Ace-Garageguy

I agree completely...though there are a few contemporary designs I rather like. Not all that many, though. EDIT: Here's one...

Old Bachman / Rivarossi. Really cheap because someone somehow managed to break the drawbar. I got another one (different number) that had the side-rods and valve-gear bodged. There's no shortage of bargains to be had if one can un-chimp prior damage.

Very nice. Simple as it is, this is one of my all-time favorite kits. I've got something going similar to what you've got here, and another one smallblock-Chevy powered, a what-if SoCal SCCA mashup from the late 1950s. Your work is most inspiring.

Got another vintage HO scale Norfolk and Western class J, 4-8-4 streamlined locomotive. The class J was the last passenger steam locomotive built in the USA, until 1950, and finally retired (and all but one, no. 611, scrapped) in 1959. Also among the fastest steam engines ever built, they were capable of over 100 MPH. I saw them still running in regular revenue service when I was a little kid, and rode behind the restored 611 back in the mid-1980s when she was pulling steam excursions.

Great pix. Thanx.

And burn all those old books in the library too. Old information has absolutely no value whatsoever...especially to a couple of generations who are certain they already know everything anyway.

One county not too far from me has a tracked APC. Soon as they find out NYPD has a big ol' dump truck, look out.

Far as the "like" debate goes, all I can say is "who cares?" There's an element in today's society that lives for the number of "likes" they get on the interdwerbs. They're everywhere. Millions upon millions. There're also a lot of people who take the time to actually write responses online; sometimes, though admittedly rarely, even reasoned and coherent responses. Look at the typical YouTube video. You'll see "likes" and "dislikes" outnumber written responses by an order of magnitude, at least. But the folks who care enough to write something, or who just have to say something (no matter how idiotic), do it in spite of the one-click options. I don't think having a "like" button would deter anyone who has an intelligent comment, and it'd supply easy dopamine hits for the approval junkies. Is that a win-win? Meh.

The functionality of several online sellers' websites continues to deteriorate almost daily...to the point now of being laughable in spite of the annoyance. You can tell the HR departments aren't hiring on ability, and the more they "fix" things and make them "better", the worse they get. You can also tell management isn't doing much oversight. These are big companies, too. On the other hand, a few of my favored small suppliers have sites that are a pleasure to use, easily navigated, obviously intuitive, and flawless in operation. Kinda makes one wonder.

Yummmmm...

Agreed.

Don't touch the hot iron.

Looks like the start of a spectacular model...

Very nice. Another one of the best looking US cars of all time.

Digression #23355.5: Yes, the old AMT '32s are all pretty bad, but they CAN be modified into reasonably accurate models with a little applied effort. There's something wrong to my eye about the Revell 1/25 '32 Ford roadster body too. I haven't taken the time to figger out what, exactly, yet...but it just doesn't look quite right somehow. The Monogram 1/24 shell, on the other hand, looks good as-is. EDIT: But it's not like the oopsies we see on older kits are limited to 60+ year-old tooling. There are glaring and subtle inaccuracies concerning form and line on MANY Tamiya kits as well, but because they go together fairly easily, lotsa builders don't seem to notice or care. Recently-tooled Revell offerings have plenty of faults too...but the kits developed from scans are getting pretty impressive.

Ahhh...now that, sir, is a good looking effect. Much thanks. Hmmmm.................

Maybe there's a phone app for "AMT '57 Chevy build". That'd put the whole "skill" and "effort" thing in contemporary terms.

Nice. A hoodless '36 Ford 3-window with a hard chop is one of the most badarr cars on the planet. That ancient AMT kit still looks great when it's done right.

Looking good. Put me on the list of folks who like the colors you chose for the body, too. Definitely unique, subtle, and very attractive.

The 30-minute's worth a shot. But here's a secret not many folks seem to know. THE LONGER any epoxy takes to cure, THE STRONGER it usually is. You can't sand or scribe the West stuff I recommend for 12 hours. And it works, as my photos show.

There's absolutely no reason most everybody's standard go-to hinge design won't work on that decklid... http://images39.fotki.com/v1233/photos/1/1100664/6447846/nonsprung-vi.jpg http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff308/garyseeds/hinges14.jpg ...unless you want the hinges to come through those holes.

I'm beginning to think this way myself lately. Every other shipment I get seems to be damaged, but if it's barely good enough, I'm just getting on with fixing whatever the issue is rather than waiting for some salaried mouth-breather who knows nothing and cares less to make it right...and who-knows-what kind of shipping foul-ups.

And that right there is why I recommended the West epoxy and microballoon mix I use. The thread I linked to shows two perfect scribed lines very close together. NOTHING else I've tried would allow that kind of result.