Modelmartin

I was surfing the SCTA site and ran across some very cool pics. The Southern California Timing Association sanctions and runs the El Mirage dry lakes and Bonneville salt flats speed events. There are tons of pics on their website under the Bonneville speedweeks and El Mirage buttons. You can also check out classes and rules and get some great ideas for model cars. SCTA That is a SAAB 96 cabin on the back!! That is Mike Cook, son of Doug Cook of Stone, Woods, Cook fame and his car is an ALFA! Cool Crosley Wagon, eh? Pickups are all the rage in land speed racing now.

Thanks for the cool link, I love the AWB 49 Ford coupe on page 37. Just when you think you saw everything! It was kind of cool, though.

That is super clean and fabulous looking as you always build them, Marc!

That is a very cool project. I like it a lot. The sunroof delete on the Deluxe was an interesting option and I like seeing your conversion. That would have been easy on a Revell kit. You only needed to put the Van roof on the Microbus body! Of course then you would have had to deal with the rest of the Revell kit! Looking forward to seeing this project under glass.

The brightness of vacuum plated plastic is probably due to it being aluminum and real car chrome is nickel. They have different hues with the aluminum being sort of whitish, yellowish and the nickel being sort of bluish - a very cool color. I agree with the idea that if you match things up better then things look better. BMF with vacuum plated parts looks good as does a well done Alclad model. One guy in our club built the Hayden Proffit 62 Bel Air and I was blown away when he told me he had Alcladded the bumpers. I honestly wouldn't have known. they looked great. Personally I rework all my chrome parts and get them redone. I can't stand kit chrome and all the flaws underneath it from flash to part lines. I occasionally build a brass era car and get those parts replated and airbrush a mix of Tamiya clear, clear yellow and flat base on . The clear yellow is too... Yellow! Diluting it really helps the look and a bit of flat base knocks down the shine just enough to look realistic.

I have painted hundreds of resin bodies - my own castings and from casters around the world and here is what I have to say about it. The prep is very different depending on whether you use an airbrush or spray cans. Airbrush. Wet sand your body thoroughly and prime with light coats. That's it. You are ready to paint. Spraycans. They put a lot of extra solvents in spray can paint to keep it sprayable and so it will flow out better. These solvents react with the parts of the resin itself and create horrible fisheyes on the surface. Most resins used for model cars have a self releasing chemical that forms on the surface. That is what everyone is trying to deal with when they are soaking their bodies - which you don't need to if you airbrush. If you still insist on using spray cans go ahead and soak it. You can also use bug and tar remover or Prep-sol which is a cleaner sold at auto body supply. I have used the bug and tar remover and it works just fine and is cheaper. Bob's idea to use Easy-off should work too. Whichever way you go be sure to thoroughly wet sand the surface with a fine grit. That is your best way to combat fisheyes and get a good finish.

This thing gets bizarrer and bizarrer all the time!

Model. I don't like the same size fronts and backs and the stance.

Very cool! Thanks for posting them for us to enjoy. I like the early Ford rear axle!

It is such a pleasure to see someone who knows their stuff building a model. I like it.

This isn't to pick on you CAL, it's just to make a general point using your words because they were handy. ALL models have fit and finish issues! That is why they are model kits. We have to paint them, assemble them, detail them, etc. I actually LIKE getting a bad kit and making a great model out of it. It makes me feel all manly and brave to tame a Heller kit. If we want it all to be so easy we should just buy diecasts!!! This thread has had a few interesting posts but most of it is kind of silly. Many have no clue of this hobby's history and are comparing apples and oranges. I suspect some of the complaints are based on that person's mishaps. Some of the kits that are complained about here I have found to be fine kits or at least not too bad! As Tim Boyd has mentioned before - we are in the midst of the REAL golden age of model building NOW. There is so much available in plastic and other media. You can get very high quality modern and vintage kits. Some are not so high in quality or engineering. There has never been so much available at this time as any other point in this hobby's history. Just my couple of centimes here -in honor of my friends at Heller!

