Tom Geiger

Go Rich! I know you've been chomping at the bit to start this one since NNL East. I'm gonna be a watchin'! And your camper is coming along, so check out my thread too!

Maybe Round 2 can do the taxi version? I have this on my to do list.

Tonight's progress... got the galley roughed out. Starting on the right side, there's a closet. Next to that is a fridge that I'm scratch building from some shape from the parts box. It may have been the bottom of a large tool box or something. Now it's a refrigerator. Next is the cabinetry. I still have to do a two burner stove top and a sink. I may also add a microwave, like in my last camper. There will also be some wall cabinets, once I get the orientation of everything else. But that's enough for one sitting!

Since commercial Caravans were mentioned... here's the coolest one I ever saw. It was one of those times when you run all the way back home to get your camera. And glad I did because it only appeared there once! Many more pix at the link, the nice lady let me crawl all over it. http://public.fotki.com/ModelCitizen/11_car_reference_library/light_commercial/hot_dog_caravan/

I thought Danno's post was just fine. Nothing like an interesting true story. Sure beats ;70% of the three word replies on the board fer shure!

Are you sure that's the right one? The '55-57 had the battery on the firewall under the hood. That pan appears to have a hole in it for the battery to sit in like a Ford.

Yea, I don't agree with that part and I think most folks don't. But there are guys who will post 4-10 PIFs at once, so they seem to be playing by the rules. I'll post stuff even when I don't owe anyone anything. In the end, I'd rather answer someone's request for a specific part. I get satisfaction out of helping someone finish a project, and it's neat to see your part, that otherwise would still be at the bottom of your parts box, on a finished model!

That's too nice a motor to bury way down there!

A buyer can't get negative feedback but you can see what feedback they have left. And that there is enough in telling how good a customer they will be. Back when I was selling, there weren't a lot of problems with collectibles. I found 99% of modelers to be honest, and I never ever had a problem with stamp or post card collectors. I didn't know what the problem was at all until my brother in law, who was in the computer business, gave me a big box of misc computer items, all new in box, to sell on eBay. Man, dealing with the retail general public was a genuine pain in the tail. They had never been sellers (which many collectors were both buyers and sellers) so they saw no differentiation between dealing with a big fulfillment house vs a small eBay seller. I had items sold overnight where I had already received heated emails by the time I woke up. I had one guy leave me feedback "slow to ship" on something that went out next day. Then I checked out his dealings and realized he was buying from big computer mail order houses that shipped 24/7 almost hourly. And he didn't get the difference. I had people who received their $10 lap top battery and said they wanted to return it because they found one elsewhere for a dollar less. And they expected me to pay postage both ways so they could save that dollar. Or they wanted to return things, no reason stated, like I was Walmart. There is no way I'd sell consumer goods to the general public on eBay or otherwise.

Do you really need to strip it? Is the paint on the body thin enough that you could go over it? That might be the path of least resistance.

I build old beat up light commercial so I've been questioned a bit. People who own them can't imagine why I'd want photos of that! I've been accused of being a city inspector. One time I was photographing and measuring on an old 1970 or so Chevy light mason truck that was For Sale on the highway. This truck had rust, different color body panels, odd bucket seats, hand fashioned parts bins, and a load of junk in the back. It was a modeling dream! It turns out the owner lived in a house that was visible from the highway. He saw me and walked over to ask what I was doing. He was in total disbelief of my explanation and wondering why I'd be in awe of this total piece of junk. He said, "If you like it so much, I'll sell it to you for $600". That was a dangerous moment for me. One of those lines in the sand of how far you go for the hobby! I thought for a few minutes that I could indeed buy it to have that reference right in my driveway, and then sell it later. I didn't. Sometimes I'm sad about that.

since you mentioned the floor... it's easy enough to fix. Above are photos of the two trucks I built. I used a very thin piece of Evergreen sheet on the bottom of the interior tub that was cut to match the cab bottom. Then using more Evergreen, this time a bit thicker, I made the step down areas. I've been told that the step down doesn't go all the way to the back like I did, only in the door area. I'll do one that way next time. It would be cool if a resin caster made a corrected interior floor.

