Vince Nemanic

When MSG's custom modeling book was new, he had the book and his 40 Ford from the cover on a table as he was talking to a small group of modelers. I congratulated him on the book and then said that many people had made VW bugs look like 40 Fords, but that he was the first to make a 40 Ford look like a VW bug. Mark gave me a big smile and said "Nemanic, you're a pain in the a**" I took it as a compliment, and he STILL is my friend! What a guy!

The above should read "sand DOWN the ENDS of the piston barrel mounts" . I thought I caught all of the mistakes before I hit post. LOL.

I'm starting to build this, so I thought I might address some of the questions about fit. As a disclaimer, these maybe peculiar to my kit. I also dechromed a number of parts such as the front suspension and shocks. Of course, there are mold lines and ejector pin marks to deal with. I found that is VERY important to remove these and to test fit a LOT. some of the ejector pins are raised from the surface of a part and cause alignment problems. The most puzzling problem is that a lot of the locating pins are too long (or the holes are too shallow). It is probably easier to drill out the holes. If you don't fix these on the engine it will probably be a misaligned mess. I had to drill almost every mounting hole on the engine, and sand own the semicircular piston barrel mounts. Incidentally, the engine has nothing in common with the Corvair units in the following kits that I have: 69 Corvair; Astro I, or Meyers Tow'd. The AMT guys really liked redesigning Corvair engines! There is no precise mounting method for the upper part of the chassis pan. I puzzled over this for a few days. What I finally came up with is to sandwich the floor pan, upper floor pan, and upper body together. The upper pan still could move around a bit, but it helped me position it some. I still have the upper pan a bit crooked, but I think it is about .020 inch tone side. It probably would have been much further off if I hadn't sandwiched it. If anyone has a better way, let us know. I did check that the engine will install correctly with the pan parts clued together, but do not glue in the brace above the transmission. I'm currently working on the roof and doors. I found that the lower edge of both doors need to have their corners reshaped slightly to match the openings in the body- this took about 30 seconds for each corner. There was a lot wrong with the drivers side of the roof. First, the front corner of it curves downward, which creates a much larger gap than the passenger side has (that side fit perfectly), and it does not meet the corner if the door opening by about .030 inch. I had to sand down the front edge of the roof from just behind the front mounting pin to the front edge of the roof. I think s piece of sheet plastic needs to be put on the front of the roof to reach the door opening, but I have not done this yet. I am expecting to need to shim the door openings once the roof is mounted. I also found that the windshield will mount with the roof glued on. Yes, I am planning to paint the model after the roof is on. There are a few sink marks on the body top and pan which will nee to be addressed. For those of you who, like me, want to do the race car or a "standard" Piranha, make sure you read the website I referenced earlier and look at all of the sections. The rear if the body is not the only difference! You also will need an engine swap. I'm not knocking the model. It was one my holiest grails, and is pretty well engineered for its day. This build is meant to be a test run of sorts as I m planning to do more. Most of then above faults only take a few minutes to fix and are minor compared to most kits with opening doors and 60s engineering (e.g. the Henry J). Good luck with your kit and I hope that this helped.

All you first-timers beware! GSL is like a drug. Once you go, you are addicted, and can't help but want to go again. This is a GOOD thing!

Things finally came together so I can go. I booked my flight and room today and just mailed my entry. Looking forward to it- I was last there in 2011. See you guys there!

Ron, look on page 2. Keyser posted a link to a website that has a page on the actual restored UNCLE car. see post #28.

I met de Lespinay sveral years ago at the Monterey Historics, where he was racing a Renault Alpine. I asked for his autograph, and he was quite surprised that I remembered his work for Heller. We spent a few minutes talking about an article he did in Model Car Science and his days designing kits. A very nice man

Thanks, Mike. The show has been going for so long that it operates like a well-oiled machine. We are glad that people enjoy it, as much as we do. It is not just a modelling event but also a social event.. What more can we hope for? And Paul, thanks for posting the pictures!

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I had a great time too, and saw a LOT of friends yesterday. There is not really a club running the show, but a handful of guys who form a committee that make all of the arrangements & decisions regarding themes, advertising, etc. The rest of us are basically "day help" who show up to set up the room, work the ticket booth and registration table, sell raffle tickets, etc. The vendor area is set up depending on the number of tables that are pre-sold, with a few extra tables put in there if a seller shows up on the morning of the show and wants more space or wants to register at last minute. As you saw yesterday, a vendor bought two tables and for some reason did not show up. The Staff really have little control over the swap meet-they are reacting to the demand for tables-that is why the size and layout varies.

A little more than 48 hours until the doors open! As usual, I will be escorting vendors to their tables during set up. I'm looking forward to seeing Ira and his lovely wife Dolores. Who all else is going?

There is less than three weeks until the West Coast's largest show! It is at the Santa Clara Convention center right next to the new 49ers stadium in Santa Clara There is a swap meet and NNL running at the same time. The NNL themes are "Bonneville Cars" and "60th anniversary of the Small Block Chevy", but any automotive subject is welcome, including dioramas and projects.

