1320wayne

In this situation it was a two day show and the judging and photography was done after hours with no contestants around so they could not ask me before handling. As it was already mentioned contestants should insure that they post a note of some sort explaining any special handling instructions. I learned from this experience and do that everytime now.

The model shown here was dropped on it's roof at the first show that I took it too after just finishing it days prior. As you can well imagine, something built in this style warrants some fragile areas. The hood snapped off, the trunk as well. Amazingly enough though, nothing broke in the sense that it couldn't be repaired or re-glued. A judge was moving the model for photo purposes and it just came sliding off the base. It was entirely my fault due in part to the way I had it displayed as the clear acrylic posts that supported the model were not attached to the mirrored base. Unfortunately, my first response when I found out what had happened was anger until I came to my senses and realized two things. It's just plastic and it could be repaired and the guy that dropped it felt so horrible and my intial response didn't do anything to help that situation out. Accidents do happen.

George, there are a few different ways to attack this issue. First, there are multiple pc programs you can purchase to help you create your own designs, layout your decal to your liking and then basically follow the process that Elco explained regarding transferring your image(s) to decal film. A lot of those programs are quite pricey. The poor mans route (not to degrade Elco's approach) is basically the same process that Elco described and that is what I have been playing with for a little over a year now. I find an image that I like, save it to my computer and then when I'm ready I open up a Word document (as opposed to Excel) and insert the images there. Once inserted I can resize them to whatever I need or I can even change the overall shape. For instance, the image below shows a series of flame images. After inserting those images into the document I can simply click on the image and do whatever with it. I can change the overall size, I can widen it, narrow it or even stretch or shorten the image. Mind you that with any image if you go too far with the changes you could distort it to the point of it no longer being an appealling sight. Over the past year I have created sponsor decal sheets for racing applications, flames and other graphics for wild paint schemes, images fitting Rat Rod themes and corporate images for Commercial applications. Just remember this. When it comes to reproducing images if you are doing it for yourself you are most likely o.k.. When, or if, you were to ever start creating for others and charging money for your services you've got to be aware of treading on someones licensing territory.

Where I was on this day isn't really relevant, especially to all of those men, women and children who were/are directly affected by this historically tragic event that changed so many lives. I can say that looking back on this time it was refreshing to see an entire nation finally come together with a sense of national pride, albeit due to such a dramatic chain of events. For weeks after you could see folks in so many communities caring more about their fellow man, showing their pride by flying the flag, posting american patriotic symbols outside their homes and in their cars. But to me it didn't seem to last. That's sad. For me, I will never forget. No, I wasn't directly affected by this in regards to losing any loved ones but my religious faith has taught me to cherish life and to honor those in death, especially those who give of themselves for the betterment and survival of others. For the past ten years I have kept a coffee table style hard cover book, that documents the events of this day, on my coffee table so each and every day I can look down and see those faces staring back at me (the cover is a montage of faces of people that lost their lives on this day). O.K., so maybe I'm overdramatizing just a bit, but the book is a constant reminder of what happened and to periodically say a prayer for anyone that was directly affected by this event. So the next time you are saying your prayers maybe you can remember to ask God to shine a little light on any of the families that lost a father, or a mother, or a brother or sister, or a husband or wife, or a child. Every little bit helps. And while your at it, go pick up a flag and fly it with pride. After all, Red, White and Blue is the best color combination ever created.

Some really nice builds there drag monster. I especially like the Hairy Canary car.

Some awesome detailing you got going on there.

Probably the best response to this so far. Model contests are a great happening (in my opinion) and should be taken for what they are worth. If you go expecting it to be a certain way, when you are obviously not knowledgable about the IPMS process with this being your first one attended, then you are almost certain to have some of these feelings. Nobody can tell you how you should act in regards to attending contests. They can say "have fun", but if you're ultra competitive it's hard to put that concept on the back burner. But you do need to understand that all shows are run differently. IPMS creates a basic set of guidelines for their chapters to use, or not use, for any show put on. It's the chapters choice to decide to go with this or create their own format. Unfortunately, IPMS does cater more to the military modeler than that of the automotive one. You can't complain if the show only had four or five categories for automotive models because that's a fact that is part of their advertising and you should know this going in. From my experience I have found quite a few shows across the country put on by IMPS chapters that do expand the auto classes to more readily match that of most of the military classes. IPMS also teaches the practice of not handling models during judging. Not so much on the automotive side of things but some of the military styles of building consist of projects with many fragile parts and the last thing anyone wants to do is break someones model. That's the basic reason for this and they have to be consistent across all categories. It's a shame that you did not have a better experience at this show. I would suggest though, that you don't fully condem the entire IPMS organization just because your one and only experience at an IPMS show was unfavorable. Yeah, I've been to some shows that appearred that they were being run by monkeys, but I still had a good time because I was able to be around a hobby that I love, see some great models and meet some great people and builders. To me that's what it's all about.

