some colours are not. Uch use, but many of them are.

Yeah, three wheelers are not very stable beasts... And there is no reason to make one in the us... But I cannot be bothered figuring out a reasonable back story to explain why gm would be making a three wheeler cause it'd involve rewriting so much history. Maybe some day... Possibly after this is done and I start the ford counterpart.

For some reason I've been thinking lately about what would have happened if three-wheeler cars took of in the US. They were fairly big in Europe and the UK due to various tax and licensing loop holes, but the US never went for them. This is an attempt to see what would happen if you applied US styling and car building ideas to a three wheeler... It's going to be a curb side since I have no interest in working out the mechanics and engineering of such a machine, I'm just working on the look of it. Donor kit is a Monogram 39 Chevy since it's got a nice pointy nose which works well for a single front wheel. This is the interior. THe Monogram kit came with buckets, custom wheels, a big V8 etc. etc. All very cool if you want a rod, but not much use when you're trying to build a fictional economy model... I've used the bench from an AMT 41 Plymouth since it was the only thing I have which fits. And this is a rough paper mockup of the nose. I'll be using this as a template to cut the plasticard.

Very nice. I like the way the lines sweep down then curve up from the bonnet panels all the way through the cab to the T-Bird read.

You know, as soon as I saw those shots of the body in primer, I thought "Oh, so THAT'S what Batman uses on formal occasions" Very nice work!

Here's the beginnings of the sheet of customizing parts. Mostly grilles at present, along with quad headlights, some flame and scallop designs and side pipes. When complete, there'll also be a blower down where the example cars are, but that'll take a bit more work. The idea is that you can cut out the part you want and just glue it to the paper model over the top of the existing design. So you can easily change grilled for instance by just gluing a new one over the top. This does limit what can be done to an extent - you can't really change the shape of what is already there. A really massive custom job would require a new model, this is just for minor customization and to allow you to have more variety by printing the same car a few times, but changing things around. I did want to do side trims (like the classic buick style so beloved of early customs) but since the existing trim is printed onto the model, you can't change it. Just adding a different trim on top would look a bit silly... Note: The flames and scallops are designed to work on the cars and the ute, they won't fit on the pick up since it's bonnet and sides are both shorter. The grilles etc. will fit on anything. Probably. I haven't really tested things yet, just thought I'd share and see if any one had any ideas for further custom parts. In the meantime, here's the Martian hod rod sheet which I was working on. It's not exactly done either (there should be some Martian teen agers with greasy quiffs and leather jackets to go with the hot rods!) but you can use the soup-up parts from those on the cars as well. I'd sorta forgotten I'd done those... And that should be the last time I edit the post... keep forgetting to put pics in, or doing it wrong, or remembering extra details...

2008 Suzuki Swift in arctic blue. Since I am 6'3" and over weight, my colleagues refuse to believe I fit in the car. Not only do I fit, but I can drive with my battered Fedora on, and still have about an inch of head room above the hat. It's amazingly big inside, unless you are counting the boot, which is very small... In the past I have had a 1989 Mitsubishi Galant, and a 1980 Mazda 929L (that's the one with a 2l 4cyl in and engine bay big enough to fit a small block... if only I could have afforded the small block when I was at uni... if only it wasn't stollen and written off by drunken teens, I might have a low rider V8 929L today... or maybe it'd have fallen apart. It was older than me...)

Very nice! I may just have to get one to satisfy my tractor cravings!

I'm not really a paper modeller myself, but I do spend some time making paper wargames figures for use with my students at the school wargames club. I've made a few 3D things, but only simple ones. I prefer to design my own really... Speaking of paper modelling, there are some handy scripts (think that's teh right word) for Google SketchUp (google's free 3d drawing software) which can flatten 3D objects out into 2D meshes. Very handy for designing paper models, and might actually come in pretty handy for planning scratch builds! I've used one called 'Flattery', but there are others.

Nice one! Since I went to a local working horse and tractor rally the other week I've been feeling a hankering to build a tractor myself... must keep and eye out for this model.

Thanks mate; didn't even notice there was an other models section... Must be time for another eye test.

Well... I still have both my first model (Tamiya PAK40 anti tank gun, which looks suspiciously good since my brother built most of it!) and my first car model (Tamiya Morgan Plus Four), although both are at my parents' house so no pics. I can remember enjoying making the morgan, which I painted with Tamiya sprays. I haven't actually looked at it in ages. I'm pretty sure there was a finger print in the pant, and the rubber straps supplied to hold the hood down drove me mad. I think one of them might have broken. It's covered in dust these days, but next time I visit the parents, I might try to dig it up and get photos. Come to think of it, I have most of my early models still... of course, I got into models at around 14, so around 1997 or so, which means they are not as old as some peoples firsts.

As far as I recall, the Datsun name is older than the Nissan name, at least when applied to cars. The first car they built was called a DAT, so the next was... son of DAT, or DATSON. Apparently that doesn't sound good in Japanese, so it changed to DATSUN. For most perspective buyers of the resurrected Datsun, knowledge of the original brand, and any associations derived from the original dattos probably won't be an issue. I mean, in those markets, I'm not so sure they actually got many of the original Datsuns (I may well be completely wrong here). Also, if they are aimed at the younger buyer, then they may never have heard of Datsun. I know I have students (I teach high school) who have not heard of Datsun... As long as they avoid that confusing period when everything had both a Nissan and a Datsun badge... not sure I want to live through that again!

I always have at least some sort of plan when I buy a kit (although sometimes it's just 'parts kit'). The problem evolves when I don't get round to building it, and it lands up in the stash for a few years. Then I notice it and think 'why on earth did I buy that?'. It usually tends to happen with plane kits. I've got fewer car kits in the stash than anything else really (apart from Star Wars kits I guess), so I tend to remember what they are for. Last week I was looking in the stash and found one which made me scratch my head... then I remembered it was in one of those AMT four packs which I got on eBay because I wanted one of the other cars in it, and figured the others could be parts donors... Eventually I stop scratching my head and kit thrash it into some sort of bizarre Sci Fi thing which has nothing in common with the original kit. My devotion to SF kit thrashing means that everything I buy has a purpose, even if it's just to sit in the stash for a few years until inspiration hits. (I'm more of an SF guy than a car guy you see)

Well, I wasn't entirely sure where to put it to be honest since it's not a build up, and it's not on the bench at present. It's a while since I've been on here, and I'm not completely familiar with all the categories. If the moderators can think of a better place, then they are welcome to move it. I'm not sure I can agree with your statement that these are not model cars; they are still a form of model. Models do not have to be made from plastic or resin, although many of them are. I admit these are fairly toy-like in their simplicity, but I merely wanted to share an alternate form of building.