bob paeth

Good start, gang, here is another tale: Sometime around 1967, in Southern California, the Orange County Raceway opened. I was fortunate enough to get a press pass for the initial opening day. As I recall the track, was to have Datsun sports cars for use by students of the Bob Bondurant school of driving. Everyone in attendance got a chance to first, take a couple of hot laps with a driving instructor and then a few with you driving. I remember asking how fast could I go and the instructor replied " how fast can you go" ? I didn't set any records but I didn't spin out either. The high-light of the day, other than the food and open bar, was to get a ride around the course in a big block Corvette. After standing in line for about a half an hour, It was finally my turn to sit in the Vette and buckle in. After making sure my lap belt and shoulder harness were secured and my crash helmut was on tight, the driver turned to me and said" remember, what scares you scares me". With that said, James Garner put the pedal to the metal and we flew around the track, drifting in the corners, wailing down the straightaway and negotiating a set of traffic cones like they were not even there. Paul Newman, step back. You have a competitor. A little background on Mr. Garner: He was one of the stars in the movie "Grand Prix". The movie used many profesional drivers in the race scenes and many scenes had to be re-shot because the professionals couldn't keep up. Bob :shock:

Because of my previous life with Revell, I had the opportunity to meet many famous people in the 1/1 automotive world. My first encounter occured in 1965 while attending the Grand Prix races in Watkins Glen, NY. Watkins Glen, at least then, was a wide spot in the road. When the sun went down, the city crew rolled up the side walks and the citizens simply dissapeared into the night. The cabin I was in had only window screens, no windows and the temperature was in the low 40's. There was a tavern up the road about twenty miles and the engineer that I was with, and I, decided that was the place to be ( just to warm up )........... We pulled in and the place was jumping. Everyone was having a rip-roaring good time and we eventually helped close the bar for the nite. We had spent about three hours celebrating ?? with Jimmy Clark, Graham Hill and Skip Hudson, along with the other race drivers who were racing the next day. Live hard and drive hard, Saturday nite was for playing and Sunday was for racing. these drivers never let one interfere with the other. Now, with all of the members here on board, there must be some more experiences with the famous. Lets hear it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bob :shock:

You will find that super glue, also known as CA, is excelent for model use. The only application of CA to avoid is the installation of windows. The fumes that CA has will "fog" up the clear plastic. CA comes in two forms, liquid and gel and both have their purposes. The gel is what I would use to stick your headers to the engine block. The gel has more adhesive qualities quicker than the liquid type. If I am gluing the seats to the interior I will usually use the liquid. Just place the seat into position and squeeze the container of CA and it will flow with capillary action, thus anchoring the seat very permanently. A WORD OF CAUTION: CA can be dangerous so be extremely careful. It will glue fingers together. It will glue pants legs to your legs if it drips into your lap. Severe cases have seen emergency surgery when CA got onto the eyelids. CA is a good modeling "tool" but treat it with respect. Bob :shock:

Evergreen plastics has any shape that you could ever want or need. Flat sheets, plain and patterned, rods, tubes, "I" channels, "U" channnels, 1/4 round and 1/2 round to name a few of the various shapes. If you want an ecomomical source for sheet styrene look for a tub surround that is damaged at your local "big box" store or make friends with a bathroom remodeler. He tears out old surrounds made of styrene and throws them away. Usually these surrounds are the same thickness as model car bodies. If you need very thin styrene, be selective on the cookies you buy. Many come in styrene trays. If you want short pieces of styrene in the shape of a rod, buy a package of "Q-tips". These are just some of the sources for styrene. If you have a "plastics store" in your area, like I do, you can buy styrene in 4 X 8 ft. sheets in just about any guage you need. They also carry clear plastic rods that make excellent headlite lenses. Bob :shock:

I too, have reservations on what the cost of custom headers would be. I am not saying that the price would be unreasonable for the work involved, only that the cost might be prohibitive on a limited budget or that maybe installing them in just an average build would be akin to buying a $50 saddle for a $10 horse According to the pics you posted, quality would not be an issue. Bob :shock:

