Tom Geiger

Funny thing, my work surface is the clear glass lens from a Xerox machine. It's thick glass and will never break. This is the part where you put the page you wish to copy. When I was cleaning out my father's garage to sell the house, I found it, NOS in it's original package. I asked him how the heck it got there. He said back when he was working the Xerox tech came to fix their machine and left it there. So being the packrat he was, he took it. He figured it would be useful one day. Not within his lifetime but I know he'd smile!

My buddy worked at an AMC dealer in that era. We got to drive a bunch of new AMCs, Gremlins, Hornets and Pacers. They were very interesting, cool and fast with the 4 speeds, both six and eights! I remember one red Pacer wagon with chrome wheels and a 4 speed that I still think about!

So sorry to hear! I knew Scott on the Spotlight board and the reports of the Meet & Greet group on the board. Peace to Scott and his family.

Interesting enough I believe it started out as a '60 Ford convertible. The stretch and the entire roof is balsa wood. It's quite a monstrosity and when I saw it on eBay I just knew I needed to have it for my old custom collection. I wonder if it was ever entered in contests. Oh, if it could only speak!

Wow! A hobby shop that won't lose money!

Got 'em! Brizio, please PM me your mailing addy and all the plates will go out in the morning mail.

and you guys who said you go hunting for photos are right. I have a huge brochure and magazine collection, all bought in the days before the internet. I reasoned that I needed it for reference on cars in general and to build models. I haven't used it in years! My first source is the Internet. Doesn't matter if I'm looking for a Chevette or a 1928 Citroen truck or even the Greyhound sponsored transporters from the NY Worlds Fair, I always find what I need. Gone are the days of just guessing what something looks like, you can always find out exactly. If you can't find it yourself a quick question on one of the model boards usually will get you the answer quickly. My favorite places are eBay Motors, because you can find photos of nearly anything, and I find a good share of junkers and beaters that I love to build. I save those photos for reference of specific vehicles, but also of wear and rust patterns, chassis rust and grease and under the hood grime. Many sellers post 20-50 photos of a vehicle for sale so you get everything down to chassis and engine details. I save a lot of those photo sets. If you are looking for foreign cars, check out the eBay International sites. I can spend my day on the British, German and Australian sites. Go to Brazil, Mexico or Argentina to see strange variations of older US cars. You can also find pictures of individual parts for detailing models. For instance I was doing a Plymouth Flathead six motor and had plenty of shots of the engine for details. But I couldn't really make out the plug wire channel that brought the wires up over the head. I searched and found someone selling just that piece. Suddenly I had closeup photos to scratch build just that one little detail. If you are looking for details on how to build an early Ford without an interior or apart, there are plenty of items to find. For instance I am working on a '34 Ford, so I found a few stripped body shells for sale with multiple photos so I know exactly where to drill small holes on the firewall where the wind lace was and I'm able to add. If you want to do an interior minus panels, go look for a body shell or just a door for sale. There should be good shots that you can build from. And if you don't find what you're looking for, check back in a week. Everything changes! Or put in a search agent to notify you when something comes on. I also like to Google things, especially just for images. Type in any city name in the world, and "Taxi" and all kinds of interesting stuff comes up. I wound up spending hours looking at some guys albums of Saigon in the 1960s and all the cars that were in the streets when I typed in Saigon Taxi. The Internet is a great resource for any information and hours of entertainment.

Wow! That catalog is just great. A lot of vehicles you never saw before. Auction estimates seem a bit ambitious though!

I just came across some of the souvenir license plates from last year's NNL East, as pictured above. I'd be pleased to send a set to the FIRST FIVE folks who respond to this post. Then PM me or email me your mailing address. Please only people who don't have a set of these! I'd be happy to mail them anywhere. NNL East is April 20th 2013 this year. See details at the website at www.nnleast.com

Photo was taken in Pirmasens, Germany in the 1970-2 era when I lived there. This was at the army post drag races that were held occasionally on the air strip. Below is a link to the whole set: http://public.fotki.com/ModelCitizen/11_car_reference_library/pirmasens-germany-d/

It depends on where you live! If you are in a city, Brooklyn NY for instance, much of the residential streets are one way streets with parking on both sides. Then the left side curb feelers come into play for parking on the left side of the street. If you don't do that often, it feels very weird.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Steve! There is a ton of work to be done. I've already mentally been thinking of what kit dashboard is close enough to modify etc. I've been thinking MPC Chevette under it since those shared a common heritage with the Opel. My interest is that I grew up in Germany for a while and they were all over the place. See the above photo I took when I was a kid.

As I troll through the models on eBay I look for anything unusual, things I may not have seen before. Just when you think you've seen everything in your 25 years of modeling, something odd pops up! I also like those junker lots. In the past I've been able to buy a lot of three, keep the one I want and resell the other two for the original cost of the lot. I like old builtups of 60's annuals as long as the price isn't too nuts. I also go through the diecast section looking for 1/25 or 1/24 scale stuff that can be worked. I'm also a sucker for the old Heller and AIrfix kits. And my big passion is those old customs we built as kids. I'll buy them if they're very well done or have some unique treatment. Like this...

Nice build Chas! I've been following along. I won't be at GSL this year.

oo Cool model of a neat car you wouldn't see here in the USA. Here's one I spotted in Winchester, England back in 2010.

I got this Opel Kadett body off eBay. It is an A/FX product, but got it quick without any drama. Was delivered within a week. Not exactly what I needed, I was hoping to make it the basis of a stock build. It would need a ton of work reshaping near everything, but it was as advertised. Can't fault them for my assumption. Still my wheels are turning and I might just start carving! And this neat 1/25 scale Polistil Mercedes SL came in the mail on Friday, another one fished off the 'bay. Very nicely done with opening doors, hood and trunk. The seats fold as do the sun visors. Roof comes off too.

You will love this! It's one of my favorite tools. You will wonder how you built without it.

Great build. I enjoyed following along. Model building as a spectator sport is more fun than building it yourself And I do like the snow pictures! I try to do that whenever I can.

True, not a bad habit... I have periods of intense building and then need to lay off a few days. When I'm on a roll I try to get everything I can done because I know it's not gonna last forever! I do like to be pushed by a deadline too. Otherwise I'd get nothing done. So if I decide I need to finish a model, or part of a model to bring to a club meeting or show, I can get it done.

Thanks. I saved those as reference photos. I saw one built at NNL East one year. I had that kit as a kid and never quite got it together, so it's on my bucket list.

Adam, please do photo and post the rest of your 1980s cars. A few years ago we did an '80s theme at NNL East just to bring out all those great old kits!

I think we create those details for the challenge and satisfaction of doing so. Even if they're not seen, we know they're there!

I guess I just got promoted to family. Aloha!

I have this Heller Citroen truck on the bench right now. I noticed that the box art showed a curled edge on the door opening, but the kit body didn't have it. With no photos of a 1:1 truck, I decided the curled edge looked better so I added it with Evergreen. The kit is way past this step now with most parts painted. I probably will finish up paint tomorrow and get to assembly this week.

I had mentioned that I won an auction on eBay. The seller must be a friend of AFX Wendal because this is his work. I did get it quickly so he must have the item before he lists it. Overall quality is pretty good, no issues with the body. I bought it hoping I could get a stock Kadett out of it, but it's more funny car than enough stock for me to work with. The wheelbase is the correct 95" though.