Tom Geiger

I'm like the guy on the seafood diet. I see models, I buy them! As with many here, I'm blessed with having many more models than I deserve. It's like sensory overload that I have all this great building stock and it's hard to sit down and concentrate on one model as many more ideas are swimming in my head! I will no doubt buy the new Moebius kits, especially a few of the different versions of the Ford pickup. I want to get the Ebbro Renault versions, yea I'll be needing on of each of the three versions. Aside from that, I will be doing my old "reach for wallet, think later" approach to attending model shows and club meetings.

To Charlie's point, the closest to home for me is AT&T since my wife and a lot of our friends worked there. AT&Ts research center in Holmdel, NJ employed over 6000 people in technical jobs at one point. My wife and her friends started in the mail room and worked their way up into technical positions that paid well. Enter the government who decided that AT&T was a monopoly and broke it up into smaller companies. The big research center became Lucent Technologies and it went okay for awhile. Then Lucent got bought by a french company Alcatel, who took all the patents and business, and simply closed the place. Thousands of people were out of work. One friend had to relocate to Texas to find a similar job. Others have been under employed for years. I know of one who now works as a receptionist at a doctors office for peanuts. Very few found jobs at the level and income they had previously. And that hurts the American economy since people have less buying power. Those are new cars that weren't bought and vacations not taken. It's kids graduating college with huge loans since their parents had to spend their savings on living expenses while unemployed. And that huge architecturally significant building has been sitting vacant for a dozen years.

You need to make a little time. As someone said above, build while you watch TV. Make small time slots to get one task done. For instance I know a guy who gets up early and works on a model for a half hour first thing in the morning. The thing is that he does this every day, so he does get a lot done! Carve out those 15 minute or half hour times that you may be wasting time, but don't think it's enough time to work on a model... do you spend 15 minutes waiting for dinner to be ready? Go sand something!

I got Collectible Automobile for a while many years ago. It was expensive and no sooner did you get your first few issues, they'd start sending you renewal notices!

I think it was to keep us from torching ourselves with our Mattell Vac-u-Form or Creepy Crawlers hot plate

As George Costanza said, "I was in the pool!"

Yup! We even slept in asbestos pajamas!

Nobody said you were obligated to keep every magazine for life! I have a huge car brochure and magazine collection going way back, which I used for reference. I haven't touched them for years, it's so much easier to just Google today. I save all my model car magazines, Vintage Truck and the Hemmings Classic Cars. The rest of the magazines I get, especially current rags like Hot Rod, which is 80% ads anyway, get read quickly and then I give them away at model club meetings. I will get the other two Hemmings mags, which are excellent quality, but I don't think I will keep them either. For a dollar, that's worth it just for entertainment.

The issue with replacement parts with either company is the amount of fraud they have dealt with. Talking with folks in the hobby, Revell had a surge in missing 1966 El Camino hoods (stock Chevelle hood) right after they released the 1966 Chevelle Wagon that had a scooped hood. I've also had an insider tell me they get requests for things that share no single source like the wheels and tires are 'missing' from a sealed kit. Or all the parts for the engine, from three different trees are missing.... and these guys think they're swift? So the manufacturers have gotten a lot less generous with parts requests. And note that this is a pretty costly service to provide. Aside from the salary etc of the employee, they are probably trashing a whole kit to give you that one part.

Thanks guys! That's why I am completely content that I only finished two models because both of them matter to me. I'm going back to that well this year. I participate in Gary Kulchock's 24 Hour Build each year and I'm planning on building an International Scout that I almost bought back in the early 1990s. Then I have all the parts (and paint!) in one place to build the 1974 Mustang II my wife drove when I met her. It's fun to see these old friends slowly appear in 3D on the work bench!

Ah! The new year... we always start out with the best of intentions! Last year I resolved to finish some of my ancient unfinished models and to build cars from my past. I did manage to do that. I finished my A100 van that was at least ten years old, and a replica of a vehicle from my past, I also built a replica of my sister in law's Chevette. I got a lot of pleasure out of these two models. I had also resolved to use a slant six in a model, and I did that TWICE. There is a slant six under the A100 and my Volare! So this year? I resolve to attack more of my unfinished model pile, with my Volare near completion. That was a 20 year project so I have a good start! I resolve to build another car from my life. I am ready to cut plastic on the 1974 Mustang II coupe my wife had when I met her. I resolve to be in the 24 Hour Build in late January (this will be my third time). I plan on building a Scout II as one I remember from my past! Beyond those two, I want to finish up a bunch of 3/4 finished models that are taking up my work space. And I have way too many ideas and much too much stimuli! And I resolve to find more bench time. Modeling is like meditation, it's good for my health both physically and mentally so I need to get more of that!

It probably was produced in the USA by same vendor (AMT?) as the US promo and shipped over.