Since this contest was announced, Revell/Monogram released 4 bike kits. Is it possible to include these in the contest ? Bob :?:

This mostly personal: If anyone is planning to attend this contest, and wants to share a room, please give me a PM. Bob Paeth :shock:

I looked through the past postings on contests and didn't see this one mentioned so ................................... The most prestigious contest you will ever attend is coming next May, in 2007. This is the Great Salt Lake International Model Car Contest. The talent you will see on display will "blow you away". You will see modelers and their models from as many as 25 states and maybe two or three foreign countries. This is not the biggest contest, usually there are around 350 models. But, the quality of the entrants is unsurpassed anywhere. And, whatsmore, the models are only part of the "scene". You will meet famous names that you have read about in the model magazines over the years. Naturally, I have no idea who will be there next year but names like Don Emmons, Pat Covert, Jarius Watson, Jesse "whats-his name" from Montana and several "boys" from the NNL West could be there. If it makes any difference, I will be there too. Mark Gustavson, the "head guru" of this event, makes sure that it runs very smoothly through out the weekend. I might make mention that this gathering of talent starts "to move" on Thursday afternoon and goes almost non-stop through the awards brunch on Sunday morning. Besides the usuall schmoozing among all of the atendees there will be seminars covering just about anything you can think of concerning model building. Subjects such as resin casting, painting, brass construction will probably be part of the itinerary. A visit to the Model Car Museum is a must. There you will see things that pertain to our hobby that you have never seen before. Things like prototype models ( 3 times size ) that the kit manufacturers used to develope the kits that we build. You will see, on display famous models such as "Dodge Fever" and the "MCS X-100" bubble top rod. You will spend an hour and come away enlightened as to how our hobby has developed over the years. The commaraderie ( excuse spelling ) is the greatest you will find anywhere. This event is only held every other year so, try to plan on coming in 2007. This, unfortunately, is not a cheap week-end. I have no idea as to the cost of transportation as everyone comes from a different location and using different modes of transportation. Car, bus, train or airplane are all a possibility. When you arrive, I have found that a budget of $500 is sufficient ( unless you eat steak and lobster at evry meal ). this $500 covers normal meals, awards brunch, registration, hotel room and maybe some purchases at the swap meet portion of this event. ( Almost forgot to mention the swap meet ) It is somewhat small in nature but has many desireable items. During the "meet" there will also be an auction featuring 100's of kits "on the block". Proceeds from this auction go to help fund the model car museum. That's about it, a week-end to remember. You have almost 5 months to save up your money,

would be most happy to have you as a neighbor Gerry Bob :shock:

Am I confused or what? You guys are saying to spray the bare plastic with Future floor wax before painting ? And the paint will stick to the wax ? This defies logic when I am told to wear gloves when handling bare bodies to keep body oils from contaminating the surface ? Am I still in the twentieth century? Where's Kansas Toto ? Bob :?:

You should really put a penny in one of the pics to prove that you just didn't photograph a real car. Bob :shock:

Everything looks great except the hood. Forward vision is too impaired and for no reason that I can see. The engine does not stick up that high to warrant such a "high rise". Lower the hood and you have a power house of a model. Bob :shock:

good to hear from you too, Gerry. How 'bout we meet up in Salt Lake City next May ? Bob :?:

My "only" responsibilities with Revell were in the realm of anything that used wheels to get around. Static models, slot racing, motorcycles, etc. All I had to do was work with the engineers for the plans, the model shop for the prototypes, the machine shop and their mold making efforts, the Art department to make sure the right info ( and picture ) was on the box and the marketing people to make sure they sold it in the "right light". It was good to see "Smitty's" name again. He was very "soft spoken" when it came to models. He did not exploit his talent. He was, along with Dave Shuklas, a mainstay for the magazine "Car Model". "Car Model" was published in conjunction with the "Auto World" people. Oscar Kovelski owned "Auto World" and along with a Bob Mcleod published "Car Model" magazine. Bob :shock:

good question zeb 1. Biscuit builder ................any thoughts on this on this question of a "cancelled kit" ? Bob :?:

