mrm

I don't know how wise most people will say what I am about to write is, but true to my principles, I will say what is on my mind. I am disappointed. I buy the magazine for many reasons, but like many others one of the big ones is the model contest coverage. Over the years I have not kept all the magazine issues ( I always got BOTH magazines) but I have kept the contest issues since '99. I have to say that recent contest issues of MCM have disappointed me. I started to notice a weird tendency for the pictures that appear. There are times when there are 20 pictures of a show and 4 people have 4 pictures of models built by them and then there are four more for all the rest. I know some people make models better than others and I know that everyone feels like they should have their photo in the magazine, but c'mon, Really? We talk about keeping the hobby alive and bringing fresh blood into it and that's what we do? On a contest with 50 entrants we show the work of the same four people? It reminds me back in the late '90s when I was active on the shows there was a guy who used to enter models on behalf of his two children and be so proud of the load of trophies in his house. How about showing some encouragement to the newbies in the hobby? How about motivating some kid to do better next time by publishing a photo of his glue bomb and giving him a hand? We all know who the names in the hobby are and I am not saying not to show their work. It is inspirational and it should be shared. But does this mean you have to show a picture of everything they brought to a show instead of making some other guys happy too? And about the last contest issue.....I'm so baffled by the content, that I did not even take the time I usually take to look and read everything in there. The biggest shows in the country are missing! WTF!!!!! This is the cream of the crop from the show scene for the past year? No Salt lake City? No Heartlands? No Ohio........... I used to buy the magazine from a local book store to support the local business, but the new owner is an a$$, so for last fathers day my wife gifted me a couple of subscriptions. The last few issues had no contest coverage at all and now I receive the special issue that looks like half of it is missing. I think this magazine is starting to lose some of the things that made the BETTER choice of the two model magazines and it hurts me to see it. Just my two cents.

I'll play too. At the F1 races about 10 years ago. I'm the guy in the middle

Hi gang. I have been away from this place for quite some time and I attempted to catch up with all the new builds and topics, but after the first hour found out that it is not possible. Anyway, while I was "in hiding" I polished a few die casts. Here is my Hamann California. It is based on a 1:18 Hotwheels model of the Ferrari California (V8) Model was taken apart, stripped and repainted in Giallo Modena Triplo Strati Pearl. It is a Ferrari color which on a real car will set you back about $40K. Luckylly for me it was "only" $100 for 4oz. The hamann bits consist of the front spoiler, side skirts, rear valance and wing. I molded them from resin as I did with the wheels. Or should I say with the wheel backs and centers. The "lips" on the wheels I turned from aluminum. Wheel centers, a-pillars, roof and aero bits were done in flat black. The trunk received just a little bit of carbon fiber. The front suspension was also lowered and the brakes received the needed detail. The tail lights and side markers were tinted. The interior is fully detailed. The engine came very well detailed, so I did not touch it.

TRhis Deuce is absolutely Gorgeous. I love the color, the wheels and just about everything on it.

Very cool. I love phaeton 32s

It would have been nice to do some research and find out that no Ferrari 575, in any variation, ever had a door frame. All the seals that you have sticking up on the front of the door are attached to the A-pillar.

This is awesome!!! I have toyed with the idea quite few times before, but never really made anything serious. I know I will step on some people's toes, but drifting to me just makes no sense and never really liked the whole hype about it. However the idea of a drift Deuce is pretty cool "what iff" matter. I am definitely interested to see how this ends up. Not a big fan of the front wing tho.

Very creative. thank you for keeping us in the loop. I love projects like this.

Wow, this is a very old thread. I wonder what happened with the model. Are there pictures of the finished model? I would like to see how it turned out at the end. I love hearses and I am building one right now, altho not a Caddy. When I lived in Chicago there was this cool alternative store right on the corner of Belmont and Clark IIRC called The Alley. Actually the store was the second building from the corner with a Dunkin Donuts on the corner. I think the owner of the store owned like half the block or something, so in the big parking right on the corner infront of DD was parked an old Caddy hearse painted black with blue flames. It was like an advertizing for the store and absolutely awesome. I used t check it out every time I walked by. Anyway, back on topic - I would love to see more of that build and I am also interested in a coffin for my project.

