Tom Geiger

Here's my bench. Note that on top of my bench, I work on a board, and a piece of glass. The glass is great since you can't hurt it. I get paint and glue on it and just scrape it off. Lighting wise, I have a couple of clamp on lights from Home Depot. In the picture you see one hanging off the shelf, I now have two, and the light standing near the wall, I have them all on a power strip so I can turn them all on/off at once.

Mark, here's one of the Viet Nam Saigon taxi pictures. There was a whole thing of old Viet Nam photos up on one of the photo sites, it kept me busy for an entire evening.

Harry- This wasn't a post about world hunger. Just my personal rant about how poorly a business was being run. We do go to this restaurant for the half price Happy Hour occasionally during the week. We've noticed how empty this place usually is, and though it was just because we went on weekdays. Now I see how bad it's run on weekends, and fear that the good people who work there will be out of work when the chain shuts it down as an underperforming store.

What irked me? My wife and I decided to go to Fridays for dinner. Kinda nudged by a "Free Entrée" coupon. We do go there maybe once a month, and it's usually a good experience. Tonight was like weird... Saturday night and a store for a national chain like Fridays should be on top of it's game. We go in and while there is usually a wait for tables on the restaurant side, we are astute enough to know we can slide into the bar and get a table. No different, the tables in the bar area are at maybe 30% occupancy. It was chaos in the lobby and we paid no mind to it. We did get our drink order as usual. Then a lady comes into the bar and tells us (I don't know why people always approach me to complain) that they've stopped seating people because the kitchen is at a one hour turn around (industry standard is 15 minutes). People from the lobby wait list come into the bar and try to sit at the empty tables, but the hostess witches come in and chase them back to the lobby telling them they can't sit here. Now I'm starting to get ticked off watching customers being abused. I look through the glass into the main dining room and I see empty tables there too. At that point our waitress shows up and drops our meals off (I noticed the absence of a food runner). So I tell her we haven't seen our appetizer yet, and our drinks have been empty for at least 15 minutes. She looks flustered and disappears. So we start to eat. She manages to get us drinks since there is literally no one at the bar. Then a manager type shows up with our appetizer. As he's being friendly, I ask him if he noticed that we are half way through our dinner as he is trying to drop off an appetizer. He is oblivious. So I lay into him, asking how the heck he's turning away customer from a restaurant that's nowhere near full. He stumbles and starts arguing with me that they are really busy. He tells me he was in the kitchen cooking himself to try to catch up. I wave my arm and ask him then what are all these empty tables? I rattle off his kitchen capacity (from my 30 years of facility management), and point out that he's way off on his metrics. And that there's no way he's making his numbers today. Last I see of him he's run off to clear some of the empty tables that haven't had anyone in them for at least a half hour... instead of managing the front end. It was obvious that this restaurant was mismanaged and understaffed. My wife just laughs and is worried that I'm about to get up and take over. It bothers me that our experience wasn't great. Nor was there any attempt to make our experience right. Our normal bill came. A good restaurant would have discounted something, noting that an appetizer didn't get eaten since it was delivered after the entrées. But the businessman in me just boils at how badly this large restaurant, which should be a huge money machine, is being run. It's also obvious to me that the place wasn't filled to capacity, which tells me they have been sucking for a long time, and the customers have gone elsewhere. When I got home I did go to their website and put a complaint in similar to this rant here. Let's see how their corporate folks respond.

I got a call today from my favorite hotel manager that we are pretty much sold out. We have no more rooms with two double beds, only rooms with one queen size bed. No worries if you are a couple of dudes, these rooms all have a sofa someone can sleep on, and the hotel will supply extra cots when requested. But call NOW and secure your room before we run out completely. Our special show rate is $77 in a market where most rooms are over $100. We have sold out the entire hotel before. (and I really don't want whiney phone calls the day before the show that you can't get a room! LOL And a reminder that we do not have a deal with the Parsippany Holiday Inn. We have not dealt with them for five years since we moved to Wayne. It seems that the past years they have had a special NNL East rate without our participation. This year a new manager put an end to that. Yea, I got the phone calls... Our Hotel Web Page

I will confirm that Moebius will be at NNL East. I've been in touch with Dave Metzner and they will have a two table display. He hasn't shared any secrets with me, but I don't believe the kits will be available at the show. A little bird tells me they'll be on open water at that time. Revell will also be at the show with a three table display. Ed Sexton will attend. We also had Round 2 coming, but sadly John Greczula emailed on Thursday that they regret that the logistics won't work for them this year. Sad because this would have been the first year we would have had all three major manufacturers in the house! Generally the manufacturers don't sell kits, they just do corporate displays and talk to folks.

