DaveM

I used to use a small set of open shelves on my formica counter top with a 55 gallon fishtank set on top of the whole display upside down to seal it off. The only problem was getting a model in or out of the display. You had to lift almost 60 pounds of glass straight up a couple of feet, and then put it back the same way. I also wanted to use my snack bar for something else. Eventually, when my Hypancistrus started breeding, I needed the tank to raise the babies. Now, I am looking at some cheap bookshelves and putting plexiglass doors on the fronts with some weatherstripping. Most of my stuff is boxed up for now.

Remind her that models are now molded in China... Might work!

One trick I used with BMF was to mask to within about 1/8th inch from my masking line with regular hardware store blue tape. Then I laid down my foil and trimmed the edge right on the masking line. When it came time to remove the foil, I used the tape under it as a handle to pull it up, Practice on a scrap body, because it takes a bit of a touch to get it right.

Some great stuff in this thread. I had a lot of obscure albums in my day. Some incredible music that never made it to the big time. Somewhere in my early years as a Uriah Heep fan, I picked up 8 tracks of several former and future members old bands and solo projects. A couple of classics came out of these. My favorite of the old Heep related stuff was Ken Hensley's solo album "Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf" It seems to be listed song by song on Youtube, so here are two high points. Fortune, the album's Magnum Opus and strongest track (In my opinion) and "Rain" which became a hit for Uriah Heep. Interestingly enough, his backing band featured all of the members of Uriah Heep, so it was almost a Heep album, but it had quite a different feel.

I was in the Netherlands for a Month in 1977, and I remember the original version of Yes Sir I Can Boogie. I had the 45, (Brought back from Europe at age 12) and when we were rehearsing at my house a couple of years ago, my drummer was digging through decades worth of my old junk and found a stack of 45s in the piano bench. We played a few of them during a break ,and that one struck a chord with our band. We had two women in the band doing vocals, so it was only natural that we sounded it out and jammed it a few times. We played it once at a gig and got absolutely no response. I guess nobody in the U.S. had ever heard the song before, and certainly nobody in Free Soil Michigan. It was a bit out of character for us, as we were more of a classic rock band. We never played it again, but it was always a bit of a rolling joke for us. Whenever we botch something at a rehearsal or soundcheck, one of us will break the silence by singing a bar or two of the chorus quietly in the background. It had become our secret code word for "Crash and burn"

It's not just models. I never finish anyth

I'm sure it would take a lot of massaging, but a piece of evergreen could be used to make a hood that would work with the track nose from the Revell '29 Pickup... Not the most graceful track nose in history, but a starting point. It could be reshaped and sanded down quite a bit. I have built a couple of the pickup kits with stock grilles, so I have at least one of the track noses in the parts box. I will get it out when get one of these kits and see if can be done. If not, somebody with better freehand skills than I have will probably carve out one and cast it pretty soon. Those sure look nice. I might want to do a really narrow nose and stick a hopped up four banger under the hood,

Great paint job, Matt. How many coats did you end up using for that?

-26F here tonight. I don't dare open up the window and start the spray booth. no painting tonight on my Chevy project. I'll just have to stare at pictures of the gorgeous Caddy until I feel warmer... Ahhhhhhhh... It's working..... Nice colors and great paint. I love the looks of those, and yours hits the mark perfectly.

Sweet! That would look perfect stuck down on a square of Bare Metal Foil. (Clear decal paper of course)

Wow! just WOW! Never knew about the veneered dashes on these . I did know about the pedals, and a few years after one of our chats on PSAB I think it was, where you explained how to drive a T, I actually got to try one out. It was a "bucket list" event for me. I have crawled under a couple of later cars, a 1926, and a "Multi Year Mutt" that has 1923 and later parts. The earlier brass ones are a mystery to me. I am having a lot of fun watching this build and learning a lot of neat facts that will never help me in the "real world" I am watching this thread closely. This is going to be an awesome build. I may actually have to break down and buy one of these kits.

