Ace-Garageguy

AMEN BROTHER.

I think sweeping generalizations about motivation are "generally" not correct. I personally try to do the best work I can, if it's model cars, real cars, or cleaning the toilet. I LIKE to look at my own work and say to MYSELF..."good job!". That's one reason I'm so stoked to see some of the truly outstanding work displayed here. It inspires me to do my own work better. If I spot a mistake in someone else's model, that's another learning opportunity (so I won't make the same one). NOBODY has to have the same motivation to do ANYTHING, but the ones who try hardest, FOR WHATEVER REASON, will get some recognition at some point.

Time to call out the psychological-motivation police. Maybe in an ideal world, where everyone was scrupulously honest and altruistic, and was motivated to be the best he or she could be in all facets of life, a concept like "how SHOULD a famous modeler behave" might have some actual validity. But we're dealing with humans, only partially evolved sentient creatures, who are a long long way from being "ideal". Was the "famous" builder's motivation actually to BECOME FAMOUS, or did he just do work that was consistently better than the norm, and so became famous by default, while still, in reality, "building for himself"? Who knows but his shrink...assuming he has one, and tells the truth? I've learned from a long long time here that expecting anyone to behave as I might think they "should" is an exercise in pointless futility. Focus on doing the best work YOU want to do, and if leading by example is important to you, YOU DO IT.

Nice work on one of the shining examples of the French alternate-reality approach to vehicle design in the '50s and '60s. Love it.

At the recent NNL South, I bought several boxes of cheap junk, gluebomb, bodged trash that nobody in his right mind would have any use for.

Multi-million-dollar-a-year sports figures, musicians...even presidents...don't seem to find any particular need to lead by virtue of being shining examples of "doing it right" (even though in many cases, they're role-models for large numbers of young people...and should know it) so why would model car builders be expected to live to any higher standards?

I do a lot of heavy mods...top chops, sectioning, other major bodywork, channeling, frame zees, etc...so naturally there's a ton of test fitting before anything gets painted. I'll fit EVERYTHING before paint, and pin things that have a possibility of damaging a finish during assembly.

Lotta guys used to seem to prefer PlastiKote primers, but then it seemed to get a little harder to find. I switched to Duplicolor primers and noticed only minor differences, but now I've found a source for PlastiKote again I'm doing some back-to-back testing. I like the Duplicolor colors I've recently used immensely, and I've liked the PlastiKote colors I've used in the past. In my particular market, the PlastiKote displays are much more limited in color selection than Duplicolor.

The Moebius kits are rated as "skill level 3", and I think most modelers would agree the Fujimi full-detail or "enthusiast" kits are maybe just a tad more challenging (assuming you mean the 1/24 scale offerings). A version of the Fujimi Enzo includes photo-etched parts, and working with PE requires an additional skillset beyond assembling plastic. The 1/24 Fujimi Enzo kit is easily available on ebay for reasonable money, and probably will be for some time. Revell, offers a fine Enzo kit as well (actually, they have 2...a full-detail glue kit, and a snapper), and Tamiya has one in 1/24 too (full detail, and more expensive than the Revell or Fujimi versions). Tamiya has a mostly well-deserved reputation for making exquisite model kits. If you're happy with the results you're getting from the Moebius kits, there's no reason not to try a Fujimi...or any others.

I've definitely seen something similar to what you describe for Floquil model railroad paints in years gone by...mixing formulas to approximate the various color schemes on locomotives and other rolling stock. I've never seen it aimed at car modelers though.

I'd have a hard time believing this kit was originally tooled by Palmer. It's almost a part-for-part copy of the AMT kit (I have both in stock), it goes together just like the AMT kit, and it IS correctly proportioned...something Palmer kits NEVER were. It would be very interesting to know the real provenance of this tooling.

It'll also start your heart when it goes POP !!! (a very LOUD pop indeed...) or stop it altogether. Not for the shy and easily startled.

The biggest problem I see with any of the suggested starting-point cars is that the FT-1 windshield wraps around much more than any of the others. If you look at the profile shots of all of them, you'll notice the base of the windshield glass is MUCH farther forward of the base of the A-pillars than any of the donors, as is the top of the glass. I think, from these shots, that the top curve of the Corvette roof is the closest, and could be made to work by dropping the rear of it a little, letting it rotate downward from the top of the windshield. But you'd STILL have to deal with relocating the A-pillars to get that wrap into the front glass...and curve the front of the top panel more (seen in plan view) to allow for that

Also probably a good candidate...

WOW ! Some beautiful work. You really have to pay attention to be able to tell the model from the real car. Very, very nice.

Miles, based on what I've been hearing about the public schools, you're probably lucky you have any real hard-tech courses at all. I'm amazed that a public school even HAS a lathe, much less someone capable of instructing on it. What you describe sounds like a perfect pre-engineering course. Early hands-on experience in a variety of disciplines makes for much better all-around problem solvers. What is your ultimate goal? Engineering and design, I assume?

It's a CNC lathe cutting a curved cone shape. Several programmed roughing cuts, and then the final finish cut done in one smooth arc. A human operator couldn't do it that nicely (quickly) in 100 years. PS: That video clip IS speeded up considerably, just so's ya know...

350Z has a similar roofline...probably the hardest part to get right. Available in 1/24 from both Aoshima and Tamiya. Youll have to sculpt everything else.

I could watch that for hours.

Glad this came up though. Rob's "Easter egg" effect looks great, I recall seeing it when he did it a while back, and it would be perfect for something I'm thinking of to get out of the one-after-another-traditional-hot-rod mode.

"Tirade"? Really? I guess I shouldn't get involved, but keeping to the limitation of "model related objects" seems a relatively simple concept to grasp and to adhere to. I've been guilty of making some smartass, off topic entries here too, and have seen the error of my ways. But "tirade"? ti·rade ˈtīˌrād/ noun a long, angry speech of criticism or accusation. "a tirade of abuse" synonyms: diatribe, harangue, rant, onslaught, attack, polemic, denunciation,broadside, fulmination, condemnation, censure, invective, criticism,tongue-lashing; More

Fascinating article. I bought that Charger kit, and was sorely PO'd (or is it P'd O ?) when I saw it didn't have any real race chassis. That was getting close to my walking away from models for fun in around '69 or so anyway. Lotsa great info in the link, though. Thanks.

I've been wanting to do a 356A Porsche "outlaw" style build based on the Fujimi 4-cam kit, but I just don't have much time these days. Hate to commit to another build, only to have it sit and collect dust with the 30 or 40 others on the bench.

Looks like the Protar kit is another one. Which one was first...anybody know??

Great looking, original interpretation of that kit. Love the balsa longboard too.