Ace-Garageguy

I'd think they wouldn't be that much of an issue to quantity-over-quality builders though...

Lindberg did the earlier Charger (thru 2010) body style as a police car or SRT8. At least the police car was full-detail (I assume the SRT8 was as well) and the engine and chassis are surely very similar to the current cars. I'd think an enterprising builder could massage the older car into a passable new one.

I just got in two Vic's Resin kits from an online seller. The '59 Pontiac wagon I bought to do Mickey Thompson's Challenger tow car is pretty awful. Slush-cast, poorly scribed NON-symmetrical door lines that aren't in the right places anyway, large holes in places, roofline just flat wrong, missing lower rocker panels, etc. etc. If I were grading this mess for a class, I'd give it an F. I don't mind excessive flash and thickness on resin as long as the shapes and proportions are right, and there are no gaping holes. But this thing is way less than what's just barely acceptable. It's going to take one hell of a lot of work to make a good model from it, and I don't understand how somebody can turn out trash like this and think it's decent. The '56 Lincoln Premier I'd give a D. Again nasty slush-cast, but better than the Pontiac. At least all the edges got cast and there aren't any gaping holes...though there are plenty of pinholes. The roof-line is also completely wrong, and the top of the roof is wavy and lumpy. The roof and windows aren't symmetrical either, and it looks to have been chopped on one side but not the other. Again, it's going to take a helluva lot of work to make a good model...but it's not quite as bad as the Pontiac. Both models exhibit a grainy surface finish, as though some stupid dark-ages mold-release like talcum powder or poorly-sprayed poly-vinyl-alcohol was used, and will make it all but impossible to get clean details like chrome trim. For $125, I'm disappointed. Seriously disappointed. But I'll probably keep 'em, as I'm unaware of these subjects being available elsewhere.

UPDATE & REVIEWS... I just got in two Vic's kits from an online seller. The '59 Pontiac wagon I bought to do Mickey Thompson's Challenger tow car is pretty awful. Slush-cast, poorly scribed NON-symmetrical door lines that aren't in the right places anyway, large holes in places, roofline just flat wrong, missing lower rocker panels, etc. etc. If I were grading this mess for a class, I'd give it an F. It's going to take one hell of a lot of work to make a good model from it, and I don't understand how somebody can do trash work like this and think it's decent. The '56 Lincoln Premier I'd give a D. Again nasty slush-cast, but better than the Pontiac. At least all the edges got cast. The roof-line is also completely wrong, and the top of the roof is wavy and lumpy. It's not symmetrical either, and looks to have been chopped on one side but not the other. Again, it's going to take a helluva lot of work to make a good model...but it's not quite as bad as the Pontiac. Both models exhibit a grainy surface finish, as though some stupid dark-ages mold-release like talcum powder or poorly-sprayed poly-vinyl-alcohol was used, and will make it all but impossible to get clean details like chrome trim. For $125, I'm disappointed. Seriously disappointed. But I'll probably keep 'em, as I'm unaware of these subjects being available elsewhere.

At this point in time, most likely you're correct. IF the old Chevy kits existed as CAD files, with thorough documentation of draft angles, gate and pin locations, and why things were done as they were (which they probably don't), a competent CAD designer could modify them into another similar subject significantly easier than starting from nothing. The Chevy frame and body shell are similar enough to each other to make creating a Pontiac from a Chevy relatively straightforward. Oddly, it's only fairly recently that I've seen CAD designers being actively encouraged to try to recycle earlier work to save effort and expense. Seems to be a pretty self-evident idea, but common sense is a commodity in increasingly short-supply.

Yes indeed, the frames are different, but Chevy and Pontiac are visually similar. Anyone wanting to do a tri-five Pontiac using a Chevy frame as a starting point, look here...

Sealed 1995 issue of Monogram's Li'l Coffin. I have a few gluebombs and partial kits of this thing, but I've pirated a bunch of parts for other projects. Though there's enough left to build a complete one, I figgered why not just get a cherry, and hack up the others. Kinda surprised to find a sealed kit 25 years later for not-too-bad money, too.

Hmmmmm...

Better than sending a rusty hulk to the crusher...I guess.

Cool. I really like the tag, too.

Ivanhoe comes immediately to mind from my younger days, for reasons you mention. And when I read The Fountainhead the first time at about 18, and a little later Atlas Shrugged, the truth of the themes resonated with the world view I'd already developed. When you write "...in our world today, those...virtues seem as outdated as those old pulp novels themselves. And it makes me sad", remember that those virtues are never out of date. There are many people who operate as though they are, but they are the foundations of civilization, and it's your decision and yours alone to live by them. But I'm pretty sure you understand that completely.

