Psychographic

Thanks Bob. The problems are my own fault, I knew sooner or later just winging a build rather than planning it all out would bite me you know where. I think the idea of trying to finish it up in a little over a week has me a bit stressed too.

I really like the idea of the 53 Vette nose, it's got the perfect shape for the front of the pickup body. As for the engine, I vote to put that six banger in there, small blocks are a dime a dozen and way too common.

Ryan, You are quite a talented builder, your paint job came out great. This is a pretty hard model to build and you are doing a fantastic job on it. I look forward to watching it progress and to see it finished. Are you enjoying building it, and better yet, spending time with your dad? One more question, do you plan to build more models? If so, what do you think will be your next project? Michael, Great job on bonding with your son, I wish when I was a kid that my father showed any interest in my hobbies or interests. The pic of the body mocked up on the chassis, is that before or after the yellow pearl was added?

I have never struggled so hard to build a model in my whole life. Poor planning and shelving this build is really kicking my butt! I'm working on the plumbing and linkages. I've got the trans cooler done, I made a master cylinder and the brakes are almost done, the fuel lines are started and that should just leave the shift linkage. I have a steering box ready, but it can't go on until the interior is mounted to the chassis. The turbo covers and grille/headlight buckets are painted. She's getting closer to the finish line. Hopefully, with a little luck, my NNL East deadline will be met.

There's a lot of talk of Malcolm Young suffering a recent stroke which has given him a blood clot in or near the brain. I've read quite a few stories about it in the last two days. Mostly the news doesn't sound good. The talk is the band might call it quits. Good luck and get well Malcolm.

The pic of him in the red shirt shows a proud builder and rightfully so, that rolling chassis looks fantastic! I can't wait to see how he tackles the rest of this build.

I think it's an optical illusion due to the two different angles you are seeing the taillights in the picture. IMO, 50'-60's-70's sheet metal does not work on late model bodies, the styline between the two just don't mesh. I do think using some new sheet metal such as a roofline can work on older bodies. This is another one that makes me want to say, "Why?"

Plan ahead! This bit of advise has obviously been lost on me during this build. I started plumbing the airline for the bags, what a pain that was for a detail that is almost unnoticeable. I decided to make them look like they run through the frame, the back ones weren't bad, but the front one sucked to do. Bending them into shape with the front suspension arms in place was an exercise in frustration. The front lines are too hard to get a pic of, here's the back lines. I also made an airpump and tank, and got them mounted. I can't plumb these until the interior tub is permanently mounted to the frame. I also made a battery box.

If you're into Nascar racing, why not make some phantom cars using bodies that weren't used in the cup series.

Do my eyes deceive me or did you build something with wheels and tires? As usual, you created something wild. Another great creation Ira. As said above, the display really kicks it up a notch.

Which is the entire point of the second half of my post.

When I got back into this hobby a couple of years ago, I was a little shocked with what it took to build my first model in ages. Of course I had no tools other than painting supplies. It also didn't help that the model I chose to build consisted of a resin Corvair body, two parts pack SBCs, a donor kit for the some parts, aftermarket rear tires, braided lines, a bit of resin parts, styrene sheets and shapes, and I'm sure plenty of other things I can't think of. The shipping costs were one of the major problems, many of the parts I ordered where single items from one vendor, so it didn't take long for an extra $100 to be added to the cost. I had just got out of the hobby of keeping a reef aquarium, the cost of live corals was going through the roof and as work was slow, I needed to get out or go broke. I did complain about the cost of modeling and wondered if I traded one money pit for another. As i started to accumulate an inventory, things got much easier on the wallet. I then started looking for models at flea markets and this is where I was able to get some collections for a fraction of what it would cost on ebay or the LHS. I'm guessing an average build for me is around $60-$100, depending on what I'm building. The fastest I've been able to build a model is my latest at 2 months. I can't think of anything that would keep me occupied for that amount of time, for that little amount of money. If I smoked cigarettes, that money would last a week, if I was a drinker, that money would last two nights in a bar. So IMO, there is a lot of value in these little boxes of plastic.

As this is in his description, "This is the plastic glass for the car I have for sale on ebay. Please do not bid on this Item." I'm guessing he forgot the decimal point when typing in the price.

That's pretty cool. I had to check this thread as my mother told me my grandfather had a Caddy wrecker before the depression hit.

Steven, I thin it with lacquer thinner, the exact amount I couldn't tell you, but it's somewhere between 1:1 to 1:2. As I've been airbrushing since I was a kid, reducing is somewhat second nature to me. I put paint in the cup or jar and then just add the thinner or reducer, if it sprays a little dry, I simply add more solvent. Each airbrush is different, different air pressures, and different spray techniques all make a difference i how much you thin the NP or any paint. I spray a test pattern every time and is something I strongly suggest everyone do before spraying your body or parts. As nail polish is designed to be brushed on in two coats, it's going to be very transparent when sprayed. For light colors, I try to use a base color under it of the same color. If I'm spraying an orange pearl, I would try to spray an orange base. This way your keeping the paint as thin as possible. For medium to dark colors a black base will usually work, the keyword being usually. I clear all of my work with urethane.

The interior tub is done. The gauges are white, because the glue I used to make the lenses hasn't dried yet. it will dry clear to reveal the painted faces.

Yes the lights were on the wing of the van. The Cuckoo nest van has a different wing than the ad you've shown. And yes they were tacky. I thought you were trying to do a recreation of these trucks you pictured, so I thought I would give you a detail you can't see in the photo. The lights might have been a little smaller, but I'm going to say between 2 and 3".

Some gorgeous short track cars. You guys should be very proud of your work.

What a beautiful old sedan. I just love the look of it, and it's a very clean build. You should be very proud of it. Have you built any other short track sedans or coupes?

http://www.micronitro.net/Dragster%20wheels.html

The cover didn't come out too bad. I might add a strip of half round to the front and back edges of it to clean it up a bit. The clear cover by itself. And in place. After a little polishing, it just about disappears.

I OK more proof that I am indeed an idiot! I don't know why I read that wrong, but yes you did say that. I'll just go to my room now.

Cool project Casey. I 'm looking forward to seeing progress on this. The Avanti LSR is sweet and I sure look forward to seeing where that project is heading also.

Sorry for the stall on this project, life keeps getting in the way (elderly parents with health issues). When this happens, projects get put back in the box and usually the only thing that inspires me to get back to building is a new project. I recently looked at all my started builds and decided I want to try to finish as many as I can before starting anything new. Hopefully I will be back on this one soon, but I can't promise anything. Thanks for all the positive comments.

More great tips, thanks guys. As for resistance soldering, the idea looks very cool, but I doubt if you'll see me spending that much money for a soldering device.