Lunajammer

Had our first warm day of the season and I got a little impulsive to finally get that clear coat on the '61 Ranchero. Didn't think it through and put a coat of Testors One Coat lacquer over my Rustoleum green, which I think is acrylic enamel. The green almost turned white and obviously put on a finely crazed surface. I think this is the first time ever I've had to strip a body that I painted myself. Grr! ?

Got a little impulsive to finally get that clear coat on the '61 Ranchero and take advantage of some warm weather. Didn't think it through and put a coat of Testors One Coat lacquer over my Rustoleum green, which I think is acrylic enamel. The green almost turned white and obviously put on a finely crazed surface. I think this is the first time ever I've stripped a body that I painted myself. Grr! ?

Which is what makes the lottery possible. I've always maintained that if people could actually, mentally comprehend the odds of winning a national lottery, it would cease to exist.

Best car would be the 1983 Datsun/Nissan 200SX identical to this web pic. I bought it not running for $400 with 95,000 mi. and it had been rolled 1-1/2 times in deep snow so it was bent up but not a total wreck. I switched out the main CPU and drove it daily for 13 years. Very peppy and dangerous on snow and ice but fantastic low end power and great MPGs. Nimble, quick, and more dash gauges than a jet plane. Near the end of its life it still just wouldn't die! My mechanic finally told me to quit bringing it in, because the fixes usually exceeded the value of the car and he'd been left with too many abandoned cars with unpaid bills and feared this might become one of them. Finally traded it for a Ford Ranger long bed as my needs changed. ?

Class, man. CLASS!

I'm reviving this thread because it's worth a second look. John, where are you?

As an agency graphic designer, I use Photoshop for hours on end and I enjoy it. Photoshop makes work easier but it's 100-percent controlled. That's fine for commercial design and layout, but art by hand is much more liberating and expressive. There's not much "undo" so you kind of live in the moment and take what you get. The mistakes, successes and textures are more honest and I think viewers can see and appreciate that.

Like maybe a '58 Peugeot.

Some real beauties. Thanks for sharing.

A brilliant piece of concepting, fabricating and finishing. That'll be a good conversation starter at your next show.

Likewise, I've never seen this one. What I like about Palmers is they are so far off the mark that you can't rationally call them the vehicle they're supposed to be. So instead, look at them as some phantom and have some fun customizing it into something nobody's seen before and would never recognize any association with their "intended" look. I saw one done that way, it looked awesome and I became a believer.

Another brilliant jet rod. Always a pleasure to witness the fertility of your automotive sci-fi imagination. Thanks for keeping this thread alive.

Roadhouse Riviera

I respect your choice to not chrome the ridges in front of the rear wheels. Doesn't need it.

First off, thanks for posting this. I've really wanted a first-hand report on what's in the box and how it goes together. This model is like a kit bashers dream. It's already so nutty that any additional customizing can't make it worse, which is liberating for customizers who want to try risky choices. Kudos for what you're doing. Otherwise everyone has already spoken my other thoughts.

Nice Dennis, some great choices on the Club. Looking less like a concept car and more like a sports car.

I owned a 68 Cougar for about seven years and I totally relate to his comments like "love, hate relationship." It was an XR7 with a 302 and was clearly a cut above standard 289 Cougars in opulence and accessories. But vacuum power ran everything you could think of; brakes, carburetion, wipers, turn signals, headlights, pumps, gauges, etc. and when those hoses and diaphragms get old, cracked and pin-holed, the whole car becomes a gremlin village.

I dunno, doesn't seem like a deal breaker to me. Probably just a case of needing to step away for a while. When you come back later these boulders of set backs and grief will seem like pebbles and you'll have a better view of how close you are to buttoning it up. It ain't over till the kinky six sings.

I agree that it looks okay on some vehicles. I've been looking at the Hyundai Kona but I fear that nothing dates a car's look more than black plastic. Partly, as mentioned, it ages poorly, but also it usually means that later generations will have that part body color, which really makes the black plastic look even more dated.

This 1/48 figure from the Monogram Cessna 180 is the only one I can think of.

Sometimes. Just last night I helped a friend box up her mother-in-laws condo to be taken straight to the charity stores. She came from half way across the country for one week to do this task. It's winter. There's no rummage sale. I usually can't convince my friends to orchestrate rummage sales, they just want the stuff gone and let the charities decide what's trash or treasure.