Tom Geiger

When I posted a few pictures to the diecast section I came across pix of this one. A pretty elementary modification, but took forever as usual. So here goes... A Jada diecast Chevy Suburban as I received it many years ago. As I looked at it I kept seeing a police vehicle.. So I did what any modeler would do.. I took it apart! I did have plans to detail out the rather simple interior with new seats and stuff, but as I sat forever, I decided simple would be better. The one thing that did bother me was the flat hood. The 57 truck had those wind splitter hood bumps like the passenger cars. I thought about simply swapping in the hood from the AMT 57 Pickup kit but the hoods were radically different. So I went about creating those ribs. If they look familiar, yes I whittled down a pair of tooth picks! And in the end, good enuf for a shelf diecast! I did strip and paint the hood, doors and rear gate. I decided the original black finish was again, good enuf! And this was how it sat for years. I did get rid of the whitewalls and full wheel covers. Decals from the Johan 59 Rambler wagon kit.

She reports home!

I have a 56 four door hardtop that was done by Ed Fluck Senior aka F&F Resin back in the day. Recently Joe Konrad did it does a number of 1950s four door cars. I cannot remember his company name nor find it on Facebook at the moment.

Great work! I’m enjoying watching model building as a spectator sport! ? ?

Some of you may remember some 15/20 years ago when it was feared that Tomy was going to scrap all the AMT etal tooling. Hallmark owned Revell and had it up for sale. Everyone feared that there wouldn’t be any more model cars. I wrote an editorial in my club newsletter stating that the world wasn’t ending. There was a market that needed to be served and we needed smaller, nimbler companies with better product knowledge and strategies to succeed. It was more of an opportunity than a problem. Well, Chicken Little was wrong. The sky wasn’t falling. Tom Lowe bought back the AMT hoard and Revell found a new owner in Hobbyco, both companies did a great job working in the marketplace. And new small players have emerged. Right now we are at that same crossroads. Scale Auto has left a huge opportunity for someone to fill a market need. Someone will fill it. Let’s hope Model Cars pulls this off!

Aha! I was fooled by original photo.. I thought the center indent was on the back cushion! That would make a cool pickup seat!

Very nice! Truly a stand out model!

Worked on the interior of the Jeepster today. Much of that time was spent on computer, creating labels for gauge cluster and radio. There should be a shifting label on glove box door but I couldn’t get any image to reduce down to size without just looking like a black box.

It’s volume and the direct purchase. I once was at Dave Burket / Model King’s house when he got a shipment of something like 50 cases of a new release, direct from the manufacturer. No doubt commanding a good volume discount. Small shops buy from distributors, so there’s that extra markup plus shipping costs. Also they order broken cases.. a few copies each of each kit. That’s the difference. Labor etc costs money to provide that service. That’s the way it goes. My grandfather saw that even in the 1950s. He and his brothers ran the family legacy jewelry store and when Two Guys Department Store opened up they were selling Timex watches cheaper than his wholesale. So their strategy changed, focusing on high end jewelry and repairs. And as time marched on, even Two Guys failed against later competition.

And why? I cannot see any benefit

And why?

Neat story Dan! My wife and I were headed to Aruba for vacation via Newark International Airport. While TSA searched us head to toe, just short of looking in my underwear, we were cleared. Right behind us were two clean cut young guys, one an Irish redhead, the other of Hispanic heritage. They and their bags were marched off somewhere. We had allowed plenty of time so we had time to eat breakfast at one of the restaurants at the gate. I had never treated myself to steak and eggs. They bring me a serrated STEAK KNIFE! We ate and got on our plane. Just as they were closing the door, those two earlier mentioned gentlemen ran onto the plane out of breath and sat across from us. I talked with them and TSA gave them the third degree for over an hour, almost missing the flight. The clincher? They were both New Jersey State Troopers! They were at our hotel so we drank with them all week.