Yea! I've been stalking the local Goodwill for three years now and haven't found a single decent model of any kind. Best thing I've found was a Pontiac Vibe diecast in 1/25 for $3. One trip I thought I was seeing models when I saw the familiar AMT logo from across the store. There were two kits, one a Ferrari the other a Corvette. Both were incredible paint bomb / glue bombs that were never finished. They wanted $5 each for them, I wouldn't have taken them for free! I always check the t-shirt rack and have gotten some cool shirts for $3 each. A lot of them are new. My favorites are beer related, but my overall favorite find is one from the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. My most recent buy was 3 old Kodak slide carrousels that hold 140 slides each. I am trying to go through my old family slides (my father took everything as slides) so they were a must have for $2 each.

Raining like crazy here in PA. Much better than snow! And as far as rain, I'm indoors this weekend doing show prep stuff anyway!

Great build so far! Funny thing is that I was looking at these on eBay this morning. I started out looking for a Dauphine kit, or at least a body, because I have a kit that the body disappeared in my mess many (as in more than 10) years ago. I have no idea where it went. Anyway, I was checking the Heller kits out of these. They were the work horses of that era. Pre war Saigon was full of them tooling around as taxis! I do have that PD version, but I did want to build a Saigon taxi!

You have the right beer and I'd come over but it's 291 miles and 4 1/2 hours door to door! Who would have imagined we'd both wind up in PA anyway? Frank, those Replicas & Mins interior cranks and handles come highly recommended. They are perfect tiny little resin pieces. Amazing! When I got worried about running out, I saw Norm at a show and bought 5 packs. I just poured them all into the correct drawer in my parts cabinet!

Wow John! You will become one of the main characters in no time! Start growing your Aaron beard now! And then I can tell folks I knew you back when you were a mere mortal!

From one layman to the others... Computers keep getting more and more power that will do more and more for you. Things like streaming live movies and video seamlessly, and a bunch of processes going on at the same time that all benefit you. These things hadn't been thought of yet, when your old operating system and browser were written. Pretty much in the same way that the World Trade Center was built to withstand a plane hit, but planes the size of the ones that actually hit it weren't even thought possible back when the Center was designed. With todays computers, especially as you are on the Internet, there's a ton of processes going on that that constantly check to keep things running, your info secure and other things you don't even know about. It's kinda like why you can sit in your office building without knowing how to run or fix the air handlers! So you can run a few issues behind, but sooner or later the operating system or browser just won't handle the new programs.... it's like driving a 1968 Chevy every day. It will start and drive, but it doesn't have all the benefits of a 2014 Chevy. Okay, don't put me on TV to explain stuff!

Agreed! And that's when you realize that you've grown! I have models that I built way back when that I thought were absolutely perfect at the time. I thought that I had a show winner! Looking at them now through my aged and learned eyes, I see why I didn't place at contests with that model. And that's why you keep your old builds around! Every time I get too big for my britches, I go back and look at them!

Ah! Another cool Rich Manson build! I'll pull up a chair to watch. If only I had some beer and popcorn! Looks good so far. I like that you've done it in blue and white, which separates it from other builds I've seen. And I don't think I would have been brave enough to paint the interior lines by hand!

Gary you are welcome to come to my house for beers anytime! I love your perspective on this old build. Of course it deserves to be preserved. This is the folk art of our youth! As you said it holds the hopes and dreams of a young boy, from that era. Someone who never saw a Mustang or Camaro! I think everyone here knows where I stand on these old builds, I collect them! And I mourn the daily loss of this great old art, both to land fills and in the hands of numpties who see them as nothing more than something to strip. And the truth is, I'll bet a lot of them won't build the redo any better! It's a given that there are a lot of old built ups that don't have any endearing qualities, nothing special or memorable about them at all. These can be 'redone' to modern build specifications and standards. But there are those that just scream out to us! And yours is one of them. A few weeks ago I saw a collection of cool old customs offered for sale on eBay. Actually a buddy-0-mine from the boards sent me a link. The cars were all from the same builder, mild customs all built around 1960-2 with very careful details. And there was a common theme of naming the cars that made them a collection. So I wanted to add these, as a set to my Olde Kustom Kollection, with the idea of protecting them forever. This 1960 Ford is very cool, nice color and decal work. I especially like that corduroy interior. I've found a lot of old customs that didn't use the kit glass. I don't know why. This 1960 Ford is just very tastefully done. It was called "The Frantic One" Again, just very nicely done for the era, note that the windshield frame was omitted for that space age bubble top look of frameless glass. It was called "The Masher" This is a 1962 Revell customizing kit Valiant that used the kit's custom parts. Nicely molded in, most weren't! I do have other Valiants done this way, and one that is much nicer. This one didn't have a name. Here's the one I was able to secure for the $9.99 starting bid. Nobody wanted the Palmer, even though it was built to fit right into the collection and frankly is the best built Palmer in my collection. I'm happy to have it. Now I do fear for the rest of the models in this post. I bid high on them, but someone bid higher, and the fact that none of them wanted the matching Palmer tells me that they were probably bought by guys who just wanted the car, not the custom work. I fear that they were dropped in the purple pond as soon as they were received, losing all this history. Nothing would make me happier than to hear that they were bought out of appreciation for the 50 plus year old work!