Wow! We're all in agreement. Gotta mark this event! Fiat has had the wisdom to invest money and move the product forward. Daimler Benz just bought Chrysler to steal their huge cash reserves, and Jeep technology. Under Cerberus there was no R&D, just rowing the boat hoping to find a buyer. Fiat is the first owner who wants to be in the US car business and is making big investment. The part you don't see is that Fiat was exporting US cars to Europe under their own brands. The Chrysler 300 was sold there as the Lancia Thema and they sold Chrysler convertibles as Lancias as well. Fiat would like nothing more than to sell all their brands everywhere. When I was in England, the only American cars I saw were Chryslers and Jeeps. We have a Fiat 500 convertible in our family. My daughter bought hers new and 2.5 years and about 35,000 miles later, it's never been back to the dealer. It's a great little car with personality! I'm waiting to see the new Fiat designed mini Jeep. That should be interesting.

Same here. They added the second case of spray paint recently at mine.

Congrats Bill! Much better choice than an Alty-ma appliance! I had rented a Challenger V6 when I was in Canada and in the three days I had it, several people had complimented me on the nice car. It sure is a looker! And the interesting part is how close they made this to the 1970 era car! I used to have a 1973 Barracuda and when I slid into the front seat of the Challenger, I felt like I had gone back in time! Same seating position, controls etc. Good luck with it. I also try not to buy new cars. Let the original owner take that depreciation drop! I recently bought my wife a 2005 Buick LaCrosse with 32,000 miles on it for cash.

Classic Product! When I was cleaning out my grandparents house, where they had lived for 50 years, I found a lot of old products on the basement shelves. One was a box of asbestos flakes to mix with water to make a paste to repair furnace and duct insulation. This was way before digital cameras so we didn't get a picture, and we didn't want to chance transporting that box anywhere, so we carefully triple bagged it and put it out with the trash!

Many years ago I noticed that Nat Geo had their advertising in the front and back of the magazine, but not within the content. So I would carefully cut the car ads out with a metal straight edge and exacto knife without damaging the content. Then I'd bail up the magazines and donate them to the Goodwill store where someone else could read them. The ads in Nat Geo were pretty cool with high end cars like Cadillac in every issue, often ads that wouldn't appear anywhere else.

Pat, I do most of my decal work in Word also. It's just fine for changing image sizes and printing multiple copies. I will share two thoughts... When printing, I always print multiple copies... like several sets of those plates. It's not much more paper and if you accidentally screw one up you have plenty more! Second, I don't print my plates on decal stock. I print mine on 60 lb white bond and use white glue to glue them. I like the thickness of this paper stock. When I do make decals, I use the Testors brand decal coating. It comes in the same small can as their paint sprays.

I do see a pickup in my future! It looks pretty easy to do.

Different management yields different results. My own observation is that the shelves will be helter skelter at Michaels. Nothing in the right slot, different models behind the first kit, and stuff just sideways and upside down like consumers messed it up and nobody cared enough to straighten the shelves. In the two Hobby Lobbys I've been to, their shelves are always in perfect order, nice display. Obviously the management is more particular. Anyone else?

If you don't like the weather, wait a few hours and it will change! We stayed over a friends house last night in Jackson, NJ. When we loaded up the car it was windy and freezing. We drove the 1.25 hour home to Exton, PA driving west. It has to be 10 degrees warmer here and no wind!

I was just going through yesterday's mail and I had three envelopes from car magazines. I had subscribed to all three of the excellent Hemmings Magazines. First I had subscribed to their Classic Cars, then I got an offer for Sports & Exotic Cars and Muscle Machines. I love Classic Cars, and the way they'll do a feature on some old plain jane, station wagon or oddball car. So I take a look and Hemmings puts out an enticing offer... I look at the Muscle Machines envelope and they're offering 12 issues for $12... a buck a month. Hmmmm. Then I open the Sports & Exotic Cars expecting to see the same offer, but this one is $10 for 12 issues. How can a guy refuse these? The third envelope is from Road & Track, that I've never subscribed to. This one is only $7 a year! Or $12 for two years and $14 for three years. And they'll send me a Road & Track dashboard mat too. I don't think they can even mail it to me for that! I think you know what I'm going to do. If you read someday that my house has collapsed under the weight of all my magazines, you'll know why!

Thank you everyone for your kind words! That's what keeps me fueled to build more. During 2013, I think I hit my all time high of 7 or 8 builds, but that as the frustrating year of unemployment for me. I'd spend my days on the job search, and around 4pm every day, I'd hit the workbench until my wife got home from work. Someone recently posted an article about how craft hobbies are as good as meditation for the mind and soul, and I can truly say modeling was the therapy that kept my head screwed on straight through all that! And hopefully by the end of January this year I will have matched last year's production, as I have 2 models almost off the bench!

Here's a photo of when all my stars were in perfect alignment! GSL 2003, that's me on the left (with hair!), next to Bob Paeth (who has since passed away) and Tom Daniel. Back when I was a kid, my favorite kits were the Revell '57 Nomad with the beach scene on the box, and Tom Daniel cars. So here I am as an adult with the two guys who were responsible for those products! As a kid I could never have imagined this would happen someday!

Nice tape job on the seats Geoff! I remember doing that interior the same way not too long ago!