Chief Joseph

Oh the irony, Revell! You made a new body tool for the Baja Bronco release but it's literally useless if somebody wants to make an accurate Baja Bronco! The most accurate Stroppe Baja body is still made with the original release's stock body and rear fender flares. On the front, you can sand off a little of the lower front openings to replicate the rolling that Stroppe's shop did. But at least the new body is a great starting point for making a Bronco with larger tires that wouldn't fit under the stock openings.

I don't sell on eBay. It's possible someone is reselling items they purchased from me. That is totally okay. I just looked it up and it looks legit. I can sell someone the complete 2-piece set for half of what he's trying to get, but that's capitalism for you.

Anthony Gimaldi took the recasts of my items off eBay when I reported him. He is a kid. Recasting is endemic in the car modeling section of the hobby. Unfortunately, recasting of kit parts has gone one for so long, by some of the biggest names in the aftermarket, that dummies just think that everything is fair game to be recast. Yes, it is true that when you buy a part from me, you can recast as many copies as you like for your own use. But you can't give them to anyone else, and you certainly can't sell them. In the figure modeling community, recasting is a huge problem, and to fight it, the kit producers will only sell to people that are vetted by the community. Because of a recaster in Puerto Rico who got my items from someone else, I no longer sell to anyone in Puerto Rico without having one of my friends who is in that community actually vouch for the person. It would be easy to simply not sell to anyone in Puerto Rico, but that is not really fair to the good guys in the hobby. I know of some guys who will not sell to someone if they know they've bought from a recaster. I really don't want to do that, because most of the time the buyer actually doesn't know he's bought a recast item-- he just thinks he bought a recast kit part from some kit he's never seen.

In my experience, it depends on the thickness/mass of the part. A thin piece like a lense might take a while, but a thicker piece, like a casting block for the lenses, will start to show yellowing within a month. Exposure to UV will accelerate the process.

One thing to remember about clear epoxy resin is that it will eventually turn yellow. Clear urethane resin doesn't.

Got another one now: Dave Panek, who has a page called "Emergency Scale Lighting" on Facebook, is recasting my Mopar police wheels. I sell them in 1/24 and 1/25 scale, and he bought one set of each in November. In January, he advertised on Facebook that he had replacement police wheels for the Monaco kit. Very convenient, huh? He glued my separate hubcaps to the wheels and is making a one-piece copy that doesn't have the open holes that my wheels have. Again, a completely inferior copy. Listen, guys, it's *easy* to take kit parts and make resin copies of them. There are resin copies of kit parts all over eBay. Anybody with a 40% Hobby Lobby coupon can get into the kit part recasting game. You can recast all the kit parts you want-- I don't care. But I make everything from scratch, and I have to research, test, and refine the things I make. When you copy my parts, you are directly affecting my ability to make a living, and that just won't stand.

That excuse won't fly because I have the records of his emails and a PayPal invoice for the very same items he is recasting. I'm prepared to go nuclear and tell his Mom what he's doing

Yes, I already reported the items to eBay.

Hi Folks, The eBay seller "meditrans65" is selling recasts of some of my 1/25 Holley carbs and 1/24 5-slot mags. His quality is atrocious and it's more expensive to buy these BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH pieces from him than it is to buy the real things from me! The really sad part is that it took me all of 30 seconds to trace him down. His name is Anthony Grimaldi and he uses the email address "thegameboy56@gmail.com" with the name "onebad slotcar." He ordered the items he's recasting from me on November 26 of last year, and his mom Jodi paid for them from her PayPal account. He has three different Facebook accounts, too. Here's the kicker: he wanted me to give him a discount on the order because he was going to show the items to his modeling group and that would generate more sales for me. I gave him free shipping on the order because the way he wrote and spelled made me feel sorry for him. And the thanks I get is that he rips off my hard work. Other resin casters: this tool is recasting other parts, too. Don't sell anything to him. Thanks for looking and keep on truckin'

No, I do not draw custom artwork. It takes too much time and there's no return on investment.

