Modelmartin

Thank you, Wayne. I really appreciate the compliments when they come from an accomplished builder such as you! I still have the Porsche but unfortunately I repainted it a year or so after those pics and it doesn't have the same impact. I have thought of restoring it to the original Martini colors of white with red and blue stripes. I do have the decals. They are off the Tamiya 936. At the same time I built the funny car, I also started a Porsche flat 12 Top Fuel car and a 928 Pro Stock. Never got those beyond the mockup phase. I hope to be posting some more pics this week of some of my stuff that hasn't been out in years, if not decades!

I built this 928 funny car back in about 79-80. It has a flat-12 engine with compressed air induction and ground effects! Relatively out of box Revell Firebird with Slixx decals and Tamiya paint. The paint job and decalling was challenging but fun and it turned out well. I mastered this for Cheez-cast and built one for me. No wiring or plumbing on this one. Just some quick fun building. This was a gluebomb/Parts box special I built just a few years ago. It is a "What I would have built when I was 13 but couldn't" special. It was fun to do. I even used Testor's Lime Gold flake on it! The engine is a blown olds from the AMT willys kit.

Somehow, some way, I missed this thread all the way back to last year!!! Firstly, It is really gratifying to see a number of builders building the resin I sell. You all did a great job. I also mastered the Flinstone Studebaker Funny Car and Top Fuel bodies and the Cheez-Cast Opel GT. Very fun to see the Opel built! Even though I am into a lot of things, drag racing is my first love and do my best work on drag cars. Without further delay...... I had to build one of my own! The Bugzapper is done in custom mixed purple to match the M&Ms wrapper. Also used were Slixx decals, lots of photo etch, LOTS of braided line and A/N fittings- holy cow! I hinged the escape hatch, machined a drive shaft, front hubs and wheelie wheel and bracket. Scratchbuilt a new magneto set-up, fuel system parts and wheelie bars. The paint was a little weak and Steve Perry and John Teresi skunked me at GSL 2011!! I am plotting revenge. Anyway, it was a fun model to build. A rebuilt an already built Jo-Han Superbird into one of my faves - The Sox & Martin Superbird! Used an AMT Road Runner chassis-fit like a glove. This is also one of my faves. I built this in 1972-73 and won 1st junior at the St. Paul MPC contest with it. IMC with chopped top, candy green with Pactra clear flake over it.

The 409 in the 63 Vette is imaginative! They made 409s through late 64 and they made it into a few 65 Impalas so it would have been feasible on a stock one.. The 57 Vette probably wouldn't pass anyone's tech inspection with those hoop rollbars. It must be a pro-street!

I still use hand signals.........when I am riding my Raleigh! I don't know of any bikes built with signals yet.

Necks and other body parts did double in size - family jewels and brains shrunk quite a bit!

Did you know that Mark builds large scale? He has a few 1/8th models amongst his vast collection of unfinished projects. Mark gets a little busy while he is running the show. Introduce yourself and chat with the guy when you can. He is one of the friendliest and nicest guys in the hobby.

Don't worry about it! Mark is a custom guy! He barely knows a line-loc from a nitrous bottle. It's not like they have a collection of rule books and can say, "Hey! AHRA allowed 10.5 slicks but NHRA only allowed 9.5!". GSL is like any other contest except that it attracts more serious builders and is more fun if you like contests and competitive building. Despite the "press" that this show gets, the atmosphere is quite welcoming and fun. The people who have a problem with GSL are the ones who come in with an attitude where they think the world owes them something because they are so cool! I will be there and will be having fun.

You have made a 5 point cage. I would make a more typical six-point cage and leave the center bar out and put in two door bars. Of course you would need to make the main hoop full width to do that so each door bar can go on the outside of the seats. The bars to the rear can angle in to clear the wheelhouses. The door bars and the rear bars should attach to the main hoop at the same point. The diagonal on the main hoop is good but I would add a horizontal bar behind the driver's seat for belts to attach to. Make the hoop as tall as you can to almost touch the inside of the roof. Hope that helps!

Actually, It looks like the lovechild of a 40 Willys and a VW Beetle! The grilles look a bit like a 39-40 Lincoln, also!

A well equipped hobby shop should have some liquid decal film that can be brushed on the decals before you cut them off the decal sheet. It will really strengthen the decal when you have to work it a lot. Other than the decal it is a nice clean build. Keep up the good work.