I agree with your assessment of the Dodge Caravan kit, mainly for the above reason. This is my 1996 Grand Caravan Mark III high top. I bought it new and we joked at the time that it would need to last 13 years since it had 5 years of payments, followed by sending my 2 daughters to college 4 years apart. We figured we wouldn't be able to buy a new one until they both graduated. Well, that all came and went and we still have the Caravan at 180,000 miles. And we won't be getting rid of it any time soon. This is Caravan number three for us, we had an original 1984, and a 1990 Plymouth Grand Voyager prior to this. Lindberg originally tooled this one up to be a promotional model for Chrysler. Note that they had done Dodge pickups and Chrysler convertibles as promos. Something got screwed up and the promo never was made. So it did get released as a kit and Lindberg was amazed at the sales. The first shipment was immediately sold out. I know I gave a few away to my fellow Caravan owners who enjoyed assembling it with their kids. The problem with getting mainstream cars today, is that most of the annuals and especially the Johan / Excel generated promos of Rambler 4 doors and wagons were all a by product of the automaker's promo programs. So basically the tooling was done on that contract and the eventual kit runs were gravy. And the model car market was much larger then than today. Back in those days a kit that sold 500,000 copies was a loser, today that number may be 10,000 so the financial return just isn't there. If indeed the car manufacturers were to order up promos today, they'd be more like the Maisto diecast cars than plastic kits. This earlier Caravan and Voyager were done as promos by Brookfield Collectors Guild. They are metal and the back is a bank, so there is only the front section of the interior and the windows are blacked out instead of cut out. Other than that these are very nice replicas. I also have a Voyager in red. Maybe a resin caster can do this one with the rear windows open. Note that these can still be found in the $20 range. Brookfield also did the cloud cars.. Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Cirrus, but not the Plymouth Breeze. They also did Neons, both 2 and 4 doors. I believe these are all plastic. I also have the Intrepid and Concorde. They also did a late model Monte Carlo and full size Chevy van. All of these have been taken apart and folks have used them as a basis for decent models.

Amen, you are 100% correct. Code in commercial buildings is to have both a water and chemical extinguisher mounted right next to the exit, just for the reasons you stated. I have an ABC mounted just as you describe. I live in Pennsylvania and it's code here to have a sprinkler system in houses over a certain size. So I have sprinkler heads in every room. One time I rented a vacation home in the Poconos. It came with a charcoal grill on the wood deck. I couldn't find a hose, but I found a spackle size bucket in the basement. I filled that with water and put it on the deck. Somehow the three legged grill collapsed and shot hot coals across the deck. I was standing there and easily extinguished it with the bucket. So I let the rental agent know. Both he and the home owner were very impressed that I had that kind of fore thought and delivered a brand new grill and steaks to me the next day.

Way too many and I'm not counting them. I'm with Harry... many of them are clogged or have no nozzle at all. I know two years ago Ollies had the tall cans of Duplicolor for sale for $1, so I bought 25 cans then. And tons of Testors, Tamiya and automotive and hardware store paints too. I probably have 100 cans. I collect different brands of gray and flat / satin blacks since they give different looks for chassis and interiors. So every time I see a new brand of cheap paint, I'll get those. Also, I have a lot of spray cans since I don't buy the little bottles of brush paint. I spray everything. Even small parts. If I do need to brush some detail or touch up, I'll spray a little paint into a 3 ounce Dixie cup. And I don't use an airbrush so it's all cans. One thing I have done for at least the last ten years, is when I get new cans, I put the date on them, usually on the bottom with a Sharpie. I also have Testors cans going way back, some with 69 cent stickers on them. I don't even know if they're good any more. I had recently thought I should go through them all and chuck the bad ones.

