Aaronw

Quote and edit are quirky, I'm still trying to figure things out myself, it's not just you.

I don't know Bill, a lot of companies are turning out new snap kits. Revell has done 4 new tool snap kits for 2015 (Corvette, Mustang, Crown Vic and Raptor), how many new tools does Revell have planned for 2015? Although some are quite nice and even decently detailed I think it is unlikely that they are targeting the older established builders with these kits. Not US based but Zvesda has done several nice WW2 snap kit planes, as well as the more child friendly Pixar CARS and PLANES kits. Hobby Boss has been doing a series of EZ builds for several years now, and while not snap kits Airfix is still clearly targeting new (and presumably younger) builders as well with their starter kits which include glue and paint. Add in Lego is doing quite well, and one of the most popular computer games is Minecraft, pretty much virtual Lego. Kids love building stuff, they've always loved building stuff. As to Greg's question, I'll take an El Camino and a wagon.

I find Super Clean a bit more effective than Purple Power, but they seem to be closely related. My experience has been that it is use rather than storage life that makes a difference in potency. I keep a plastic tub with a lid filled with Superclean. I've had a batch good for a year or more, but also had it "go bad" in much shorter times if I've had to strip a lot of paint. Chrome seems to have less impact, although that could also be due to the overall much smaller quantity of material being removed. I have read that the various purple cleaners can react and damage resin although I haven't had an issue there. I did stop using it with resin after hearing that though, so might have just been lucky.

Has anyone used Dawn Platinum? Sometime back someone recommended Dawn Power Dissolver, but I wasn't in need of a paint stripper. I recently finished off the last of the Super Clean I usually use and thought I'd give the Power Dissolver a try (I've found Super Clean seems less effective since they took Castrol off the label). Apparently Power Dissolver has been replaced with Dawn Platinum, there is a liquid and a foam. There also seems to be a version formulated for cleaning BBQ grills. I would like to avoid pioneering a new product if someone already has some experience with it.

These are great kits, my only gripe being I wish they left the stock engine parts in the kit. I like style you are building, very mild custom on the outside with a little something extra under the hood.

You're right, Barracudas have more of a shark like down turned mouth. Note the cool kids can remove the Dodge emblem and replace it with a Ford blue oval or Chevy Bowtie so the car is eating their rivals.

Come on Harry, of all cars one named for a fish should utilize the fish mouth look that seems to be the in look right now. Needs more of a fish tail out back too. Apoligies for my lack of photoshop skills

Scion xB, Scion Tc, Scion FRS, Nissan Cube, Nissan Juke, Dodge Charger, VW Golf, VW Beetle, Mazda 3 all quite distinctive and quite popular with the younger generations. I'm well aware of what the majority here think about these cars.

Well with attitudes like that I can't imagine why we don't have young people breaking down doors to get into this hobby. Me no like new things, new things dumb, people who like new things clueless idiots.

Can you drive it 100,000 miles with no maintenance beyond oil changes and putting fuel in it? You can with most new cars, and that is what most people want, a car that they don't have to think about. The majority of people are not "car guys", cars are appliances. Asking them what is under the hood is like asking you the same question about your dishwasher. As far as the Nomad? Get a photo of a '57 Chevy, '57 Buick and a '57 Oldsmobile. Show those photos to a bunch of random people under 30 and see if they can identify them, see if they even notice that they are not different pictures of the same car.

Interesting, I can't remember ever seeing a car of any make with an engine that color. Well that shoots a hole in my bronze green theory.

I'm guessing this is probably more of an industrial plant fire engine, think big motorized fire extinguisher rather than city fire engine or brush truck. I've seen similar industrial fire engines built on Land Cruisers and Jeeps. Pretty neat, will definitely have to add one of these to the wish list.

I wonder if the reference to bronze is actually the green color. There is a WW2 US aircraft interior color Bronze Green which was a dull medium to dark green. Ford built a lot of B-24 bombers in WW2, so could have had a stash of surplus Bronze Green paint laying around in the late 40s / early 50s.

That very much does seem to be the case. I tried to buy some cabinet hinges at Home Depot awhile back. They had a very small selection in the store, but online they have a huge selection and will ship to store for free. Strangely they can't or won't order the same items for you while you are standing in the store, you have to go home and get on the computer.

Michaels 40% off coupon is good for any non-sale item in the store. I know model car guys are cheap, but I doubt those coupons are only buying models.

Seems to be a store by store thing. I went in one Walmart while out of town, and they had moved all their the models (not many) to a clearance shelf. The same day at the Walmart near me the whole store has been rearranged, but while the small model section has been moved it still occupies the one 4 foot section it has always had, nothing on clearance. The Michaels by me reset their models, added a few new ones, moved a few to clearance but no change in size. Not good for much but impulse buys, but 40-50% off makes those impulses harder to resist.

That is good to know. I used to buy from them quite a bit as well, but based on what they offer on their website it seemed like they were getting out of that end of the business.

Well good and bad then. Good news if you want a 4x4 F150, I was actually wanting to make it an F350 so I guess I'll be making up some leaf springs...

Probably not, the moment they call it a Superliner they have a licensing issue. Making it 100% accurate to the real thing but calling it a Super Bulldog would be more likely to thwart licensing issues. Mack's lawyers probably google bulldog on a regular basis, but would they actually recognize a Mack truck if it bit them? I think the answer to the inaccuracy issues are most likely cost and effort based.

This looks great. It may be a small detail, but the tires in this shot really set the model off for me. They really look like tires, not an easy thing to do.

Very nice looking car, and a good job building it.

The Detroit guys have a few big truck things Motor City has a Ford N600. Also some medium duty things like a Stepvan, and Chevy 3500HD. Some light duty vans, sedan deliveries and pickups too. http://www.motorcityresincasters.com/index2.htm Missing Link has a 1970s Ford F700 http://www.missinglinkrc.com/ford_kits_2012.htm

Sorry to hear that, I didn't interact with him much but I do remember some fantastic models. RIP

So finally got one of the '71s and I like it. I'm not a big fan of the free floating hood but it seems like now that the firewall and radiator support are in it sits more securely so maybe it won't be an issue after all. Other than that looks like a great kit, looking forward to more options down the road. I've got another '71 and a '69 ordered. I may do one as a hippy camper complete with a homebuilt wood shingle camper shell, although I've got a '65 Chevy competing for the same project... I've seen several people have used the AMT '78 Ford Camper Special for 4x4 running gear. Is this technically accurate or just something that works. Wouldn't that make this an F250 or 350? I thought the F150 had a different type of front end more like the Bronco.