Ace-Garageguy

A slightly different version of Thompson's Challenger...

I built one maybe 45 years back, and I don't remember anything of it. The gluebomb I have is pretty well melted into one solid blob, suspension-wise. Love that ol' tube glue, at least half a tube per model. If I build this one I'll be lowering it, for sure, because the shots of the real one always look like it sits lower and sleeker than the model does. I DO seem to remember the front track is kinda wide, too.

High quality work and sharp, well-lighted photos are also good ways to get noticed and rack up comments, if that's what you're after.

TOO COOL !!! Man, I wish I'd had one of those. The world as we know it might be a lot different today...

There's a good sized track just a block from my house. I was blown away that the hobby / sport could support such a big one. It's in an old shopping center that's mostly vacant, but it's pretty cool.

Gots me anudder one a dese. Used da trans in anudder build, tot it mite be nice to have one dat dint got raided for parts.

Not much in the box, though it builds up into a nice little model. "Box scale" turns out to be about 1/18 or 1/20. I used to know. I have one of the very first issues, molded in acetate (these are NOT MY MODELS).

Intent is everything. Honestly trying to help is one thing...screaming "look at me" is entirely different.

The best way is to study real race cars in the classes you're interested in. Learn why tubes are where they are, and the relationships of things to other things on the chassis and to the body of the car. Then take all that and learn to plan ahead and measure. Thinking is good too. Click here. https://www.google.com/search?q=race+car+tube+chassis&safe=off&espv=2&biw=1600&bih=775&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjj4_zuz_vMAhVMRSYKHUZECKEQ_AUIBigB

Car owners who don't have a clue, and then want to tell you you're doing it wrong (after reading an article in a magazine and misunderstanding it completely). Gee fella...ya think there just MIGHT be a reason people are willing to wait over a year to have me work on their cars? Like maybe I know just a LITTLE about this stuff?

Nice clean work, and definitely a technique to keep in mind.

Honeyyyyy...the cleaners shrunk the Buick !!!!!

Well, I have a Gunze kit sitting on the bench right next to an Italeri kit. I haven't seen every 250 GTO, but the rear wheel arches on the Gunze aren't like any of the in-person cars or the photos I've seen. The angles of the windshield pillars differ too, and I'm pretty certain these WOULD be the same from real car to car. The Italeri version is slightly more vertical. The body of the Gunze kit is also slightly wider. For these reasons, I'm using the Gunze kit to represent a what-if hot-rod version that's had its fenders widened, with a smallblock Chebby and a Ford 9" swapped in. The Italeri kit will be represented as-built. Though much is made of the real cars being hand-built and all different, these things were hammered over carefully constructed wooden bucks by skilled craftsmen, not a bunch of bondo-slinging cowboys. Successive panels, while not identical, would be pretty damm close to each other. They all have to fit the same buck. Anyone familiar with the alloy-body custom building process will know that there will be detail and minor dimension differences surely, but not huge discrepancies from car to car...as some would have us believe. Post-production repairs or running changes shared by several close-together-serial numbered cars I can see as valid reasons for fairly significant differences between two randomly picked cars.. I personally prefer the general lines of the Gunze kit, as it's not as 'squashed' looking forward of the windshield as the other good kits...though the squashed look is apparent on the REAL cars and is probably more correct.

Part of the trick is practicing to learn how to shoot the paint so slick that you won't have to do a lot of sanding. The other part of the trick is to simply stay off the raised edges or sharp parts. Learn to use the edges of the pads to sand NEXT to the raised parts. Be sure to use water as a lubricant while sanding, and put a couple of drops of detergent in the water to 'wet' it, which helps keep your sanding pads or paper from clogging. Also change your water frequently, go slow, wipe off the surface frequently to see where you are, and just be thoughtful and careful.

More on that thought...It's rough being a soldier. You risk your life daily, but much of the time, the enemy is clearly defined and you don't usually have to worry too much about being shot in the face by your own countrymen. And when your tour is over, you get to go home to a "civilized" country where nobody's actively trying to kill you. A cop, on the other hand, never gets to the end of a tour. He never knows for sure who the enemy is, even among members of his own community he's trying to "protect and serve". He never knows which routine traffic stop for an expired tag will end up with some whacked-out psycho cutting him in half with a sawed-off, or when a loser with an imagined grudge will try to sneak up behind him and put a bullet in his head. I don't know how they can live with that kind of stress every day, day after day after day. Those of us who seem to get overwhelmed by having to deal with business problems and juggle picking up the kids and the laundry might take a minute to think what life would be like without the police.

Never underestimate the potential market for stick-on cheese. NOTE: Not to be confused with cheese-on-a-stick...

It's been a while since I got into that kit engine, and I seem to recall the general consensus in the community (and the results of my own comparative research) is that though the valve covers in that kit are appropriate for the Y-block Lincoln engine (specifically the cast alloy valve covers from the '56-'57 Continental Mk II) the rest of the engine is the later MEL engine family. The Y-block distributor was in the rear, while the later MEL distributor was in the front. The Y-block Lincoln had exhaust port spacing like the familiar smallblock Chebby, and intake port spacing almost identical to the then-current Oldsmobile V8, while the MEL (Mercury / Edsel / Lincoln) had even intake and exhaust port spacing like later Fords. Aha. I assume you've already found this short thread:I haven't really researched which top end in the '25 kit makes the best MEL, as I was primarily interested, at the time, in getting a good rendition of the Y-block Lincoln for this build. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/66744-chopped-34-track-nose-3-w-coupe-new-nose-finally-july-13/

Thanks for asking Charlie, and thanks to Joe for the heads-up on the Alclad. I didn't know it existed. I have need as well.

Are you wanting to build a drag car, or a street T-bucket, or a stocker? There are several T-bucket bodies out there that are aimed at particular build styles. The door on the passenger side only is correct for stock, as stated. Fiberglass repop bodies for street rods could be had with no doors, one door, 2 doors, or with some work, the stock steel shell (or an aftermarket f'glass shell) could be modified to make a functional driver's side door. Glass drag car bodies usually had no doors, and often the molded raised detail around the 'door' was removed as well.

This is one way. PE. http://www.hobbylinc.com/detail-master-engine-accessory-brackets-1-plastic-model-vehicle-accessory-kit-1:24-1:25-scale-2510

The last two police officers I had to interact with were county detectives. They were two of the smartest and most professional people I've ever encountered, and low-key, realistic, without any swaggering BS. I wish everyone I have to deal with was like that. Guys (and women) who willingly put their lives on the line every day to try to make the world a decent place for the rest of the citizens are indeed a special breed. It's hard enough to have any great faith in humanity just watching from the sidelines, but to be immersed, daily, in the worst of what humans do to each other takes a kind of strength I find hard to imagine. Cops deserve our respect and appreciation 24 /7.

Seriously fine hauler.

Same process exactly, BUT...you can use much more aggressively "hot" primers like my old favorite SEM self-etching with no fear of damaging the model.