Ace-Garageguy

More good stuff that followed me home from yesterday's ACME show: Union Porsche 907/908, complete, unstarted, well under online asking prices. I already had some gloobombs, but the cherry kit will let me bugger it myownself. Union Ferrari 330 P4, also complete and unstarted, also under online asking, and it came with a gorgeous extra set of tires from MFH, worth more than the model itself. And a Tamiya Sauber-Mercedes C9, again NIB, unstarted, and cheaper than online, especially after shipping. This one will probably be donating its guts to do a phantasy C-111, based on the awful C-111 1/24 kit (I've forgotten the manufacturer...ARII?...but it's a better than starting with a potato...barely) I got a few years back.

I dunno...maybe a giant prehistoric time-traveling bowerbird that loves shiny sparkly things?

"Mid engined" he says. Pretty funny. Probably ought to put a generator and at least one big honkin' electric motor on the thing too, with enough battery to move it about 10 feet and call it a hybrid as well.

Glance carefully, 'cause in some circles today that's known as "the male gaze" and can get you in deep deepness.

Yup. Remember 'em, but never bought 'em. How 'bout the wobbling kitty heads / demon skulls / whatever with the eyes that lit up when you stepped on the brakes? Pure class. Yeah, all the chicks sure went for that guy.

Ever hear of an increasingly obscure concept called "taste"? Then there's the horrible fit of the wonky front sheetmetal and the paint mismatch...but hey, it's covered in garish stick-on stuff, so don't pay attention to the incompetent workmanship. And "stands out from the rest" isn't always...well, let's just say "an aesthetic improvement".

Something seriously wrong with the fit of the front sheetmetal too.

Beautiful results. THANK YOU.

At the ACME show yesterday I also bought a copy of How to Paint Scale Cars by Nestor Espinoza...which he signed for me. If you're not familiar with his work, you really should be. Besides being a master all-round painter, he's got weathering and simulated metal finishes down...and the book tells you how to do it. May as well learn from one of the best on the planet, and if the Maserati that's on the cover is anything to judge by...which was at the show...he is indeed one of the best ever. This also has to be the best how-to book I've ever seen, including info on decal work, realistic figure painting, etc. And though it is promoting the AMMO product line, it tells you exactly what to use and how to use it for world-class results.

Today I went to the shop early, got a lot done, and I'm taking the rest of the day off to play with the stuff I brought home from the show yesterday...but first a shower and a shave.

The '51 is nothing but a minor facelift on the '49-'50 sheetmetal. Some enterprising scratchbuilder could relatively easily make '51 grille, bumpers, etc., and it's easy to fill the cutout in the hood for the earlier grille hump. Then copy the parts in resin. OR...same thing but 3D modeled and printed. I don't see a major manufacturer tooling an entirely new kit just to do a minor facelift on an existing kit. Maybe, just maybe, a modification of the existing tool into a '51, possibly as a Victoria, but I still don't see it happening.

Shoes of the fisherman often squish when he walks.

Went to the ACME meet today and came away with a buncha stuff from Norm Veber and MCG I've wanted for some time, plus a few kits at great prices, some "junk" finds like a half-built Invader for $10, a built Black Force for $5, which is way less than the wheels/tires go for, etc. The one that got away I'm still kicking myself for is the complete unbodged MPC Astro Vette I missed. Didn't snag it on the spot, decided to go back and get it...it was gone. Ya'd think I wooda learned by now.

There goes another rubber tree plant...

I agree with you on the '57 Bird with its blobular chassis, nose issues, interior and windshield fit, etc, but I've always found the '49-'50 Ford to be a pretty decent kit, very well proportioned, with a decent undercarriage.

Yup, '62. And I'm pretty sure the first release was gray. Googlie's idiot AI, when asked the question, doesn't bother to give a year, but says: "The AMT 1949 Ford was one of the first plastic models produced by AMT, and was released along with the 1950 Ford and Plymouth sedans." Okayyyyyyy. If anybody has one of those alternate-universe '50 Plymouth sedans, I'll pay a lot for it.

Yeah...when you consider the damage a 12 pound male housecat if it's really pissed can do to a human, imagining what it could do if it weighed 130 is pretty...intimidating. Still, unless one is really hungry, I'm pretty sure it would just as soon be left alone to look for smaller prey.

I think I saw you in the crowd, but by the time I finished the conversation-buying at MCG, you had vanished, never to be seen again.

Is it me, or does the whole world smell like wet gym clothes left too long in a locker?

Reality is what characters in 1984 were often cautioned against; they were told not to believe their lying eyes and ears and minds, while those who told them all that spouted fabrications, words taken out of context and spun into false meanings, and innuendo presented as truth.

Second that, I do.

"Mandatory 'bout dem giants wa' some kinda tall tale" was little Johnnie's answer to "use mandatory in a sentence".

Sketch your ideas on paper for a non-battery-dependent memory refresher.

I accomplished twice as much as last time I posted, but 2X0 still equals 0. I'll be shooting for 3 times as much for next time.