I store parts in them I also find it convenient to take a couple of empty boxes with me to model shows in case I buy loose parts, decals or built kits.

My wife and I just got back late Wednesday. We drove to Austin and went to COTA all three days then spent a week visiting relatives. The cars are quiet-the Ferrari Challenge cars are MUCH louder, but this brings out sounds that you wouldn't hear. I noticed that the Renault powered cars were the loudest, Ferrari engines next and the Mercedes were the quietest- exactly opposite of their power outputs. I take this as an indication of how efficient the turbo impellers are- the better the exhaust energy is used, the more power and less sound. You can also hear the energy recovery system operating. Grosjean's tires were REALLY loud after his slide on Friday- Dolores heard them while she was buying me a T shirt behind the bleachers with her back turned! It was also neat to hear the tires squeal more and more through the esses as the tires went off. And you should hear the Safety and Medical cars! Challengers and Chargers got nothing on those Mercs. None of this stuff comes over the TV. The facility is tremendous with very helpful staff. Food and souvenirs are not cheap, but this is to be expected. there was a very efficient system to get people to the remote parking lots. The crowds were polite and extremely excited- it was infectious! Dolores figured out the best way to attned- get general admission tickets for the first two days and grandstand seats for race day

Swing axles were used by Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz thoughout the 50s and into the 60s - Beetles went to full IRS in 1969. MBs and VWs were raced and rallied extensively with swing axles thus proving that the design was not dangerous with proper maintenance and a competent driver. Also, all Class 11 Beetles and many Class 5 Baja Bugs in off road racing were swing axles. So where was this "Worldwide Ban" ?

Unclesott, FYI the dag Corvair uses the chassis from the Hemi Under Glass '66 Barracuda, so it is powered by a 392 Chrysler.

Boy, that body really IS messed up! If you look at the test shot in Harry's composite, it is clear that the passenger's side is too long and the driver's side is way too short. The driver's rear is way ahead of the of the blue car's and the driver's front is behind that of the blue car. Perhaps the blue car was shot with a normal lens and the model was shot with a wide angle. This would mean that Mr. Metzger is correct and that we should top griping. Based on past kits, I'm guessing that the body is fine and that we should have some faith in Dave and Moebius. He has said that he will try to get the wheels and the kick up fixed- to me, this shows good faith that is worthy of our respect.

With the reissue of the UNCLE car, one may also re create the Piranha Race Team multi kit. Another fact is that the UNCLE car had a longer tail than the 5 or so 'production" Piranhas. There is a lot of info if you google piranha.

The whole Grand Jury thing amounts to Passing the Buck. The Police and the District Attorney did not want to dismiss the case for fear of the bad publicity and the possibility of being sued. so they have the Grand Jury, whose members will not be identified let Stewart off. Politics as usual.

When I heard Keeler tell the tale about the Metalflake kits he said that he was lucky not to get fired- a new employee dumping metal shavings into a $50,000 molding machine. And that was in 1963 dollars!

Garlits' 1964 Swamp Rat and Shartman's 69 Cougar, along with the MPC Ford GT Mark 4. There were also kits with partially clear bodies like the Piranha dragster and the 1/20 STP Turbine. And then there were kits with clear hoods like MPC's 67 & 68 Charger annuals and their 67 Firebird, not to forget the soon to be reissued 53 Studebaker. Note that MPC is featured prominently in this list, and that it can be a surprising long list. I am also interested in finding out others.

I think that di Montezemelo was quite responsible for Ferrari's downfall in F1. He forced Schumacher to retire so that Raikkonen would join the team. When Michael retired, Ross Brawn and Jean Todt also quit the team. Granted, Kimi took the 2007 title, but the 2007 and 2008 cars were developments of the 2006 car of the Schumacher/Brawn/Todt era. The 2009 car that started the slide was a clean sheet design. And remember, di Montezemelo got rid of Kimi (by paying him to not run formula 1 for two years) in order to sign Alonzo. Massa was then strongly criticized and highly pressured for a couple of years, and oh yeah, who was third at Monza? Also, who are Ferrari's drivers this year? Do you think that perhaps the Board members consider this a series of poor decisions?

Today I drove by a medical office and couldn't believe what was in the parking lot with some guy in his twenties sitting in it. How about a 61`-62 Dodge Lancer station wagon! It looked pretty nice but not restored, and was completely stock, including the hubcaps. Don't think I've seen one oft hose since the late 1960s!

How about an obscure kit? I have an MPC "Then Came Bronson" motorcycle.

That is the prototype-the first Lamborghini car ever built. Production 350/400 GTs had more rounded lines and non hidden "frogeye" headlight pods. The chassis was used in the Islero due to the body manufacturer, Touring, going out of business in 1968. A friend of mine has owned a 400GT since 1978.

My wife is very sensitive to glues and paints. BUT, I can use acrylic paint all day, and I found that she is not bothered by Plastruct "Bondene" liquid glue. Hope this helps.