Tom Geiger

"The bottom line is, that any of the current resin casters could be doing what we did with replacement parts. Why aren’t they? Have you asked? " Above is a quote from the Holthaus letter. I've been saying this all along. The concept of repopping old kit parts is not proprietary. Anyone can make some 1000 molds and open a business. Then you ask the question... how many 1963 Falcon hoods will the market buy? Even a '69 Chevy hood... just how many can you sell? It's a trickle of orders depending on who is working on any specific model. Don and Carol made this work. As they said, nobody is taking this project on. That said, I wish Don and Carol a long and pleasant retirement!

I use bass wood, as said it's a tighter grain and it doesn't shred like balsa. Also it holds it's shape over years where I've had balsa warp. 1/25 scale, built from basswood using a set of plans in Popular Science magazine.

Both of those companies are up near Scranton. Could they be the same people?

Interesting van. For the wear on the interior that one could have 173,000 miles on it instead of 73,000. I used to van pool in vans very similar to this one. I was one of the drivers, lured by free trips. The long wheel base extended length ones like this were popular with carpet installers since they could load it with rolls and shut the rear doors. And they rusted like no tomorrow! I had a 1978 Sportsman 300 in New Jersey. I bought it very used to use on a home renovation. The rockers were very rusty. The tall left side one was replaced with a piece of aluminum siding on mine.

I'm there with you Bill! I've been preparing a house to sell and it's a lot harder than I remember the last time! I had thought about retiring from my day gig and flipping houses, but this give me second thoughts!

While getting gas on the New Jersey Turnpike, this one pulls in. That's an unrestored 57 Nomad on the trailer.

Very interesting perspectives from both sides of retirement. I have just turned 60 and think about this quite a bit. I will work from home sometimes a week at a time, and after a few days I feel like a house cat and go stir crazy! So I cannot imagine retirement. I like to build models, but realize for me it's done in evening length sessions. I've taken a vacation week and decided I'd do nothing but work on my models, and was ready to tear my hair out after a few days. I can and will collect a pensions from two former employers at 65, but cannot collect Social Security until 66 and 8 months. Like Bill, I'm thinking I wouldn't retire until 70 at least, later if I'm still having fun. I have a hoard of those "someday for a special project" parts and such, and I've asked myself what I was waiting for. I've been using those parts on my current projects. This is a personal decision for each person, still it's interesting to discuss.

Very very cool!

We had a bullet proof Geo Storm! It was the first car for both my daughters, above is the high school graduation photo for both. There was a lapse between both of them using the car/ next daughter getting her license so I drove it to work a few times a week to keep it in motion. After my younger daughter graduated and I bought her the Celica Convertible to use for college, I again reclaimed the Storm. We finally donated it when we moved to PA in 2012. It never failed us. I did routine maintenance.... things like brakes, timing chain etc. over the ten years or so we owned it. It had been rust proofed when new so it had no body rust whatsoever! It was still a great car when we gave it away, we just had too many cars. I regret that, I always thought it was a neat little vehicle to drive! As far as the Geo Tracker promos, those were done for a few years and reflected the changes in the front end and headlight treatment. They are still plentiful and cheap. When I first asked about them when I was at Dave Burket's house, he pulled out a whole tray of them and told me just to give him $20. Still whenever I see one at a show for $5 I will buy it. My friends in South Africa thought they were neat. Peter Thomas was at my house so I let him take a yellow one home. His friend Gerhardt later emailed me about them so I shipped him one as well. I never did see what they did with them! If you do choose to buy one, be warned that they are difficult to get apart. They are heat fused together! Note- I no longer have the car but still have the daughters!

I’m pleased to hear your son is on the mend! Thanksgiving blessings to your family.

And important to note that Lindberg is no longer a company, just one of the many defunct brands owned by Round 2. So there are no comparisons to be made if Lindberg, MPC or AMT is doing a better job releaseling kits today, because they are all controlled by the same team.

