Tom Geiger

I just came across these photos while looking for something else. Many years ago I put a low bid in on an auction that contained these three models seen above. They were / are utterly filthy and no doubt sat out untouched for many years... 1959 Mercury 1959 Lincoln with the same hood louvers 1959 Buick. All three were built by the same person, note the signature silver painted skirts... of course glued on there for keeps! And that's the only paint on these. He also liked wide whites. The Buick is the only one with side pipes. Both the Buick and the Lincoln had Connie kits, but the tire part is long lost. Each of these cars has some damage. Note things like the C pillars on the Buick and vent windows on the others are broken so they probably saw some play time. And the mystery... 3 cars built alike, all in the same year. Were these the work of a kindly grandfather and grandson? Were they sitting on a shelf or even a rafter beam in a garage all these years? The grime on them is a greasy to the touch. Maybe they sat near the oil burner. But somehow they survived all these years. Untouched. I've preserved them in plastic bags for now, mainly because I haven't gotten to working with them. I think I got the trio for a low $20 for the set. I was amazed that nobody bid against me. I guess I'm the only one not afraid of dirt. If only they could talk.

I remember one interview style article about what cars celebrities drove. Robin said he had a 1960s Land Rover because it was unpredictable like him!

Good for you Dale! Have a great retirement and adventure in Arizona! And build something!

The audience for much of that era has passed on! Classic kits were big in the 1950s and 1960s, from the early Highway Pioneers to the work MPC and Johan did on classics in the 1960s. We do build / collect the cars we remember from our lives, and these cars were before our time. Franklin Mint has done some very nice classic era cars. Not kits, but nice examples for our shelf.

I'm really enjoying watching your progress in this delicate operation! Per your comment on thickening CA, I have used Zap-A-Gap for many years as my adhesive of choice because it has some thickness to it, not like water like some CAs. It works well for those little gaps and sands well. Recently I came across Bob Smith Industries Maxi-Cure, extra thick CA, that they call their 10-25 second variety. This is usually sold with your local hobby shop's label on it, so it appears to be their product. This stuff is thick like honey and I'm finding that I like the control I have when putting a small dab on a small part tab.

Nice work. As John said, the detailing on the grill is great. But the outstanding part is the work you did on the interior. It's not easy multi-toning one of those God forsaken interior buckets!

After watching 24 hours of non stop tributes and interviews with fans and peers, you can see the impact that Robin had. I only wish that he got a "It's A Wonderful Life" type preview of what would transpire after his death. Maybe if he knew how much he was valued by everyone, he would've changed his mind. Ah, one never knows.

Just go to the airport! I understand that the TSA has worked that one out with their scanners!

I lived in Europe as a kid, so I'd send my grandparents back in the states long lists of Mopar models I wanted (1969-1972 time frame). They must've left the list at home because they'd send me Tom Daniel cars in response! They probably thought those were colorful and kid-like. I was not a happy camper!

Wow! That did go way up in price. It does come with a new etch set that includes scripts for the Dodge, Fargo and DeSoto export versions. I should've bought one back then! (SE LTD 1958 Dodge pickup mastered by Mike McCutcheon)

I didn't see that until the photos myself! I got complacent since there was no flash or mold lines anywhere! Oh, I don't want to pull it out and start over, but the voices in my head... There are a few little things under that hood that are bothering me, but I'm trying to say "good enuf" and move forward!

I got a large bill! The original owner of my house put in this high end kitchen that includes a built in refrigerator. Well, the compressor on the freezer blew last week. It cost me $1600 to replace! Darn, for all the scrimping and saving to get ahead, there goes $1600 just to stand in place!

Maybe they're planning on towing it?

How about a Saab 95 wagon? Oddest little car I ever owned. Four speed on the column. Ford Taunus V4 sitting out in front of the front axle (front to back, not transverse!) and it even had a third row seat. Do I expect it to be molded? No, but these days nothing would surprise me. And I guarantee them the sale of TWO kits... no make that THREE kits. The guy I sold it to was a modeler too!

