Seattle Mike

I got to see the real car at the Seattle Goodguys show this past weekend. You model is an incredible replica. Excellent work John!

Great Job! The art cars were all very cool

Bryan, that is not a 454 Chevy - it is a 350 small block. This will be a great project - it is a great kit. Have fun with it!

When I reviewed the AM kit for Scale Auto way back when, I used scraps of plastic sheeting to fill the frame. Once glued in, I then used putty to mold them over, and sanded everything smooth. To this day there has been no shrinkage at all. Using putty only to fill the slots in will eventually come back to haunt you.

None - once they're built they're no longer kits!

Tim - I haven't been involved with the business in a number of years. I sold it to Duane at Arrowhead just before his health problems took hold. I wish I could help you out.

My first kit was a Hawk Mercedes 190SL. That was about 50 years ago. The second kit was a Monogram 2.5 Ton army truck. I couldn't read the words on the instruction sheets, so I got help from my mom. By the time I could read, the instructions only had numbers. Now they've got so many different languages they take half a tree to make!

Its not that the kit manufacturers are being cheap, its that the real tire manufacturers are being greedy. They are demanding more and more money for licensing fees. The kits are already expensive enough, adding more on in order to pay Goodyear and the others would make the kits that much more expensive. I agree that it is sad that we are now stuck with the generic tires we have in the newer kits, its better than paying $30 for the same kits we paid $15 for just a few years back.

Looks great Darin! Hope to see it finished.

I've used a CO2 bottle for over 20 years now. Generally I seem to get a year to 18 months out of mine, but a lot will depend on how much painting you do. I think you will really like using CO2 - it's quiet, and you don't have to worry about moisture in the paint.

Ikea has some really nice glass cases. They run about $60, and you can buy a lighting kit for another $11. The only drawback to them is the fact that there are only 3 shelves, but there is a fix for that. I went to a glass shop and had some extra shelves cut and then to the plastic supply place and had 3/4" acrylic dowels cut to act as standoffs for the new glass. My cases now have seven shelves and hold a lot more models. If you've priced glass cases, you know what a bargain that is.

That brings back a lot of memories. My first car was a red w/black vinyl top '67 Coronet. I had the black vinyl interior, which really sucked during the summer months. I can't tell you how many times I burned myself getting into that thing on a hot, sunny afternoon.

Apparently Bernie didn't learn anything when they ran the Grand Prix in Dallas in July of '84. I stood out there all day in 106 degrees just to watch the tops of rollbars go by. Poor Nigel Mansel collapsed in the heat after the race. The heat and humidity in Austin in the summer will make Dubai seem like a chilly spring day. There are so many premier road courses ( Road America, Road Atlanta, Watkins Glen, etc. ) that it seems ridiculous to spend the MILLIONS that will be required to start from scratch. If F1 couldn't draw in Indy, why would they think that the middle of Texas will be any better?

The Bel Air and Biscayne were not available with the fastback roofline. The lower line models used a more "formal" roofline that was similar on the 2 door and 4 door versions.

Len- If the photoetch is brass or nickle silver it can be soldered. If it is stainless it can't, and superglue will work better.

How much are you looking for? I have a pretty large pile of it on our brake lathe at work. Send me your address and I'll throw some in the mail.

I just checked out the website - this guy is REALLY good! There are a lot of cool ideas.

Great looking Ferraris! Where did the wheels on the 575M come from?

If I remember correctly, Bill ran into problems finding some material that was thin and supple enough to fold correctly. His frame mechanism was really well done, but the lack of top material seemed to grind him to a halt.

I've known Bud for almost 20 years - he was a great guy. He was always willing to lend a hand for any reason. He was a good friend and will be truly missed.

I am still around, but not as active as I once was. I gave up on Michigan 2 years ago, and happily relocated to the Seattle area. I sold S&S/Detail Resources to Duane and Susan at Arrowhead a few years ago. Sadly, they took it over at the same time that Duane's serious health problems hit, and so far he hasn't been able to follow through on the plans he had for the line. Hopefully Duane is getting better, and the product will make a comeback. I haven't heard from Russ in over 15 years. He went through some personal problems, and seemed to lose his interest in the hobby. It was really a shame, as he was one of the most prolific builders I've ever known. He could sit down at his workbench and get as much modeling done in 1 hour as the rest of us would usually take a whole night to accomplish. He had a goal in mind, and set out to complete it without any fuss.

That is the old MPC Astro Vette. It is a model of a real concept car from the late 60's

Brendan - you might want to check some references, as I think Studio 27 got the air intake wrong. The photos I have show the car with dual air intakes, one on each side of the engine cover. This was due to an IMSA regulation, and was different from the setup on the Group C version that ran in Europe. The kit you're working on looks like the Group C body.

It looks like Meadowbrook was awesome, as usual. Just another great show that I will miss going to. Thanks for the great photos Tim!

Great photos! I was at the show all day Saturday - there were some unbelievably cool cars there this year.