Tom Geiger

Cool progress. I couldn't see in the photos, did you open the glove box? I saw my sister in law for Thanksgiving and the conversation went to her old bright green Chevette. Her eyes lit up and she talked about it for at least 10 minutes. She fondly remembers it, I didn't know how she'd feel about that distant past. So now I seriously need to build her Chevette. Probably target finishing it for Christmas.

Welcome Brent. You should easily achieve those goals here!

Exactly! If you resin cast a model of a Camaro, people will buy it because it's a Chevy Camaro and you've traded on the value of that intellectual property. Create a model of a custom of your own design, some folks may buy it, but then you are trading on your own design abilities.

You're pretty silly stone cold sober!

And we have a winner! And when there's a speculative thread, and someone creates an actual review, or there's two different review threads DON'T go combining them into a single thread. It's just confusing and uncalled for. I like to read a good review by a knowledgeable person, but I tire of the 20 pages of comments tearing the kit to shreds.

Nice truck. And I like that you cut the decal at the door line. I can't tell you how many guys don't bother.

I heard that Sassy The Kitten killed and ate Perry The Squirrel!

All good examples of deserving folks who should be inducted over time. And I believe it will happen. The intent is to honor people who made significant contributions to the hobby that have stood the test of time. That means folks who were noticed in their day and are still remembered today. Your uncle in rural Arkansas who built a few models in the 1980s and never showed them to anyone doesn't qualify because he didn't influence anyone. Just like as if Kelly Clarkson wasn't noticed on American Idol, she'd still be a very good singer and a waitress in Texas. The museum has another avenue of recognition, the Hot 150 and Clone The Past programs. This is recognition for influential models of the past. To Mark's credit, he has personally contacted an amazing number of builders of models from the 1960s and a good number of them have donated / loaned the original models to the museum. It's a spectacular show of the history of our hobby. For those models that have been destroyed or can't be located, the Clone The Past program gives you and I the opportunity to clone a historic model for inclusion in the museum.

Wow! Modelhaus has added that to their line since I last looked. Unfortunately I need the entire interior bucket too and they don't have that in the on-line catalog. I'd be happy to be proven wrong! As far as my '72, I have a resin body that needs work (given to me) and I could steal the entire chassis etc from my spare '73 with the bad body. The hood and dashboard are the same as the 1973 kit, so I have those. I can get the bumpers and red clear tail lights, as well as the front seat from Modelhaus, so the only thing I don't have is the interior bucket. And that would have to be different than the '73. Some guys would just swap it in, but we're purists here!

In the end I went with the Model A nose. I had started this build to create a truck I'd like to have as a 1:1 and I think I'd rather drive this around! The model is essentially done, but there are those little details that need finishing up, and some stuff you see once you take pictures in daylight. It's currently sitting in the spot of honor next to the TV in my family room. So one night this week I'll do the few bits and then I'll take photos for an Under Glass thread!

A great build of one of my all time favorite kits! You've done it proud! The only thing I could suggest is that the loop on the chassis near the back is where the spare tire goes. Add one and you're golden!

Looking great! I think the Coke cooler looks much better with legs. Antlers made from exhaust parts? Here in the US there is a chain called Meineke Mufflers, and a lot of the stores have the Meineke Man out front, made from exhaust parts. So why not antlers!

My kits come from swap meets and the dealers who sell new kits at shows. I can't remember the last time I paid retail for a kit at a hobby shop. I also buy things on eBay. Supplies come from the local hobby shop, Michaels and auto paints from Pep Boys.

Neat little bugger. Yea, I'll be needin' one of those!

Another rare one is the Premiere Corvair Rampside pickup. I've never seen one in person. Premier did some interesting stuff early on that wasn't bad proportion wise. I'd love to know where they went wrong! Here's their Kaiser Darren that I picked up recently. It was in a dealers junk box!

Looks great! What did you use for the body?

Try updating or replacing your Java too. My laptop was running slow and IE was jamming up etc. I saw Java try to automatically update itself and got a "insufficient rights" error message. So I assume it must have been trying for awhile and this was the first time I saw it. So I shut down, brought the computer up fresh and went for a Java update immediately. It worked and suddenly all my computer issues went away. You may say that Java may not be running in a specific application, but if it's running wrong in the background and hogging up resources, no program is happy!

Jeroen, the '57 should work. Don't cut your chassis until you mock up the camper body to the car body. To do the mockup, just use masking tape and assemble the basics of the exterior of the camper shell. That will give you an idea of wheelbase, and how much you will need to stretch the '57 Chevy chassis to make it work.

Guys, calm down, she'd kill ya!

and there are times you are up for different modeling type activities. That's why I keep a few things on my bench... Sometimes I just want to hack on plastic, so I will have something that I need to cut up. Sometimes I'm into rummaging and assembling a concept Sometimes I'm into assembly Sometimes I'm into painting or weathering something Sometimes I'm into fine finishing details So it's good to have projects at various stages.

Yes, those old Chevys are cool but are getting pricy! You did well at $101. I see them going for more for glue bombs on occasion. I have two of them, both with glue messes on the doors where the kid who owned them tried to glue on the big trailer mirrors. Whata mess! My collection of big Chevys is complete except I need a '72. I've been watching those for a while and they are going for more than the '73s!

At least it doesn't fire!

I guess nobody is feeling this project since I've gotten very little response. I don't get that since it is a hot rod. Anyway, it's decision time. I originally created a track nose using the thread from here, making this one from two fenders off an AMT '53 Ford pickup. I carved it out a bit crude like it was home made. I guess I could work on that a bit if needed. So the decision is.... Stock Model A grill shell with headlights attached to it. Or... Track nose with '34 Ford kit headlights. Note that the body etc are all just mocked up if they don't look perfectly straight. The bumper is from the AMT '51 Chevy kit and is permanently mounted. The chrome is flaking off it in places which is just fine, it will get dabs of rust there. So.... vote for the nose that should be on this build!

The kit you have is both the Open Road camper and Racers Wedge race car carrier that were originally issued as an option on AMT Chevy pickups back in the early 1970s. So they both were made to work with that truck. The camper also had an option (which is included in the kit you have) to make it a free standing trailer. That wouldn't be that realistic since I've never seen a trailer with a loft that goes over a pickup cab on it. The camper should work with just about any pickup kit, but you will need to lengthen the chassis as the camper is longer. The accessories in the camper are pretty cool, but they are slightly larger than 1/25 scale. I put my ruler against them. But it is a cool camper kit. The car based campers from the 1950s and 1960s are indeed cool and a lot of them seem to have survived. No, Cadillac never did make one. These are the work of small shops, some that became large and known. Many started with fairly new cars that got smacked in the back. Some are driveway conversions done by individuals. Anyway you decide, the camper is a cool model!