Modelmartin

Grumpilicious!

I used to use the frosted clear tape all the time but since I tried the Tamiya masking tapes I won't use anything else. They are flexible, seal well and don't pull off paint with excessive tackiness. They cost a little bit more but it is totally worth every penny. They come in many widths too. I use the clear "sealing" method after I apply the tape. It seems to work quite well. I use BMF to mask when I spray matte black on window trim. Works great for masking intricate and complex sections.

P.O. Box 576, Mount Prospect, IL 60056

I will enter a car in each contest once. It doesn't matter if I take it to one contest this year and a different one in 3 years. I rotate stuff through NNLs. I always like seeing particular cars built by others on occassion. I hate to think that nice looking models won't come back out again. It's like real cars being shut away in garages and never being driven and seen and enjoyed by others.

Send an order to Fred. He still has lot of inventory and unless he is out of that decal he will more than likely fill it. This is from a reliable source - Fred hisself!

You can Z it more and that will help but you need to notch the back of the cab and channel that thing over the frame too. You are running into the down side of not fabricating all of your components before putting a finish on them. It's real nice to know that you have the "look" before you start painting. Then you don't have to go back and undo some of your work. You may need to redo parts of your interior to get that thing down in the gravel. It's looking good and I know you will get there.

I got mine several weeks ago and agree that it is a decent casting. Very reasonably priced too. Jake, give me a shout via e-mail if you want some free pointers to improve your castings. I know I can help you.

Herb Deeks did one also. Both his and All-American's were based on the ScaleKraft (Guido from South Africa) body so any of the 3 will be good.

I did this back in 73 or 74. It is somewhat of an angle chop but worked out ok without doing any widening or stretching. I laid down the windshield and somehow the B and C posts mostly lined up. I would do it differently today and just might! That was an IMC Beetle by the way.

The difference between 1/24 and 1/25 is 4%. It hardly matters in 99% of the situations a model car builder would run into. I measured my Monogram "1/24" Mercedes 540K and it turned out to be 1/21 - 12% bigger than stated. I was wondering why the 540K was almost as big as a Duesenberg!

A most excellent idea! We did it for a theme at our NNL in Minnesota one year and was a lot of fun. I am in if you do it!

At Toledo I picked up the Scale Designs Porsche 935 from Lemans 76. Tom Tanner is folding up his business and I figured I better get one before they are gone. I also won a Revell 40 Ford Street rod kit at the NNL. I also grabbed some cool old mags for my "Wall O'Mags".

Those were Rat Rods 40 years before they were called Rat Rods! Very cool.

OK! The themes are Model T and VW beetles. How could that be more perfect for me? It could not be.

You two could have just answered the question!

Left side of car, "Gore - Loser!" Right side of car, "Bush - Loser!" You - left, me - right. Right? Or do you approve of both sides? James, I think I will pass on the AMT Peanut One - Quarter Mile Smile. Dwayne, I have the quick builder black car but didn't know they did the "Ugly" car. I will have to look for that one.

You are a brave man! To take on a Flintstone AND an R & R is amazing. You did a great job. Those are both very nice-looking models.

Just finished this the other day. The interesting thing is that this car puts me on the right and Jairus on the left side of things! Lacquer paint, pearl white , red, and blue. Slixx decals were used. I used my resin tires and slicks on it. Now it sits right. I only added plug wires. I am on the learning curve with newer funny cars. The next one I will detail better. I have all of the Mad cars and even the Craftsman buzzsaw car. Does anyone know if decals were ever made for the Mad "Ugly" car?

Just came back from my club's ( RPM - Racing Plastic Models) Saturday night gathering where 2 club members bought out a hobby shop and are peddling the vast inventory. I picked up a Tamiya special edition Porsche Boxster, a set of Fujimi Daus wheels & tires(really wide 13" wheels with F40 like spokes - perfect for an econo-box turned street racer), 3 Slixx decal sheets and 2 old kit decals, all for $35.00. I was pleased. Check out their deals on Ebay. User name is scottharv1.

I think Ricky became more of an artist whose medium was model cars as time went by and these Corvettes show that. He was a great talent.

I will be there. I can't believe I have been going to this show for 27 years! Please stop by and say Hello and check out the Aardvark/Modelmartin vendor table.

I am usually in the "no roll" camp but on occassion I will engineer the whole thing to roll and steer, etc. just for the "wow" factor on a contest model.

That isn't the easiest paint and decal job out there. I have done that kit for myself and I wouldn't do it for less than $150.00 The dark blue needs to be painted on top of the silver and then you have to cut out the red and light blue stripes and apply them separately. If it was easy, the customer would do it themselves.

Come on Harry! You can do better. Model.

I bought the occasional Jo-han kit in the pre-drag race days of the company but I went nuts when they starting doing all of the drag kits. The Sox-Martin Cuda doesn't hold up so well today but it was fabulous when it came out. The Mickey Thompson Pinto and Mustang, Rambunctious Challenger and the Dyno Don/Schartman Mustang/Comets were really fabulous and are kits that I keep in my inventory even today. They were and are more accurate than any other drag cars that were produced back then with a very few exceptions and they could be assembled pretty easily. I would think that Okie could make a bunch of money re-issueing some of those drag kits even in plain boxes or bags! That may help finance the 50s stuff he seems to like. This isn't meant to be a rant or even negative about Okie and Jo-han but I have seen his table at several shows and it looks like a junkyard. It seems somewhat unprofessional. I want Okie to succeed and wish him nothing but the best and I will buy kits that I want if they get produced by him even if they are packed in Glad zip-lock bags!