Tom Geiger

Right when I got serious enough to be talking to shopping center landlords, an old boss of mine called and offered me a consulting gig that pays well. After being out of work for more than a year, I seriously needed to get back to work and replenish my cash flow. The hobby shop would have caused me to cash in retirement funds and put all my eggs in that one risky basket. I think the new job will let my wife sleep better.

I finally got my can of Testors One Coat Lacquer Flaming Orange paint so I can finish my Dodge A100 pickup! I did go a bit out of my way because I wanted to see what a Hobby Lobby looked like, so that can--- even with their 40% off coupon --- probably cost me $10 at least!

Advise from hobby shop guys has no doubt hurt this hobby! I was at the local Hobby Town USA the other day looking for this magazine and some paint. The two kids behind the counter are strictly RC goons and treat everyone else poorly. There as a lady holding the Foose 1/12 scale Camaro kit, which has to be a $50 or better sale for that shop. She asked for help and the dork looked like he couldn't be bothered. He shoved a spray can of regular Testors black paint and one of those Testors multi color paint sets at her. I sorely wanted to bust in and help, but I could tell that wouldn't have been welcome so I got my magazine and left.

Well, I finally saw a Hobby Lobby today. I went to their new store in Lawrenceville, NJ. With all the hype of this thread, and others by you guys, I was expecting something cool. I was very disappointed to find nothing more than another Michaels or AC Moore / Joanne's Fabric clone store. It's NOT a hobby shop, more of a craft and junk store. There's many aisles of cloth and fake old signs and press board antique furniture than any hobby materials. The stamp and coin supply section is beyond pathetic. Shouldn't even have tried. The model aisle had recent kits, with some higher than Michaels and some marked down to the $15 range. Model supplies were also minimal. I guess if it's the only access you have to models, it would be almost acceptable. The few positives I saw was that the store was very well maintained. Nothing out of place, every kit was straight although it was hiding that the models were only one kit deep. They didn't have much in the way of paint, but they had the Testors One Coat Lacquer Flaming Orange paint I needed. I used their 40% off coupon on it. The help was very pleasant. The cashier was an older lady who probably was the nicest one I've run into in a long time. All in all, I expected more.. not AC Moore!

I got here a little late but I have to agree with a bunch of the thoughts above. Scale Auto Enthusiast was there at the right time to pull a lot of us back into this hobby. I had been out of the hobby for years, but still would look at the kits in stores, and occasionally buy one. So I had a small stash of kits doing nuthin'! I was on a trip to Boston in 1988 and saw SAE in a magazine store. I stayed up all night reading it and immediately subscribed. In the back of that issue there was a classified ad (remember those free ads when you subscribed) for the Tri-State Scale Model Car Club... and the rest is history! And of course the Internet and computers in general! I believe I did some of the earliest decals and computer graphics on model cars. Back around 1991 I created decals and graphics on Auto-Trol Series 5000 CAD software running on Apollo mini computers. I printed it on an HP pen plotter using refillable ink pens! Very advanced for the day! And I'd just about venture that this hobby would have died long ago without the Internet. We meet daily on message boards and know people from around the world who we haven't met in person but consider friends. It allows people in different places, many of them without enough folks to have a local club, participate. Then we meet at shows around the country as often as we can. And back in the old days if you were missing a kit part, you could search for years to find it. Today, just mention it on a message board and you are likely to instantly find it. Man these are the good ole days!

Not quite. Many people are over estimating what 3d printers will do. The population who will have equipment will be about the same as those who own lathes today. There will be a skill set you will need to earn. And the printing media will be costly. It won't be as easy as putting a model body in a magic box and getting free bodies out the other end

I use Mr Clean kitchen floor cleaner to strip chrome. It actually smells like lemons. I keep it under the kitchen sink. When I need to strip a bumper I fill a kitchen glass with Mr Clean (lts a lime green clear), drop in the part and leave it until it strips. I'll often just leave it overnight. Once done, I pull the parts out with my fingers (it's not harsh at all) and wash them off in the sink. Then I pour the Mr Clean right back in the bottle. There is no reason to use something industrial strength, industrial smelling and other wise a hazard to human life just to strip a bumper.

