Ace-Garageguy

I've got the old Caddy, a retractable Ford and 2 versions of the '57 wagon / Ranchero. Though challenging to build nicely, thay CAN be made into beautiful models without a whole lot of corrections to get the proportions right. They were reasonably accurate for the technology available at the time. For the technology available when the last Ala Kart with the stupidly-tiny engine, the Monogram '34 snapper Ford with the WAY TOO SHORT HOOD, and the ridicululously WAY UNDERSCALE chopped '34 Ford on the tube chassis were tooled, there's no excuse. I'm NOT TALKING ABOUT HAIR SPLITTING DETAIL. I'm talking about GROSS INACCURACY.

Yup, LT-5.

Low-yield nuclear weapons will open all of the paint containers in a several-mile radius. Saves a lot of time.

In my experience, gluing in windows with CA (super glue), tube glue or liquid glue is a recipe for disaster. The best product I've found to date is Micro Kristal Klear from Microscale. It is NOT solvent based so it doesn't etch the 'glass' or leave 'fumimg' marks like CA. It is water-soluable and is similar to a thicker (less water) version of Elmer's white glue (PVA, or poly-vinyl-acetate). It is white, and dries clear. It also dries s-l-o-w-l-y, so it's essential to fit your windows well, clamp or otherwise fixture them in place, and apply the PVA glue to the inside edges you can get to and leave it alone while it dries. If you do a clean job, you will have an invisible, slightly rubbery bond between the window and the body. Many people are dis-satisfied with the stuff because they try to use it like an instant or quick-drying product, and it simply won't work that way. Used correctly, it's foolproof. But until it's completely dry, it has about zero strength. It also works well to glue chrome parts to a build during final assembly, or gluing assemblies together when you don't want to risk solvent damage or 'smoking' (CA) on a painted surface.

I'm liking the concept.......

Whoa !!! Nice !!!

Or a big hammer if you're not into firearms. Either way, it makes the paint a little difficult to use.

Measure the real component. Divide by the denominator for the scale you're working in. Simple math. For example: many plug wires are 8mm. This converts to .314961 inches (a little bigger than 1/4 inch, or .25") Divide .314961 by 25 for 1/25 scale. You get 0.01259844 So use .0125 wire for an 8mm plug wire. It is about 28 gage. Close enough. This chart will let you convert from the diameter you figure out (look in the second column) to the gage wire you need (read the gage in the first column): http://www.powerstre...m/Wire_Size.htm

I've never seen a Cobra done in this style before. Very nice work.

As for the right underbody / primer color, have a look at the chassis shots of this car. http://www.rkmotorscharlotte.com/sales/inventory/active/1971-Plymouth-HEMI-Cuda/133269#!/188545 Though it's heavily undercoated, SOME of the chassis shows a red-oxide primer. IF this is in fact a 'survivor', or even if it's a very well and thouroughly faked counterfeit (don't laugh....I've seen an entirely FAKE Corvette C2 Grand Sport roadster, passed off as the real deal, and I unknowingly made fiberglas parts for it) it's a pretty good bet this is the right Mopar primer color for the era.

Yup.

It's a really pretty little 'T', and well within the range of what someone who loved his car could have done to dress it up. I've got a couple of these boxed, and thanks to you, I think I'll build one stock for a change of pace. Thanks for the inspiration.

I like it. A LOT.

Pretty sure the block and heads, distributor position, etc. are plenty close on a 440 to pass for a 383 in a model. Specifics like carburetion, air cleaners, accessory location, smog equipment, etc. would possibly differ. Here's a good starting point to research your particular application. http://www.allpar.com/mopar/383.html

The absolute #1 BEST material I've found for exhaust system work so far is 4043 aluminum TIG welding rod in the correct scale-diameter. I use 0.093" rod to represent about 2.5 inch exhaust tubing in 1/25 scale, for instance. It's paintable, doesn't go dull like solder, has no lead content like solder (if that matters to you), holds its shape perfectly when bent, doesn't collapse like tubing, and looks polished like stainless or chrome. Sand it with 600 grit wet paper and it looks like un-polished stainless. Sand it with 400 wet and prime with a self-etching primer for best paint adhesion.

Thanks a lot. A US version GTS would most likely have moderately sized, riveted-on fender flares. Are these not present on the model?

Go man, go.

I would REALLY like to know the actual size of the model car market in this country, and how it breaks down. I was doing some research on the Ala Kart recently and came across several quotes that AMT's first release of that kit in the early '60s sold a MILLION copies. If that's a good number (I know, everything on the internet is true...) I wonder if any issue even comes close to those numbers today.....even though there are about twice as many people in the US as there were then.

This rings true, and I'm certain it's the reason the scale-accuracy and function-represented-correctly issues matter to me apparently more than to the average modeler. As a life-long professional builder and restorer of 1:1 prototype and high-performance vehicles that HAVE TO FUNCTION CORRECTLY, it does feel like a "salp in the face" when a model company misses the mark hugely on a scale or design issue that is instantly obvious to me, or when a modeler builds something with a total and complete dis-regard for how it would function in 1:1. Understanding how things work and making things that DO work (or REPRESENT CORRECTLY things that work) is part of the satisfaction I get from my employment AND my hobbies. And I guess that's a difference in 'how-I'm-wired' from the guys who just don't care to understand function, or model company employees who don't bother to measure carefully. But I've known people all my professional life that didn't have the "bond or passion" (to quote Shane again) for what they did that I seem to have, and I guess my real question is "Why not?". Why is it so often acceptable to so many to slide through life with minimal effort, understanding, and involvement, and being perfectly satisfied with mediocrity rather than excellence? This is obviously a philosophical question and I don't really expect it to be answered here, but it's something I wonder about constantly.

That one was indeed originally released in the AMT Ala Kart / '29 Ford double kit, (late '61, I think) but it's also been released several times alone (many of the Ala Kart parts, some modified, are included in the re-releases as well). The most recent releases I have are 2002/ 2003 molded in light gray. I also have an '87 release molded in red. The original release (I built it new when I was a kid) is molded in white, and is a more brittle polystyrene blend than the later red and gray versions. I THINK there was a yellow one in there too somewhere. I've bought a lot of these as gluebombs to rework, as well as virgin kits. Other than the different colors of plastic, the stock '29 kit is identical in all respects through all the releases, and is one of my all-time favorites.

Has anyone built any of these? Are any full-detail kits with engines? The proportions look a little off in all of the photos of the Fujimi and Marui versions I've seen, and while they look pretty good on the Gunze, the ride-height is way too high. Any additional input from anyone? PS. Thanks for moving my post to an appropriate, pre-existing thread....come to think of it, I'd seen this thread before and forgot about it, probably because it's kinda light on factual information and long on opinions and pix of the real cars. But it does answer my question as to whether any of these kits are full-detail, so I'm happy.

I'd really like to see those two run heads-up 1:1.

Very nice. Second one is a 206 Dino?

That explains your avatar then. I've got a 289 hi-po and a 351C waiting to find homes. The 351 may go in a hot-rod 450SL Mercedes. I've been sorta looking for the 4-48IDA Weber carb setup for he 289, but there's no way I could afford it in anything like the forseeable future.

Interesting. I bought a bunch of old Aurora Indy kits, boxed and builts, years back when nobody wanted them. Glad something is finally worth more than I paid for it. They're not very accurate, by the way.