Ace-Garageguy

Well, I guess if there's any possibility of failure at getting a great job after going to school, it would just be better to not even try. Get a negative, skeptical attitude, and give up without trying. Everyone knows that's the path to success. It's not always right, but having a degree opens many doors that you just can't budge without one. But here's something to think about. Having ANY decent degree will open doors that the specific degree may not have prepared you for. The degree will get your foot in the door, and your own talent, skill and hard work will do the rest. And there are programs, like the one in Georgia, that will pay for a large part of the college education for students who work HARD ENOUGH to maintain a B average. Draw your own inferences, but something like a degree in Art History, basically pretty much useless for employment in the real world, AND a collection of beautifully-built car models would go farther getting you in the door at a model-building company or studio than just the models themselves would. Real-world employers like to see that a prospective hire put out enough effort to get that degree...even if it's not exactly the degree that would be ideal for the position.

Welcome to the world-famous MCM forum. Love the color, your paint work looks great, assembly is clean. Very nice. Pretty sure the wheels / tires are Pegasus Chrome T's big-n-little set. The T's are available as 18" or 23" wheels, and there used to be a set with 2 of each (maybe still available?).

Well Scott, obviously you already know all about it and choose to focus on the student's hair. That's fine. However, I posted the information for people who MIGHT NOT know what career paths and educational opportunities were available SPECIFICALLY GEARED TO COMMERCIAL MODEL BUILDING, not art for art's sake. I'm sure that with a little research, many more college-level courses could be found dealing with same. Architectural modeling, for instance, is sometimes taught as part of an architecture degree path, but is not always available as elective course work to non-architecture students . I was fortunate at Ga.Tech to have had the opportunity to take some architecture-related courses during my time there as a mechanical engineering major...but there was NOTHING even remotely resembling a model-building degree path similar to the one discussed and linked to in the first post. Probably many students pass on trying for college because they're not fully aware of the opportunities available, and are bored stiff by the conventional offerings. Knowledge is power.

Man, that is a wonderful color. Superb gloss too.

For relatively simple rounded shapes, I use an open-cell urethane foam (similar to RenShape, but cheaper and available in small quantities...send me your address and I'll send you some), and sand it to the contour I want. Then I seal it with epoxy, and finish-shape with bondo as necessary. In primer. And on the model, almost finished.

Absolutely correct, but most decent (non-loading-dock or burger-flipping) jobs start off paying relatively little considering the education required...even doctors and lawyers in the beginning aren't driving Lamborghinis...but like in everything, for those who have talent, are passionate, work hard, and persevere, a career doing something satisfying and enjoyable is obtainable. In my own mind, doing work you love for a reasonable amount of money beats doing work you hate for big bucks. Your opinion may differ. For those who don't know, Adam Savage (Mythbusters) was a professional model builder for years before getting the show. In the following video, he discusses model-building for films, and touches on topics well known to us all...scratch-building, kit-bashing, details, etc. He also says that though CGI has largely supplanted physical model work in movies, there is STILL a need for actual physical models, even in the film industry. Skills learned building model cars can translate into a job you like, if you go for it. If you look to the right of the video on youtube, you'll also see additional videos by Savage on various aspects of model building, tools, etc.

Beautiful subject...certainly one of the best looking exotics of recent design. Great looking work, too. Nice tight, clean fitment of the aftermarket bits. Care, patience and a critical eye at this stage make all the difference.

Yes, it looks like a very clean build. Nice work. That's such a perfectly designed car it looks good in almost any color, but I especially like the unusual scheme you chose.

I just use a tiny bit of regular old liquid glue, applied with a Touch-N-Flow applicator or the sharp end of a pin, usually. But you have to be really careful not to use too much...obviously...or you'll never get it apart again without damage. Rubber cement works well too for some things. For me, most of the time the white glues are too slow to bother with for mockups, but they sometimes are just right. It's all in what works best in the situation, and for you.

I also agree entirely. But the question posed by the OP in the body of the original post was "where will model car building be in 15 or 20 years"? To get the sense of a thread, sometimes it's necessary to read more than just the header. Most apparent drifting off-topic has been an effort to address WHY the hobby may be contracting, and HOW bringing kids into it might have some relevance to their real lives in the future. These are the central issues underlying "where will the hobby be in 15 or 20 years".

Boy, nothing like getting the point of the post. What they said includes several career paths for young people interested in model building and where some of their graduates have ended up. Fields like the full-scale automobile industry, architecture, product design, medical prosthetics, movies and even Formula One. (These fields pay WELL, by the way) And the facilities include everything in tools, from handsaws and hammers to state-of-the-art 3D print equipment...and training on same. And that industry recruiters appreciate the broad, multi-material-and-technique exposure the students are getting, as they see a wide knowledge base being helpful to employees solving unusual problems. But if that's your definition of "telling me nothing", that's OK by me.

