TimKustom

So did you paint this one 26 times? Love the rivets! Great Job!

Jim, agree with you wholeheartedly. Here's a couple of it when it was in its heyday: Sweeper, it was a night of fun! My wife is a Michigan State alumni. I'm sure we'll be back! Glad 'Ole Valvoline Bus driver is OK. Have some vids of the action, need to get them uploaded.

Kool project you have going on there. I like how the tilt nose works on the body line. I built one very similar to what you have started a few years ago. The front inner fenders need a lot of work to get a wide tire in there. Keep up the good work.

Hadn’t had a Michigan adventure since bringing home the Starfire (my avatar) a couple of years ago. ‘Bout time to have another one! We went up there to see some family and discovered a few sites along the way. Happened to come across some figure 8 Bus racing. That wasn’t even the main event! Trailer racing! That lasted about 2 laps... Pic above was from the “warm up†earlier in the evening. Was wandering around and started seeing a bunch of cool cars driving around. Where are they going? Found the Baker’s of Milford Cruise In. They say it’s the largest weekly cruise in. We got there late, but find out there were over 900 cars there. Just a few of my faves: Then it was on to explore some of the Detroit’s fine ruins. The Packard Plant is pretty awesome if this is your kind of thing. Capped it off by heading over to Cedar Point to ride some coasters. Top Thrill Dragster is pretty kool... Few more pics at the link: http://public.fotki.com/timkustom/vacation/michigan-adventure-2010/

Way Kool! Colors look great! Awesome Job.

Thanks for sharing. Looks like many of those cars are "recreations" and not authentic racers from their eras. That Bobby Allison car just doesn't look right. Many of the cars at the Talladega Motorsports Hall of Fame are authentic "as raced" or lightly restored (the #71 K&K car was at Dega at some point). I was under the impression that the Jr. #3 would be the "as raced" car. Looks awfully clean to me. The engine exhibit looked pretty neat though. Still would like to check it out sometime.

Great build!

It's made of plastic and it's burnt. "Built" by the esteemed Tommy May. Probably not the kind of inspiration you're looking for though...

Awesome, Awesome Model right there. Best I've seen in a while!

Ed, Awesome artwork you made for your SS car. I see no problem with those looking great on a white paint job. I'd recommend printing them on your inkjet using the highest quality photo settings. I haven't ever printed decals on an inkjet so I can't really say what to use to seal them, but there are some suggestions above. BTW, I've seen and had decals made (from vector art) on an ALPS printer and I've not been impressed. They always have some form of weird dot/cross hatch texture to them that I haven't seen an inkjet or laser printer produce. Can't wait to see them on the model! TK

Here’s the nutshell version of what I’ve done. The printer I’ve used is this: http://www.office.xerox.com/multifunction-printer/color-multifunction/docucolor-240-250/enus.html Most "copy shops" should have something similar. The paper I’ve used is this: http://www.beldecal.com/laser_paper.html For this model I used the white paper since I wanted white lettering. There is only 6 decals on the model (2 on top, 2 on hood, one on each side). The printer did not like the white paper. It seems to be the clear paper “painted†white and it would jam in the fuser. Luckily, I got one sheet through. The 8.5x11†sheet had three sets, just in case I messed up. On this model (built by Tommy May) I designed, then printed these decals on the clear sheet. Had no problems with these. Decals will only be as good as the artwork. Both of these models artwork was created in Adobe Illustrator and is vector artwork. Most of the internet “art†is low resolution and will not provide “sharp†decals. I’d recommend using vector art whenever possible. Hope this helps and good luck with your decal projects.

Thanks for the comment Ray. You can see most of my builds in my fotki albums. http://public.fotki.com/timkustom/model_car_stuff/ I don't build very fast, but here are a few of my favorite builds. Hope you enjoy.

