Tom Geiger

Bobby, yes I finished it according to plan. It was on the table at Philly NNL. It's a controversial piece! I just did an Under Glass thread for it:

This scary little puppy is finished! My goal was to have it on the table at the Philly NNL last Saturday and I managed to finish it up Friday afternoon with time to spare! This is a project started back in 2008, revisited in 2012 and finally put on the bench with intent of finishing it about a month ago. I had asked friends for suggestions on a number of details and incorporated a lot of their feedback into the final model. Falcon Ranchero bed.. some guys at the Philly NNL thought I used the bed from the 1/32 Ranchero, but no it's a sliced and diced bed from the 1/25 version. New Jersey plate was one I already had made up, placed on the vehicle hastily to look complete. I reserve the right to change it to a personalized one someday in the future! Friends suggested bomber seats, so I grabbed the set that was in the recent Revell Model A chopped coupe. Clear steering wheel came out of an AMT Riviera, parking brake is VW. Console is '57 Ford custom unit whittled to fit. I drilled in some cup holders because I go nowhere without my big cup of coffee! I gave some details to the dirty underside. The exhaust is the stock set that came on the custom 1950 Ford pickup, only cut right behind the mufflers. I added some chrome ends that probably were intake parts in their previous life. Here she is sitting next to my stock 1950 Ford pickup just to illustrate how modified she really is! The body was sectioned and once the top was removed the windshield was chopped as well. Maybe I should have cut a bit more off of that! And she's shorter too! I had taken a bit out of the chassis length. In this last shot you can see how I raised the engine up a bit so that the injectors came through the hood. This is a fixed panel, reminiscent of those old pickups with the two sided hood. That is the flatty with the Ardun heads that came with the kit. So in the end we have this crazy little rod. And the voices in my head are pleased!

The changing of the clocks is a real pain when you schedule meetings internationally! Europe changes on a different date than the US. Puerto Rico, Japan and China don’t participate at all.

Temperatures in high 30s and heavy rains. We swam up the New Jersey Turnpike to my daughter's house. The women folk went to a baby shower so I'm doggie sitting, and enjoying the Internet.

Very good news indeed! I'm pleased for your son and your family!

Hey Anthony- Welcome back to the hobby. We have a club in New Jersey that meets in Perth Amboy on the second Saturday of each month. Our next meeting is April 13 and you are welcome to come. We have a couple of guys who build trucks too. We also run a little show, which will be April 27th in Wayne, NJ. I make a lot of decals for my models so I'd be happy to teach you how to make inkjet decals or just make a set for your truck. Feel free to message me. As you said there are a lot of resources these days, there's nothing like live people to answer questions in a club setting! Our club: www.tssmcc.org Our Show: www.nnleast.com

People are clueless... they are so consumed in their own stuff that they don't notice that they are in the way of others. My favorites at the cash register are people who wait until the cash amount is requested and then go looking for their credit card, or the ladies that will spend precious minutes fishing through the bottom of their huge pocketbook for the last three pennies they need. A while back I was on a long line at a McDonalds. At least 10-15 minutes of standing there waiting to order. Everyone had time to figure out what they wanted, and when they approached the cashier they quickly barked their order and moved forward. An old couple was ahead of me. It was their turn and the lady turns to her husband and asks, "What do you want dear?" He replies, "Oh, I don't know." She responds, "How about a fish sandwich?" He says, "No, I had that the last time" This went on for a few minutes while she quizzed him on nearly every item on the menu. I was about to strangle them!

Fortunately here in Pennsylvania, you renew your registration online and then print it out. Done! They stopped issuing annual stickers when they instituted this so it's progress. Other practices in this state still appear to be run by the Amish. Which is why I never watch live TV anymore. I save everything on the DVR and breeze through the commercials. The other evening I went to watch a show but my wife protested, "But xxx show is now on!" I told her that we'd watch what I had already saved and would watch the current show next (it was on our tape schedule) when we could blow past the commercials. I have found that I can do an hour show on network TV in 50 minutes and some cable networks I can view their shows in 40-45 minutes... yea that many friggin commercials. And what Irks me lately... phone calls that my car warranty is expiring! My cars are old and not under any warranties. The calls are obligated to say "hit TWO to be put on our "do not call list" , which I do and they still call daily!