I carefully looked over the copy describing what the book covers. It would be invaluable if you were into building dioramas. For the most part, building an air plane model, or scratch building parts, is the same as building a car model. I do feel, however, that this book covers really basic techniques that a model builder will learn on his own in a sort period of time. My evaluation of this book might be "colored" because of the many years that I have worked with styrene, so I would never tell anyone not to buy it. It just don't seem to lend itself to the techniques of chopping and channeling. Bob :shock:

OK, Here is a true story about "bean counters" : The very first model kit that I worked on when I started with Revell was Mickey Thompsons "Attempt I ". If you are familiar with the 1/1 car it is not very exciting. A dragster with a completely enclosed body covering a 4 cylinder engine. With the body in place the only chrome that showed was the lower part of the wheels. If you left the body off, a somewhat small chrome shot added a little to the overall picture. Better small than not at all, right ? Being a model builder did not prepare me for the trials and tribulations brought forth by the "bean counters". It looked, to me, that the kit, in order to be a sales success, needed a little something "extra". I sold the boss on the idea of putting in a fully opened drag 'chute, vacumned formed so that it was cheap to produce and very thin for realism. Whoopee !!!!!!!!!!! My first idea for a kit was going into production. Also a first for the model hobby. About four weeks later, production started on the Attempt I and I stopped by the injection molding machine to see how it was coming out. Being packed into the box was a gray sprue that had the wheels, engine parts, etc. I must have set a record for the quarter mile in my dash up to the boss' office with the question, why ? I was told that the three cents that the 'chute added to the cost of the kit had to found somewhere and the chrome shot was the easiest way out. In my best "kings English" I tried to explain that a kit with no chrome would equate to a "still born". I suggested that we mold about a dozen or so, for historical reasons and then use the mold for a door stop. After a short delay, the chrome shot was restored to the kit and thats "the rest of the story". The kit was never a big money maker but, it did add a little to the "bottom line". Maybe a bit of history here on the 1/1 is in order here: The 4-banger that Mickey Thompson used to power the Attempt I was a Pontiac V-8 cut down the middle. This was done to qualify for a certain class of racing at the Bonneville Salt Flats. He also built a car that used 1/2 of the 4 cylinder engine but mercifully Revell declined to kit that car. There must be a model "god" after all. Bob :shock:

It will be interesting if the display turntable is still in the kit. This was a first of its kind, ever found in a kit. The turntable rotated on a base and was supported by ball bearings. It even came with a small tube of lubricant for a smooth operation. To make it work, you had to wind it up, and it did work very well. Bob :shock:

Perhaps a little education is needed here: An injection mold for a model kit is like an open steel box. Into this box many smaller "blocks" are placed. These "blocks" contain the cavities that are filled with styrene to form the parts found in the kit. The manufacturer can remove any of these blocks and change the charactor of the kit. Custom body parts, speed equipment and wheels are dealt with in this manner. These parts blocks have no moving parts so they pose no problem when being changed. The body part of the mold presents a more major problem for the manufacturer. This part of the mold has all sorts of moving parts that must move with the correct timing or the mold self-destructs. Body characteristics can be changed, such as stretching the front fenders to make a funny car but this is very difficult and sometimes the result is a poorly fitting part. In these cases the manufacturer hopes we will be lenient. With the development costs these days in creating a model kit, "short-cuts" are looked for to bring out a "new" kit for not much money. I feel that some of these compromises are better than not having the kit at all. An example of a "short cut" kit is Revells' "Miss Deal" There was not one new part "cut" in the development of this kit. It did, however, come out OK. Bob :shock: Bob :shock:

