Harry P.

Loks like a lot of you guys are posting up your year's worth of output... so I guess I'll do it too! In 2014 I built 12.

That almost looks like gold and "butterscotch" instead of two shades of gold.

1/16.

The chrome is about as flawless as you'll see in a kit, but some of it had been scuffed on the high spots of the bumpers and gravel shields. Those parts were the high spots on the chrome tree... and over the years of sliding around in the box, even though the chrome was bagged, those high spots are a little dull.

A few more...

WIP here if you're interested.

Right. And why is there no such setup here in the states? Because of the cost to create one! Once again... it's cheaper to do it in China than to do it here. There is no reason why a "one stop shop" like the one Dave describes in China can't exist here. The Chinese don't know any secrets that we don't know. In fact, much of what they know regarding high tech and such they got from us! If they can set up an operation like that, we can. But it would cost a fortune to do it here. So they don't do it here... they do it in China. And I don't mean Moebius specifically, I mean all those "American" companies that actually make their products overseas.

They don't open.

A 15% pay raise is a hefty pay raise, percentage-wise. But when you're making a dollar an hour, that "hefty" pay raise equates to 15 cents. You can cite all the statistics you want. The bottom line is what counts. Why would a company send its manufacturing all the way to China, then pay to have the product shipped back here so it can be sold? Because the Chinese can manufacture the product better than the Americans can? No. Because the Chinese have some sort of technical edge? No. Because the Chinese are more productive than American workers? No. The bottom line is, American companies send their manufacturing to China because it costs them less that way than to manufacture their product here. You can cite the rise in Chinese labor rates, or the exchange rate of Chinese currency vs. the dollar, or the cost of a container ship trip from China to the US all you want, but the fact is there's only one parameter that matters: The bottom line. How much is it going to cost us to manufacture our product and get it on the store shelves? What is the unit cost? After all the costs are added up, if it's significantly cheaper to have your manufacturing done in China than in the US, then that's what you'll do! That's it. That's the bottom line. And that's why US companies are outsourcing their manufacturing. Because it's cheaper for them to do so! And like I said earlier, if Chinese wages rise to the point where it's no longer economically advantageous for American companies to do their manufacturing in China, then they'll go elsewhere. Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia... wherever. Wherever the cost to manufacture their product is the lowest.

From HuffPost Business: Average hourly wage for a factory worker: US: $23.32 China: $1.26 Average workday: US: 8.6 hours China: 12 hours Chinese wages may be rising at 10-15% a year, but 10% of a buck is a dime. It's all relative.

Fleetwood Mac, Go Your Own Way.

The bottom line is simple. Pay for a factory full of workers making $25/hr plus benefits and insurance and paid vacations and retirement plans, or pay for a factory full of workers making a buck an hour. All of the competence and getting things done fast and done right aren't going to overcome those numbers. And that's exactly why everything we buy today (well, the vast majority) is made in China. Numbers are numbers. And when the Chinese labor costs begin to creep up too high, we'll find the next "China."

Things may be changing, but as of now you're not going to find it more cost effective to produce a product here than in China. How do you propose we convince American workers to work for Chinese wages? What company that makes toasters in China at a unit cost of two bucks is going to bring that manufacturing here and make the same toaster at a unit cost of ten bucks? Or more?

When you look at American labor costs vs. Chinese labor costs, is it really any mystery why so many American companies are actually making their product overseas? Hmmmm... pay American factory workers union wages and benefits, or pay Chinese workers a buck an hour (if that) to manufacture the same thing? It's the simplest way to dramatically slash production costs. I'm not saying it's a good thing or a bad thing. I'm just saying any bean counter worth his beans will come to the same conclusion. Like I said, it's not a question of capability. It's a question of cost.

Thanks, professor music.

Since I wasn't alive in the 1930s, I can only go by the photos I find. But I've seen plenty of antiques made of bakelite. It's shiny. A bakelite phone...

That's exactly the problem. People are griping about $25-30 kits as it is. So who among the "model buying public" is going to part with $70 for an "accurate" kit? Some. But not many. Certainly not most. Which brings us back to the point where today's model kit manufacturers have to manufacture an accurate kit at a cheap price. Not that easy to do, given today's economic realities. So cost cutting rears its ugly head. No way around it.

I'm one of those "sophisticated music lovers" you sarcastically refer to. And yeah, I know Bobby Keys and Ian McLagen recently died. Too bad you couldn't have mentioned them without taking a wise guy swipe at all the rest of us here.

All the best to your wife (and you).

John Mellencamp, Rain on the Scarecrow.

Models are manufactured in China because Chinese labor costs are a fraction of US labor costs. It all boils down to "where can we manufacture these kits for the least possible cost?" No way anybody is going to pay American wages when they can pay Chinese wages. That's just a fact in this global economy. It has nothing to do with who can do the job best... it's all about who can do the job cheapest, and with the current situation regarding model car building, model kit companies have to look to cut costs in every way possible. If that means sending manufacturing to China to save some $$$, then that's what's going to happen.

Getting close now. Need to add the trunk lid, the gravel shields on the rear fenders... and the hood. And that's about it! Next time you see this one it'll be "Under Glass." I googled "1933 license plates" and picked this one (Washington state) because I liked it! Sized in PS and printed out, trimmed, and glued in place. Check out that rear end styling. I can see this car painted all black and making an excellent 1930's-era Batmobile!

All the reference photos I have show the wheel to be a shiny black. And I know the wipers are wrong. There isn't a left and right in the kit, they're both identical, so I had to install them the way I did and not in the correct way. But hey... it's only a model. I'm not necessarily trying to make a 100% accurate replica of the real car (obviously!)... I don't like the real car's paint scheme, for one, so I'm painting mine the way I want it to be... Ok, I have to admit the wipers are bugging me now... Gonna have to fix them.

The steering wheel has the three wheel-mounted hand controls molded in place, but they are too small and almost invisible. I just drilled them out and replaced them with three sewing pins, then painted the black plastic wheel with Future to give it a shine.