Aaronw

Another for airbrushing. I really have no excuses, I have a good set up for it, just can't be bothered to practice.

Mostly fraud. I usually detail just enough to make people think I did more than I did. That and what Tom said, sometimes I do something just for me, because I feel like it. I also have a hard time not detailing stuff that the kit provides. Take the AMT American LaFrance kit, it has a very nice Detroit Diesel 8V71 in it, that is mostly unseen when built. I could just paint the bottom of the engine and call it good, or even leave the engine out completely, but I can't because it is there and not doing that feels incomplete. I don't feel the need to add extra detail like fuel lines and such (because you won't ever see them) but I do have to at least do a decent job of detailing the parts that are there.

As a custom you could really go either way, as I've seen people put one of those old truck cabs on a pickup chassis. There is a local mechanic here that pulled the cab off of an old IH truck and mounted it on a 1980s Ford Dually with a flatbed. It looks kind of right at first and it took me a bit to realize just what he did. The tires are what really give it away, they are just too small. It makes for a neat whatever hauler though, certainly more eye catching than just an old dually would be. The Semi chassis would probably be a better choice if you wanted it to look like a heavy truck though. Personally I think the Ford C600 or Dodge L700 would probably be a better donor though, being a bit closer in size / weight class to the Chevy cabover and already built for a cabover cab. If you used one of the C600 flatbeds you would even have the flatbed taken care of. The Louisville could work well too, might take a little adjustment for the cab. The latest re-issue includes the race hauler so you would be all set if you wanted to throw a car on the back.

I can see that complaint and it does sound like it was an error. I'm just thinking it would be neat to see some of the model companies start thinking bigger, give suggestions in the instructions like, take the parts from kit A and Kit C, to make this or that version not offered as a kit. The old Johan Rambler kit included things like cutting the roof off the back of the station wagon to build a phantom pickup (El Ramblero?), and many of the AMT 3 in 1 kits offered some fairly complex custom options. The '55 Nomad includes a piece and instructions to also offer a custom pickup if you cut away the roof. I just don't see these kind of more adventurous ideas suggested in modern kits. Cutting away a roof is a lot more ambitious than just swapping a motor and wheels around, but it would be a start to get past just assembling a kit straight from the box. Maybe it was just laziness, hopefully part of a bigger plan just poorly executed the first time around. It does seem to be a recurring issue though with the '57 Ford (supercharger) and '62 Corvette (hardtop). Legos do this on their website. My son like Bionicles (robot-ish creatures) and they offer instructions for entirely new versions that can only be built by combining the various characters.

I really hate it when people take photos of a real car and try to pass them off as a model. You must have a huge photo booth to fit your car in there. Excellent job!

I don't know whether to put on my tin foil hat, or congratulate you for exposing Revell's nefarious plans to encourage kit bashing. If you look at older kits from all the kit makers there used to be a lot more encouragement to customize your model, kit bashing and even modifying parts. I know it annoys some that you have to buy multiple kits to build certain options, but I kind of hope this "mistake" was planned. It would show Revell is thinking about their kits beyond the base level impulse consumer and encouraging more advanced parts box model making.

On the no WW2 end of things I think it is fair to say it is close to a draw. The war definitely pushed some technology forward, while holding other less militaristic technology back. More to the point of where it applies to the subject of this site is where automotive tech may have gone without the World War and cultural shifts that came from the returning veterans. The Corvette and Thunderbird were both inspired by the relatively new interest in small European styled sports cars as many returning GIs were interested in the cars they had seen while serving in Europe. Similarly returning veterans were very closely affiliated with the hotrod and custom motorcycle movement post war.

I don't know of any foreign car model sites. Even though the bulk of the models displayed on this site are of US designed autos, there are quite a few members who are quite knowledgeable about non US cars. I know we have a few from the UK who have been quite helpful when I've had questions about British cars (sadly they also usually have to tell me no model exists ). It would not surprise me to find at least a few members who could help with most foreign cars. Many of the members post little unless it is about their particular niche. I'd suggest you ask your question and see if someone can help, you may not get a useful answer, but you could be surprised at what turns up.