Thanks Ray. I hope so too. In the interim, I took on a "quickie" project to fill the time while I'm waiting for stuff to finish up the '66 Chevelle build, stuff that used to be readily available. Since mid August, I've ordered the same structural sheetmetal Mazda part from 4 online suppliers who gladly took my money, and then sent me an e-mail cancelling the order due to "website difficulties" or "no longer available from the manufacturer" or "back-ordered indefinitely". I guess all these clowns use the same source, and nobody bothers to update the websites when a part becomes unavailable. I just got off the phone with an actual human who said the OEM does in fact have 7 of the things in the US warehouse, and she can get me one in about a week or so. We'll see. Sure am glad I'm getting out of doing this for a living. Between Covid, creeping dumber-every-day, and general widespread incompetence, I no longer have the patience.

I got an e-mail today from a supplier stating my parts would be delivered by FedEx on Sept. 1. I guess they have time travel now...or maybe they mean next year.

Yup, that's a proper hot-rod. You know you got it right when it looks good from every angle. Nice.

I like cats too. Didn't much feel like getting another one after I had Spooky put down after 14 years, due to cancer. A couple years later, one of the local ferals abandoned a 4-week old kitten under the house, and after hearing him crying all night, I brought him in. 2 years later, he's a big 'ol black-and-white tom with a friendly disposition, but a real fighter for neighborhood territory. Yeah, cats are great companions and friends, with surprisingly different and unique personalities. Glad your little guy has found a good home.

I'm sad to hear that, Carl. I've always enjoyed seeing your work, reading your comments, and particularly admired your painting skills. As others have said, please keep in touch.

I was in a similar situation overseas. Really good food, but we all joked about the yard-lamb, street-beef, and sewer-chicken in the vindaloo...probably accurately. There was an ethnic restaurant in town here I used to frequent that served a thin broth with bits of meat and occasionally bones in it. Mighty tasty, but after I got a bowl with a little rodent-sized pelvis, I never went back.

The Gates Bezos Zuckerberg foundation?

"...we hereby offer you five ways to know you’re eating rat. 1. It smells like rat. Rats secrete an oil onto their skin that gives them their distinct "rodenty" odor. Some compare the smell to that of a warm tortilla, says Ginn, while others compare it to urine. Regardless, it’s distinctive. While it’s true that the odor lessens after the rat is skinned, and again after the rat is cooked, no amount of cooking can ever completely get rid of the smell. 2. It tastes like rat. The oil rats secrete gives them a distinctive taste as well. Ginn describes it as quite pungent and gamey — most similar to raccoon or rabbit. Blended with other meats, rat becomes a lot less distinctive, so you’d have to be rather discerning to notice it. 3. It tastes delicious when brushed with a moonshine glaze and barbecued. Of all the ways Ginn has eaten rat, this is her favorite preparation. A close second is smoked rat jerky served on brioche French toast. So, if you happen to be savoring a moonshine-BBQ dish, or think there is something slightly "rodenty" about the gamey and delicious jerky you are consuming, you might want to check the ingredients. 4. It looks like lamb. When it’s raw, pinkish/red rat looks very much like lamb. Unfortunately for the Chinese, when ground, rat can look a lot like any generic ground meat. When cooked, rat looks more like rabbit, Ginn thinks, just because of the shape of the cuts. 5. You’re in Asia. According to Ginn, rats are most commonly eaten in Asia because of the rice crop. In areas where rats feed off rice paddies rather than garbage, the rodents are considered safer to eat. Of course, it isn’t clear whether the rats marketed as mutton in China were healthy, rice-fed rats or sewer-dwelling, garbage-eating, Templeton-esque rats. The New York Times reports that the arrest announcement "did not explain how exactly the traders acquired the rats and other creatures." Rats are also disease carriers, so when Ginn organized her meal she ordered hers from a company that supplies specially raised, grain-fed rodents to zoos. Bon appétit!" And then we have this... "Rat meat really tastes like chicken. The tail, however, is not as tasty. It’s kind of crunchy — like a rat cracker."

Waiting for a parcel from Kiev since July 22. First time it was returned from the USA as "undeliverable" because the label was damaged. Now the tracking number shows it's lost somewhere in England. I guess the USPS doesn't have a lock on incompetence.

Here's some recipes for rat... https://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/cookingrats.htm

Wow. Still wow.

Nice, nice, nice, nice, nice. NICE !!

Good story. When I was a kid, apparently our garage was too narrow for the '55 Olds to fit through the door...some days.

Yup. Fudd's in my neck of the woods is already gone. Went by there a few days back....one of THE best chain burgers I've ever had, now forever lost to the winds of time. Tragic. Somehow, soy and kale just don't get it. But hey...the UN will have us all eating bugs in not too long if things keep going the way a certain element is pushing. Yum. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-22508439