Ace-Garageguy

This 2-part (you have to mix it, but it's not difficult) putty is becoming the standard among many more experienced builders. Amazon stocks it, and does ship to Norway (but check if this particular item can ship to you). http://www.amazon.com/Bondo-801-Professional-Glazing-Putty/dp/B004BYKICG It's also available from ebay UK for more money... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bondo-Professional-Glazing-Spot-Putty-801-3-0-oz-BND-801-BRAND-NEW-/121141705353

What percentage profit seems fair and sustainable to you ?

Yup, and the folks who studied it and accepted it as gospel were mostly the same folks who brought us the global economic meltdown. Anybody remember that?

Yeah, well, OK...

Yes sir, I'm actually quite aware of all of that, but your elaboration on my point is well taken. And yes, many things today are remarkably cheaper, even unbelievably cheaper, than they were years ago. A computer with the power of the one I'm using to write this, that I bought used for $400, would have been practically impossible to build in 1964, would have filled a LARGE building if it COULD have been built, and would have cost millions of dollars. On the other hand, there is a sloppy correlation between then-and-now prices on most everything that makes things today, in general, similar in cost to things then (whichever "then" we're talking about)...after, of course, adjusting for inflation.

If you bend solid rod cold, slowly and carefully, PAST the point you want it to be, and then glue it in place before it springs back...well, that's how I do it. It helps to pin the ends, and reinforce the joints (make "weld fillets") with gel superglue.

A gallon of gas in 1964 cost 25 cents. Today, at $3.60, that's 14.4 TIMES more. Your $2 model kit should cost $28.80 by that reckoning. $15.38 seems like an OK deal to me. Of course, most of the kits I see in stores are in the $25 range, and cheapos from e-bay, when you factor in shipping, are around that number too.

It's Duplicolor rattlecan BTY 1603 Dark Green Mica (Toyota 6M2), over Plasticoat light gray primer. The Duplicolor "mica" has a fairly fine flake...not scale-correct by any means, but better than many colors out there. It's also somewhat iridescent in daylight.

Thanks. There have been some scale engineering issues come up, plus all the lost time moving, but I'm beginning to see the possible end of this one.

One of the toughest parts has been getting the lines scribed back in the new roof. Several fillers I've tried wouldn't hold the sharp detail. I ended up using West Epoxy 105, and microballoon to get it. I made filler / stiffeners for the sides of the Magnum pillars, to close up the back glass and reinforce the joints at the decklid... ...and another stiffener for the pillar joints underneath.

Finally picked a color, so I'm inspired to get this one moving again. Removed the peak from the hood... ...and shot color to see what she'd look like. This is as-shot, no clear, and I'll put the hood on the body for the final color coat to insure even color...

Still just about impossible to beat a smallblock Chebby for reliable HP / $.

Wasn't that how Prez Bill got in?

I just found this link to a guy doing an incredible detail build of the SMER / Merit kit. Lotsa old detail photos, too. http://www.pwm.org.pl/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=18063

I didn't build either model in the photos (found them on the web) but I have several versions of the Merit / Smer kit. I've started one as a post-war smallblock-Chevy powered left-coast road racer, and I have the Heller Record Drophead in stock. The Merit GP body is split the same way the Heller body appears to be, but fits together remarkably well, and the hood fit is quite good too (especially for really really old tooling). Because the Merit body halves fit together so well, finishing the seam is relatively easy. I was seriously thinking of poaching the very nice engine and whatever mechanicals might be appropriate from the Record, and building a full-detail GP car combining the two.

Unfortunately, evolution isn't making the human species smarter. Just the opposite, in fact. Evolution isn't driven to improve a species. Rather, it simply favors whoever can breed the fastest and make the most babies, who breed the fastest and make more babies, etc. Because it's SO easy, relatively, to survive and breed in the developed world (no lions to eat you, free food if you qualify: 20% of households on food stamps in 2013, according to one source, etc.) and because the people with ability and brains seem to be breeding at a reduced rate (sometimes because they have respect for the planet, and realize there's a finite limit to how many people our little globe can support), it's generally the folks who have the least smarts and the least to offer who are breeding the fastest. Granted, some of the rapid-breeders are going to have really smart offspring, but natural selection isn't selecting for "smart". It's selecting for "pregnant at 12 years old". Dumb and irresponsible is coming on strong, and until there are SO many idiots that things just slow down and stop (because there aren't enough folks smart enough to run them anymore...look at banking, for instance, and our recent global financial fiasco...just the tip of the iceberg...and don't forget our crumbling infrastructure), dumb and useless is the fastest-growing segment of the population.

Such a cool idea...I'd really love to see somebody build that in 1:1, but with the stock '40 nose. Done right, it would have a real "Deco" or "Dieselpunk" vibe.

Mam o man o man...that's just wonderful !!! LOVE it. Imagination + skill = something completely unexpected.

There's a set of huge MT "Sportsman SS" treaded meats in the AMT "Blueprinter" release of the Double Dragster kit. Far right...

On the one hand, any manufacturer is happy you bought the product, and doesn't care much what happens to it afterwards. Look at the 1:1 kit-plane industry. The VAST majority of kit-planes never get completed, but the manufacturers survive on SALES, not what happens afterwards. The flip side, in the model-car biz, most likely involves mild pleasure on the part of the manufacturers, as wild hacked or highly-detailed kits will show up at contests, shows, and forums like this. That builds consumer interest, and folks will definitely buy a kit after seeing what somebody else has done with it. Whether they ever build it is immaterial, but the well-built or highly modified kits function as free marketing.

Another shot of the Heller kit built-up. It has an obviously opening hood, so there's most likely an engine in there. Older Heller kits are, in my opinion, usually pretty good representations of their intended subjects. Their 1950 Talbot-Lago Drophead Record (2-door convertible production car) has quite nice engine and chassis detail, if I remember correctly.

Whoopee!!! I was running low on vintage issues.

Apparently not. This is the Merit kit built, complete with the odd clear wire wheels and plastic tires... And this is the Heller kit built...considerably different, inny louvers, spoked wheels, sorta-correct tread pattern... Here's the Merit kit detailed...

You've built a good looking model, even though it didn't quite match your expectations far as finish. I've spent rather a lot of effort experimenting with various materials to achieve believable "bare metal" finishes. One of my recent ones is here...http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/?showtopic=81398 It represents a just-finished alloy body, and pretty well matches the 1959 press photos. The body in your reference pic seems to have been stripped and then treated with a phosphoric-acid wash. That's probably why it's gray, and many of us were expecting "silver", as clean "bare metal" would be.

Here's a late-model Hemi going in a '53 or so Stude...