The Dickies were a California band well known for being too fast and loud, and kind of proud of it. The were the masters of the overkill cover. Here they are making Paranoid even moe frantic than Sabbath! And here is their take on Knights in White Satin Wildest of all is their high speed thrash punk pop version of Sound of Silence. No live video to this one, but you can imagine...

It's going down to 17 degrees below zero tonight... That's the actual temperature, wind chill should be around forty below. If I opened a window up to vent the paint booth tonight, I would never survive it. I guess I'll do a lot of shaping, snipping and scratchbuilding for the next couple of weeks. I'll try painting in March or sometime after.

It looks nice in that shot. I like it with the hood sides, and when you can't see the portholes in the top of the hood! The car itself is pretty nice, I just think a couple of the add ons disrupt the smooth lines of the car. I would love to see it with a normal hood, and maybe without the moon tank. The car has a really nice stance and great choice of rolling stock. I didn't like it at first, but I am starting to see the light on this one. It's a pretty well laid out ride. The chrome stuff on the top of the hood gets distracting though. I might take my Revell kit of this, and tinker with it a bit. Maybe move a few things around, change up the interior just a bit and make a top for it. If I switched hoods, and moved the tank, I might be able to come up with a pretty cool version of his ride that fits my own tastes a bit more. After all, that's what hot rodding is all about. Doing it your own way!

I have done that a few times over the years. My biggest ones were the AAR Cuda from a decade or two ago and the '67 Camaro, I also have a '70 'Cuda that will probably never get built. It's not incredibly bad, but I have so many kits that are a lot better. Also, back in the eighties, AMT had a few reissues with lots of sinkholes. (Maybe running the plastic a bit hot?) some of those are still on my shelves. I have lots to build in my stash, so I don't NEED any new kits. I am getting a bit fussier when buying. I used to rush out and buy the kit the day it hit the shelves. Now, I wait for a few reviews of it to find out how bad the problems are. This saved me from the Mustang, but not from the Camaro. I need to learn patience... But I will wait until after the Moebius pickups and the new '29 A are released before showing patience. My take on some of the older issues is that each build must be taken for what it is. I would not build a '62 Buick, expecting to do a full detail of it without a lot of extra work, but it makes a great shelf model with a bit of cleanup and some paint and foil work. I will even tack the hood shut on some of my shelf builds, or put them on an opaque base so that the molded in chassis details won't bother me. As long as the body has that look to it when finished, I'm pretty happy with the model. Most of my models, I detail a little bit beyond box stock. I always have one "Stretch" project where I am pushing my skills a bit to make myself a better builder. Sometimes it's taking a really nice kit and putting it over the top and other times it's taking an older kit and making it passable. A kit has to have major issues with the body or external parts to end up back in the box forever...

I am looking at the 914 too. The engines will beef up a couple of my dune buggy and bus projects, and one will be built stock. I really want to build one up as a rusted out orange one that three of us (yes, three!) drove out from Port Huron MI to Chicago, and back through Wisconsin and the U.P. It was quite an interesting trip.

Monogram?

Would that be the car that drives my Pappy to drinkin'? Only 3 cars the whole quarter, and one of them is a Tom Daniels novelty kit, but what a hit that A will be if they get it right. I can already see the casters adapting coupe, sedan and many other bodies to this one! I thought I was done spending om new kits this year, (except for the Ford trucks, Del Rio, and a couple of kits to finish my "Shelf of Chevy" project. If the "A" is well done, I can see myself buying a half dozen or more. (Just look at how many '32s and tri fives I have bought the last few years!) Hopefully they will get this one right, and offer several variations of it over the next few years. It looks like we have a couple of wheel choices, and some traditional tires. OOB, I'm guessing that this one could be built as a traditional rod or ratted pretty easily, giving them a twofer on marketing demographics. Of course, if the nailhead is really nice, I will snag it and put one into a '32 Sedan I have dreamed up, and the "A" that loses its motor will end up with a 409 and some '60s mags... I love the possibilities for this. We have some great '32 kits, but the "A" is one of the backbones of hot rodding. This could be a watershed kit for Revell, like the '66 Nova was for AMT. When is this kit being released? I want to be first in line for them!