Nothing new there http://my.net-link.net/~dcline/l_s_own2.htm

A D-9 would be neat, but I'd prefer something a bit smaller, D-4, D-6, JD550 etc.

Hobby shops are not in decline, they are changing. How many online shops were there in 1990? Include mail order shops like Squadron and I'm guessing it is still practically none compared to today. The vast majority of Walmart, Micheals, Hobby Lobby type places are at best an introduction to the hobby, they do little for the serious modeler. I'm guessing the only people who really lament / celebrate the comings and goings of models in such places are the old (who refuse to use the internet) and the young (who don't have credit cards to order with). The vast majority either have a quality LHS with a good stock (or is good about ordering), have an old style mail order they use or have adapted to life in the 21st century and use the internet. I've got at least 1/2 a dozen online shops I use regularly, another dozen or so saved in my favorites for occasional use and know of probably 20 beyond that I haven't bothered to save. If the hobby was in decline I don't think we would be seeing so much growth in the online hobby shop. We are seeing a pretty lively aftermarket and specialty market (resin / short run kits) and the major producers have been pretty active in producing new kits. I wouldn't expect any of these to be so productive if they were not seeing a return on their investment.

Except for the short "Police Services" era of the mid 1970s the San Francisco PD has used the same style markings for most of their motorized history, so a modern set of SFPD decals should be very adaptable to this kit. Only problem is I think the SFPD was running 4 door cars by the 1950s. Wonder when we may see a 4 door from the resin casters...

Thanks, I was debating whether to bother with the PD kit or just grab a standard. Nothing spectacular, but the kit also isn't a whole lot more expensive so I'll grab the PD kit.

I bought a bunch of 41 quart plastic totes and bath towels. The totes are probably 6" tall, 30" long and 18" wide with a lid. I put a large bath towel on the bottom wrinkled up then placed the models on the towel. I pulled up the wrinkles to provide a little cushion between the models. The wrinkled towel keeps the models from moving around too much, gives them a little padding from road bumps and keeps them from bashing together. The totes are sturdy enough to allow stacking 2 or 3 high. You just need to keep them upright and avoid hard jarring (don't crash). I moved all my models (cars, trucks, airplanes, helicopters etc) 7 hours this way over twisting mountain roads, freeway and urban traffic and had zero casualties. I also have a nice new collection of bath towels.

Joseph, it appears I overlooked your comments and posted work. I read them, just noticed I failed to comment, sorry about that and thanks. I'm curious about the Dremel attachment, it looks very useful.

Pete, thanks for complicating my life. Seriously though thanks for pointing out some of the finer points of difference between the two machines, it does make the Sherline more desirable than it first appeared.

Would those of you with a Taig mind posting some of the things you've made with it? It might help me see if it is the right tool for me. Thanks.

Pete, appreciate the comments. If money wasn't a factor I'd definitely go for the Sherline. Unfortunately it is, so I'm not so much looking at which is better, but more is the Taig good enough for my modest needs. While I think I will find a lot of uses for a lathe, I do have a great fear of having an expensive dust collector. Wish I had a better idea what my needs really were, it would make the decision much easier. I'm the same way preferring to buy local. Like Sherline, Taig is a small US based company. When you call the number on the website you talk to the guy who builds the lathes.

The basic lathe costs $310 and with the package listed above it comes in at $491. The power feed adds another $75. Shipping is included in the price. Even with the power feed the Taig costs little more than the Harbor Freight mini lathe (and from what I've read the majority of the other micro lathes are all made in the same factory in China despite different brand names) and it has a much better reputation for quality and after purchase service. The comparable Sherline with a similar starter package runs around $850. Taig Micro Lathe http://www.taigtools.com/mlathe.html Sherline http://www.sherline.com/4000pg.htm

Are any of the police parts of any particular interest to emergency vehicle modelers? Anything really nice that we can't grab from some of the other kits out there? I remember when this was first announced and sprue shots appeared it looked like the police special parts were kind of generic and uninspired, hoping maybe that changed over the production cycle.

