deja-view

More prednisone and tylenol, Dean. Then, just build on "pain-free" days.

From an Ebay seller, a box of poorly packed misc "Big Deuce" parts in terrible shape...but it was supposed to contain 2 hemi heads and valve covers in 1/8 for my next build. In all the junk was ONE...1...hemi head. X 2 = :(

LOL. "JIFFY-POP"!

Cobraman; Just a tidbit for you to get "green" over....my senior year of high school (1965-66) my wife's best friend's father bought a 427 Cobra. I'm not sure if it came stock with the 2-4bbls, but that's what it had when I saw it the first time. Evie Moffat was her name, come to think of it. We lived in a very small Northern California town (Loomis) where every kid was high on muscle cars and hot rods instead of drugs back then. Our town only had two small, old gas stations, and several of my buddies worked at "George's Union" on the "main drag", which was actually old Highway 40 going from Sacramento to Reno. Evie's dad brought the Cobra over one day for all of us to see (and hear). None of us were experienced enough to get behind the wheel, but he let George take it for a blast up the street. In those days no one had 10" wide tires on any hot rod or anything else. They looked enormous...especially on such a small car. Now, a number of the guys had big HP cars like Max Wedges, 409's, and other major muscle. But all of them were 3500-4000 lb heavy metal and pretty much straight line slugs. Not many Corvettes or anything like that because they were too expensive. But all in all, it was a more-than-typical race (drag) car paradise. So, George climbs into the driver seat, and Evie's dad next to him. George gets out on the "highway' with our Constable, old Percy, keeping an eye on things. The road was clear so George blasts off heading North toward the old grammar school. He was gone so fast we stood there with our mouths open. None of us had seen that kind of acceleration off the Sacramento Drag Strip. None of us had seen it up close. George and "dad" came back for another run, this time with "dad" in the driver seat. Percy turned on his cop lights to keep any school kids or moms off the road. This time we went up to the "Frosty" to see the car go by (about 200 yards). Yeah, right! "Dad" gives the big 427 a few revs, runs it up to (I'm guessing) about 3000 rpms, and drops the clutch. The wheels barely spun (unlike our rubber-melting antics when we raced or "exhibited speed", these babies grabbed tight and quick. Quick isn't even the right word. It was past us so fast we really didn't get much of a look except a blurr. The real thing I remember was George in the passenger seat with his mouth wide open and his eyes open even bigger (George was Japanese, so that was hard to do but fun to see). That Cobra was an absolute rocket ship! I don't know how fast it was 0-60. Probably not measurable with our stop watches. I don't know what it's quarter mile time might have been, but it was one helluva lot faster than anything on any street ... ANYWHERE. I've never seen any car so quick, and I drove a modified ZR-1 for about 10 years with even (slightly) larger rear tires. I never forgot that sight over 45 years ago. "Dad" didn't leave the car stock; had it custom painted...42 coats of a purplish hand-rubbed laquer that was dazzling. He was taking it to the Sacramento Autorama when one of the fuel lines came loose and spewed 100+ all over the front fenders and cowl (not to mention the engine compartment). I was heading of to college at the time, and the last I heard Evie's dad was so sickened by the incident he sold the beast. I'm sure to this day he kicks himself at the thought of letting a $million car go to someone else. But if there was a "once-in-a-lifetime" ride to have and have fun with, this was the one. That picture sticks in my mind today: the blur of the Cobra, George's open mouth, and all of us gaping as they flew by. George's Union station is long gone, and George passed away a number of years back. ButI'll take that secen with me to my grave...and I'll bet the rest of the "kids" will too. Anyway, that's my "hands on" realtime Cobra story from seeing the original thing in action and treated like the brute it was rather than a museum piece.

You'd really like the GMP 1/12 #98. Pricey, but nice detail and great finish. Hosted on Fotki And, the real thing: Hosted on Fotki

Geez...and I paid extra for my satellite service for Speed. It figures!

Yup. It's interesting that our greatest source of information and build data is also our greatest time-killing distraction.

