Ramfins59

Looks like that building needs a LOT of mortar between all those bricks. LOL...

I've always had good luck clearing up scratched glass with Novus 2 plastic polish. Use an old T-shirt and lots of elbow grease. It sometimes takes awhile, depending on how badly scratched it is, but it works great.

The '50 Ford Convertable customizing kits also came with a couple of cinder blocks.

You didn't mention what year Caddy you were looking for, but, you should check out the selection of resin offerings for Caddy's from The Modelhaus. Their stuff is great... sometimes pricey, but great.

Another fine build Andy. You do such great work. I think I'm gonna have to get another one of these kits. I built one waaaaay back when they first came out, but it didn't come out this nice. My skills have improved a bunch since this kit came out so I'm thinkin I can do it up right just like you did. Great job.

I buy glues and model jar or spray paints at an LHS. I'll pick up Duplicolor paints at local Auto Supply Stores. For the past few years I've been buying new kit releases online from Model Roundup. Their prices are OK and, as Harry said, when you buy multiple kits you pay less in shipping costs. If I can find photo-etched and/or aftermarket stuff that I need at a LHS I'll pick them up there, but usually I'll order online from either Detail Master, Model Car Garage, Replicas & Miniatures of MD or The Modelhaus. It's really great to have whatever you need delivered right to your door. Of course, with the NNL East coming up in April I know I'll be going nuts in the vendor rooms there for sure.

Looks like the real one to me.

The '34 Ford Pickup kit has a chromed T'Bird engine...

Harry I tried looking for the thread you started wherein you said that you wanted to build the car that won the first Indy 500... The 1911 Marmon Wasp... It must have fallen deep down in the thread line... I just saw in that "other" model magazine that Replicarz has an AD saying that they have this very car kit coming out in May 2012 in 1/18 Scale for $229.99. Were you joking about wanting to scratchbuild one...??

You're right Frank. Some people who do the Show Circuit never seem to "retire" their cars. I, and most of the guys that I know, and used to know when I was more involved in going to Shows, would show a model for one year at whatever "circle" of shows that I/we attended and then retire the car. We would build new models for the next years' round of shows.

Glenn... How cool. Your 1:1 ride is a '59 Dodge...!!! I had a '59 Dodge Coronet from Oct. '96 thru 2005. It was my faithful daily driver for almost 4 years until I had a stroke in 2000 when I stopped driving. I sold it in 2005. What engine is in yours...?? Mine had a 326. Good luck with yours.

Actually, the Under Glass section is for completed models... This one, On The Workbench, is for works in progress... They look great anyway. Welcome to the Forum to your whole family.

Fantastic to see the whole family builds models...!!! That's great. Good looking models too. Keep up the great work.

My quickest build (other than the ones I built back in the '60's)has to be the 2 SNAP kits I put together to give to my almost year old Grandson. They took me about 20 minutes each to finish & that includes reinforcing all the snap joints with CA glue so they would withstand the beating I know he has, and will be, giving them. I'm VERY HAPPY to hear from my daughter that right now they are his FAVORITE TOYS to play with right now...!!! I love it... I knew I'd make him a Car Guy...!!! The longest build... Hmmmmm... I guess that would have to be a '57 Chevy Bel Air Pro Modeler kit that I started about 6 years ago which is still sitting unfinished in the box. I had troubles fitting the completed chassis/engine/interior into the body and pieces kept coming apart. Each time that happened I would just put it back in the box to come back to it when the aggravation factor went away. I used a PE set from MCG on it and it has probably the best, smoothest Black paint job I've ever done, along with close to the best BMF job I've ever done. One of these days/months/years I'll actually finish the darn thing...

Similar to the praise you mention Wayne, I once had a fellow club member (who has unfortunately gone to that BIG model room in the sky) tell me that when he sees my models he just wants to get in and drive them... That made me feel great.

Oh man... I can't tell you how I hate hearing that...!!! I can't paint in my basement because #1- My younger daughter (28) moved back in with us 4 1/2 years ago and she lives down there (all her furniture and clothes). She's getting married in 2 years (YEAY..!!)... I'll get my basement back...!!! #2- My wife says she can smell the paint upstairs... I can't paint in the garage because my wife says she can smell the paint upstairs... I can't paint outside because the wonderful weather we get here in the Pittsburgh area just totally sucks... It's either raining or snowing or windy... Even on the off chance I can sneak in some outside painting on a clear day, the women still mention that they can smell the paint... BUT THE PAINT IS DRYING LADIES... I PAINTED IT OUTSIDE...!!!

I never really considered myself to have a particular style of building... I do try to make my models "believable" in that if it were a 1:1 vehicle it could actually be driven.

My Avatar is just a crazy picture of me taken at my niece's backyard BBQ a few years ago. My screen name started back in '98 when we got our first computer. At the time my daily driver was a 1959 Dodge Coronet that I was trying to make into a mild custom... So the screen name RAM (my initials)FINS (for the fins on the Dodge) and 59 (for the year of the Dodge.

I'm sure that we all have a part of building a model that we don't look forward to. Some people dislike or have trouble with painting or bare-metal foiling or engine detailing. My least favorite part is starting off. Having to clean up all those mold lines, sink marks, and ejector pin marks from ALL the engine, chassis, interior & body parts. Then of course there are the seams when you glue two halves of something together (engine/trans., master cyl., rear end/axle, seats, etc..) What's YOUR least favorite part...???

I never blew up or burned my model cars back in the 60's. I DID blow up and burn the tanks, half-tracks & Jeeps that I built. I left all my models at my parents home when I got married... I also left 3 foot high stacks of comic books in my closet there, ((DC)Superman, Action, Batman, (Marvel Comics) Fantastic Four, Spiderman, etc., Archie, etc.. My parents were the Superintedents of the APT. Bldg. we lived in at that time... When I moved out to get married, all those comic books wound up in the Incinerator...!!!! My younger brother probably destroyed all my models like he did all my Lionel Trains...

Pretty cool looking model. I'll bet that, as you said, the BMF was a pain to apply.

Nah... I can't do it either. Every so often I'll try to go back to one of my started projects with all good intentions of finishing it up before starting another new one... But then I rediscover what it was that made me stop working on it... and it again goes back in the box.

I usually build Customs and Street Rods, but I have done a few Pickups and Light Commercial builds. I like cars from the 1920's thru the 1960's. I REALLY like any 1950's cars, especially the late 50's with all that chrome and those fins... Love those fins...

Great job so far. I've also had that love/hate thing going with my '41 Plymouth kit. One day I'll decide what to do with it. I love the way yours is coming out. I'm interested to see how you handle the front end.

My buddy Tom V. is driving up to me on Thursday(I live just north of Pittsburgh) from Hendersonville, NC (That's a 7 hour drive). Then on Friday we drive to the NNL hotel in NJ (That's roughly another 6 hour drive.) Then on Sunday, we'll leave NJ and be driving back to Tom's place in NC (That's roughly another 10 hour drive.) So, yeah, we'll be in the car for awhile... but IT'S ALL WORTH IT...!!!