Correct. They are different colors. I have the cans side by side. At Michaels, they only had a few colors, and not the Flaming Orange I need. The Fiery Orange is also a cool color so I'll use it on something. I'm thinking my Jeep Rubicon. I did get that wrong spot confusion though. My wife was going to Michaels for something else so I innocently asked her to get me another can of Testors Dullcote. The store lady gave her Testors clear, and told her it was the same thing. My wife decided to call me to double check, and I wound up in an argument with this stupid person (the store lady not my wife!) who finally conceded and gave my wife the can I asked for, gave her the Testors stock number and all.

Casey, those old flyers with the painted promos remind me of trying to order those when I first got back in to modeling. The colors weren't important to me since I intended to blow them apart and build detailed models out of them. In my first order I made a 1st and 2nd color choice per their instructions. I got my order and check back, with a note that said all my color choices were gone. I replied with a new order that said ANY COLOR. I got that order back with my check stating "Must select colors". I gave up at that point.

Don't do this with your primary toothbrush! If your color is Tamiya gold lacquer I'd just carefully sand the fish eye lightly and give that area another coat. Then evaluate if it's covered or not. I've done this successfully with both Tamiya and Duplicolor where I've had minor imperfections show up, either fish eyes or surface cracks, in a small area. I've gotten away with this quick fix.

Today "S" stood for SOLID ICE. We didn't get any snow, it was warm enough that we had freezing rain overnight. By morning everything was solid and tree limbs and power lines were coming down left and right. We lost power around 5:30am and got it back around 5:00pm. About 80% of our county was out, most still is so we're fortunate to have power and heat once again!

Okay, I just positioned the cars in tight formation and away from the garage door so I can get the snow blower out in the morning. Philly weather predictions are all over the place with this one, could be an inch, could be a foot! And I forgot to mention that in the last foray of snow, some nice neighbor took out my mail box! It was before the plow came through and the trail came from the cul-de-sac across the street from me. Some idiot took out their car and missed the turn. So I put it out on our neighborhood email chain... no one admitting it.

Changing the subject... I can't get a friggin can of paint here in Pennsylvania! Last week I was working on my 24 Hour Build Dodge A100 pickup and I used a can of Testors One Coat Lacquer in the very cool "Flaming Orange" color. I had bought it in New Jersey at a club meeting back in maybe October. So good so far, the color looked absolutely cool on the pickup. I still had some details left to do... and I discovered that the tailgate I did during the build wasn't right, so I decided to do another one from a parts kit. And that's when this can of paint just went fssssss! So I need another can. No problem and I like to color enough to use on another build too. So I head up to Michaels with my 40% off coupon. I saw One Coat Lacquers in their locked paint case... what a pain in the tail! Ring the little bell... some one comes all the way to you to ask if you rang the bell. Yes? Okay they'll go get the key. Then they can't find the key. Anyway, they got the case open and I grab the orange color and buy it. I get home to discover I have "Fiery Orange" and NOT "Flaming Orange"!! Who knew there were two friggin oranges in that line. I reason that I also like "Fiery Orange" so I'll build my Jeep Rubicon in that color. Cool. So I head back up to Michaels with a fresh 40% off coupon and Nooooo they don't have "Flaming Orange". Not even a spot for it. So they just have a very limited group of colors in this line. Then I figure I need to get Model Cars Magazine anyway so I head about 20 minutes to the Hobby Town USA in West Chester, PA. They did have the magazine, but no Testors One Coat Lacquers at all! What kind of shop is this... well, I already know that answer. So I remember I need to go to New Jersey on Saturday for my club meeting. And some of us head to Avenel Hobbies after the meeting, so I'll get it then. I'm impatient to get this model done, but I'll have to wait. Today I was on my way home from work, and as I neared the Norristown exit, I remembered Main Line Hobbies in Plymouth Mall. Mere footsteps off the turnpike. Cool. And I'm expecting a snow day tomorrow so maybe I can get the truck done. I go there.. this shop is in the indoor mall... and as I near it.. it's DARK. The gate is pulled across locked. What the heck? Their hours show they're open 6 days a week and closed on Tuesday! What store closes on Tuesday?? And in the mall? I thought stores had to be open all mall hours. Friggin nuts. So I am back to the plan of getting my paint in New Jersey on Saturday... but we're expecting major snow then! ARGH!

