Tom Geiger

Not a problem James! You just illustrated the quandary of the model companies. You weren't familiar with the history of that kit (the crudeness is part of the charm to us old crusties!), probably have some modern AMT tools that are great detailed kits, and thought that they did a crummy job on this one. Same thing happened when a guy had the AMT '58 Plymouth, a modern kit, and then bought the '62 Buick. The Buick is a genuine 1962 kit with a one piece chassis. He wondered what was up just like you. The companies need to better explain the history of the kits on the box or instruction sheet. I know AMT has some of the older kits with the trees illustrated on the bottom of the box to show you what you are getting. For future purchases, just post here on the board and ask for input. Within a few minutes guys here will let you know exactly what you are getting! Best to ya! Oh, Mr Smythe.. BE NICE!

F with a few mods... give grampa his walking papers... and the kids, I like the taller one, but is that a girl? If so use both kids. And revisit it after you detail paint the little guy. Right now his blue tone in the black and white diorama is giving me the creeps!

Yes! I'm jealous! I have music in my soul but no talent whatsoever! I own a guitar but never learned to play an instrument. I'm not allowed to sing within human earshot. I blame it on my parentage!

Looks like you worked it out, nice model. James, understand that you are working with a repop of a near 50 year old tooling. Things were a lot rougher back then, so it's not like a Tamiya kit. And the tool has seen a lot of use hence the flash. When working with these, we give the kit a bit of leeway, clean up the important parts and swap in better parts for wheels and such. I have this same kit. So far I just took that body out of the box and cut the trunk off it. I want to build a rat rod or traditional rod pickup from it.

Gotta love it! I get a chuckle out of guys who use full size doll house accessories in dioramas. Nothing like a 24 ounce Coke can!

Nobody wants to build anything today. They're looking for something they can pop from the package and display. And a lot of them are still keeping stuff 'mint in the box' thinking it will be valuable someday. For some reason the general public thinks of metal being more valuable vs plastic. So even if the companies put out very detailed plastic prebuilts, they're perceived as 'cheap plastic toys'.

Reading through the last 20 or so posts... Erik is right to a degree. People do request kits that would certainly put any model company out of business quickly! They may sell a case or two of the Ford Fairmont 4 door sedan. The rest of them would be headed for the close out stores. But at the same time, ask enough people and you wind up with a list like SAE used to post. If you look back, the manufacturers have kitted nearly everything on that list! The thing Round 2 didn't answer (btw, the Facebook page is legit) is if they are at the point of doing new tools. That changes the game a whole lot. Plus we still don't know what they've found in the magic warehouse (they're more astute than the previous operators) that they'd invest some money in restoring. For instance tools are often missing chrome trees, glass shots, tail light red shots, and tire molds because those were separate from the main tool and get separated. Those are fairly easy fixes. If a tool is missing or needs a total retool on a major part like a body, that's a whole 'nuther thing. It gets expensive and they have to carefully deduce if they can do it feasibly. For instance, take the 1963 Nova wagon... it's there as that gasser / funnycar but how much to reproduce the tools to get it back to the stock issue? Might as well start over. Stuff that they may have but won't sell well... it's been said over and over that a few high dollar sales of an obscure kit on eBay doesn't translate into a kit that will sell thousands if reissued. On eBay you just need two nostalgic guys with deep pockets to get the price up. Things that really haven't done all that well... show cars. I've bought the Barris T dune buggy, the moon buggy thing, etc for $5 at shows. They're also likely to show up as door prizes! Large scale kits don't do big numbers. Dave Burket had a hard time getting rid of all his Vega funny cars. Old luxury cars... same thing with the 70 Buick and T-Bird he did. Even the old Craftsman '64 Comet didn't sell out quick. On the other hand anything straight line.. gassers, funny cars, pro stocks etc, especially with authentic decals, fall off the shelf! There are kits that would sell quickly. The '53 Studebaker kit. Try finding them on the secondary market. Same with the 79 Ford pickup Model King did. There are a bunch of kits run in the past 10 years, that could be run without much problem. Do the Round 2 magic of adding extra value to the kit, put it in the original box and you have another winner. I also think the old Dodge van, with a newly retooled grill would be as good as the Chevy vans they've been doing. We are having a nostalgic resurgence of vans in the hobby. The last release with a legit grill in it had the high end, 4 headlight grill. This time why not put the low end 2 headlight grill? And look at the tool to see if any of the old options are in there like the work benches, custom van accessories and check the clear glass tool for the old port hole window shapes! I think we're more likely to see creative reuses than new tools from them for a while. Still hoping they'll surprise me though!

I just knew you couldn't leave well enuf alone!