Very nice builds, Paul. I figured you would be good for some more superb builds to show off.

Michael, that is some amazing detail.

Rob this is looking great. I really love the detail on the floorboards. And the top is killer. Can't wait to see more.

Thanks for all of the comments. If we can ever escape Summer down here in FL I might be able to get out into the work shop a bit more and get these bodies finished and started on more to follow.

Joe, great job. The detail is awesome and the idea behind what you created is to be commended. I'm very pleased to see that you don't appear to be offended by the negative, disrespectful comments early on in this thread. It's not our place to declare that we don't like a model or any aspect of it, at least not in the manner that the statement was delivered. We, as viewers of your build, don't have that right. At least that's my opinion. Sorry for my little editorial. It just kind of touched a nerve.

Superb job as usual Tyrone.

Hey Jim, sounds like the meeting was a success, again. Sorry that I couldn't attend this one as working in retail seldom ever gives me time off on a holiday weekend. Next month may be a tough one as well as the meeting falls on the weekend of the Modelpalooza IPMS show in Orlando. I plan on attending as many as possible and it looks like I need to start bringing some spending cash in the future as well.

Slixx has multiple decals for a number of Blue Max cars. They do have decals for the mid 70's car but only in 25th scale. The best body for that one is what Dave mentions above. They do have a set of decals for the 73 era car that has flames in the paint scheme and they are available in both 25th and 16th scale.

Here are a few more of Daryl's builds.

And the most recent update is getting the clear coat added and rubbed out this weekend.

A few years back, after I started creating pro mod bodies for casting I started on a Pontiac Grand Am body with the starting point being an old resin Grand Prix Nascar body. I wasn't really pleased with the way it was coming out so it never did get added to the lineup of bodies that I was doing for Chris at TEM. Last year I pulled it out and made a few changes to it, was happier with the look, although not 100% pleased, and decided to make my own pro mod out of it. The idea was to replicate Harold Martin's pro mod Pontiac using this body along with a Revell top sportsman/pro stock chassis and decals from the Kurt Johnson AC Delco Slixx sheet. The markings from the Slixx sheet are not an exact representation of Harold's car but they are close enough. After progressing a bit further I decided to build this as a curbside. No engine but plenty of interior and exterior details. Here is the beginning. The body in it's intial stage of build. And the body after some of the changes were made. And then paint and decals.

Profile looks great Jeff.

Amazing detail Shane. You should lose the word "hack" from your vocabulary because you are as far from that as I've ever seen.

Superb work Rickard. By chance do you sell the dress up kits shown above?

Yes, the 3 at the top are already in the hands of Chris at TEM and the other two are still on my workbench.

That is definately one very cool looking build. Great job!

And then two more bodies that I am currently working on. First there is this 41 Willys body that was one of my earlier designs a few years back only to see this popular body style go through some dramatic changes within the past couple of years. What's known today as the "shovel nose" Willys I went ahead and took one of the bodies from a few years ago and I'm in the process of making the neccessary changes to update it to current standards. The nose has been lengthened, dropped down in the front, the front grill area re-arched and the tops of the fenders re-shaped with a much higher bulge. And the other current project is a 70.5 Camaro body. There is still plenty of work to go on these bodies but they are really starting to take shape.

Since there has been plenty of focus lately on Pro Mod builds and bodies being worked on I figured I'd showcase a few of the latest bodies that I have either just recently completed or are still working on. First is a 68 Mustang body just recently finished. This one is designed to use either a Top Fuel style wing or a Pro Stock spoiler. Next is a modern era Mustang body also designed to use either the Top Fuel style or Pro Stock wing. And then, just a bit more on the wild side is a 55-57 style T-bird body based on the similar design run by Wayne Torkelson.