Seriously, though. The problem with the Charger is that it has way too many doors on it. As a two door it would at least be a better concept. I think the Challenger sucks - it is a shortened reskinned 300. It is too tall. The Camaro is pretty well done but I think it is a little too exagerated. The latest Mustang is spot-on! I think Ford has the best styling of the domestics as of late all-around. I think the real problem with car design is that in any era there are great designs, mediocre designs and really bad designs. We remember the good and forget the bad. Early 50s Chrysler products are bland boring designs. The 58-60 Lincolns are frighteningly bad! Very few cars prior to the 30s were even styled at all! For every great looking car of any era there are three clunkers. We just forgot about them but we see today's mistakes because they are still on the road. We upchuck every time we see a Pontiac Aztek or Buick Rendezvous! The Ford Fusion/ Mercury Milan is really well styled for a mainline car. The newest Malibu is not bad either. The latest gen Corvette is georgeous - who remembers the awful late 70s Vettes! This will make more than a few people upset. I think the best styled, coolest cars on the road are the newest Hyundais and Kias. There. I said it. I would love to have a Kia Optima Turbo or Hyundai Genesis. Okay Villagers! put down your flaming torches!

Cars have been going to hell since about 1920! Who needs all this modern garp and enclosed envelope bodies. What is wrong with separate fenders and actual wood running boards. Overhead valves are just a bunch of gimcrackery! A car is not a car unless the radiator is visible and vertical and is sprung minimally with semi-elliptic or full-elliptics. Enclosed bodies and roll-up windows are for sissies! One doesn't deserve the title of Automobilist unless the wind is in your face. All of those chrome boats from the 50s and the "muscle" cars aren't real cars. A Muscle car is a Stutz Bearcat with a T-head engine!

Thanks for the flattery, Junkman! The cool thing about this thread is that people who build at many levels are posting. This is about pride in your work, not about if you did or did not win a contest or have a model on the cover of a mag. Please post your models if you are proud of them. They are all cool!

I have a couple I am proud of. I did the patterns and castings for CMA to produce this Ferrari 166MM in 1/14th scale. Eventually three versions were released. I built this T-bucket with a Lincoln flathead V-12 and won 1st Street Rod at GSL in '07. The same year Mark won with his Caterham. And then my Bugzapper funny car that I got skunked with at GSL '11. Thanks a lot John Teresi!!!

Love it! There are a lot of very cool and under-appreciated kits in 1/32.

As a Bugatti nut, I even know which car it is and the history of it. There are only 3 of them.

Ever since they started putting in automatic spark advance and mixture, I lost my interest in cars! What is wrong with actually operating your motor vehicle. That goes for shock absorbers and steering wheels too! What's wrong with a tiller and friction belt drives. Total loss oiling was good enough in its day - what's with these sealed engines, oilpans and oil pumps! It just makes the motor more complicated. Bah! Don't get me started.

You feeling lucky today? Well, are you, punk?

Nobody has mentioned having a spray booth. You can make one out of plywood, a bathroom fan, and a little ducting. I have one I have been using for 30 years with no problem. It really reduces the overspray and fumes. It doesn't eliminate them, just reduces! I have used lacquer extensively, and even Imron back in the day!

Thank you for the flattery but I am just a hacker, hacking along!

I can tell you are having way too much fun. Keep up the good work!

Are we supposed to identify the heap on the trailer, also?

Skip Jordan mentioned the re-issued Jo-han Mercedes 500K which is an excellent example of why an original issue is better. An even better example is the Jo-han Cadillac V-16 Sport Phaeton. They put the wrong fenders in that kit! The Town car and the Convert. Coupe used the same fenders. The Sport Phaeton used a different set but they put the other fenders in the re-issue. They don't fit. The bottom of the body on the Sport phaeton goes over the frame more and curves upward toward the cowl. It is a straight line on the other 2. You would have to carve away at the frame covers to get the body down to fit. I have several of the original "Gold Cup" kits and they are correct and the molding is crisp. The re-issues are parts kits for me. By the way - it is a great mill to put in a street rod!!!

Looks like a lot of fun, Ira. Inspires me to maybe build a Deal's Wheels style Bugatti! The MPC Dune Buggy Zinger has a 1/20 scale Boss 429 in it, if that fits the bill for you.