Those older Revells can be quite a trick to build. That is a great job, and a really nice looking model. You show a few basic details, plus a lot of patience and great building and painting skills can really wake up a model. I have the original Moving Violation version from the '70s minus a rear fender (Probably lost when the kit was first opened.) I am thinking of grabbing this one just for the decals after seeing your build. Those front fenders look like they were a beast to fit the decals onto. Again, great looking build of a tough old kit.

I may be in the minority, here, but the one that really caught my eye was the '36 Ford. That thing is SWEEEEEET! Great color choice, and the car just has the right look. I also love the Riv, and the '40s, and the Elky looks nice, but that '36 is just too cool. If I may ask, what color is the '36 Ford? Great fleet of models.

I'm in on the redlines! The only problem with all of these tire packs is that I have run out of wheels, wheelbacks and the like. I am about to send a huge order in to Modelhaus, and I have ordered from the 'bay a few times. Round 2 should think about releasing some wheels for these puppies. There are some pretty nice ones in the archives. We could use a couple of types of steel wheels, come chrome reverse, and a few mags. (The '66 Nova and '62 Bel Air kits had some nice ones IIRC. I bet a "best of" wheel set with 3 or four sets of wheels for a reasonable price would sell well. They could even do some backing plates, brake simulators and some old style wheels with finned Buick drums for the fronts. Even new tools wouldn't be that hard. Wheels are an easier shape than most things, and you only need to make one from the ground up. The others in the set are just copies, or in the case of fronts and rears, just minor modifications. Just a random thought, but I would buy a pack or two of pretty much anything they came out with.

I used to use one of those "third hand" things with a couple of arms with articulated alligator clips and a magnifying glass to hold engines for wiring. Now, I have used a fly tying vise. If the engine has a transmission, I use a piece of wire with an alligator clip soldered to the end of it. (Pad the jaws so it doesn't mar the paint or surface. Without a transmission, I just stick a straightpiece of wire into the hole in the end of the block. A bit of plastic clay, or double sided tape keeps things snug against the jaws of the vise. A rotary vise is best for this. I tied flies for years, so I had the vise, but if you find a used one on the cheap, it makes a great tool for holding things steady at the bench.

Two covers for the price of one. Blue Swede doing a medley of "Hush" by Deep Purple, and "I'm Alive" by Tommy James and the Shondells. and a foreign language cover of "White Punks on Dope" by the Tubes. Different lyrics to the same tune by the Nina Hagen Band. If nothing else, check out her earrings... Oh! Those wild and wacky early eighties!

Original "Hound Dog" The version we all know

Best wishes. I understand what you are going through. I ran an aftermarket company making parts and kits for free flight aircraft, and I had a serious medical situation. (Not cancer, but the word "Terminal" was used by several Doctors) My health, family and survival became much more important than vac formed canopies, pre formed landing gear wires, printed tissue and resin and photo etched bits. I didn't have the support people you have in the hobby, but my family was able to help me send back hundreds of checks and fill the last orders I had parts for. I was several months late, but the F.A.C. types are a small, close knit community, and they all knew I was ill. Even though some of them had to wait 6 months for their parts or refunds, they were all happy to finally see me back at the flying field. I did go to a couple of big events after that, but just to fly. I never kitted anything again. ("ReKitted" a couple, but that's just a euphemism for crashing!) Whatever decisions you make with SMBC, the decisions you make with your Doctors and Family are much more important. We will all be pulling for you, and support you in this struggle. Stay strong, persevere and enjoy the heck out of each and every day. We have faith that you will come through this with flying colors and end up stronger than ever. Good Luck, and hang in there! Dave