Harry P.

Can anyone post photos? I can hardly believe that realistic bicycle chain can be made in 1/25 scale. Amazing.

BTW... thanks to my buddy Skip for supplying the photos of the gun set. First step was to size the photo of the open case in Photoshop so that the barrels were exactly 30" long (per the online description of them) in 1/8 scale, which works out to 3.75" in "real life." Once I had the photo scaled correctly I printed it, and cut out the guns with my X-acto and taped the barrels in place. Once I had my two 1/8 scale gun cutouts, I laid out the gun case on paper, then transferred the layout to the inside of my tailgate. The various walls and partitions were then made of basswood strips and glued into place on the inside of the tailgate... More to come...

But that model is a 1937 Phantom, while this one is a 1934... so things are slightly different. There's just no room back there due to the shape of the gas tank to do here what I did on my 1/16 woody... so I'm going another way. I'm going to have a fitted case mounted to the inside of the tailgate. Here is a photo of the guns I will be scratchbuilding... period English double-barrel shotguns, perfect for pheasant hunting... And here is a shot of the interior of the case. You can see how the guns fit with barrels removed... Since the tailgate obviously runs the full width of the car (instead of being only the middle portion, like my 1/16 scale woody), I can build a gun case that will hold the guns with barrels attached instead of the guns broken down.

Before I get started on the doors on the other side, i think I'll take a break from door making and get into gunsmithing, 1/8 scale style. If you remember, on my 1/16 "practice woody" I scratchbuilt a set of hunting rifles that fit into a compartment below the floor and between the rear fenders...

Hi, Hugh... thanks for your interest. I'm using CA ("super glue") on all the woodwork. I could use white glue, but i like the fact that the CA sets up real fast. Waiting for white glue to dry would definitely slow me down! No, the doors aren't fragile at all once all the pieces are in place. They are actually surprisingly sturdy, and once the inner panels are glued into place, they should be pretty bullet-proof. The curved pieces that fit over the fenders were bent by placing the wood strips into boiling water on the stove top for about 2-4 minutes or so. Once the wood was good and soft and flexible, I clamped the pieces onto the fenders with alligator clamps and left them to dry. Once the wood dries, it holds its shape.

For someone who's out of practice, you did pretty good!

http://www.gattoplans.com/store/index.htm

Cool model of the best Batmobile ever.

Hmmm... youngest listed today that I see is 28. Why do our numbers not match?

But that's a new kit, right? Not a reissue of the old one?

Beautiful model! Nice engine detail, and I love the color scheme.

"Lesson two; nothing new. I can't love, just passing through. The books I read–don't understand What it means to be a man"...

"I want you to love me. That's all I want from you. I want you to love me one day"...

Scatchbuild all of those hood louvers? No thanks.

Interesting. That's a lot of manufacturers supplying product for what has evolved into a niche market.

Suicide watch. Hilarious... Nice models, Al.

I took a lot of photo classes in college... learned how to process my own color film (it's quite a long, complex process). But I have to say that digital is soooooo much better. I haven't run out of film in years!

The smallest one looks even smaller than HO. Keychain ornament?

I thought Kodak went out of business years ago. So who is still making 35mm film?

I thought of Charlie Larkin when I saw this (I know he's a diehard film photographer)... One of the local supermarkets I shop at used to have a dedicated Photo Counter area with its own separate checkout, apart from the rest of the store (I'm talking about Jewel-Osco for you midwestern guys). You know, you would take your exposed film, put it into one of the envelopes, drop it in the slot, and a day or two later you picked up your prints. Recently they had also added services like putting your old photos onto CDs, etc. So the other day I go to the store and it's gone. Bam. All gone. No more "Photo Counter." I guess that's "progress," as almost everyone today except Charlie shoots their photos using a digital camera or phone. But still, it was sort of a jolt to see the whole thing just gone. Just like that. It reminded me of when I was a little kid and my parents would take their film to the photo store to get processed. Remember "Photo-mat?" Time marches on...

Wow... that's a whole lot of engine for such a tiny car!

Hmmm... for some reason I pictured you as much taller. But hey... nice to see that you enjoy your work!

Wow! That is so cool! But it does take talent to get realistic results like you get. Thanks for the tutorial. I am going to have to try this some time. The results are really amazing.

Who cares? You're dead! It's not like you'll be taking attendance...

I got 43.4...