I have the 5-Slots already done since they go with the Stroppe Baja. I won't do a half-cab because that piece that's on eBay is nice and I think they'll keep making them as long as people want them. I am considering a roadster conversion, though.

Conversion set to make a Stroppe Baja, wheel flares, correct 15x5.5 & 15x8.5 steelies and covers, maybe even a correct (curved) grille. These are all in process now, with some pieces already molded, and some still in the drafting phase. I saw a beautiful Arcadian Blue Bronco on the road this morning, so I take that as a good omen.

Hello folks, Sorry for the delay; business is booming and I have been working overtime to keep up with orders. The Chevy really wheels are shipping, and they are available in four 1/25 sets: FMR-098 15x8 Chevy/GMC Rally 5-lug (pair) FMR-099 15x10 Chevy/GMC Rally 5-lug (pair) FMR-100 15x8 Chevy/GMC Rally 6-Lug (four) FMR-101 15x8 Chevy/GMC Rally 6-Lug & 31x10.5x15 BFG All-Terrain TA (four) Send me an email-- fireballmodelworks at gmail.com to get the prices and ordering info. The 6-Lug set can be ordered with all plain center caps if needed; just ask me about it when ordering. The plain caps and lockout caps are cast on a separate blocks, so all I have to do is sub in another plain block. I probably won't update the website until I have the Bronco stuff ready for sale. That'll be soon. Thank! Joseph

My Holley with LeMans bowls is not exactly the same version that was used on big-block Fords and Race Hemis, but the differences are so small that you'd have to be totally anal-retentive to see them.

Hi All, I have some new 1/25 Chevy/GMC Truck Rally Wheels coming out very soon. I've started casting them, and here is a set of the 4x4 wheels with my new 1/25 All-Terrain T/A: I will probably make these in 1/24 scale also, but after the new year.

For what it's worth, my personal record is 3D modeling a part on a Sunday morning, printing the part that afternoon, molding it that evening, casting copies on Monday afternoon, and shipping them on Tuesday. Switching to a 3D workflow has increased my productivity by an astronomical level.

My Rally II sets include both the early PMD medallion-style centerpieces and the later Arrowhead centerpieces. I added the Arrowhead centerpieces a few months ago, so they aren't in the promotional photos.

These are resin copies. Greg. I 3D print the masters and mold them, Since the detail is so fine and the 3D parts are so fragile, it's a destructive process-- the masters are broken upon demolding. But urethane resin is much stronger than the UV resin used in the masters, so fine details like vent tubes and levers are stronger on the final product. When I need to make new molds, I simply print more 3D masters.

I printed some casting masters for the AVS today and I'll put it into production soon. Thanks!

Ironically, a made a plain, old 1968 AVS carb earlier this year but I haven't put it into production because I thought nobody would want it!

I finally updated my website with the Street Hemi and Max Wedge AFB carbs. I'm working on Holley carbs now-- lots of options coming soon: 4150, 4160, LeMans, and more.

Photos are easy to come by, but hardly anybody puts a ruler into the picture, too. The measurements are crucial to getting the correct scale.

It's not strictly necessary to have the actual item in hand, but it sure does make the process a lot easier and faster.

Hi Charlie; The Carter BBD is truly a piece that I would never have thought to do. The only 2bbl carbs I have thought about doing are the Rochester and Holley carbs used on tripower and six pack performance motors. Do you have any size references for the BBD? I can probably make one just from photographs if I had the basic dimensions like air horn diameter, bore diameter, flange dimension, and overall height. Are there any kits that have the BBD and a 2bbl intake for the 318? Thanks, Joseph

I've done an AVS, actually! It's not really a very popular carburetor, so I haven't been moving very fast on it. I'd like to get my hands on a Thermoquad since it's a bit more popular. This is my AVS 3D model: