DaveM

I usually attach the car to the bottom of the box, or to a base that is affixed to the bottom of a box. I run some coated wire over the axle and the front suspension, drop it through holes in the base, and twist it together. (Just like the display case instructions used to show!) That ensures that I don't have unwanted rattling and shifting within the padding. I also carry a repair kit, although, if I break something, I usually just pack the model back up and fix it at home. I tried doing a small fix to a mudflap at the Hot Rod Model Car Nationals down at Indy one year, and I was in a hurry. Long story short... I pretty much damaged a paint job beyond repair. My mirrors and other little bits are pinned on my show models. I make them removable, just using a friction fit. That makes transport easy, as I carry the mirrors and antennae in a separate container and stick them on at the show. (I use .013 wire from a "B" string for all of my mounts) The only problems I have had with this system were my fault. I got to a show in Chicago back in the '90s and realized that my box of mirrors and small parts was still on the kitchen table in Michigan! There was also a judge at one show who saw me fitting all of my mirrors onto my models this way. At the end of the day, when I went to pick up my models, they were all wearing the wrong mirrors! The Orange Corvette mirrors were on the Green Torino, and some of the cars had a different mirror on each side! My custom Merc had mirrors installed where the curb feelers should have been, curb feelers where the spotlights mounted, a spotlight where the antenna should have been and antenna where the mirror should have been. It looked like George Barris meets Mad Max meets Back to the Future! The judge tried to convince me that I had assembled the cars like that because I hadn't had my morning cup of coffee, but I don't think I did... I can't be too mean because that judge is on this site! (It's the same judge who drove his Wife's brand new car to a show and didn't notice the free bumper sticker we gave him until she came home from work the next day... !) (The bumper sticker that read, "Retired Hooter's Girl") Seriously, though, the pinned parts, which are carried separately are far less prone to damage than glued on bits which can take off a bit of paint when they get broken, or scratch the model when they rub against it) It is also so much easier to pack when I don't have to work around mirrors, etc.

That red one needs to be 24 times larger and in my driveway! Those look fantastic. Even if you have shown them before, they are worth the fresh pictures and the repost. Very nice looking models.

I have been a member of Flying Aces Club several times over the last 25 or so years. Waiting a while longer for MCM is NOTHING compared to what used to happen with that magazine. But, like MCM, it was soooo worth it when it arrived. I just got another issue of FAC today, as a matter of fact! That's why I haven't been on the 'net much today. MCM does have great stuff, and it does seem to arrive the right number of times each year. Maybe, they should just swap out some of the dates on the cover to reflect when they are actually publishing. I don't get too hung up about it. I'm just glad to see the new issue when it comes out. I hope Gregg can keep this thing going, because it's a pretty special magazine.

Excellent! I usually ending up storing Xacto knives in the top of my foot. (Okay, only once, but I sure didn't want to repeat it.) I store them in a small pencil tray, and I try to keep some type of roll stopper on them. I might have to try your rack design.

With the dark tinted green glass, I'm thinking the last release would make a great custom cruiser. Picture it cleaned up a bit (no woodgrain) hunkered down a bit over some 15 or 16 inch rims with some decent rubber (Not rubberbands) and either black, or a very dark blue with the chrome really shining. I'm thinking of the kind of car that looks best at night. I've been looking at it lately. Might be a fun, quick build. I won't do until until I am sure I have a couple of the new ones, though.

When I am looking for new kits, I usually go to Models, Automotive; and use the following search (Sealed, MIB, NIB, FS, MISB) That gets most of the terms, but I still have to wade through dozens of parts and other items. I am starting to move from eBay to other sources because it is too much of a hassle to sort through all of the off topic listings in models anymore. They have a separate category for parts, but nobody uses it. It would help greatly if they would make a category for kits, I do a similar search for built ups, (Built, painted, junker) I still have to wade through a lot of stuff. If I am looking for a certain model, I just type in the year and model as mentioned by the above posters.

Revell had better hope that Chip Foose is the next Ed Roth/Tom Daniels! As was pointed out, these two kits will be done from the ground up as customs, and will be a one shot deal for most modelers. They can be built one way, as one specific car. Most people won't even build another one in a different color, the way we do with stock models, or street machines. I'm sure Revell has done their research, and knows they can sell enough of these kits to cover their costs. The molds won't have a lot of life, and won't be in the perpetual rotating lineup. Once one of these has been done, there won't be a super stock version, a convertible version, a lowrider version or anything like that. Since most individual modelers will be buying a single kit, or at the most a second one to collect a sealed box, they will need to rely upon a larger customer base. This is where the popularity of Foose needs to translate into sales. It's an interesting move by Revell, especially in a market where the most common excuse for not doing a kit is, "We can't make enough versions of that kit to make it profitable." I hope this pays off for Revell. I also hope they do well at engineering the kits. There is probably more documentation on some of these Foose customs than there is on some of the older production cars they have tooled lately. Any mistake in proportion or detail is going to be pretty obvious! I don't think we have had specific tools made for individual custom cars since the Boyd's Aluma Coupe and some of the Boyd cars by Testors. Before that, I think the last time Revell made a new tool of a custom car was probably either Matt and Debbie Hay's Thunderbird or the Dobbertin J-2000. The T-bird was just reissued this Spring, and the Pontiac has not been redone in 27 years. Revell needs to have great sales on the very first run of these kits, as most of these customs have a pretty limited shelf life before going out of style too. The Rat Roaster has shown them how much of a market there is for contemporary rods and customs, but the kit was somewhat of a modification of an existing kit. It was not a perfect Rat Roaster, and a lot of people bought it to build other variations of '32 roadsters. (I bought three, and I haven't built a Rat Roaster yet) It's an interesting choice of subjects, and I will be really curious to see which of the cars get voted in.

Well, Fred was a bit out of scale too IIRC. (Not that I am exactly dainty, myself)

Looks fantastic! I have been thinking of picking up this resin for my "Shelf of Chevy" project. Sounds like it is a bit beastly. I built a '51 convertible for the Annual 24 hour build a couple of years ago, and I ran into lots of fit problems. The key to a successful 24 hour build is not having to re engineer the whole kit at 5:30 a.m. Needless to say, I now choose more modern kits with better fit for 24 hour subjects! I like the old kits, when I have the time to sort out all of the little fiddly bits. I really like the Chevy Fleetlines from this era, so I am going to deal with this family of kits again, soon. You have really made a nice model of a tough kit, topped off by what sounds like a tough resin. I hope my Fleetline looks half this good! If I get the resin to build a '52, what do I need to look out for.?

Way too much money invested to cancel it at this stage. It's going to happen.

Must be you can afFORD it!

Do the NASCAR Fusions have blacked out windows? Hollow cars, or do they have some form of interior? I am also glad to see the Olds back. I am still hoping that we get one with a roof someday, but this one is nice to see too. I have the Revell Muscle version. I wonder how much the resin figure is going to jack it up? I will get one for sure, two if they're reasonable. I might be in for a Speedwagon as I can always use more '32s

That looks fantastic. The stance and wheels are much better than before. Nice work. I am a Comet fan, and this one is bright, yellow and nice!

I just saw a retail site listing the AMT 1923 Model T Delivery as due in late August. It will be fun to have this one back. Hopefully, Round 2 is having some success with their "T"s and will be able to bring back the '23 roadster too. I have not had this kit before, even though it's not that rare, so it will be like opening a new release for me!

Back in the late Eighties, you couldn't throw a brick at a street rod event without hitting a car with "Posies" style paint. Everybody had two tone paint jobs separated by the car's belt line, or a similar trim line. Over the years it evolved a bit, from straight two color jobs, to cars with a stripe at the color break, or graphics, flames or tribal markings worked into the color line, but the basic character of having the lower body one color and the roof, hood and trunk lid another, remained. Now, you don't see as many of these paint jobs. They were a little bit overdone back then, and probably tend to look a bit dated today because of it. They were used on early rods, fat fendered rods and even newer cars from the '50s and '60s. I thought it would be fun to collect a few pictures of cars with these paint jobs, both scale models, and full size cars. My reason is that I have some great paint colors left over from various projects, but not quite enough to do full cars. Some of these colors might end up on a street rod as the top color of a 2 tone. My other reason is that I'm old, cantankerous, and I remember most of the cars looking like that when I was young and happy. Here are some I found while searching for inspiration. (You have to word your search carefully lest you end up with a bunch of watercolors of flowers) The only model I ever painted this way was a Revell Volkswagen Cabriolet. I will have to dig it out and finish it someday, as it has been in a box for twenty years.

I had several Fox body Mustangs back in the day. I drove with the seat reclined and I was okay. I can't even fit in the current Camaro no matter how much I squish and scrunch. Even with the seat all the way back and reclined, my knees are into the dash and I am kissing the roof. They get heavier and heavier, but the insides get smaller and smaller! The new Mustangs aren't much better. I got to ride in one a few weeks ago, and I was glad to get out. I guess I will keep driving minivans, as I can at least sit up straight in them. I should have been better at basketball so I could afford Rolls Royces. I got all the height, but none of the coordination.

It's not the bathroom scale that scares me. It's the one in the Doctor's office!

Oh Man! Revell put the tooling through the wash on the wrong setting! (I think you're supposed to dry steel tooling on the permanent press setting, right)

Spectacular! One of the best photographs I have seen of a model. I scrolled down looking for the model the first time I looked. Great work! And '67 Chargers are among my favorite cars, so that makes it look even better! The interior is incredible. Great work. Now I have to go and wipe the drool off of my computer!

I love looking at these. I have several of the kits and I am always fascinated to see the actual models the boxes were based upon. It's great to see how many changes they airbrush in, and the tricks they use to make them so sharp on the boxes. The Deora is really neat with the contrasting treads. The one car I am really starting to wonder about is the Tim Richmond Monte Carlo. The Folgers car sure was retouched! Color of the numbers went from gold to white. Decals were added. Even the alignment of the decals changes. (The yellow decal between "Holley" and "Champion" looks to move a lot closer to the tire, and the A.R.P. decal seems to move forward) With the aforementioned change of the chassis color, I wonder if there weren't multiple models used for that box art. Now, with photoshop, it would be easy to retouch and realign the decals and the like, but back in the '80s, it would have been a heck of a job. I remember doing a few promotions right around 1990 for a few short track cars. When they took the photographs of the cars, they had us leave off some of the stickers, since we needed artwork with a couple of different sponsors for the East and West races. I think the adjustment to the artwork ended up costing more than the extra money we made by splitting the sponsorships! Really neat collection of box art models. Thanks for sharing them with us. (I love the panel truck too. Great colors!)

You can wrap wire around a piece of tubing, or a nail to make the springs. It won't support weight and work like a spring, but I always got my ride height set and glued things into place, so that the spring is just for show.

Thanks! I will keep my eyes open this time! I will be ordering some wheels too.

Actually, I have a couple Oldsmobile 455s here. Whatever I build next is going to need stronger front springs... (But it will be different!)

I was sleepin' at the wheel! It looks like the motors are all gone. Will you be putting more on the bay in the future, or is it a one shot deal?