Aaronw

Nope, I live in the shake & bake state, we don't do hurricanes.

I've also had photobucket for 4-5 years, I think the only real advantage to the pay version is you can load larger pics, but 800x600 seems to be pretty much the standard for most model sites. Copy your pics back onto your hard drive then load them into photobucket, one at a time. No easier way I know of unfortunately, could be a long tedious process if you have lots of pics to move.

Nice job on an unusual build, don't see many '54s, in fact I think this one is the first completed I've seen. The 54 has a completly different grill that would not lend its self to an easy drop in replacement, it has a different shaped windshield too. The resin I've seen replaced the entire cab except for the hood, just wish I could remember who does a '54.

If your big issue is getting US kits at a reasonable price, maybe you could use one of the big online dealers like Tower. Their prices are very good and a large enough order might keep the shipping relatively reasonable. If the kits are that difficult to get in the UK you might be able to offer decent prices and still make a little money. http://www.towerhobbies.com/ Probably not practical but who knows.

Looking at the stash and where do you work threads there were several comments about paint storage, particularly the nice commercial paint racks a few have managed to find. I thought I'd post a couple of do it your self methods, most modelers should be able to make. I understand model builders are good at assembling things. Glue holder I don't know how many bottle of glue I spilled before I made this. This works for most brands of liquid glue, I know it definately works for the Plastruct brand glues. It is a PVC pipe cap (1 1/4" if I remember right) epoxied to a plastic electrical box cover. The whole thing cost about $5 to make and I haven't spilled a bottle of glue since (even with the help of my cat). Paint rack Another fairly easy to make project. I went to the local lumber yard and bought a few sizes of wood molding, some glue and a small pack of finishing brads. I have a fair wood shop set up in my garage which made it easier but the only neccessary tools are a small hand saw and tack hammer (or preferably a brad driver). Anyone who got a C or better in high school wood shop should be able to build something like this. This is a great project if you are in Highschool woodshop, who needs a spice rack. I made the bottom shelf double wide for stability, the back half makes a nice storage shelf for those items you don't need to get at very often, I mainly store extra glue on it (I hate to run out of glue in the middle of a project so I keep quite a few extra bottles), but it also works well for tall paint bottles common for some brands of airbrush only paints. For both of these projects it is best to bring a few bottles of the glue and paint you use with you to make sure you get parts that will fit. On the paint rack I layed out bottles of Tamiya and Model master to chose a shelf length thaty fit my space and used most of the shelf for paints. In my case the shelf will hold 10 bottles of Tamiya or 12 bottles of Model Master paint.

People should remember, Labor day isn't about the guys who get you an extra nickel an hour. It is a day to remember those who died to get kids out of factories, to ensure you get paid for each hour of work, your right to have a union etc. Into the 1930's there was a lot of violence between employees and management, in a few cases outright limited war. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history...e_United_States I bet you have a better than average management / employee relationship too.

Luke 57 aka Mitchem has a very unique way of showing off his builds. Not quite sure why it sets some people off, except for some who are disappointed when they find out it isn't real. I wouldn't call it a hoax or a joke, more wishful thinking and a creative way to show off a build. Not really sure how this is that much different from real vs model posts, but it never fails someone takes one of his posts as somebody trying to pull something. I'm not even into racing but I always enjoy seeing his latest work.

I actually have both the truck kits mentioned. Since I'm really more interested in a 1 ton I guess I need to check on the suspension, I'm guessing it is a leaf set up so the Midnight Cowboy might be a better choice. I've got a Chevy truck book around here somewhere. I wouldn't have even though about using a van, I have a 70's Custom Chevy van but it is already fairly well along. Thanks

I was wondering is the Revell '64-65 pickup chassis would work as a more detailed chassis for the AMT '72 Chevy & GMC pickups? Is there a better solution? The '72 is a decent kit but the old promo style chassis and suspension limit the kit, just looking at a way to improve it.

Funny I would have expected you to enter something with a Studebaker theme, StudeSlayer, StudeBreaker etc.

Revell had a Golf(?) GTI a few years back, late 90's-2000ish version. It will always be the Rabbit to me.

Thanks, kind of what I expected but thought I'd ask.

For me personally, no I don't think it would be that hard to make one if I actually needed one and I can't imagine I would need one. Is it becoming popular to put game systems into cars these days?

Tom, thanks and it looks like you have a fun project there yourself. I'll wait until the article arrives but I'll probably be bugging you for some specifics on the 1-1 once I get started.

