Danny Lectro

I don't have much to show, since I can't really get any painting done at the moment, but here's what I have so far. Just phone-camera pics for now... I planned to build this OOB as a Hemi Dart, but I messed up when I opened the rear wheel-wells, so I figured this would be a good candidate for a post-apocalypse ride. I enlarged the front wheel openings a bit, and opened up the trunk for extra fuel tanks. The Fuel tanks are made by WAVE, and are originally designed for mecha models, but I think they work for this, too. I drilled out the front running lights in the grill, and the side market lights in the body. I really don't think such things will be necessary in the future wasteland. I have yet to decide if I will go with the 440 Magnum or 426 Hemi. I think I will be going with ruddy brown primer for the main color.

I love this one, Chuck! Excellent job. I think the engine goes great with it.

My employer allows employees to get packages delivered to them there, so that's what I do. Some of you may want to check if your places of business will do the same for you.

There is also an ongoing series on the Cooking Channel called "Eat St.," devoted to food trucks around the U.S. Food carts are a fixture in New York City (hot dogs, gyros, shish kebabs), but I haven't seen many lunch trucks around. I would see them every once in a long while back when I worked near Grand Central Station, but I never see them now that I work a little further uptown. I have heard that lunch trucks are a big business in parts of Brooklyn that are known as hipster enclaves, but I don't have much cause to travel that way these days.

Merc-thulhu! I like where this one is going!

I love it! Excellent job, Geoff.

Happy belated Decanting Day, Doctor! Sorry I didn't get you anything, but you can have my Scapple. Best wishes for the next 50.

Doc, I have started on my survivor settlement courier Dodge Dart, but I don't have anything ready to show just yet... Please don't set General EYEGORE on me!

Hi Ian. Fast recon is exactly what I am going for. I wanted a car that would be powerful enough to get out of a bad situation, but based on what was written by Ken and yourself, that might not be a problem with a Mini. I was thinking this would be a good start: Thanks for the input.

Interesting idea. I can probably get one cheap from Michael's with a coupon... Really? Hmmmm... (the gears are turning...) I have also thought about using my 68 Dodge Hemi Dart as a kind of courier, to quickly carry messages and information in a straight line from one survivor settlement to another...

I haven't seen a 40-50% off coupon in my Michael's emails in weeks. When I signed up in 3rd quarter of last year, there was one every single week.

So I already have my idea for a shiny retro-post-alien-robot-apocalypse-rebuilt-civilization hot-rod, but you guys have me thinking about a proper post-zombie-apocalypse survival vehicle. I want to do a scout car type of vehicle, and I have been thinking about what kind of criteria such a vehicle will need to fulfill. -Small -Fuel efficient, but still reasonably powerful and fast -Large fuel capacity -Good handling for evasive maneuvering -Reliable and *very* easy to maintain in the field (no computerized engine management) -Room for 2 people (driver and navigator/gunner) and supplies for a long trip I thought about a Morris Mini Cooper rally car, but I don't know how well front-wheel-drive would fit that environment, and it's probably not powerful enough. I thought about a Lotus Seven, but I'm not sure an open cabin is a good idea, and it's probably not suitable for a long term trip on damaged roads. Right now, I'm leaning towards a V-8 Gremlin, with some performance mods, an extra fuel tank inside the hatch, and some kind of small and light gun for last-ditch situations. Any thoughts?

My wife is very supportive of my hobbies, though it hasn't always been that way. I think she finally realized that working at my hobbies keeps me available when I'm needed for something. She was a modeler before we had kids, so she still shows an interest in what I do, gives constructive criticism, and is happy for me if I win any awards. On the flip side, I make sure to be very supportive of her current interests in writing and art. I don't need to hide my purchases from my wife, but that's because I always make sure my purchases won't cause problems with our finances.

I ordered from them once, with no problems. The only issue is that they take a long time from the time of your order until they ship - about a week in my case. It's a good option if you don't have any time constraints. I would order from them again.

I picked up a Dark Knight Bat-Pod from Moebius. It just might help pull me out of my slump.

Looking good, Doctor. I had forgotten I had some of those Bionicle claws, I might incorporate some of those into one of my builds.

Holla!

Barry, it's great to see you here. I always enjoyed your work when you posted it on Starship Modeler. I'm looking forward to seeing what you pull out for this Community Build.

There are also the "Armored Core Weapon Units" from Kotobukiya (http://www.1999.co.j...ore+weapon+unit). Again made for giant robot models, but the non-hand-held items could totally be re-purposed for vehicles. An example:

Hi Chris. I never read those books, but I do know some basics of the story. "World War" was probably bubbling up from my sub-conscious when I formulated my idea. I never said I was original, LOL. I'm just really into the dieselpunk aesthetic lately. Sometimes I need to come up with a backstory to make sure if my model ideas make any sense.

Thank you, Virgil. I just hope my builds can live up to the ideas running around my fevered mind. Your work has been a big inspiration.

Dang, seems like great minds think alike. I also want to do a post-alien-invasion theme for at least one of my builds. Some time after WWII ends, giant extraterrestrial robots invade the earth. Strangely enough, the invaders' technology is not very far ahead of the humans'. The nations of the earth that have been divided by the cold war learn to work together, and eventually prevail over the robot invaders after a long, drawn out war. After the robots are defeated, and the nations of the world start to rebuild, the hot rodders of the world get the idea to use pieces of the robots' armor to customize their rides. The main thing I am seeing is a 20's or 30's era car, rodded in a 50's style, with an art-deco style robot face as a radiator cowl. Everything else will build on from there.

Sweet! Now let's see if I actually manage to get something done this year.

Doctor Cranky - Another rule question. I have an idea for converting a car into hovering vehicle. Will that fit?

Doctor Cranky mentioned Bionicle earlier. The only thing I will say about my build so far, is that it was inspired by some Bionicle parts I picked up a few years ago (early 2000's), thinking I would use them for a sci-fi build. I pulled them out recently, and realized the designs at the time had a bit of an Art Deco feel to them, like 30's – 50's sci-fi art. Some of it fits into a dieselpunk aesthetic, which is a big thing for me lately. Other inspiration could come from the option parts made by Kotobukiya (http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/list/276/0/1) and Wave (http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/list/381/0/1). They are marketed for giant robot anime models, but there are ambiguous things like handles, hooks, hatches, spikes, drills, drop tanks...