Harry P.

Exactly!

If we're to believe this whole ebay scam, we must believe that: A woman bought the car brand new and never again touched it for 34 years (1977-2011). The woman dies, has absolutely no living relatives, so the car is sold at auction to owner 2. Owner 2 bought the car but also does not drive the car, ever. At some point the car comes into Ebay guy's possession. Ebay guy (owner 3?) obtains the car with a claimed 11.8 original miles on the odometer. He claims the car drives fine, the A/C works, all is like brand new despite the car having sat idle for 34 years! Apparently he just turned the key and it started right up, running on 34 year old gas! Just like those 34 years of sitting and rotting away never happened. And he comes to the conclusion that all is well and the car drives like new after driving the car four blocks. He now claims the car has 12.2 miles on it.

That's the biggest problem I have with this story. Old lady buys car, it sits untouched for 34 years... she dies, has no family or relatives, so the car is sold at auction, and the new owner also never drives it (why did he buy it???), then this ebay guy mysteriously gets his hands on it, claimes it had 11.8 miles on it when he got it, then decided the A/C works, the car drives fine, etc... and he figured this out all in 4/10ths of a mile (as he claims the car now has 12.2 miles on it). As far as the inspection sticker... ok, so maybe it expired in '78. So a brand new car had to be inspected by the state? Nor sure how/why that would be. But still, the car had to go to the inspection station, didn't it? Oh wait, let me guess... the inspection station was across the street from where the original owner lived!

I forgot who did them, one of the "Mints," I think... but they offered a series of scale model ballparks in "cold cast" resin or ceramic (whatever that is...), but I think a scale model kit of a ball park would be hugely cool!

Thanks, John. Your scratchbuilding skill is just amazing.

What's even more amazing is that he builds these models mostly out of mahogany!

I need to upload some updated photos. I didn't do anything with the wheels. I used the kit wheels as is. Like I said up front, this is sort of a "box stock plus" build... I'm not going to go crazy on the details, just adding a little here and there; mainly the stuff that's either completely missing in the kit or totally wrong, like the stone guards up front.

Speaking of clutch springs... how did you make those, John?

Did you try sending Chuck Doan a PM?

She bought a brand new car, drove it home, and then never touched it again??? And then she died (story doesn't say when)... and the car was sold at auction. Sold to who??? And the buyer also let the car sit and never drove it? The story states the car was delivered in 1977, yet there is a NY inspection sticker on it from 1978. It had to have been driven to the inspection station. Or was it levitated there??? And how did the current owner get it? And with still only 11 miles on it, as he claims??? Also... do cars come from the factory with wheel balancing weights? This story seems pretty fishy.

Final vote: 12 REAL, 38 MODEL. And you're right... it's a MODEL. But a really BIG model! 1/2 scale. Thanks to Mike McElligott for the photo.

I find it very hard to believe that the car only was driven home from the dealer and then sat for 34 years. Why would anyone buy a car, drive it home, and let it sit? I severely doubt this story...

Yes, that was part of it. Apparently a few members called Dave out on his "scratchbuilding" claims, and he was not happy about that. But he could have come clean, admitted he was fudging the truth a little, and all would have been forgotten. But instead, he took a combative attitude, and things quickly degenerated... leading to his ultimate ban. Yeah, it was stupid and childish, not only on Dave's part, but on the part of many of those who were involved... let's hope the members here learned from the "Treehugger Incident" and we don't have to go through that process again.

Hard to believe that started out as a cheap toy. Amazing what can be done with a little skill and effort... you can even turn a 92¢ toy into an accurate scale replica!

No, Ken... this was something new and unrelated to John's Matador thread.

And just to save you guys who missed the fireworks some time, the reason that you missed it is because I deleted it all. I was watching it unfold, and I deleted it right as it was getting really bad.

Peter, the "demise" of Treehugger Dave here was due in large part to his own actions. He made quite a few posts that basically said "screw you" to the other members here. It was a complicated mess.... but like I said, Dave definitely played a part, and apparently he did so intentionally. If you think Dave was forced out by a gang of bullies, think again.

I've never even heard of it...

Oh yeah! A factory stock model that actually has both the inside and outside mirrors! Praise the Lord!

Model Master paints are available in acrylics, enamels and lacquers. Use the appropriate thinner for each, no "mixing and matching." The paint that says on the label that you can clean up with water is acrylic. Obviously if you can clean up with water, you can also thin the paint with water.

Yes, you're right... you can click "Reply," then delete whatever part of the previous post you DON'T want to quote. But if you want to just reply to a post, and not quote anything, the "Add Reply" button down at the bottom of the page is the way to do it. And as far as the model goes... thanks for the reply, Chilly! It looks great, Rustoleum and all!

The problem with people "quoting" photos is because the software is kind of tricky. If you click the "Reply" button between the "Edit" and "Multiquote" buttons at the bottom of a person's post, you're actually going to be quoting that post (and all the photos, if any) in your reply. To make a reply without quoting the post, you need to click on the "Add Reply" button at the very bottom of the page. It's pretty confusing... that "Reply" button probably should say "Quote" instead. I'm sure that most people who "quote" the photos of an earlier post had no intention of doing that.

Well, yeah! It costs a lot less if you can get it for free! In fact, if you can get free electric, I'd bet your cost would be darn near zero!

Evening Orchid with the white interior is one of the prettiest color combinations ever. And when you add the classy, slick lines of a '65 Impala to the equation, wow! Doesn't get much cooler than that!

Oh, and I didn't mean to hijack your thread. Both of those models are just way too cool... just as the real cars were!