Jdurg; Of course, if you want to go "monster large", there's the Monogram 1/8 '78 Vette that can also be made into the Anniversary theme, the interesting '82, and the early C4 84-85 vesrion. The 84-5 kits are fairly cheap (but not cheap to mail) and have really cool parts to use on other kits. Impressive, but you use up 24" of shelf space. I have several of those because I wanted to (try) to replicate my now-sold 1991 ZR-1. I'm not good enough to figure out the body revision yet, but the real challenge is replicating the LT5 engine. So, in the meantime I've set aside things like the seats and LT-wimp engine for stree rod projects.

If you ever get around to building that '69 give us a heads up. If I ever get to my project I'll probably have a bunch of spare parts you can use.

That's a nice job on the 450slc...especially the engine bay. But with all that detail and work, I wonder why he didn't get rid of the huge joining seams on the seatbacks??

They do have a few...or used to. I have one of the Doyusha '78 Corvettes, and it is very nice (still in the box). But my real "finds" are TWO of the 1968-69 Corvette kits by Doyusha/Bandai. Those are extremely rare, and my plan is to use one and the '78 kit to make a replica of the 1973 Corvette I used to own many years ago. I bought one from a gent in Australia many years ago, then happened to stumble on another a few years back on fleabay, I think. It's another project I really want to do, but it will have to wait for the right time. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

The SL and SLC are great kits. I started "one" about 15 years ago when they were hard to find. I had acquired an SLC, then actually converted it to an SL because there were no SL's to be found. Of course, a few months after I carefully cut and converted the SLC....an SL came up on Yahoo auctions. I did the conversion in a white pearl, then spent stupid time trying to figure out the best custom wheels for it. Then put it away and never started it again. Both are in their boxes just waiting in line. Jordan, I really like your period correct wheels. I should have just stuck with something like that, too. Maybe it would have been finished long ago.

I have multiple projects with none of them getting done. Oh, wait. I just put a set of "Rothman's" decals on my Autoart 1/18 Porshe 956 LeMans winner. It was one of those politically correct versions with no "tobacco" advertising so I bought custom decals to correct it. Does that count as "finishing" a model? Other than that, I've been packing models for 2 weeks to move. Now, THAT is boring and a PITA!

LOL. No wonder I couldn't find them --- even looking in 4 boxes.

I just packed up my models for a move, but I think I can get at the '57 Chevys for a look. I'll pull out a set for you as soon as I can get back at 'em.

You mean stock steel wheels from that era?

That yellow really pops. What did you use to keep the blue from bleeding through?

I got 'em....I got 'em...I got 'em. My '68 winner decals have come (all the way from AU). Now, I have to figure out how to remove the '69 decals/markingsa that weren't used in '68. Ouch.

It took years of looking, but I finally got some of the 1/8 and 1/12 decals I've needing for new projects (not that I need any new projects). 1- 1/8 scale Gold Leaf decals for one of my planned Lotus 72D conversions to the 72C Gold Leaf version. 2- 1/12 scale decals for converting a GMP Mclaren F1 GTR (street version) to the 1994 LeMans winning Ueno Clinic #59. 3- 1/12 decals to convert one of my GMP Gulf GT40 Le Mans winners (69) to a 1968 winner #9. I don't know how I'll ever get these done, but I'm sure looking forward to trying. Yeah...somehow while we're moving oout of Vegas and back to Northern California. It's always "something" in the way of what's really important.

Gulp! I once owned a '78 Fleetwood Brougham. To think it could have been morphed into that is...ummmmm...errrr...can't quite put it into words.

Awesome combination. Here's a pic from the "business end" of the M-109: Hosted on Fotki

LOL. That #2 shot from the front looks like a big lobster.

This would make a great subject for an uncommon build. http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/cto/3222373855.html

Ira; Check out the RC section of your LHS. I have found numerous wheels or tires that can be used on 1/12 or 1/8 scale on the hanging racks.

I love ALMS! NAzzzzzzzzzzCAR sucks. round and round and round, then someone intentionally bashes into someone else, then round and round and round, then someone else hits the wall causing a big car-totalling wreck, then round and round and round, then someone intentionally blocks and/or hits someone else...then the helmet throwing, cursing, and sanctions comeout. Next week ----- more of the same. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. God help 'em if they had to turn right.