Ace-Garageguy

I know I'm a nasty picky SOB, but the green one coulda used some of that goofy tag-recess effort directed into panel fit and symmetry, matching the curves at the lower corners of the deck with the quarter panels, smoothing out the lumpy bodywork in the rear fascia, continuing the in-curved line across the fascia between the lights, getting the lights actually symmetrical, enlarging the left-side exhaust cutout to fit the tip, and maybe making another exhaust tip to fill the right-side cutout. Just sayin'. Kinda might want to get the basics of decent-quality craftsmanship down before going off on some "custom" tangent.

Clean machine. Paint and panel lines look great too. I just scored one of these marked down to $8. Now I'm happier after seeing how fine yours looks.

Great concept. If I lived in that particular alternate reality, I'd really have to get busted for speeding more often, just to get pulled over by something cool.

Also, unfortunately, we live in a very litigious society now, and IF someone here tells you how to do something with potentially LETHAL house current, and IF you were to make a mistake, you or your heirs could conceivably sue the Magazine, the person who posted the advice, and anyone else the lawyers thought they could squeeze a nickel out of. It's just not worth the risk. Sorry, but that's the way things are today. This is a great opportunity for you to learn some basic electricity, which I strongly suggest you do BEFORE you attempt any modifications. There are LOTS of really good books available on the subject.

I honestly think Greg was just asking "what's the point?", and not intending to "bash" anything. A little good-natured poking-fun at a build style that has zero functional purpose isn't really out of line...and I've contributed my share of negative comments, probably un-necessarily. But I think they call it "freedom of speech" in some parts of the world. It may not be entirely PC, but it kinda makes one recall the children's old saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me". I STILL haven't seen anyone really explain fully how this build style evolved and what the POINT is. I know there are some of us who prefer vehicles that accelerate, handle and stop well, and focus our modifications on enhancing those particular functions. You know, actually DRIVING ? Our possibly short-sighted (in my case anyway) vision has a difficult time understanding why so much effort would be expended on a vehicle that does NONE of these things well. And as I've said before, I respect the amount of work and skill it takes to build something like this. It's just totally alien to my particular definition of what a "vehicle" is.

No offense intended, but if you're not entirely familiar with working with household electrical components and wiring, I'd respectfully suggest you don't get into this. It's quite simple, but asking how to do it implies you don't have a good grounding in electricity. House current is DANGEROUS if you don't REALLY know what you're doing.

The elastics from cheap dust masks make great scale seatbelt material, and some of the ties my last ex used for her pony-tail make much better looking Aeroquip hose than some of the commercial offerings.

Oh man, I love this thing!! I can just imagine it pouring black smoke from those stacks in a cloud of completely non-PC glory. Too cool.

Great looking model, especially for a first effort. Welcome, and I hope to see a lot more of your work. It's always good to see a new modeler who has talent progress over time.

Okay, I'm sure I'm going to p-off everybody one way or another, and I'm going to get labeled a brown-noser, etc., but I don't really care. I seriously doubt that the moderators get paid for taking their time and effort to make this forum function as well as it does, and to try to keep everything civil and organized. If they don't get paid, that means they're doing what they do here for no other reason than a love of the hobby, and a desire to help this place operate smoothly. It DOES take time and effort to do what they do, and I really don't think they're on ego-driven power trips. The constant carping about little things that they do that might be not exactly the way someone else would do them seems to ignore entirely the POSITIVE contribution the moderators make, every day, just by being available to do a largely thankless job. That's all I got on this one.

Yup, that style of marketing always works on me too. Every time.

Pretty crazy...in a good way. I really like the top and rear 3/4 looks.

Whoa...slick !!! Just goes to remind us all that a modeler can get first rate results from rattle cans with practice and talent applied. Very nice.

NEW!!! SMALLER PACKAGE !!! COSTS MORE !!! It's the American way.

Looks good. What you're doing with adding parts from one hubcap to another one is exactly the way the guys came up with something unique on the 1:1 cars way back when. History repeating itself, in scale.

Perhaps it's simply reflecting the widespread societal trend towards style over substance in a variety of areas. Cast alloy wheels began as light-weight alternatives to factory steel, to enhance performance by reducing un-sprung weight (improves handling) and rotational mass (improves acceleration) but they've evolved to ridiculous caricatures with silly diameters and weight that destroys performance. The transformer truck thing is just a similar evolution of another trend that's been around for a long time. It's not something I'd ever build, but you have to respect the work and engineering it takes to make something like this actually function.

Edit: Pete seems to have already voiced my opinion. Surely having to perform consistently on a variety of surfaces and sometimes awful conditions puts rally drivers way up there in terms of ability and split-second decision making, but as others have already said, "best" is a highly subjective term. Any form of high-level motorsport takes exceptional skill and lotsa cojones, way beyond what the typical person has.

Great looking custom, perfect color.

Wow...your work is first-rate and your choice of material is fascinating. Man...nice stuff.

1) Yes, that looks for certain like a 9". That little indentation on the rear cover next to the bump for ring gear clearance is a giveaway. 2) I don't know about the rear in the '66 pro-street Nova 3) ALL the Revell '32 Fords have a great 9", but of course you'll have to modify the brackets and spring perches. There are also excellent reinforced-housing 9-inch rears in many Nascar kits.

Your work is always outstanding and always inspiring...as is your attention to detail, right down to the center cover-clips for the windshield surround. And your styling choices and sense of proportion are perfect. Absolutely beautiful.

Entirely possible depending on all circumstances, honest. It used to be fairly common to see newb Porsche drivers hit the armco at Road Atlanta track days...backwards. All you have to do to make it happen in a tail-heavy Porsche is lift your foot off the throttle and hit the brakes if you enter a turn way too fast. If you go into a turn too hot in a front engined lump, as shown, it takes a little more effort to spin it and have it strike something while traveling backwards, but the impact here was clearly while the car was traveling SIDEWAYS and backwards; it hit the tree on the scarred side, and spun around when the sliding tree hit something more solid than bodywork, like suspension arms. Assuming you're in a FAST turn and you lose traction on a couple of wheels from hitting a slick or sandy spot, or grass, all manner of interesting things can happen.

Yes, just think...the tree he hit could have been someone's beautiful young wife and children.

Mmmmm...deep fried popcorn !!!

Yeah, and the guy who built the little blue truck would probably have an equally hard time understanding why on earth anyone could possibly want this...