Great job on an otherwise poor kit. I think your build flatters the kit. The paint is just perfect. I always liked the Countach in black. It looks mean.

That last one is totally my cup of tea. I absolutely love it.

Very nicely done. The Countach is such an icon, a symbol of an automotive era. Meanwhile it is such a POS as a 1:1 car.

Isn't this the main reason and difference with which diecasts were created? To collect? Some of them will bloww away even the best built plastic model and are very limited and appretiate over the years. This is the reason why I am into both. I collect diecast and build kits.

I agree with the last statement, but buying anything out there, be it kits, paintings, shoes, cars......for investment and to enjoy it are two completely different things. Of course I am fine with anything anyone wants to do. Their life, their money and their right to do whatever they want with it. This however does not mean I can understand it or agree with it. But as they say - to each their own. To me personally buying a model and keeping it sealed in its box "to admire" is the same as to be married to a supermodel and never undressing her and going to bed. Oh, I'll just admire her in her swet pants at the kitchen table at breakfast time........to heck with that! I ripped the fruit and now I want to eat it! LOL By the way, I have some Pochers too and I built them also. I believe the black F40 with the gold rims, that was made in 1000 pieces for the german market was selling on e-bay for a little over $4000 sealed right about the time I was admiring the crappy paintjob its body came with.

I first saw this about a year ago and was blown away. since then the Airport is a new addition. The closest thing I have seen is in Carlsbad, CA, in Legoland. I wanted to take my kid to Disneyland for his Birthday and then someone said that Disney's got nothing on Legoland. So we went there. They have similar set up outdoors that is huge and in about 1:20 scale. Altho everything is made from Legos it is extremely realistic and all their vehicles move the same way, on magnets. There is the entire Manhattan skyline, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Sidney, the Swiss Alps. Mount Roushmore, Paris and so much more.It is completely different thing that whats on hand in Germany, but not any less impressive and definitely worth seeing. Best thing about it - you don't have to fly half way around the wrld to see it (if you are in US or Canada)

I also support the theory of "live long, build them all". Kits are meant to be built and there is a fraction of "collectors" out there, that collect sealed mint boxes. They never even open them "to admire". Er, they collect box art, not models. Just to prove my feelings about the issue, I am building the very old and very rare Pink Panther show car from Doyusha. You can still collect all the parts and do all the research and admire your model when built, or otherwise it is just a pile of plastic that does not even look like anything to admire. (darn, I should have put my flame suit before I wrote this)

Both 55s are awesome. I love them and I am Sssoooooo building one or the other.

Is Tebow the driver?.......'cause you know, the Broncos kinda drove off with all of Steelers "shiny paint".

I keep revisiting this thread because when looking at the picture I kept feeling that something was off. I finally got it tho- not enough pictures! Nevermind! I just noticed the link and now I feel like DUUUHHHHHH!

Looks mean and definitely unusual, but is it front wheel drive? And how does it steer?

With the gas tank and the rails coming out in the back, I think that the bobbed fenders are purely a matter of personal taste. However if you make it all smooth and tucked underneath in the back (like in my case) then the fenders really need to be cut a little. But on a somewhat traditional build like the one we have here I think it looks just fine with the regular fenders. Just my 2 cents.

If there is another one, I'll be making something considerably simpler.

Thank you guys. I appreciate the comments. I will keep the progress going in a separate thread. Hopefully I can finish it by end of week.

Great model and greatly build. I have one on my workbench right now too, that is going in almost identical direction, but with different wheels and colors. It is also cool to see that you have used the exact same PE stoplights that I just put on my 3day-attempt-Vicky and at the exact same location. I would wholeheartedly agree with the above comment that your model looks like it came out of Coddington's shop.