Be careful Dan! I hear that Terry has one last 'poo pack' tucked away for a special occasion!

Hey Felix! Very nice model and the irony is that I pulled that one out onto the bench today, along with a new can of Testors One Coat Lacquer in Fiery Orange. Is that your color? I have been groking the kit and looking at 1:1s for reference on eBay Motors. I'm not a big fan of the diamond plate so I was looking at sanding it off.

Dean, drop me an email (my address is at the bottom of this post) and I will send you a PDF file that shows how to do the wood graining. That goes for anyone else who wants the file.

Those all are so clean that they look like kit parts! Great work Ed!

Sounds like he's ripe for cultivating. He does need to understand how to respect your stuff, but his heart was in the right place. Way back when my kids were little, my youngest might have been five or six and went into my hobby room and dumped a whole bottle of super glue into an interior tub. Thankfully she didn't get it on herself.

Some folks don't know that if you get both your homeowners and car insurance from the same company, you get a decent discount. I have mine that way. And a note of caution... before you run off and sign up with the lowest cost provider, check them out. Some of them are real good at collecting premiums, but stink really bad when you really need them.

I'd say not since they haven't even debuted product yet. And since he was mentioned, yes Norm Veber is always busy. He has missed NNL East the past few years because he had too many orders in his queue to produce product for the show. He emailed today that he will indeed be at the show this year!

Well lets say that the consulting gig should be 40 hours a week, minus not getting paid for time not worked. And I'll have an income without making a major investment. The hobby shop on the other hand is gambling my savings without any guarantee of a profit or paycheck at all.

I was seriously considering it, even had preliminary discussions with shopping center landlords. Then an old boss of mine called and set me up with a consulting contract in my regular business! No investment, no risk, guaranteed income back in the range I needed.... no brainer!

Agreed here's a photo of what I needed to do to the cab... As mentioned, the windshield is way too low. The top of that molding should be parallel to the drip rail. Note that the drip rail was also poorly molded, much too faint. I replaced it here with Evergreen rod. I didn't fix the windshield on this one because it was the box art truck for the Model King release, so I felt it should represent what was in the box. And here's a reference shot of a 1:1 to show the relationship of that windshield to the side drip rail molding. It's not a hard thing to fix, just carve the windshield opening upward, then scribe the molding line at the proper height. And yes it would be nice if they fixed it on the tool! Also, note that the Firestone release had a Firestone logo in the center of the bed cover. This was still on the test shot that I built the model from, but I was instructed to sand it off since it wouldn't be on the Model King release. It would be interesting to see if they re-engrave it back there again. One of the things I plan on doing with this kit, is to convert it back to standard bed length and use the step side bed from the AMT '53 Ford pickup. It's nearly right.

I have bought exactly two kits at Michaels. I got a new Mustang convertible curbside, and the Jeep Rubicon using the 40% off coupon. Part of the issue is that the manufacturers hold back the new releases from there, sending them to the hobby shops first. I pretty much buy my new releases from dealers who sells at shows and club meetings at prices lower than hobby shops. I just bought new releases at an average of $16.

Friggin snow! My consulting gig got cancelled for today. No show, no dough! It's sleeting here, and getting worse as it goes. When I got up at 5am, it was all rain with an occasional ice crystal, but now the tops of the cars are covered. It's colder than they predicted last night and now that everything is wet I fear it will all be freezing solid. News flash- it's done sleeting and has turned to snow, already covering my deck and the skylight in my kitchen. Oh well, I guess I'll hit the model room. It's warm and dry there.