Maybe my experience in the hobby can help some of the other builders out there. I’ve always been interested in cars. I started building models with my dad (who built a few in the ‘60s) because those were the most realistic replicas I could find. As I got older, I started building them by myself. I thought they looked pretty good, especially compared to my friends models that they built. Then one day I got dropped off at the mall and a “club†had a model display. I talked to one of the guys there and they said I should come to one of there meetings and bring my models. So the next month my dad and I attended. That club has a “contest†a few months later. I enter the “junior†class, and got a couple of first places, and was pretty happy about that. More importantly, I saw the models of Pat Covert (y’all might have heard of him). He got best of show in the adult class. I wanted to build models LIKE THAT! So this young kid asks him how he does it. He said he’ll show me. The next model I built, he critiqued. Same with the next and next and next. When the next show came around, many builders were saying my models didn’t “belong†in the junior class. This attention allowed me to meet many great modelers and learn more techniques, as well as acquire many friendships along the way. Allowing these friends to critique my models made the next one better and guess what? More first place trophies came my way. Now, nearly 25 years later I’m not as concerned about making the “next one better.†I’m much more content to challenge myself and try to build a 3D version of whatever is in my head when I have the time and desire to do so. Here's an old build that I think I've topped a couple of times over.

Great detail going on here Jeff. I've built several of these Camaros and hope a trick I learned along the way can be useful to you. It looks like you haven't got into the bodywork yet. The rear pan fits terribly on this kit. I've glued that on, filled the seams, then rescribed them. Next, cut the lower front valence off at the body lines. It's pretty easy to make a "backer" inside the fenders so aids in the fit and gives a nice place to glue it during final assembly. This also solves an issue with the fit of the radiator support. As the kit is designed, Its real tricky to get the body on without snapping the support loose. It's a very tight fit. Without the front valence, it slides in no problem. Looking forward to more progress.

Krazy Kool! ;)

I was pleasantly surprised when I built this kit. Yes, it has some shortcomings, but it's the only 25th scale version out there. The headlight stone guards are a major problem. The MCG parts were designed for the 24th scale Revell kit and are WAY too big for this model. Not a real good chance to see another set made for this kit. Maybe if you get "in the zone" you could drill holes and weave some wire across the lights to get the effect. Good luck. BTW, this is what I did with mine, seen on here a while ago:

Kool diecasts in here! I don't really collect diecasts, but I do check them out for "parts." These aren't my pics, but I have both of them since a 1999 Cougar is part of the 1:1 Fleet. Minichamps 1/43rd is VERY nice. Only needs a spoiler and Mercury emblems to be a match to ours. Also have the 1/18 scale version of it. Not very prototypical, but looks OK "opened up." Someday it will get taken apart, painted black and a spoiler added. Only "new edge" Cougars in scale that I know of.

Very nice! Can't wait to see it this weekend!

Jason, good to hear you’re going to be there! Speaking of being there... Come and meet Ken Hamilton, Virgil “Cranky†Suarez, Bob Downie, Pat Covert and many other “known†modelers and even more “soon to be known†modelers. If that’s not enough, shop the latest wares from great vendors like Replica’s & Miniatures Company of Maryland, ScaleDreams, Slixx, Model Roundup & many others! All in a NEW facility that keeps all this fun in one big room. If that’s still not enough, heading over to Talladega Superspeedway and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame is even easier now that it's only 20 minutes away! Sounds like a Model Car Extravaganza if there can be one. Hope to see y’all there.

Here's a couple... This one sat on the top shelf of my buddy Tinman's shop for over 20 years. Great "weathering" job that would be hard to reproduce. Another one, this is a Firebird Pro-Mod was built by Tommy May about 20 years ago. The paint never dried! Looks terrible now, wait until it's "restored" though...

My buddy Tommy May tried this technique once. Just remember, the model is the TRUE trophy...

Very cool model!

Very clean eye-catching combo. Nice job!

Head over to Ebay and search for Testor's 1/43 scale highboy. It comes with a couple of sets of wheels and tires that are VERY nice. Here's a set of the Pro-Street wheels/tires my buddy Tommy May used on an AMT 1/43rd Camaro.