Very cool and fun project you have there. I like it. The engine reminded me a bit of the Chrysler tank engine from WW2. It had five flathead sixes on a common crankcase with all 5(yes,FIVE!!) crankshafts geared together. That would make a strange motor for a .......anything!!

Looking good ZZBob! I have 2 1/1 kits in my garage - a '72 and a '73. I hope to make one good one out of what are big gluebombs! Maybe I can build my 1/25 ones, too! Have you seen pictures of Ferry Porsche's 914-8? It is a great looking car. It is painted all silver with a welded in steel top. It has no flares and 5 spoke Fuchs. I hope to emulate that look with my car.

Great news! I love his products and use them!

Those Fujimi Enthusiast 911 kits are bears to get together and have them sit right and look good. I know from experience. Congrats on a great job!

You can do just about anything and have it be prototypical for a salt car. The main thing is that most of them are lowered a lot and they must have roll cages. For the Studey I would guess almost all of them use the stock frame. I have seen some using the Stude differential and some with quickchanges. Basically, anything goes out there as long as it is safely built. Some changes might result in the car being in a different class( like engine setback ). Hope that helps you. Try getting a SCTA rulebook. I believe they have a website.

It seems that the ones who are getting too serious are the ones who don't enter contests! I take my building seriously and can compete nationally. I love it and have lots of fun doing it. I don't take myself too seriously. I think it is the LHS and club contests where most of the drama takes place.

I like the "Pine Barrens Speed Shop" sponsorship.

I almost forgotted. (leave it alone, Morton) I did build 2 of the High Tech Bikes. The Tohatsu Runpet turned out great after I machined new hubs, forks, and rear shocks. The white metal parts are decidely NOT high tech. I still have the Kawasaki Mach II and Honda 50CC GP bike to build along with a couple of Fiat Abarths.

That's interesting because the 1st Monogram 55 Chevy from the early 60s could be built as a HT or convertible. Then they retooled it as the Badman and put the HT on the body.

How did the "Stainless Steel Origami" go? That frame and the backbone style one on the Lotus look nightmarish. The only High-Tech Gunze I have built was the Messerschmidt Rag-top. It was fun but I could see why I was at least the 5th owner of the kit. It was passed around several model clubs locally. I felt sorry for the poor thing and built it. The coovertible top was white metal!! Plated photo-etched brass had to bent to fit around the windows!! Vinyl had to be glued on to a painted surface for the seals for the flip up portion of the body. It was a crazy build but precisely the sort of challenge I enjoy.

I hate it when I am judging and some poorly built model disintegrates when you touch it! I usually take it out of consideration because it is so poorly built. Judges are 99.9% super conscientious about handling models and only do so when absolutely necessary. When I judge I only do it to see the undersides and carefully pick a spot to touch it. I don't grab onto mirrors, antennae, or foiled drip rails! If the model is on its table card I will turn it by pulling on the card. Judges typically make a very concerted effort to not touch the model unless it is necessary and will not result in any harm to the model. Some builders will leave handling instructions for the judge. It is greatly appreciated. As a builder I am very careful to attach things very strongly. I will drill holes in the door and the back side of a mirror base and glue in a brass or piano wire pin to hold it. I once used piano wire with a loop bent into it as an antennae on a 1/43rd white metal Porsche. I drilled a hole through the roof and pushed the antennae through from the bottom so the loop was glued to the underside of the roof. Someone wanted to pick it up but asked me to because he was afraid of knocking off the antennae. I grabbed it and picked it up by the antennae! He almost had a coronary.

Hey, Man! Einstein invented the Bagel! Charles darwin is rolling in his grave!

tkm MAWDULLS.

The high-tech kits have some photo-etch and white metal parts in them. The regular kits are all plastic. Some of the high tech have engines where the regular ones don't. The regular kits are really nice. The high tech can be tough to build depending on which kit it is. The high tech kits are definitely for the skilled builder but can look really good when done right.