Ace-Garageguy

I was young-ish, I'd torn the car all the way down to do a resto, the frame had a lot of cracks in it (I wasn't yet a competent welder/fabricator), and somebody made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I always figured I'd find or build another one, but the REALLY stupid part is that mine was factory-built by Lotus as a London Auto Show exhibit, and had what was then known as the full "SCCA" racing option package, including some Cosworth internal engine bits and a pair of Weber 40 DCOE sidedrafts...and the factory build-book. As vintage Loti go, it would be a particularly special car today.

Just remember that there were 3 entirely different Mopar hemi engines in the '50s...the DeSoto Fire Dome, the little Dodge Red Ram, and the big honkin' Chrysler Firepower. In real life few if any parts interchange. Even if the DeSoto is configured with a front mount in the '53 Ford pickup kit, in reality the blocks have mount pads on the sides of the front. It's not that hard to scratch build something that'll work fine for a model

Cover versions of well known songs are rarely as good as the originals.

Envy envy envy... Stupidest thing I ever did, by far, was sell my 7.

Entirely true, but some kits are so bad they'll fight you every step of the way, and require significant rework to even look like what they're supposed to represent. And "basic tools" are undoubtedly sufficient, provided they're good quality tools used correctly. Some of the knockoff "offshore" stuff like fake X-Actos with plastic collets and flexible blades, cheap drills that won't even go through plastic once, and "sprue cutters" with misaligned, soft jaws with blunt cutting edges aren't worth whatever you pay for them, no matter how little. Things like cheap sandpaper and bargain-store blue tape are just more problems waiting to bite you. Garbage tools and materials only lead to frustration and disappointment. AND...some spray paint is entirely unsuited to building styrene models and can actually destroy the surface, so due-diligence by researching here on the forum or asking specific questions is advisable. We're here to help. We've already made every mistake you can make, and we'd like to save you as much grief as possible.

You don't need to "hack it up" with a Dremel. These fit together just fine. Always have. This is why dry test-fitting is always recommended...so you understand how stuff fits before you're committed.

The Lindberg name is also still around, having been picked up by Round2, like AMT, MPC, and Polar Lights. The kits are all re-releases, some originally tooled by other manufacturers. Quality and accuracy vary from kit to kit, but there is some very fine stuff in their catalogue too. Their '53 Fords are among my favorite kits, and can make exquisite models, as below, built by Marcos Cruz:

"June" was the fictional Beaver Cleaver's mother's first name.

I very stupidly left out Moebius. They make some absolutely BEAUTIFUL models of vehicles nobody else has kitted (for the most part). Just a few examples: AND...they've purchased the tooling and re-released the excellent Galaxie Chevy kits we were afraid were gone forever:

^^^ Excellent.

I was lucky enough to visit this aircraft and walk through her well before her purchase and subsequent restoration, when there was still a very real possibility she'd be scrapped. It's good to know there are people in this country who understand the importance of preserving our mechanical heritage and history, and who are willing to step up with hard work and carloads of money to make it happen.

Forecast cold front coming through later in the week. Highs s'posed to be in the upper 70s on Sunday, 20 degrees cooler than today.

Celebrations next year will also revolve around 100 years of Rt. 66.

This airplane was an abandoned rotting hulk in the Mojave Desert back in 1987. Now she flies.

Yeah, but I could eat it at one sitting. Quantity over quality, ya know?

'56 or '57 Mk II Continental. Nice survivor driver. Older paint in good condition, a little slightly wavy bodywork, clean mostly original interior. Just the way I'd love to have it... EDIT: You really don't get a sense of how HUGE these things are from photographs.

Today is the last day of several July events according to Googli's AI, including National Baked Bean Month, National Blueberry Month, and Plastic Free July.

Arrrrrrr!!!!! No resale for me. I'll add 'em to the other 5000 kits I'll never get to that will end up in a dumpster when I'm dead. A man has to plan realistically for the future.

Thanks for the heads-up on these. I slid by Ollie's yesterday and let a couple follow me home...though I'd also sworn off buying any more kits. And just so they wouldn't be too lonely, I let a few more jump in the cart too.

In general, AMT-labeled kits haven't evolved all that much. There were some bleak years where accuracy suffered, but their current offerings are very similar to the best of their work in the 1960s. Some are re-releases of quite old kits, and some are very nicely entirely retooled. Revell has lost some accuracy as far as mechanical bits in some kits go, but has gained a little in ease of assembly. For example, for all the complaining about the "fiddly" nature of their early '29-'31 Ford kits and all the re-releases of same... ...I consider them superior in a number of ways to their more recently tooled versions and re-releases, though the later kits ARE easier to build. SOME current/fairly recent Revell offerings are re-releases of much earlier kits (Revell of Germany) but are generally excellent in my opinion. For example... Many of the kits from Atlantis are '60s-vintage Revell tooling in new packaging. Japanese kits like Tamiya and Fujimi are pretty consistently high quality with a lot of parts and detail. There are other Japanese and knockoff kits that are of uneven quality and accuracy in even major proportions and lines. There are several lower-volume manufacturers like Salvinos and some I can't recall at the moment that make interesting, good quality stuff too. Search for specific opinions here before buying a particular kit. And note: I'm only referring to injection molded styrene. Resin is a whole 'nother ball game.

PM'ed

Anyone want flies with that?

No irkage so far today...but give it time.