David, here's one I saved because the penmanship is so nice. Today we chicken scratch. You liked the picture of the little girl. Here's an interesting postcard. Photography was still novel in 1907, and sending things via postcard was also a fad. So a mother took little Clayton to a photographer and he produced the photograph on postcard stock. Captured in time. Think about it. Little Clayton had his whole life ahead of him in September 1907. And now his entire life has been spent. He'd be 111 years old today. So how did he do? Was he successful? Did he have a happy life? Oh, I love these snippets of history!

My model room isn't that messy! The 1989ish body style is produced by Greg Wann and is the subject of a thread on this board. I purchased a copy from him, cost approx $100. The body was mastered by Dwayne and is absolutely perfect in every detail. Parts are included to make every year of that body style. The casting quality is terrific too. Get one...

Some of you know I'm a stamp collector. One of my things is working on a New Jersey town postmark collection I started when I was 14. Occasionally I get the chance to set myself a little road rally where I visit post offices to obtain their cancellation. It gives me the opportunity to roam around and see the state, often places you wouldn't normally go. I go by the USPS website for post office locations, and WAZE is my guiding force. WAZE sends you on crazy routes sometimes, which is perfect for my purposes. Wednesday I spent the day roaming back roads in Southern New Jersey. I had taken major roads across the state going east, and took back roads coming back. I saw a bunch of interesting things.... 1956 Chevy dump truck. Rusty as sin, not a decent panel on the cab. Sign said it had 18,000 original miles and ran and drove. $2800 if you dare! I don't dare but do you feel a model coming on? The firehouse in Dorothy, New Jersey. Originally the little building you see, and now there's a big addition to the left to house larger equipment and ambulances. This 1957 Ranchero was just sitting out behind an old house. Cool as all get up! Looks to be sitting a while. Part of the fun is that rural post offices often are interesting architecture and picturesque town names. Here's the post office in Cologne, New Jersey. And like some of the smaller offices, it was closed for lunch between 2 and 2:30pm, so I wasn't able to get my postmark. I saw the streets in the town had German names and the Renault Winery was just down the road. And the Bulldog Pub looked inviting. I had never been in this area before, but it begs for a return trip to do some wine tasting. I had to stop and get a photo of this one. 1996 era Caravan up on a pole as the sign for American Recycling in Mays Landing, NJ. And then I noticed a new one sitting near by so it had to be in the photo... Here's the post office at Estell Manor, New Jersey. Tiny little building. Friendly staff who was pleased that I liked their town. Gotta love these small town names! And yes I got my postmark! For those interested, I maintain the database of New Jersey towns past and present. There are 2193 possible post marks, some from offices that were open only a short time. This listing is a work in progress so the number changes regularly as I do research and people feed me information. I currently have 829 of these for 38% completion. I have friends who want to take a "Postal Run" with me someday. Not for the faint hearted because I keep on moving. Wednesday I covered over 300 miles! I visited 12 post offices and added 11 new cancels to my collection. I try to do this with some urgency since the small offices are always in danger of closing. In fact, I recently learned that the Port Republic, NJ post office recently closed. Fortunately I have that one in the collection already. If anyone is interested in this lunacy (hey, you guys build model cars!) I post full accounts of my travels on a stamp collecting website. I'd be happy to steer you to my articles.

OKey emailed me today regarding NNL East. He will be there, so if you're looking for parts, come and see him!

I finished up my '50 Ford pickup today! I will debut it at the Philly NNL tomorrow! Come on out to the show, it's at the Simeone Museum which is worth the trip all by itself! And say hello, I will be there helping so I shouldn't be hard to find!