Thanks but I can't take credit for it. I bought that model as you see it in the photo. Judging from the clean conversion work versus the moderate quality paint and finish work I think it must be a resin body. I'd love to know where it came from since it could be built as a '50 Olds

Brilliant Jim! Such a refreshing change from the dioramas that are merely sprinkled with kit parts! Not a wheel with lugs nuts still on it in sight!

Randy- Great work on the engine and in detailing out the hub caps. A suggestion. Since the wheels look so good, add a valve stem! You just need to drill a small hole and a short length of engine wire. See the photo below.

Don- I got the Normandie as a parts car. I want to use the wheels and tires on another build. I may ask Al Raab if he can cast them since they're pretty unique kit wise. The drivetrain and chassis would be cool on a rat rod project since they're odd. I wasn't going to take anything out of a kit when I only had one of them! Erik- Beware of the Hotel Taxi. The one I have has issues with the bus body. Loads of sink marks on the outside where there is detail on the inside. It looked like enough of a pain that it would be easier for me to scratch build the body, using the kit part as a pattern. Still, I love those old Hellers! They are detailed with a lot of chassis parts, kinda spindly like the old Revell kits! I am watching to score one of those old Mercedes panels like Richard showed us recently.

You just cut off all the parts that didn't fit!

Thanks I built it from a ton of reference photos of junkers and stolen cars being sold on eBay. Here's some of them: http://public.fotki.com/ModelCitizen/11_car_reference_library/honda-civics/

Here's one I've never seen before. Spotted it in the Completed Auctions section of the 'bay

Cool. I guess it's just an older Civic. Someone told me it wasn't a Civic. That's what I get for believing people! LOL

Chopped version will look a bit like this?

m I'm shocked! I love these old Heller Citroen trucks. I have them all but who can pass up an opportunity to get another copy? So I bid reasonably often, but never win. So imagine my surprise that I won two of them in separate auctions today. The Normandy for $16.50 and the Bordens truck for $22.72. I lost the Hotel Taxi short bus version which sold for around $50. That's okay! Now to go sit out by the mailbox!

Very nice work. Here's one I did.

Actually a 2x4 measures out to something like 1.75" x 3.75". I can't help you with rip cuts, but I use the Chopper tool to get all my lengths right and straight on both woods and plastics. It costs about $50 but it will last forever!

Back when I was a kid, my models were the typical kid built ones.. Testors paints over bare plastic, silver brush painted trim, too low a grit sanding and no parts prep. Then I got interested again in my 20s and got the same bad results. Why? Because I was going it myself and hadn't figured out much in the way of technique. Then in my 30s I got interested again and found my club. Instantly guys showed me the errors of my ways and taught me proper techniques. It wasn't rocket science, but I just hadn't thought of it on my own. The next model I did was light years better than my previous attempts! My own weathering inspiration came from Joe Cavorley, who I was lucky enough to have him take me under his wing and teach me weathering, scratch building and tons of other ideas. And then over time, I've bettered some techniques, and just made others more comfortable to do for myself. As such, just as those helped me, I always reach out and help anyone who asks. That's what keeps this hobby alive!

Very cool project. Shows what you can build with some imagination and bits of plastic! When I was 15 I bought a used Lawn Boy rear engine mower with my own money to mow lawns in the neighborhood. I used the $200 I had made the previous season with my push mower. I used the Lawn Boy for the next 3-4 seasons, making all the money I needed as a kid. Thus I never worked fast food or other traditional jobs. I still have the manual for my old mower. Maybe I need to build one!

I got my projects mixed up and it finished up like this! Actually I haven't done any work on it since the last post. I need to get 'er done!

Thanks Ron! I've gotten hooked on scratching out under pinnings! See the photo above.. And the model. I've got to finish this one. (yes I do know the real car is an Accord and this is a Civic)

What did you do that poor old Ranchero?? That is one of my favorite old kits and I have a collection of old customs done off it from the original era. . Here's an original custom nose on an original piece I restored. A fellow modeler gave it to me all apart and badly stripped. The body was broken into a couple pieces. So I cleaned it up and restored it to it's former glory. Another '61 restored from a beat up kids toy. It had a lot of play wear scratches and nicks. The drip rails were completely gone. Here's another one brought back from the dead. I used an old Falcon promo grill to make it a 1960 Ranchero. All the emblems and door handles were shaved off so I drilled holes where they would have been and did a car in primer getting ready for paint. The interior was shot on this one and I built it prior to the reissue in the 1990s, so I made an interior from the back half of a '66 T-Bird tub. It fits wonderfully and I used the Ranchero dash with it. That could work for yours as well. and I've got a bunch of cool old builds I have cleaned up, touched up and preserved. Follow the link... http://public.fotki.com/ModelCitizen/model_cars/old_customs/rockin_ranchero/