I've been looking into a micro lathe for the past year and am at the point I want to get one. I'm looking at Sherline and Taig, which both have a good reputation and are made in the US. The Sherline looks nicer (looks like a miniature mtal shop lathe rather than a cobbled together hobby tool) but is about 50% more expensive and other than cosmetic appeal doesn't seem to offer anything I actually need. The various Chinese built lathes do not offer any significant savings so I have no interest in them, it is Sherline or Taig at this point. I'm 99% sold on the Taig Micro Lathe, they are currently offering a starter package with the following Package #3 - Micro lathe assembled unit - Collet set with 8 collets and closer - 3 jaw self centering chuck - 0 to 1/4 inch Jacobs chuck - 6 piece tool bit set - Drilling tailstock with 3/8-24 thread - 12 x 18 mounting board - motor mount bracket - 1/2 inch pulley set (3M 500 belt) - 1/4 hp Marathon Motor (1725 RPM) wired with switch and cord. which looks like everything I'd need to get started. At the moment I'm primarily looking at making wheels, emergency beacon light bases, siren housings etc. Fairly simply things to start with. They also offer a power feed option for an additional $75 which I'm leaning towards getting, but not positive it is really something I will be needing. I'll probably make my decision this week so any last minute comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It is a good chunk of money that will cut into the model budget for sometime, so I want to get this right. I'd also like to thank those of you that have chimed in on this subject in the past.

I've become a big fan of LED lights. They are expensive but very energy efficient and create almost no heat. I have 11 LED lights over my bench, four 50w spots and 7 90w floods. They only draw about 200w total and I would cook like an easy bake oven if they were incandecents.

That is Chevrolets code. C = 2 wheel drive pickup / SUV, K= 4x4 pickup / SUV, G= van, P was used for their stepvans. 10 = 1/2 ton, 20= 3/4 ton, 30 = 1 ton, later they switched the 10, 20, 30 to 1500, 2500 and 3500. Ford and Dodge have similar coding systems for their trucks.

There is a plastic 1/25 scale Dannon Yogurt delivery truck promo you can occasionally find on ebay, but they are usually rather pricy. Last time I was looking was a few years ago and they were running between $75 and 100, and I don't recall if it was a Chevrolet. If you are willing to go with a smaller scale there are a few decent plastic or diecast toys around 1/34 scale that might work for you. I agree with Matt on the chassis, these are the same as the 3/4 ton (P20) or 1 ton (P30) trucks with a different body. The Ford is the only detailed dually out there, the Chevrolet being basically a promo. I assume this has a 350 under the hood, so you will probably want to find one of those to replace the Ford's 460. These are really just a big box, everything including the interior is usually just flat panels so scratchbuilding shouldn't be too bad except for the grill. The grill on most of these trucks are pretty basic so probably not too much of a job if you can scrounge some headlights and such from the parts bin.

When I got back into models around 2002 my "work bench" was a 3/4" laminated plywood circle about 18" in diameter that I sat on the kitchen table or my lap. I kept all my supplies in a large tool box so I could move them to whichever part of the apartment was the model room that day. In 2005 we moved into a 2 bedroom house and I got the small laundry room (pretty much a dead end hallway) as a model room. In 2007 we moved into a 3 bedroom house, and I got the upstairs hallway which had a large landing for my model table. The white circle on the table and the black and yellow tool box are my original workspace. This was shortly after moving in, it was never so neat and orderly again. Ah, yes this is more like it. Notice the spacious 8x10" working area. Last year we moved (again) and bought a house. We found a house we love, and like the town so we have no plans on moving again. I was all set to find a spot in the basement when I was surprised by my wife offering up one of the bedrooms, with one catch. I had to leave a corner for her so she could hang out while I work. Apparently she likes my company and would prefer to keep me in the house instead of disappearing into the basement. With an offer like that I set about building my dream model shop. I decided on a 16x8' work area. The bench is 3 feet deep set up in a J shape so in my primary working area I essentially have 3 benches just by turning the chair. The remainder of the bench is for other work, paint booth, casting area etc. This has also proved useful when others need a work space where they are safe from disturbing my projects. There is an attached room we are currently using for storage and the model stash (my wife refers to that room as the hobby shop). and the tool girl lounge which made this possible.