Cool! Hopefully one of these will come through for you. Sometimes it will be months between the interview and the offer. Especially over the summer months, decisions just don't get made. Job searches are long and tedious affairs. I just concluded one a few months ago and don't wish it on anyone. It's surely a numbers game, the more irons you have in the fire, the better chances you have. You can't count on any one opportunity or interview, as I've been told there were up to 300 applicants for some positions. And you also don't even know the motivation of the company or reason for the interview. In this era of equal opportunity and transparency, companies have policies that have them go through the entire search process, even if they have a preferred candidate in their pocket. So they will do their internal search, posting the job for their own employees to apply, and then do the external search, posting on their own web site and the job boards. And in some cases, they already have a person who is working in that job on a temporary basis, or someone they wish to promote into that job, but they have to go through the process. Yea, everyone who applies is wasting their time, since they are just being interviewed as a formality to be excluded. It really stinks. In my year and a half of seeking a new role, I averaged an interview a month. I network in my industry and was able to find out what happened to all those positions. Of them a quarter of those went to preferred candidates. HALF of the positions never got filled. Companies change their requirements, sometimes eliminate open positions or change their mind during the process. I even had one company that pretty much brought me in to pick my brain on their process. So that leaves only a quarter of the positions where they were honestly looking for a candidate and I had a fair shot at the position. And no doubt you've heard that most positions are filled through networking. After all my work at finding a fresh opportunity, I wound up being recruited by an old boss. So it's pretty much true! Good luck to ya!

Scott- I should've clarified that it was all Revell had at the time, shallow injection molding machines.

Welcome Brian! I am from Central NJ, transplanted to Pennsylvania for employment. We are the Tri-State Scale Model Car Club, meeting monthly in Perth Amboy. We have a lot of fun, please do check us out. Our website is http://www.tssmcc.org/. We have our meeting schedule and information listed. Please note that we have cancelled our picnic for September so we will be meeting at the church next month. Drop me a note, or call my number listed on the web site if you have any questions!

I think your LLWS was lost on most... Little League World Series. I don't watch professional sports, I'm just not interested. But a few years ago I was sitting at the bar in my favorite pub grabbing dinner when one of the games came on. The kids were so proud and excited that I just have to watch! I stayed all evening. Kids playing sports is fun.

Anyone reading right now.... 20/20 is doing a Robin Williams special at 10pm East Coast time! Which is right now, it's starting.

The doors or the windows? They did the same thing on the 2CV Van..

Very cool! What ever happened to that little Timmy feller?!

Very cool build! I have those Johan taxi decals set aside for a build someday!

And here's Dodge Fever today in the International Model Car Builders Museum! The funny part was with Jim Keeler winning the MPC contest is that he was a Revell employee at the time! (note that this model may be a clone... I think I just remembered that) Here's Jim Keeler (left) with Bob Paeth, both Revell alumni. That's Gregg Hutchings taking a photo.

Back when my eldest daughter was 17, she had a boyfriend who was six months younger than her, which left her to do the driving. I had fallen asleep on the couch one Saturday night when I get the phone call... they are stuck with a flat tire. Can I come to them? I get to them and there's numpty Steve standing there, useless as if there were two girls stranded. He didn't even attempt to pull the spare out, no just standing there looking stupid. So I decide to teach him how to change a tire. He can't pull the tire from the trunk whining that it's heavy and dirty. He couldn't turn the wrench to loosen the lugs... so finally I just changed the tire showing him the steps and scolding him for not paying attention. I might as well as been talking to my dog. I finish, put everything away and leave them to drive on their own. My daughter must've dropped him off and came storming in the house livid... she was mad at me for yelling at Steve! She said I made him cry! Bambi boy!

I have been treading water on this one since I'm waiting for photos of the 1:1 to arrive from Germany. Those pictures will give me interior details so I figure I could finish the engine bay. So here it is all finished and purdy! There's a ton of stuff under that hood, and things crammed in on top of perfectly detailed parts you can hardly see anymore. I should've put the chassis into the body for another shot since you won't even see the front of this engine once it's assembled. Anyway, I enjoyed building this and all the tiny precise parts that went together very well. So it's onward to building the chassis. It's a mess of little parts and I should have it done shortly. I want it up on wheels.