James W

I always save parts that are unused. The most obscure part might just be the part you are looking for later down the road. I have my work area lined with organizers, the type you put screws and washers into. I have drawers full of water pumps, distributers, rear axles,mufflers headlights, flathead parts, straight six parts, slant six parts, Mopar parts, bumpers, brakes, manifolds, etc. The larger parts ,seats, window louvers, truck beds, go into old model boxes. Next to these are boxes full of tires, some held by string into groups of four. The Boxes that do not get used are folded and stored when possible. Box bottoms are saved occasionally. If I have duplicates of a kit I am done with, the spare parts go into the unfinished kits. Sprues get cut and parts removed for maximum space efficiency. I often replace kits I am working on with the same kit to save for another day. Hope this is helpful.

Great Guns!! I thought George and I resolved this thing this morning!

Sorry to stir a hornets nest, I just thought the definition of the word would be helpful to show why it should not be used casually. Especially since you have a relationship with God, if I read your post correctly, you should see that deciding who and what should be blocked from eternal fellowship with God is a serious subject. I apologize if I came across harsh or sarcastic. I try to put a little english on the keys as I type, but it dose not always work. In a word, yes there are words that automatically get deleted.

Hey Jairus.... that tree leaning?

The word you refer to puts the user on a plain of authority with Almighty God. It gets bantered about quite a bit these days, but that has not changed it's meaning. Yes, it is a banned word. No that is not out of line with why there are banned words in the first place. Chear up, you can still use that language in the local bar.

To correctly weather the chassis of a car you must first paint all the components in the original colors (painted, unpainted, metalic, rubber, etc) then apply grime and wear appropriately. Depending on the use of the vehicle the grime will be different. Rain and highway miles will keep the undercarriage fairly clean. A truck that has not been off the farm in a couple decades is going to be mostly the color of the soil it drives on. Most models that depict weathered vehicles are going to start out as some kind of 'factory stock' builds and then go from there. The research is the key to realism. This however, dose not mean that a well done weathering job has to have all the right markings and levels of sheen under the mud. If the finished project looks cool, I'm going to say, 'Cool, good looking model!!! '

Welcome Marty, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

These periods of lack of motivation are the reason I have 4 or 5 projects going at once. All at different stages. When I am motivated their is always something to do. If you measure your success by finished models, you can be discouraged. But if you spend time in the hobby just doing what you enjoy, how can that be wrong? I only finish a few projects a year, but I spend many hours at my work bench completely happy. If you are unmotivated, do something else. Unless this is how you make your living it is OK.

For me it is a creative outlet. I have so many ideas for what would be cool in the automotive relm. If I could draw, that would be my means of expression, I could put my thoughts into physical peices. But I can't draw. When I see cars on the street, I see them for their potential. Models allow me to combine cars that I think are cool with performance enhancements that I could never afford. As for the junkers I build, I'm a sentimental guy. Hate to throw anything away. If I had the space and money, I'd have a couple acres of rusty hulks just to look at. Then I'd build models of them too.

What defines a rat rod? The builder.

Sweet Wagon! A black and white police car. It sounds so simple but it just works. The wide whites make it work.

Nice work Dave!! Good to see it done.

Nice work! I like the roll cage interior and the injector unit too. You might think about upgrading the brake mastercylinder. Looks a little weak to me.

Flathead in a 40 Ford? Just a guess.

I like the stance and wheels in the first picture too. Groovy Man. How about an LCD TV in back and a Zip lock baggie for a water bed? I had a couple Dodge van kits as a kid. I'd like to find a Ford version. AMT Vampire Van I think it was. How are things in Florida? We're having typical November wind and rain this week in Oregon

Racing teams get bent out of shape when the sanctioning bodies change the rules every couple years. All that developement money down the tube. Same thing with auto makers. C.A.F.E. standards have forced US companies to build cars people don't want, then more government regs cause fuel prices to go through the roof for no good reason. Think about where SUV's came from. There were no more big car platforms left in the late 80's, yet families needed big cars to do the things families do. The economy was good so people bought loaded up Suburbans. That was great for the big three, they were already making highly profitable trucks. But the belly-achers complained, got the C.A.F.E. standards raised causing the Big 3 to engineer new SUV's. Big bucks have been spent and lost trying to guess the next trend of the buying public. It dose not help that the Government is trying to button-hole people into the RIGHT cars. Sorry, I just hate seeing more government restrictions ruin more industries here in the US. Who will be next to fall?

It looks fun to drive!

I've heard judges at contests say headliners are most often overlooked. Yes, older kits had glass runners, very unrealistic discouraging detail efforts. I sometimes just paint headliner and runners black to make it harder to see by a casual observer. More recently I would trim the window glass to a minimum and paint the headliner. You don't have to go nuts, but it's a good idea to hide where you taped the bottle to hold the body for painting.

Thank you to all the marines on this board as you celebrate 233 years! Your sacrifice and dedication are not unnoticed.

Nice build! The inner door panels make a big difference on the interior. Engine looks good too. This rust thing is addicting. Don't fight it.

I should be building right now but, here I sit. I think I'll go build.

Look at the Revell 56 f-100 or AMT Cameo pick ups. The dropped axles might be too drastic, but the stock ones may work.

All day long I am around people(I'm a delivery driver) who use swear words as adjectives, adverbs and punctuation. It is as if when they learned that word, it was the pinnacle of their education. No need to learn anything ever again. So when I see someone like Gregg take a simple stand and say it ain't gonna happen here, I must applaud. Thank you Gregg for making it clear that it will not be tolerated here. For the rest of you, buy a thesaurus.

Love the engine. When I was in high school, a straight eight Pontiac showed up on a local car lot. It really made an impression on me. The body looks good, maybe add some grime to the frame rails. I know a valve cover that long is going to leak oil, don't tell me it won't. Keep it up!!

Welcome to the Forum from West of the Cascades!!! Always good to have Oregonians here. I like the rust work on the 55. Ryan's primer on painting is top notch. you can also use oil base paints and sand through the layers(hard to do convincingly) or use rubber cement as a mask for spots that appear to have peeled. The key to flat paint, like Dave said, is dull cote or flat clear paint. Use caution as some clears will attack the layers underneath. This could have good results... or not. Experiment, use references and take notes. People ask all the time "how did you do that" and I don't always remember. When something turns out great, it is nice to be able to repeat it. Good luck and have fun.