Jeff, I have a similar background in real estate and facility management (I'm a CFM). I've run multi million dollar renovations. And I see the same thing as you when I need work done on my own 1:1 diorama. Add in a high end house, and the goobs double the quotes! It seems that when they have work, they quote high and if we're stupid enough to hire them, they'll add that work to their list. I like catching them when they don't have work and will be realistic. I'm not looking for anyone to work for nothing, I understand everyone deserves to earn a living, but I estimate out fair market value and will only pay that for a job. Last summer I needed to put up a new fence around my pool. I wanted the black aluminum wrought iron look. I estimated out the removal of the old one, a dumpster, bill of materials and labor. It came to $6500. I went to the neighborhood newsletter and called in the most recommended contractor. They send a salesman. He measures it off, and we discuss details. He wants to drop materials out back.. I tell him that its not my property. He doesn't like that and says it will cost extra to get the materials via my driveway. He also wants me to cut out all the vegetation etc from the work area. Then from a printer in his car, he produces a contract for $14,000. Sign here, no money down, no interest for 3 years! Better sign now, their schedule is filling up! When I decline, salesman says that every week they have a drawing from all the sales they made that week for $1000 off. So my cost may be ONLY $13,000. I send him on his way. I call in another five contractors. Two never call back. Three come for a look see. I never hear from one of them. One gives me an estimate at... guess what? $6500! Only he wants to do the work without a permit and be paid up front in cash. Um no, did you see a turnip truck parked around here somewhere? The last guy I liked instantly. I"m one of those people who are big on first impressions and usually right. The salesman from company number one calls back. Guess what? I won the weekly raffle! Now he want's $13,000 for the job. The guy I like calls the next day. He's at $6000. He wants me to pull the permit, and doesn't balk at providing an insurance certificate. He has no problem carrying the materials from the driveway. He will cut back the vegetation. I level with him on cost and ask him to verify his numbers. He's $500 lower because he's not using a dumpster. He's got a trailer and he's hauling the old fence back to his shop where he has recycling bins for both wood and metal. I hire him and give him a check for $1000. The salesman from company one calls again. Would I do the job for $12,000? I tell him I hired someone for half that and I never hear from him again. I go to the town for my permit and the guys there have never heard of my contractor, even though he's just a few towns away. They tell me most of their fence permits are for... guess this, Contractor ONE! Yea, every sucker in town has paid double for their fence. My contractor shows up when he said he will. One day removal. Two days installation. The crew is three guys. The owner's son is the lead. A guy who looks like he's from a 1960s band is the skilled installer. A young guy with big muscles is the material handler. He performs the job exactly as we outlined. Everything done to code and perfect. Then two days after we finish, there is a storm and a huge tree comes down.... right on the new fence! It takes out two sections, and two posts. I call him, he comes and looks and tells me that he has those parts surplus in his warehouse. His guys should be finishing a job this week at a half day mark. Could they come and fix it then... for free?! Absolutely! The two guys come and replace the two sections. I tipped them each $20. I have since recommended this contractor each and every time someone asks about fencing on the neighborhood newsletter.

It is neat when something cool happens to you. Much better when it happens for your kid!

I pulled a '58 Chevy olde kustom onto my bench. It's mint and white, using the kit custom parts. It even has thread engine wires. Then I discover the wheels / tires are modern recent. And although the car looks nice from a few feet away, the builder didn't clean up any mold lines and violently twisted parts off the trees leaving sprue sprouts! Argh! FIrestone Deluxe Champions, and note the ribbed white wall inserts. Any idea which kits these came in? I need one tire and three of the white inserts as two of mine are cracked.

from horse hoofs

I stoofd... that's a combination of standing and stooping. I have a home made spray booth that is sitting on a table in my model room. It's at a bad height. I am in the process of changing around some of the furniture in my model room, so I will be swapping in a taller piece, an old microwave cart, so I'll be at counter height for standing. I may just splurge and get myself a real spray booth for Christmas.

Nice save on an old relic that's been waiting 50 years for your touch!

Brian, so sorry for the loss of your home and possessions! Up until now, the fires were just a news item to most of us. Now you have put a face to it. Let us know if you need anything. And please keep the board informed of your status.

Very cool build Tom! I'm getting into these builds!

One of the photos shows a 1962 era Rambler that was in an attached garage

Reminds me of... Who loves you more? Your wife or your dog? Try putting both in a car trunk for an hour. Open it up and see who is happy to see you!

Mark- Here's my photos of all the known boxes for the Dodge vans: https://public.fotki.com/modelcitizen/model_cars/my_model_car_box/dodge_van_kits/ I believe this is all of the boxes. Let me know if you find anything else to include here. I just added the 2018 reissue of the Bad Company version. Note that all versions are long wheel base. The original 1972 and 1973 are the window van. 1974 onward are cargo vans, so you will be good to build your 1974 an 1975 vans. They are pretty straight forward to shorten if needed. I have yet to do an extended length van, although I'd like to attempt that.

It does suck. Hurricane Sandy was 5 years ago and there are still areas in NJ that haven't been rebuilt. There are people who are out of their homes and insurance hasn't settled properly yet. A relative of mine owns a bay front house at the shore that received some damage, but survived intact. Now they cannot sell it for half of what they paid for it a dozen years ago! Best wishes to everyone in California. It's a horrible thing when entire towns get burned to the ground.

Agreed! Back in the day I wondered how people got their models assembled looking so fresh. I was damaging parts struggling with fit and not happy with my results. Then I met Joe Cavorley who showed me how he would assemble his trucks completely in primer, mainly by pinning it all together with bits of straight pin, then breaking it apart to finish and reassemble. I've worked that way ever since!

Argh! The more sophisticated we get, the more problems we create for ourselves! I was happy with my 1960 Desoto kit until now!