Kit Basher

My truck has a receiver hitch, so I made this. Square brass tube, square and sheet styrene, and a little piece of aluminum sheet. The tie rod on the F250 is bass ackwards! It's even backwards from the way it's shown in the instructions. It should bend up with the steering box connection away from the axle. By the time I got it bent the right way, it was just about to break, plus I didn't like the way it was just hanging there in the breeze, so I built a steering box. Added back the floor pans I cut away with sheet and strip. Here is the finished frame. And the finished frame with the receiver hitch and spare. Advice and comments always welcome. nuff for now, more later.

Is this also the method for referring to another thread in this forum? I haven't been able to figure that out.

I'm a "returning" modeler: built a lot as a kid, then started up again after a 30 year hiatus. This is excellent advice. Seeing what the masters can do is totally amazing, but that doesn't mean it's easy. Learning the basics is the best first step, and I've spent a lot of time reading on this forum, to learn as much of that as I can. I've found it doesn't even matter what the subject is, if someone does good work and is willing to share how they did it, you can learn a lot. Reading is no substitute for practice, but it saves a lot of trial and error. I've also had to develop some skills that I lost or never had. A finished model, at whatever skill level, is something to be proud of, and can motivate you to do better. It seems like the folks here will help you do that, if you let them. I'm working on an ambitious (for me) build, and there have been several times where I've wanted to go one step further, but realized I just wasn't there. I think it's OK to stop at "the best I can do". Hopefully next time will be better. Sorry to ramble on, I, for one, welcome constructive criticism, and am glad you guys are willing to offer it. (But the "attaboys" are nice too! )

Couldn't be better! Everything goes together perfectly. Nice job!

Hey! I resemble that remark!

Um, er, ah, I think Pontiac is gone?

I'm a 50s-60s kid too. A few comments. The Mustang, and Challenger are throwbacks (or updates if you like) but nicely done IMO. I definitely like Harry's Camaro better than the real one. I like the new Charger a lot, and I also like the Magnum. I would buy a new Challenger if I had 50k I didn't need.

Yeah, I do that too, works great. If you want to be able to replace the paper on a stick, try craft spray adhesive. That will give a temporary bond. I also use carpet tape for the grits I don't have sticky back for. For body work, I put 120 on one side of a flat stick, and 220 on the other. Good for shaping and rough sanding.

If you can't find it at your local hardware or home center store, amazon has it, as well as most online woodworking sites.

If you're using Word, and just want to do text, check out "Word Art". It's on the list with "from file" when you do Insert, picture. You can do all sorts of wild stuff with letters and numbers.

Just a helpful hint. I use a lot of adhesive backed sandpaper. It makes it easy to make your own sanding sticks, in just about any shape. I make pieces of wood in the shape I need, stick the sandpaper to it, and trim off the excess. It works great for flat sticks, and I sometimes stick it to a piece of glass for a wide flat sanding area. It is readily available in 80, 120, 220, and 320 grit, and comes in either 4-1/2 inch by 10 yard rolls, or individual sheets. I know there's not much you guys don't know, but I haven't seen it mentioned, so there you go.

X2

I can send you reference pics if you need them.

Those look great! How funny, we start with Snake and end with Snake, and go from bogus to cool!

Thanks Mudpit. I'm working on an "extra piece". when I get that done, I should be able to finish the frame.

Thanks, Rodney

More frame work. I'm using the front axle from the Bronco, but front crossmember is much to low. I started by adding a piece of styrene to the back side to keep it together and widen it. Then I cut off the crossmember, and added a piece to replace it. There's another piece added to the front of the crossmember to match the back. My truck has dual front shocks, so I widened the shock mounts, and added bosses for the springs. Made some shocks, and destroyed ball point pens for the springs. This is the stance I'm looking for. I'll have to jack up the frame in the rear. Fortunately, Ford did this by adding spacer blocks between the axle and the springs. So I did that too. Made new U-bolts and shocks, sits just right. Advice and comments always welcome! nuff for now, more later.

While we're going far afield, has anyone ever tried old fashioned silk screen? I haven't but I was curious. You may now return to the regularly scheduled topic.

Regarding Harry's table analogy, I am a professional woodworker, and I am sad to say that you could probably find this same discussion on a woodworking forum. Some of those would say the guy who buys a table IS inferior. I don't agree, but that's the way it goes. As far as the tractor is concerned, I appreciate quality workmanship and am interested in techniques, no matter what the subject. I think anyone who is interested in learning how to weather and detail could learn a lot from that article, and use it on whatever they wanted to build. Course, I'm biased, I like tractors.

Check out "On the Workbench", "Dodge Magnum" by Cesar Bossolani.

Barry, I said I am a dummy and I meant it! I just looked at "New to Forum", "Writing and Photo tips", and it seems to be instructions for submitting to the magazine. Plus when I clicked on the links, I got error messages. What am I missing?

Barry, did you mean that it already exists under "New to the Forum", or that it should go there? I looked on there and couldn't find anything like what I am talking about. Thanks, Hugh

I think it would be helpful if there was a basic "how to" post on using the forum. How to post, reply, post pictures (I know there's already a thread on that), quote, personal message, etc. Maybe put it in the "New to Forum" section. Kind of a "Forum for Dummmies" thing. Then a dummy like me wouldn't have to post questions on the forum to ask that kind of question. If such a thing already exists, I couldn't find it, and "Help" is not much help. Thanks for listening.

Doh! Oh well, I wouldn't answer if I did!

How come not all names have that little letter icon? (Like mine, for instance)