Everyone has their own goals for the hobby. It goes from guys who are just occupying time up to the expert artists that continue to push the cutting edge upward. I once had a guy working for me who was away from home and lived in a hotel during the week. He would buy a model car and a tube of glue to occupy a boring evening or two in the hotel. He didn't do any parts prep, didn't sand anything and used no paint. He merely twisted the parts off the trees and assembled it all with his one tube of glue. A model car wasn't anything more than a 3D puzzle for this fellow, something to amuse himself when he'd otherwise be bored. And there are guys everywhere in between. Every club has a guy who shows up at every meeting with one to several new builds he did that month. From a distance they look fine, and can make for a decent shelf model. I once bought a built model from such a builder, who would occasionally sell off what he built to make room to build more. While the vehicle was attractive enough for me to buy it, upon close examination the shortcuts he took were apparent. He didn't prep parts and the body had one, maybe two coats of Testors enamel right over bare plastic. A lot of the parts appeared to have been brush painted on their trees, since his 'twist off' points were bare. His chassis are all assembled and then just sprayed flat black. The vehicle was Testors red, probably because he already owned the can. And he was happy with these results because he continued his monthly production in the same fashion. If you gave him a model, even if he wasn't into the subject, he'd build it. I doubt he saw his work as art. There is nothing wrong with the way the above two builders choose to approach the hobby. Each has found a level of participation that he is comfortable with. And it's probably how 80% or better of models are built. I consider my own building as "art". It is a way I express myself, and get vehicles out of my head and into 3D in front of me. I rejoice when I've accomplished this goal, when I'm able to share these with my peers and friends. My goal was to become a good enough builder to accomplish this. I do continue to improve my skills and try new techniques, but I am not a cutting edge builder. Simply put, I choose not to, it wouldn't be fun for me. I choose not to learn the intricacies of an airbrush, scratch building frames from brass or using a lathe. Those activities just don't appeal to me. On the other hand, I've expanded my skill set in painting, using different adhesives, decal application and plastic scratch building greatly in the last year. I care enough to buy 5 different paints until I find the 'right' shade. I do wire my engines and add details, both aftermarket and scratch built. I do want to build better models, but I have chosen a level I'm comfortable with. I will give my very best efforts within that level range. I won't accept sloppy, and have redone things several times until I got the result I wanted. And I am comfortable in my choice NOT to be one of the hobby's big dogs! I no longer build for contests, and feel that my level of build might not even be competitive today. That doesn't stop me from following the cutting edge and admiring the work of those who choose to stretch the envelope. Nor do I look down on guys who build at levels below my own. I will always be available to help those who want to learn new techniques or do something better. And I'm content to leave those who don't want any input alone. Where do you fall?

Wow you reminded me! When I was a kid, my father was US Army assigned to NATO in Izmir, Turkey. The climate of Arizona, earthquakes and Jihad! Back in 1967 or so we did have two close brushes with war. We were sailing on an Israeli cruise ship when the Seven Day War broke out. So we got to go to Libya! Yea! Then back in Izmir the Turks and the Greeks were sparring and threatening each other. Greek fighter jets would taunt over Izmir and I can imagine the Turks did the same to Greece. The US sent the Sixth Fleet into Izmir Harbor and picked up all the US military dependents. We got to spend a week or so on a ship sitting out in the Aegean Sea. That was a great adventure for a 9 year old!

Yea but you haven't lived until you live in an area prone to jihad!

What I meant is that I'm seeing it every where I look on the web... and it's kinda like how that ugly girl looks better with each beer! I do like my daughter's car. She has the 500 Lounge convertible. She loves it.

It all depends on the results you hope to achieve. If you want to build great models, don't scrimp on supplies. A sheet of BMF will give you 2-4 cars. That $2 to $4 a car for perfect chrome. It's way worth it to me!

Nice build! Those Novas had hatchback lids that rusted real quick. My father used to have access to used company cars back then and he brought home a Nova that couldn't have been five years old and the hatch was rusty enough that we feared it would come off. I wound up buying a a one year old 1978 Ford LTD II from his company that had 100,000 miles on it.

Very cool build. Fix the headlight... first rule of moon shine or drug running is to not get pulled over for an equipment violation!

Last week I went to the website for my local Fiat dealer to schedule service for my daughter's Fiat 500 that she bought there. (Actually a really good car, 2 years never back to the dealer until now for an airbag light on. They fixed it no charge). Since I went to that website Fiat is stalking me.... they are in every ad on every website I go to this week! And the big problem? That Fiat 500 L 4 door is starting to look good. Somebody save me!

Don't know if you can see it, but the tiny little drip rail on the Chevette is covered with BMF. I cut the strip wide and just scored along the edges of the rail. I probably wasted 3 or 4 times the BMf that remains, but that's the way it's done! If you were trying to put a chrome strip onto a door panel where none existed before, it's pretty much the same thing. If there's no line to follow, I use a metal straight edge to score along. You can do any width BMF line that way.

Yea, I'm still working on number one too... 32 years here. I don't know why she gets upset when I introduce her as my first wife?