Ok, the evil D word, but diecast does open up some options not available in plastic. I really like the trucks of the 30-60's so I've picked up a few from the mints (Franklin, Danbury etc) as well as the cheaper stuff from Yatming, Spec Cast etc. I'm just wondering how much these really appreciate, if I hack up the '38 GMC COE stakebed I just bought for $75 will I be kicking myself in 5 years because its worth $7500 or will I still be able to buy one on ebay for $50-100? They call these collectables but they don't seem to be much more collectable than plastic kits or am I wrong here. I buy them to build with but just wondering if I may regret that at some point. Thanks

Thanks for the help. That carnut site should help, they are larger and more detailed than the ones I found at stovebolt. The tip on the Car Modeler mag article is great, I was able to find a copy on ebay for $4. I was looking at the top and was having a hard time deciding if it had been chopped. The 1-1 on the box art looks like a standard roof but the kit looked a bit low, but I was having a hard time deciding if it was chopped or not since the Chevy does have a fairly low top.

That was my thought too, I'd get out with a couple $6 models, a gas grill, and a compound miter saw. I try to stay away from places like that, they are just as bad as the hobby shop.

If you are just looking for a good online model shop I've been using Tower Hobbies and Model Round Up for a couple of years. I've had very good service from both. Tower is smoking fast, I usually have my orders in my hands in 3 days. http://www.towerhobbies.com/index.html http://www.modelroundup.com

I picked up an Orange Blossom Special awhile back with plans on building it as a stock '37 Chevy. I know there will be a fair bit of work doing this, but one thing I really need is some good close up photos, particularly of the hood sides which are cut away in the kit. I have found some decent photos at stovebolt dot com, but nothing with good close ups. Just thought I'd take a shot and see if someone owns one, knows someone who owns one or maybe someone has some good pics from a carshow I could use. Also for the motor and wheels would the '41 Chevy truck provide the appropriate parts? If anyone has done a similar conversion, I could definately use some tips. Thanks

I like to eat Doritos or Cheetoes immediately before handling models.

Its a bit of a mess, but I don't think I'll get any lectures from you people. My stash and work space are on the upstairs landing, kind of a 1/2 room, 1/2 hallway. The cupboards and drawers have model related stuff, there are about 15 more kits stashed against the wall under my work table.

This came up awhile back, I don't believe it matters how you pay. As I recall it was mentioned that you can accept puca shells if that is the currency you desire. Just taking a quick look I see some of the items accept paypal, or money order.

Very nice, I saw a similar 1-1 cabover wrecker in Lone Pine, CA a couple years back and thought it would be a neat project. There was also a 50's Ford N cab over wrecker still in service at another repair shop nearby.

For those of you wondering how to make weapons, go get yourself some plastic & brass tubing in various sizes and shapes, also some ball bearings, BBs, pellets, fishing weights etc. If you spend a little time with the stuff the weapons will develop. I built a 4x4 armed & armored Porsche 911 about 20 years ago using this stuff for the weapons with no idea what I was doing. It had a couple of rockets in the bumper, a gatling on the hood and a mine dropper in the back. Wish I knew what happened to that build, it was fun and I'd like to have it. Machine guns / light cannon barrels can easily be made by telescoping tubing of various sizes into each other. Several pieces of small diameter brass tubing spaced around a piece of solid tubing, with the end encased in a larger diameter piece of tubing makes a quick good looking gatling gun. Rocket launchers are easily done using tubing and a BB, ball bearing or pellet. Just glue one of these inside the appropriate sized tubing and you have a round or pointy nosed rocket slightly visible inside the launch tube. Put several together to make a multi tube rocket launcher. Various shapes and sizes of tubing make good dropped weapon launchers, rectangular tubing makes a nice chute to a mine layer, several pieces of small round tubing can be used for the nozzles of an oil sprayer, maybe smash the tips a bit for more of a spray effect. Larger round tubing makes a good exhaust port for a smoke screen. Solid round tubing and some sheet styrene can be used to make grenade dischargers similar to the smoke grenade launchers on a tank. Of course none of this even addresses poking, slashing or bashing weapons, and the various nasty bits these cars seem to sprout. If you get some of the items I mentioned and just fiddle with it, you will find weapons will just start to come to you.

If that is from KFS I've heard from other that ordering is very easy. STS used to carry KFS stuff but the exchange rates are not very good right now so they stopped. I have not ordered directly from KFS but the quality of their stuff is very good. They have a set of photo etch chain binders that not only look great, they actually work as tiny chain binders.