Ace-Garageguy

I don't get paid enough...

I'm right there with you. That old Monogram '40 pickups is one of my favorites too, and defying any kind of rationality, I'm still collecting '60s kits to build someday...

Vain can also mean "marked by futility or ineffectualness"...as in "trying to fix stupid will always be in vain."

No Corvette, Lotus, DeTomaso Vallelunga, or countless other fiberglass / composite bodied cars, including some real Ferraris, Porsches, and full scale kit-cars, for you, eh? EDIT: These kids aren't building the things they build to sell, anyway. Nothing about the car is any kind of production, street-licensable. Did you happen to notice the brake rotors cut from thin steel plate? Functional for going around the block, or on and off a trailer, but that's about it. All plastic windows too, but the side power windows work. And watch the vid where they tackle the lighting electronics, etc. Essentially, it's a self-propelled, drivable BIG MODEL CAR, not anything trying to be taken seriously as a real vehicle...and if it were, Ferrari would most certainly crack down on 'em, and just might anyway. Still, even though it's just a full-scale model, the skills these kids have are so far and away beyond what 99.999% of the rest of humanity ANYWHERE has, it's pretty downright amazing they could do that, at all...especially considering how basic their tools are. EDIT 2: They also MADE their own chassis, suspension uprights, control arms, brake caliper adapters, engine mounts, etc. Just the engineering that went into hinging the doors is WAY beyond the ability of the vast majority of high-dollar "car builders". Yeah, there are a very few people who can do what these kids did, and to a much higher standard. I know some very well indeed. But for comparison, look at the other "clay" video I posted showing how manufacturers accomplish essentially the same thing, using million-dollar 5-axis CNC milling machines to rough carve the clay, VR, exotic CAD environments, and a very well paid cast of hundreds working in a pristine climate-controlled building.

Had to get out of the weather, get warm, calm his PTSD symptoms, then call mom to tell her "the car wrecked", after which she called the family lawyer to sue the companies that made and sold the hoodie.

Looking good. I always wanted that kit when I was a kid, but somehow never got around to it. May have to get one now. Looks like it'll make a very attractive model. A 1/25ish version is in my future, based on the Flintstone repop of a Danbury Mint White 3000 cab and the old Lindberg tanker.

His mommy is going to ground him for at least a week for that, and maybe cut his allowance.

Prevalent is nothing like covalent.

"Sheeps, don't fail me now" said the feller who was prone to misquoting.

Something wicked their way comes, perhaps?

Mower maintenance can be eliminated by replacing your mower with sheep.

"Reason", defined as "the power of comprehending, inferring, or thinking, especially in orderly, rational ways" appears to be in global decline.

Very fine, as always.

Pretty slick spaceship. Very nice indeed.

Very nice rendition of one of my favorite kits.

Great alternate-reality build. Well done, sir.

Best answer...or just use different tires, assuming you have a stash of parts. The kit tires from that particular Gunze kit are somewhat undersized anyway, IIRC. Barring that, there are several flexible 2-part epoxy-based fillers (made for flexible parts repair) available from bodyshop suppliers that MIGHT work, possibly requiring an adhesion promoter, and refinish with a flexible black coating (SEM or Mar-Hyde, etc.) as Mr. Sipper suggests. Not knowing exactly what material those tires are made from, I can't make specific recommendations.

Yup, they're great little cars. If I was looking for something quick and reliable for reasonable money, that's one that would top my list. It really makes me sad to see it wrecked, and to know it's a write-off.

I can tell both frame rails are "swung" to the right just from the position of the bumper reinforcement. The LH apron is toast too (that's what the suspension strut hangs on), the "core support" (supports the radiator, AC condenser, hood, lights, etc) is history, and on and on. You can't just "pull" the structural damage out. You pull it first, then drill out dozens of spot-welds, remove the damaged parts, and build the structure back up from new parts, all spot-welded back together like the factory did it (which it never really is). It's major surgery, and has to be done right, or the car's occupant safety "crush" impact energy management won't be there if it gets hit again.

1) Really glad your wife's OK. If she'd been punched in the door that hard, it would be another story. 2) It'll total. There's almost certainly heavy structural damage when there's that much suspension damage. I look at this stuff every day, and I'm 99.98273% sure it's a goner. (The "total" dollar threshold is typically around 70% of the market value of the car; when the estimated repair cost goes over that, you're done.) 3) I'd be pretty mad about the mindless destruction of a perfectly good little car.

Considering this was built in pretty primitive conditions with the most basic tools required to do the work, it's of astoundingly good quality. "Inspirational" doesn't begin to describe what a bunch of Vietnamese kids accomplished here. Some of it's a little crude, but the amount of good seat-of-the-pants engineering and craftsmanship that went into this thing, especially the building of the body and interior panel clay "plugs", good enough to splash molds from to make fiberglass panels...it just blows my mind. EDIT: In the YT comments under the Rolling Bones vid I posted a coupla days back, there were a bunch of haters ragging on "old rich boomers" who had hot-rods. OK dwerbles...build something cool yourself like these young guys did, and quit your whining about " boomers bad ".

Lacquer is generally not recoat-window time-sensitive. You can recoat it at any time...usually. But if I'm going to shoot over lacquer that's been sitting for a while, I'll scrub it with Comet or Soft Scrub and a toothbrush to give it a little tooth. I'll also final-wipe it with 70% isopropyl alcohol, because believe it or not, fisheye-causing contaminants can get on the surface of a model in just a few days. 70% iso will clean them off without harming the paint. Sadly, some products labeled "lacquer" behave like enamels when recoated even years later. I discovered this when I tried to shoot Duplicolor black lacquer over old Ace Hardware-store black "lacquer", only to have the old stuff (that had been on the model for almost 10 years) crack and wrinkle. I rarely use enamels, and would most likely strip an old enamel job simply because there's always a chance solvents in the new paint will attack and wrinkle the old paint.

Visit exotic locations, or friends and family, and spend your time in the room building models?

As it's working for you and Steve, I'll give it a shot. Always nice to have another option in the box.

Most excellent. I didn't know that kit even existed.