For the short time it takes to spray model parts, I don't believe this is necessary. If I was painting something large, like a real car hood or a fence, this would be a decent accessory. Now I could've used something like that for my power washer trigger. I cleaned my deck and walk ways over two days and my fingers still hurt!

I don't go on the SA website, but the Pay It Forward is alive and well on another site I frequent. The attitude there is pretty much if you are a regular poster, and need a part for a build, someone will send you one with no strings attached. I know that if one of these guys needed something to complete a build, I'd crack open a new kit to send it to them. Recently a friend sent me two 1960 Edsel wheel spinners to complete my 49 Ford old custom. It was much appreciated. If he ever needs a favor, he's got it, and I'll help the next guy.

Guys, the seller is faultless and has a dilemma on his hands. Two newbies bid them up, no doubt thinking they were getting a real deal on a set of 1:1 new wheels and tires. Complete numpties since there is no mention of bolt pattern or application at all. This constantly happens to the guys who list resin hoods and decal sets. The seller's big issue is that eBay has already hit his account for the commission, which he will have to appeal to reverse, and the numpty will no doubt leave him negative feedback. Oh, the reasons why I don't sell on eBay anymore! Back when I was a seller I did manage to keep my feedback perfect, although I had a few close calls with idiots. I was selling car brochures and after I shipped one I noticed the buyer had left a lot of negative feedback for other sellers. Then I read his comments... he was rating the brochures he bought! If he didn't like the brochure, he'd leave a negative! Nothing to do with the seller at all. So I crossed my fingers and waited. Yea, he liked the brochure I sent him!

Steve I did have a visit from Homeland Security... but they asked a bunch of questions about you!

Long Roof - Love those colors! The Chevy in silver / red is so 1976. Back in '76 I had a '66 Valiant with a red interior, so I painted it Ford Granada silver since that was the 'it' color scheme that year. And in the early 70s every third car was that green!

That looks really nice in orange. Good job. I love that kit too. I've built two of them so far, and I have many of them in my inventory. Funny thing, I've never built one stock like yours. I'll have to do one someday!

John- You forgot to include a free set of Ginzu Knives!

That didn't look like a bad 4 car garage to begin with... what's the story? Are you making a new one from Evergreen and Plastruct sheets?

Eric- if you are going to carve up or discard that interior bucket, I have same kit (that is an old AMT isn't it?) that has an interior with a distorted patern on the seats. It's as if it reacted to paint or something. I could sorely use a clean interior! I'd swap mine for yours and add to it to make it worth your while! Void above post- Just realized you are working with a Trumpeter body.. was thrown off due to the reuse / blotchy toning on your body! If anyone does have an extra AMT interior tub, let me know!

I can't agree with a few things here... namely returning BMF to the backing sheet to use again and cutting strips very thin in the name of lessening waste. First, once the BMF has been off the backing sheet, consider it toast. Any BMF glue that has had contact with your fingers, the model or anything else no longer has it's adhesion properties. That includes when you are trying to position a piece of BMF over some model trim and you've positioned it, pulled it back up, positioned it again.. especially the two ends where you've touched it. Toast! BMF is NOT expensive. FIgure if it's an $8 sheet and you get 2 models out of it that's good enough. It doesn't last forever either, so I'd rather start an important project with a fresh sheet and not something I've been scrounging off of for a few years. Resign yourself to the fact that you are going to have a 50% waste factor. It's like installing wall to wall carpet. There will be BMF in the trash. Personally I cut BMF about three times as wide as I need it. I don't attempt to use the straight edge as one side of the trim. I also cut it much longer than I need. That's the length on either end where you have touched the glue. That needs to be cut off as waste. Now take that wide and long piece and position it ONCE over the model trim. The extra length and width are so you aren't trying to get it down in an exact spot. Just pop it down and as long as your trim is covered, then burnish it down and cut off the excess from all four sides. And put that excess in the trash. It's not reusable. If you have a piece on the model and you don't like it, tear it back off and use a new piece to try again. Honestly, in my experience, every person who has had an issue with BMF, especially it not sticking or coming off, goes back to the above basics.