Chad, the advise that Steve gave you is right on the money. The biggest mistake that modelers make when they first participate in our hobby is trying to do too much too soon. I too, have a box of mistakes, commonly refered to my parts box. Experiment all you want to with different materials, tools, ideas etc. If you are enjoying yourself, it doesn't matter if you screw up. If you did, you must have learned something that you didn't know before. Do not hesitate to ask any questions that you may have as someone here on this web site has the answer. Check back on some of the postings that have occured before you found us. You may find some helpful hints with answers before you can form your questions. At any rate I feel that you have the right attitude to become a first class modeler. WELCOME ABOARD. Bob :shock:

This is to introduce you to one of the oldest model car clubs in the U.S. The club is named Scale Auto Builders Association ( SABA ) and we just celebrated our twenty fifth anniversary last March. Our membership is not the biggest having plus or minus 35 members, but, we are very active having about 20 to 25 members attending our monthly meetings. We meet the 2nd Sunday evening every month at 7:00 PM. Our activities include holding seminars in our LHS's during the year, we help support the local "Boys and Girls" club. We have a display and seminar at the State fair every year. In April we will be holding our 18th NNL and swap meet. But our BIGGEST event of the year is the hosting of the oldest, continious, model car contest in the U.S. ( and maybe the world ). This is the Portland Classic Model Car Contest. The next one will be on March 3,4, & 5 in 2007. It will be number 36 having started back in 1972. As a club we also support other regional model cars clubs and have group participation in 1/1 auto shows in the greater Pacific Northwest. If the distance we are going is great enough, we rent a van and go as a tightly knit group. Naturally, I am a member of SABA but you may be familiar with some of our other members: Jarius ( whats his name ) Wayne Stevens ( reviewer for SA mag ), Dave Susan ( won several awards at GSLIMCC ) in 2005 and lesssor known but fabulous builder Bob Robinson. Thats about it for now .................. Bob

At the risk of protesting too much, I think that putting me in the same group as Budd Anderson, Ario, Augie and a host of others is giving me more credit that I deserve. My main contribution to our hobby has been in the promotion of it. Many of my models show imagination but when it comes down to execution of those ideas, I'm the one who should be executed ( OK people, stand back ........................one at a time ........... and only one shot per person. Bob

The reason I was asking about the "make-up" of styrene is because of the way I work with it. While I do use CA and MEK ( both with caution I might add ) most of my modifications are done by melting the plastic. I use a wood burning tool to stick two pieces together or re-shape them to my own liking. Melting styrene does give off a smoke residue and has an oder but I have been using this technique for over 40 years with no apparent side effects ( I think ). My chronic cough, delerium tremmins, and night time sweats are attributed to old age. ( JUST KIDDING OF COURSE ). I do use Squadron White but my work room is well ventalated, or at least until I get that hole in the roof fixed ( JUST KIDDING AGAIN ) Anyway, seriously, precautions should always be taken when using materials made of chemicals or the chenicals themselves. Just, I hope, don't become paranoid in your efforts. The air we breath is poluted both indoors and out doors. I'm not sure that even pure mountain air is available any more. Bob :shock:

The reason I was asking about the "make-up" of styrene is because of the way I work with it. While I do use CA and MEK ( both with caution I might add ) most of my modifications are done by melting the plastic. I use a wood burning tool to stick two pieces together or re-shape them to my own liking. Melting styrene does give off a smoke residue and has an oder but I have been using this technique for over 40 years with no apparent side effects ( I think ). My chronic cough, delerium tremmins, and night time sweats are attributed to old age. ( JUST KIDDING OF COURSE ). I do use Squadron White but my work room is well ventalated, or at least until I get that hole in the roof fixed ( JUST KIDDING AGAIN ) Anyway, seriously, precautions should always be taken when using materials made of chemicals or the chenicals themselves. Just, I hope, don't become paranoid in your efforts. The air we breath is poluted both indoors and out doors. I'm not sure that even pure mountain air is available any more. Bob :shock:

Does anyone know what kind of solvent is used in the making of styrene ? I sure don't want to go back to balsa wood models and even then we would have the glue issue to deal with. Bob :shock: