Modelmartin

AAAARRRRRRRRR! Very impressive and interesting model. I like seeing all of the nuts and bolts of it. Thanks for sharing. 8)

If only most people could do as good as Ismael "leaving as is". That looks fantastic, man! 8)

That looks like a model you had fun building. I like it. I also have a Black Widow restorable but I think I will be boring and do a boxart model. :roll:

Hey Jason, Nice job, keep them coming.

Holy Mega-Dagmars Batman! That is an awesome build and a very, very cool car! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

That is a fine-looking model. I like it! 8) Color is great and the paint is really nice.

I love the unusal and small car subjects too. How about The Nissan Cube? I love the asymetrical styling on the side windows. I got my kit from Hobbylink Japan hlj.com

Steve, I saw a car very similar to the one you pictured at the Street Machine Nationals in Des Moines in 1975. It had a blown big block and something like 5.88 gears and he drove it from California! He actually pulled the front end off the ground in front of the hotel. I still shake my head thinking of driving 4000 miles in that thing. It did make a big impression on my 18 year old brain. I lowered my car! Love your Nomad by the way. Very cool! 8)

This topic gives me the willies. :cry:

Great Stuff! Thanks, James.

Very cool model! I had a "Here Comes da Judge!" AMT 57 Bird as a kid and have always thought of re-creating it. Thanks for hitting my nostalgia button.

I really like your RR. Nice work and it looks accurate too. It's nice to see someone doing actual replicas of the old Funny cars rather than facsimiles of them. 8)

I like it. Very clever and well-done!

Sweet! I loved wreckedexotics.com !

I have heard many stories over the years regarding lost tooling and they are pretty typical. I am sure everyone has heard about the trainwreck and the Aurora molds. The train that all of the Aurora molds were loaded on when Monogram bought them derailed in the winter and the molds sat out in the snow for weeks and got rusted and then were scrapped. A lot of very old molds from the 50s and 60s were made up of dozens of pieces of tool steel all clamped and shimmed together. They didn't have the technology then to make them from one piece of steel like now. Corrosion would creep in to the joints and distort the mold. It would be very expensive to fix and the old school machinists and mold makers are mostly retired now. The AMT molds were in somewhat of a disarray after going through several ownership changes and nobody kept track of the different inserts that were swapped in and out and it was all a jumble and nobody knew how or cared to figure out what belonged to what. apparently it sits in a big pile in Dersville. I thought I read on one of the forums that disgruntled employees at one of the companies(Jo-Han?) sold molds off for scrap value. Ouch! What truly surprises me is that so much has actually survived for 30-50 years. That is truly amazing! The other thing is that costs of making molds has come down so far in adjusted dollars through CNC technology. I would guess that it costs about 1/3rd as much in adjusted dollars to make a new tool now as in the past. You can skip the pattern and use a CAD file and cut right into the steel. Regarding the Wal-marts, Targets, etc. I know a few people who are buyers at Target (HQ in Minneapolis) and the way they operate is pretty cut-throat. Vendors pretty much have to say "How High?" when thay are asked to jump. If some thing falls below a certain level of profitability they are just axed. If the profit requirement is 30% then 29% means it is dropped and now! I heard that Wal-mart is 50% of Revell-ograms business now. If Wally determines that the plastic is not profitable ENOUGH then Revellogram's doors close! That decision would be made by one person - the senior toy buyer! Let's hope that person builds models! That would partly be Revell-ograms fault for relying on one customer for so much and not adjusting their business model a bit.

Seriously, The skycrane could be a race team transporter!

Cool Van! Plenty of room for that motor! The guy that Flathead Gary is thinking about is Jim Lytle. He also built several Allison engined show cars including an Allison powered Isetta called Al-Setta and one with four Allisons and a toplino body on the back.

And the Rambler!

Dave Deal's work never ceases to bring a grin to my face. I love it! Great job on the model. I like the Orange flake paint. Very cool. 8)

The Mondial is the ugliest Ferrari. It's an abortion! The Mondial convert is even uglier. Pull the motors and crush them! Ugly is just ugly even if it is a Ferrari. The 348 is OK for a typical gold-chain owner type of Ferrari. :roll:

I was reminded of all of those Rolls Royces that were painted like 70s vans for that Rajneesh cult guy in Oregon in the 80s. I saw some of them at auction in Auburn in the late 80s. They were heavily discounted and only a paint job away from being good again! Same with this poor Ferrari. It was in an art gallery featuring Dolphins and other sealife. For someone brought up with a lot of exposure to the fine arts it was pretty ho-hum. It was more for decorating high-end condos and vacation homes than for appreciation of the artist's ability.

I have heard of taping or tying steel wool to the area you want to rust and watering it. Leave it for a few days and presto!

And your photography is impressive too!

Very cool! I love nostalgia building. Dune buggies are coming back, I tell ya!

Very fun. I like it!