Ace-Garageguy

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...

I would have to think it's a real blast to drive, and probably VERY hard to beat on any kind of twisty bits.

I'm so glad I'll be gone before that pretend reality becomes reality.

The past may be gone, but just because something is hip-happening-invented-yesterday doesn't necessarily make it BETTER. There's room for old stuff AND new stuff. Fella I work with, for whom I have a lot of respect, is 40 and has 3 young sons. He's a car builder by trade, completely connected to the modern world as well, and is also a very involved, engaged parent. He builds models...and other stuff...occasionally with his kids, and one of them is developing a real interest in the car thing. Maybe he'll turn out to be a mechanic or an engineer as a result, or maybe his understanding of how things WORK IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD will take him into a career in science where he just might make a planet-saving difference. How many video-game and facebook e-device addicted kids will get options like the model-building sons will have as a result of spending time with an old-school dad, MAKING THINGS?

Man, I sure didn't expect that. Really imaginative, beautiful paint, quality craftsmanship.

Man, I just HATE it when that happens...

Seriously, are the Trumpeter Falcons really that bad? This Ranchero underbody doesn't look as bad as I woulda thought from some of the comments...

We have a winner. Man, I 'bout jumped out of my chair when I saw that black and green thing looking at me.