Tom Geiger

Nice work! Are you participating in the 24 Hour Build this year?

Great concept and start! If you want a more detailed chassis, I believe the Revell kit has a good one!

Thanks Bill! Yes, the first year I participated I chose the Miss Deal Funny Car kit. It is an iconic old kit, but it came with it's early tooling imperfections such as excessive flash, huge mold lines and a load of ejector pin marks. Starting at noon, by 6pm all I had accomplished was clean up and just had piles of primed parts! You don't realize how much time this stuff actually takes until you are in a timed event! So that was a learning experience!

As John just said, there are a number of files on the Facebook page that give oodles of tips on what to do and what not to do! We've all done the "not to dos!". I don't have any real system but a few things I've learned over the years.... Pick a fairly simple kit that builds well. You don't want to spend a lot of time playing with bad fit and correcting kit issues. Pick a kit you are familiar with. If you've built it before you know the ins and outs of the kit. Pick a kit that is expendable, and you have multiple copies of! Don't try to build something expensive or dear to you! There are years I've built kits I bought for $5 and two extra copies. It's important to have an extra kit! First, you can continue to build with a second chassis and body while the main ones have been painted and are drying! And if you mess up a part, toss it aside and grab one from the second kit. You can always fix that part later for another build! Stay simple! Just build the darn kit! People fail because they over complicated the build! Use quick drying paints and glues. Have fun! It's just for fun. It's not a contest to see who finishes first. There is no sense cheating. You are competing against yourself, and seeing if you can build a credible model in the 24 hours. If you fail? No worries, many do! And most of us have failed to finish some years. At least you will have a model nearly done that you can finish later. And ya know... in the end, the models we build don't look half bad! Right now there are some 140 builders poised to participate. The group would like to top 150 so we need you to join in! It's fun!

Ha! I thought I knew you well, but I didn't know the story about the second '59 Dodge! All in all a very thoughtful daughter, even though it didn't work out all that well. I have a stash of '41 Plymouths bought cheap for the flathead 6 engines. Like you I've had visions of creating some 1950s Mopars (my cousin George had a '59 Belvedere with a flatty), but haven't gotten there yet. I did use one in my '34 Ford rod, just to be different. For my engine detailing, I found a rebuilt engine that was for sale on eBay with great photos! Tom V contacted me today about NNL East, so I'm hoping to see you and your latest builds in a few months!

I agree that the Plastikote primer was the best, but since it's not been available for a long time, I've made due with Duplicolor sandable primer.

I have never owned a Land Rover but I would think that having the spare up on the hood would be inconvenient. How does it affect opening the hood for service? It looks like it would be very heavy

Pretty cool! I like that you kept the flatty 6!

Since folks are showing truck bodies.. I scratch built that passenger jitney body on my 1950 Ford pickup. The side panels were cut from. Tom Daniel Paddy Wagon, and the rest of the body is all from Evergreen sheet. The roof was made from basswood, and the shingles were cut into squares and applied randomly.

Joe, so sorry to learn of your mom’s passing. I know this has been a long hard journey for your family. Condolences and prayers from Pennsylvania.

I had a 73 Pinto wagon for a summer. My wife’s brother asked me to sell it for him and I could drive it until sold. It was a reliable little bugger that was fun to drive. I was sorry when it sold!

That was a confusing issue... the official rules say no headlights, but the photo header for the rules on their website showed two cars running with lights! There were cars running with lights when I was there

I remember someone, might have been on this board, who brought their brand new build outside to photograph. A slight breeze moved the base they had the car on and it quickly rolled off to it demise!

Thanks! It was a fun save. When I pulled it out of the vendor’s box he commented that he was going to throw that mess away, and if I wanted it, just take it! So I did! The moment I saw it I knew it needed to live again. All the custom parts on it came in that first issue of the kit.

Dog grabbed it

And you don’t want models rolling off the shelf!

Same in my area

The original mess... roof had been broken off and lost. Suspension totaled. Found in the bottom of a junk box at a model show. Complete! Added replacement roof from a clean body. Replaced suspension and added nice period wheel / tire combo. Replaced mirrors and antenna that were broken off. Created new decal for roof from Internet scan of original issue decal sheet. Decals were flaking off the original body so we clear coated everything. A little scrap fabric on rear shelf to cover a glue mess. Note that this car never came apart. Things had to be masked for the paint operations! Committed is when you crack open a new copy of a kit to restore an old one!

You are good to glue those panels shut. This kit was fiddly and tough to get those pieces to work properly and look right anyway.

How 'bout this one? Someone gave me this busted old '63 Valiant body. That's all I had! Mated it with the chassis from a junker AMT 71 Duster, and a roof from a '64 Valiant I am building into a convertible to match one I used to own. And a ton of work and sweat later we have this!

agreed! BJ didn't build or own the vehicles, they are merely consigned to sell them by different sellers. I watch a few of the auto shows on cable and it's not only auction cars, but eBay cars bought sight unseen as well as cars bought face to face by knowledgeable buyers. I remember a '57 Chevy on Phantom Works that was beautiful and wound up needing a whole new frame. On Bitchin Rides, an eBay car needed a ton of work to make it what the buyer expected it to be. The pitfalls of 1:1 cars are enough to make me want to stick to model cars!

Hey Michael! Great start. I have an old built one of these sitting on top of my tv in the model room. I keep eyeing it for a project! I went to the TROG races in Wildwood, New Jersey this year. Here's the photos I took, hope you find some inspiration! https://public.fotki.com/modelcitizen/11_car_reference_library/car-shows-and-cruis/trog-the-race-of-ge/

Very nice work! It just shines!

Welcome to the board! This is a fun place.

The US government put contracts for vehicles out to bid, but in reality they spread the orders around US auto makers. My father was an army officer and when we got to Germany his staff car was a 1968 AMC Ambassador. In either 1970 or 1971 it was changed out for a Torino style Falcon sedan.