You know, I NEVER said it was EITHER computers / virtual world OR physical world and objects...though the assumption seems to be that that was my meaning. My point is that a kid who has a grounding in HOW PHYSICAL THINGS WORK (like tools, engines, electrical components, adhesives, putting things together...like models...or computers...etc.) has MANY MORE paths to opportunity than one who ONLY gets information, experience and communication through electronic or online media. For what it's worth, I probably know more about the nuts and bolts of the hardware that makes IT even possible than many of the software engineers and programmers in the field. I built my first computer in 1968...not from a kit...and as a result was selected as one of only a few hundred students in the country to attend the 1969 National Youth Conference on the Atom, held in Chicago. I hot-rodded the machine the next year, and won a student award in mathematics from the Air Force. By the time I entered college, I had practically unlimited possible career paths. Why? Because: I got interested in making THINGS and how they worked, including a grounding in electricity that led to an interest in electronics, from seeing my father build models, and building them myself when I was old enough. Participating in a constructive, PHYSICAL hobby that teaches additional skills to add to the the set can only make a young person more versatile and more able to adapt to and prosper in diverse situations or changing job markets.

It's a LONG way from being texting-gaming-facebook obsessed to making a living like Rob Hall does in the industry. And IT remember, means Information Technology. Information is about someTHING, or it's entirely pointless.

With all the discussion of the future of model making going on, I thought it would be interesting to look into whats happening in the real world, education-wise. Seems like the idea of creating physical models is still quite alive and well, and can apparently still lead to a productive and well-paid career in some fascinating industries. Good things for younger people to be aware of, maybe. http://aub.ac.uk/courses/ba/ba-modelmaking/

Use an epoxy or polyester-based two-part filler, mixed and applied correctly, and I doubt you'll have any problems...assuming your bond between the panels and the car body is stable and strong, and you're not relying on the filler to supply structural rigidlty.

You wrote: "I think that actual physical material is largely outdated. the future is on the screen and in the mind. 30 years max and we will have full holography available in every home, with entertainment that is made up on the spot, and different everytime it is viewed. we will have "models" that exist in that environment only, or at least otherwise would be a true niche collectors market (like music on vinyl right now). 3D printing is only a stopgap; the real revolution will come when we free ourselves from physical material and transfer to a more virtual reality, where increasingly scarce resources aren't further drained to produce consumer goods for the rapidly expanding population in an increasingly bleak, post post-industrial world." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'm hardly a "willing participant". I embrace "technology" (and I use quotes around it because the computer dweebs seem to think they invented "technology", whereas "technology" actually began with the invention of the club so we could bash animals...and each other...more effectively) as an ADJUNCT to the physical world, NOT A REPLACEMENT for it. CAD and engineering programs like CFD vastly improve the ability of engineers and designers to develop solutions to increasingly complex problems about THINGS, like shape-shifting aircraft wings that reduce drag AND improve lift at all speeds...complex problems that couldn't be solved without massive computing power. BUT these programs are based on empirical evidence arrived at by rigorous testing and recording of data, including failure modes...OF MATERIAL OBJECTS...for many years. Being able to design and test in a "virtual" environment has, as its end, the manufacturing of an object in PHYSICAL REALITY. The internet is a research and communication and entertainment TOOL of capability and value that was unimaginable when I was young (I read lotsa science fiction then, and the powers attributed to computers "of the future" were laughably puny compared to today's reality), but the net is only another ADJUNCT to reality...for me, anyway. I research THINGS, I buy THINGS, I communicate about THINGS on the net...but I don't spend time in a pretend world where actions have no physical consequences, where actual laws of physics are conveniently suspended, and where knowledge of physical cause-and-effect is unknown. Spare me the rambling about how "car setup" etc. is done so convincingly in video games. Is there a game scenario where your car slams head on into a wall because you idiotically stripped a bolt in a critical part of your steering linkage (because you were distracted by constant texting your friends about trivial BS)? I doubt it...and even if there were, the consequences don't involve death or dismemberment or blood...just "game over". You think that "physical material is outdated"? What kind of material would you use then, to make clothes to cover your body, to make heaters and AC units, to build walls and roofs, and to supply nourishment? NONE of these necessities for continued human existence can be supplied by any sort of "virtuality". Yes, "technology" will allow for more and more "virtual" experiences that are less and less distinguishable from physical reality...and probably a VAST number of people will prefer an effort-free virtual existence. But I won't be one of them, and I'm working hard to point out the fallacy of thinking that it's a good thing. When EVERYBODY is living in virtuality, who will be around to keep the lights and heat on, and to grow food, eh? Advanced technology will shortly be routinely implantable, and so integrated into the human machine that the line between tech and human will gradually blur, and an advanced species of augmented humans will emerge...capable of more, in every way...physically AND mentally...than we can even dream of now. The ones who prefer to live second-hand virtual lives will be left behind to wallow in their pretend nothingness, while the best and brightest, still engaged in LIFE, will move out to the next great human adventure, the quest to learn what lies beyond our own planet. Will they be building model cars as they head out past the edge of the Solar System? Doubtful, but you just never know...and I'd bet anything that some of them will enjoy building models of SOMETHING. Model building dates vary far back in human history, and seems to have pretty deep roots.

Thanks for checking. No way I could possibly pay that. Rats.

Really liking it as a lowered hot-rod, wide whites and all. Very attractive, unusual color combo too.

Fine, fine looking models. Realistic and convincing. Very well photographed too.

Man, that IS nice! Beautifully photographed too. Comes off looking like a real car. Fine, fine work.

Jus' one more 'n I'm done...

Turbo Porsche 944 guts.

Bet this one handles like a real boat...