Harry P.

Like I said, there are no staff writers employed by MCM (unlike some other magazines). Everything we run is contributed on a free-lance basis. I assume you mean Tim Ahlborn? Not sure who the "Bob" you refer to is, but my point is not that we don't get articles submitted by good people, my point is that we don't have writers on staff.

Not to mention the jagged edges around the wheels!

Remember-don't post answers or hints here. PM me with specific year, make and model! The answer: 1965 Apollo 5000 GY

For the small square Testors bottles, pliers on the cap, adjustable wrench on the bottle. No stuck cap can resist the force. For round bottles, run the cap under hot water for 30 seconds. Metal expands faster than glass, the cap will come right off.

More people in the US today, but far fewer people in the model car hobby than there were in the "good old days" when a single model could sell a million units. These days, a kit that sells 50,000 is a huge success.

A step-by-step "how I did it" is preferred.

I think the original question here dealt with buying and reselling model kits for a profit, not whether you build models for a fee. It seems to me that buying a kit (or more) and then reselling the kit to make a buck or two is sort of a "sideline" to the hobby... like some said, a way of generating some $$$ that you then put back into buying kits that you intend to build, or buying supplies, etc. Building models for a fee, for a client, is a whole nother thing. To me, that's not a hobby, that's a job. Once you start building models to meet a customer's demands, the "hobby" aspect is gone and you've entered into a business transaction. Not that there's anything wrong with building models for clients... it's just not a hobby anymore, IMO. Of course, there are shades of gray here. I suppose a lot of people build sometimes for themselves, sometimes for customers. Some people don't build models at all, but buy and sell kits purely as a profit-making deal. They're not builders, they're resellers. Myself, I have never sold a kit or a built model, and don't think I ever would. It's just not how the hobby works for me.

That has to do with "atmospheric perspective." When you look at a large object like a battleship, in order to see it completely within your field of vision, you have to be back away from it quite a way. And the further away from an object you are, the lighter or paler it appears because of the air (and the impurities in the air) between you and the object you're looking at. So scale ship builders compensate for that effect by using slightly lighter shades of color, in order to trick your mind into seeing the model as the real object would appear to your eyes. With model cars, that effect really doesn't come into play. You only have to be 10 feet or so away from a full scale car to see it all from front to back. Atmospheric perspective really doesn't apply with model cars.

As far as getting your models featured in the magazine (I mean Model Cars magazine, not the "other" one)... all you have to do is submit something! That's how we get 90% of our material-from you guys! We don't have "staff writers" or contributors on staff. We rely on contributions and submissions from you guys out there! Remember... we're the magazine about model car building... by model car builders! That's not just a hokey slogan, it's the truth!

The military guys get better, more accurate kits because they demand them and are willing to pay for them! Military modeling is very much an adult hobby, and the point for most military modelers is total accuracy, not "creativity" or customizing. And they are willing to pay the cost for kits that are accurate. On the other hand, a large chunk of model car builders are kids. They don't care about scale accuracy, all they want is a cool model of a Camaro or a Mustang or a Corvette or whatever. If the roofline contour is off, they don't notice it, nor would they care. And then there's the point that model car builders, on the whole, are notoriously cheap. So the model car kit manufacturers have a customer base that consists in large part of kids who don't give a you-know-what about scale accuracy, and adult builders who think the kits are already too expensive, so they produce kits accordingly. They try to keep them inexpensive, and they cut corners when it comes to absolute accuracy or scale fidelity because they know they can. That small group of adults who take model car building as seriously as the military guys do is a fairly small group as far as the overall customer base for car kits. Apparently they just aren't a large enough slice of the pie to matter that much to the manufacturers, because if they did, we would be seeing much more accurate, detailed kits selling for twice or three times the price they sell for now. That would please the hard-core fanatics, but the rest of the kit buying public (which is most of the kit buying public) wouldn't be too thrilled with kits that sell for $40-50-60 or more.

In the past I've gone to either the Schaumburg or Elgin DMV. Both are a mess. Lines literally out the door.

You don't have to. According to the letter, if you wish to update your photo, you have to visit the DMV. Apparently you are not required to update your photo.

Wow, that's a long time between renewals. We get 4 years in Illinois.

I guess that's the point of the program... since I have no moving violations since my last renewal, I've already shown that I can drive safely. At least that's how I understand it. Hey, bottom line, NO DMV!

Bang, zoom...To the moon, Alice!

So I got a letter from the Secretary of State the other day. Turns out I am eligible to renew my license online because I'm a "safe driver," according to state standards... so no need to appear in person and take any tests or anything. Woo Hoo! No more wasting half a day standing in line at the DMV! Finally, a government program that I actually like!

That's a nice looking model. The 2-tone and red wheels work well together. Nice job!

Nice looking model! Congrats on getting in the mag! (Maybe you should submit something to me so that you can get into OUR mag...)

That is an excellent question! And no doubt you'll be hearing from the "We're model builders, we can fix it" crowd and the "We should just be glad we have a model of XXXXX at all" crowd. I think that the "A scale model is supposed to be an accurate miniature of the original" crowd is outnumbered.

To each his own. Personally I have no desire to bang anything out within 24 hours. But like I said... that's just me.

We do. It's called Links, Advertisers and Web Sites.

My guess would be that sales of that kit were strong due more to the subject matter than the scale.

Those are beautifully done! But for myself, I have never seen the point of these "build a model within a certain amount of time" things. To me, that goes against the whole idea of what a "hobby" is supposed to be. Just my opinion... take it for what it's worth!

Can't give away my sources... but it's a high-end, scratchbuilt, limited-production, big-bucks 1/8 scale model that costs as much as many 1:1 used cars.

Ok, you guys win. Final vote: 12 REAL, 52 MODEL. And it is a model! (1/8 scale).