Verizon Fios has me peeved... they have loaded a new TV interface that changes the function of some of the controller buttons! After all these years I don’t even look at the controller! I just know where everything is! Now I gotta relearn everything... the very reason I didn’t seek a new provider!

Some won’t allow!

You can resize and crop your photos right on the iPhone. Look at any photo on your phone. In the upper right corner click on “EDIT” and that will bring up your edit options. In the bottom right option, it looks like a square with two quarter arch’s with arrows on them... that will allow you to crop your photo and adject angle. In upper left corner are the buttons for flip and rotate. When you go to upload to the board, there’s a line at bottom to resize..

Best wishes to you and your wife! My wife had heart surgery about five years ago and you’d never know it today! Keep us informed, we will keep you in our prayers!

Very nice, I love your city street. It reminds me of Central Avenue in Jersey City New Jersey when I was growing up. The picture of your Torino against the buildings looks absolutely real! i know the banging my head against the wall! I feel that right now as I try to move my Jeepsters forward! I was admiring one of my finished models in my shelf last night and remembered how frustrating it was when I was building it! Reminds me of how it’s always worth it in the end! I look forward to seeing more of your work and friendship on the board!

I've meant to do this post for awhile, and today I was reading a post regarding spraying a bit of spray paint to brush. Everyone recommended spraying a bit into the can cap. Here’s my alternative. I use these little Dixie brand paper cups extensively in the model room. As for spraying that bit of paint, I use a cup. I also have a previously used one cut down as a base so the paint pools down in the bottom edge. Here’s the cups, straight from the grocery store. I used to pinch a few from the bathroom but then splurged and bought the box of 200 for maybe $3 for the model room. Be sure to get these plain paper ones. The wax coated ones will melt wax into your paint and the plastic cups will melt with hobby paints. They also make great little paint stands. You can tape parts to them or poke holes in them for parts that are mounted in toothpicks or pins. If a part is heavy just stack cups into the base as ballast. Ive used cups to hold parts in place while drying. And to hold things while I’m working. And of course I keep small parts in cups to keep them from going astray. While this post is pretty much elementary, I’m sure someone will benefit. Nobody can say they can’t afford it!

Yes it’s a very small world! A few years ago my nosy sister in law was looking at the people who sent me Happy Birthday wishes on Facebook and told me that the ones from South Africa, Europe, South America and Australia were scammers! I just laughed at her and told her I knew them all personally and they’d all been to my house! Ah, the community of model car folk!

Hi Chris- I believe I hit my Scalecraft kit from Peter Thomas when he visited me many years ago

Nice build Roger! I’d like to have one like that on my shelf. I think everyone who lived in the era has a Pinto story! They weren’t bad little cars. My buddy had one for all of a few weeks. He was rear ended sitting at a light. The accident report header said it all... Vehicle One: Ford Pinto. Vehicle Two: Mack.

Ya know.. I believe I’ll be receiving a few issues of FSM and I’ll give them a read. I always found that modelers of different genres had techniques I could use like weathering and detailing. So I’ll see what they’ve got before determining if I’ll keep getting it

I spray a little paint into those little Dixie Bathroom cups. I get the box of a few hundred. They are very useful in the model room. Make sure you get the paper ones. The plastic ones melt and the wax coated ones cause issues too.

Nice Riv! Keep us posted on your non car builds too! Especially the dioramas sound cool. And when you say you are going to build something you always do it! You are serious enough a builder to get a spray booth. The Pace unit I just bought works well with spray cans. That would set you for 12 months a year!

A good part of my ride to work is on a two lane country road. I often get stuck behind big slow trucks. I spent a good 15 minutes behind this one on my way home the other day , wondering what “Bucks Bun Oil” was, until I got close at a light... This milk truck is my daily nemesis. I see the same truck every morning. If I see it early while on the highway or the four lane road seen here, great! If I see him once it’s the two lane road, it’s a slow ride to work!