Great work! Sometimes you pull a long stalled project out from hiding and you cannot remember what stalled it! Other times, you immediately see the solution you couldn't see back then. Figure another 10-20 years experience does wonders!

It hasn't been an awful winter here near Philadelphia. It's been in the 30s and 40s this week and there is snow on the ground. Still, I have yet to fire up the snow blower! It's supposed to get warm and rain Saturday night into Sunday.

Line up those chargers and keep all the batteries charged! The units are convenient, not dragging around cords and such, but the batteries don't last long! I have both the chain saw and the leaf blower. The blower is low power so I just use it for the pool deck. I have an electric one for the real leaf work.

Very nice Ray! Love your two tone! And I love that kit. I built one and intend on shoving that chassis under something else, to be determined!

Hadn't thought about the Caprice. I will be building my Vic from the resin kit.

Vibration is accentuated where the pipe hits a hard object, like a mount or wall penetration. Try insulating the pipe with soft cushioning at those points and the pipe will quiet down.

Heck, try Walmart Pharmacy! You'd be happy to have Walgreens. We were Walgreens customers and had a good relationship with the staff there. Our insurance then told us they wouldn't accept Walgreens and the only store near us on their new short list was Walmart! So we were forced to change. If Walmart can screw it up, they do! If your prescription needs renewing by your doctor... their system sends him an email... if they don't get a response, they just drop the order without telling you! I could write a book!

Been there! Although in my case it wasn't a plow. There is a cul-de-sac across the road from me that is catty corner to my driveway. A few years ago on a very snowy morning when they hadn't plowed and no reasonable person would have tried to go out, I look out my window and see my mailbox on the ground, with tracks showing a car had come out of the cul-de-sac and slid into it. The tracks then turned around and went back home! My neighborhood has an HOA, and we have a directory, so I emailed all six homes on that street and I got a phone call. A father connected the small dent in the hood of his Mercedes SUV with the incident and questioned his young daughter... Our HOA has a "preferred vendor" for mail boxes, so the father paid to have a new post put in. My mailbox was okay and mounted back on top of the new post.

Okey had posted on Facebook that he recently lost his mom and would be missing a few shows.

Very cool work so far! I am also working on a '50 Ford pickup, in fact using the Ardun head engine from the kit you have. I sectioned my body, and in the end wound up lopping off the roof for that roadster pickup look. I had wanted to lower my truck, but the chassis was already built as I'm finishing up a 2012 project. I like the way you lowered the front. The engine sits very low in the chassis so you still may clear the hood using the provided engine mounts.

This is fun to read. Start a new round and I'll join in. I have been working on my unfinished project shelf. I should finish a 1950 Ford pickup this week. I started a build thread for it yesterday.

Pat, I don't know of any of the products you show. But from the look of them, they look expensive. I do a lot of weathering and rusting. All I use for the most part is a $5.99 pastel set from Hobby Lobby. This is the Earth Tone set. Note that these are sticks. Take a stick and sand it with 220 grit sandpaper into the tray. That's the dust you will need. Then I work with Testors Dullcote and what I call the "Two Brush Method". Brush one can be a nice brush that you use with the Dullcote. I use the spray can and spray a bit into a small paper cup. Brush two is the one you will dab in the dust. This brush needs to be expendable as it will get mashed! I have a set of brushes I use for this part. I have cut the end off them flat to identify them. First step. Take brush one and spread a little Dullcote where you want to work. Then take brush two (dry) and pick up some dust with it. Now mash that into the Dullcote. I try to keep that brush dry, it will get wet with Dullcote, and the clean brush will get dirty. I clean them a lot. Depending on what you are attempting to do, you can mix different colors from this set. It does take practice. So don't do this on your favorite project. You can paint with the dust for certain effects, but you don't want to have brush strokes in your weathering. You can also dab it with a small sponge. Sometimes when it's on too heavy, I'll just dab it with a paper towel. And it looks different wet than it will once dry. So learn that. Where people do warn that chalks will wear off as you touch them, since you have suspended this in flat lacquer paint, it's pretty resilient.