Ace-Garageguy

Excellent point. I forgot about that kit entirely. Here's another option: that complete frame and suspension setup is occasionally available for very little money (compared to pirating the parts out of a kit that will be rendered pretty much useless) on eBay.

I believe you're correct...you should just have to fill out the trunk floor. But the '41 Willys is on a full frame to start with. Wouldn't be easier to transplant the rear suspension setup from the Nova into the Willys? Or are the frame rails on the Willys too far apart? I have both kits to look at, but I'm away from the model shop right now.

You are correct. Sloppy thinking and typing on my part. I have most of the Fujimi Porsche kits, and a simple walk to the shelf would have avoided that particular mistake.

I have to say my USPS guys have been batting 1000 lately. We had some real problems a few months back, but I think they transferred the chimps to Alaska, and the regular staff here get the job done; sometimes Sunday delivery, and during the holidays, 2 deliveries a day if necessary.

When you have those wheels and drums ready, you have an instant buyer if you want to do an extra set. The rare Rudge knockoffs would be great for these kits too. Frankly, as large scale as these are, and as popular as the 356 series is all over the world, I could see quite a little aftermarket industry sprouting up to make all manner of upgrades.

My guess would be they measured a restored car that wasn't set up exactly right. These cars have torsion bars, as you know, and the rears have what's known as a "vernier" adjustment. In short, there are a different number of splines on the inboard end of the torsion bar than on the outboard end (with matching splined sockets on the frame and swing arm), so allowing an almost infinite amount of ride height adjustment. It's time consuming to get it dead on, and not uncommon to set up a freshly restored car a tad high in the expectation the bars will sag a little as the car is driven...which doesn't necessarily happen.

Man, that looks GREAT. I'm usually a picky SOB, but it looks to me like the kit designers got the lines and proportions pretty much spot-on (except for one fairly subtle thing that's not going to detract from it as far as most modelers go, and that really doesn't bother me even though I know it's there). Photographed in daylight, it would be hard to tell one of these from a real one, and your shots look more like studio photos of a 1:1 than a model car. One thing these cars were known for when new was the exceptionally fine panel fit, the result of painstakingly leading every opening to achieve consistent gaps. The model does a remarkably good job with panel fit too. Only criticism I have of the kit is that the tail appears to sit a little bit high on its suspension, which I assume has an easy fix. Thanks for presenting such a nicely built model that shows off how good this kit apparently is. Even though I wasn't all that hot on it previously, you've successfully convinced me that I need at least one.

Good one. I had no clue. Didn't recognize any shape, proportion, or designer's style. Because it vaguely resembles some of the limited-production cars built in Australia, I concentrated my search there. Obviously, no luck. Congratulations on stumping me entirely.

In the interest of my continuing quest to determine what constitutes acceptable behavior here, I respectfully request you'd point out the specific "juvenile comments" so that I can get a better understanding of community standards. I see a photo that, at first glance, looks upside down, but in reality is right-side-up. I see it, and the responses as mildly humorous and not at all derogatory to any group, individual, ethnicity, political party or gender...or any implication that anyone is "ignorant". Please be so good as to correct my apparently aberrant thinking. I realize it's a banning offense to publicly criticize a moderator, so let me be clear...this is not intended as criticism. I simply need to know what the standards are, and how they are violated by anything in the above thread. For my own peace of mind, and my ability to continue posting with no fear of running afoul of any rule, I need a clear explanation of what is offensive here. Thank you.

Aha. This one's a C while the snapper is a B, apparently. I see. At least they give you one naked wheel to pull a mold from. Doesn't look like there's much in the way of brake details (this car would have discs as opposed to the B's drums). Obviously it was tooled to a projected price, as the Tamiya FUJIMI 1/24 kits have far more detail and much higher parts count. The engine and gearbox are a little lame, especially for a large scale. Still, if the proportions and lines are right, it looks like it should build up into a beautiful model relatively easily, or provide a fine start for some scratch detailing to add all the greasy bits Tamiya thought were important. Now somebody really needs to tool a set of 1/16 911 Fuchs wheels, and a pair of downdraft Weber carbs...and a 4-cam engine.

Grilled leftover meatloaf and sharp cheddar sandwich on pump with lotsa mayo, a little Dijon, cracked pepper. And a cheap pinot noir.

You live in New England, so that possibly accounts for some of the difference. Usually the last time I have to mow the lawn in the fall, most of the trees have already dropped most of their leaves. When I mow, I'm also shredding whatever leaves haven't already blown away. Maple, dogwood, a couple of oaks in back. And we usually only get one snow, gone in 3 days or so. I won't cut down a tree though unless it's sick or in real danger of falling on the house. So far. I've been lucky...but last year several large limbs just missed doing serious damage to the house in the snowstorm, and one took out the power line. I guess what I don't really understand is the desire to have a manicured lawn that looks like a putting green. Frankly, something that looks a little wild appeals to my own aesthetic sense much more. But to each his own. I guess. The people who bought my last house immediately stripped all the ivy off the place, cut down all the shrubbery, a huge magnolia, a camellia, several old gnarled fruit trees, the mulberry bush (I used to get buckets of berries from that thing) and two of the young hardwoods on the front lawn. All the greenery shielded the house from the street and neighbors, and provided a nice feeling of seclusion and privacy. I cringe when I go past it now. I'm always reminded of a jarhead with his first buzz cut (no disrespect to Marines; they're some of my favorite people).

Nice. I'm liking the Ala Kart bits on the little red job in the background too.

Nope, still in Ga. Even though the Az. property closed at the first of last year, I'm stuck here honoring a commitment I made (2 actually) to finish some work I was called in to do after multiple other folks bodged it. I had thought I'd be done by the end of the year, but one job will probably go on through January, and the other may go several months beyond that. Interesting aside though...the company that owns the rail line near my Ga. place also owns and operates a short line in the huge industrial park close to the new Az. place.

I'll have to have a look. Funny, a few years back when I first got one of the new tool versions and posted on several forums about the badly underscale engine, I got a lot of angry feedback from "experts" insisting it was correct and that the first tool version was wrong, or it was smaller because it was the "little" Chrysler hemi, ad nauseam. Quite an outpouring of hate, actually. After having spent considerable time with both kits now, it's my contention that a superior model can be built by cherry-picking the best bits from the two kits (as SOME of the parts in the new-tool kit are much nicer than what's in the original)...and I believe that's already been done too. Still, maybe I'll spot something the guys who got there first missed. Here's part Two:

WHAT !!! SACRILEGE !!! Proper internet etiquette is to repeat mindlessly what everyone else on the internet says, no matter how far afield from actual fact it may be. First-hand knowledge and expertise have NO PLACE being allowed to compete with unfounded opinion !!! (Just kidding. Thanks for the info...and it's really pretty obvious just from looking at the photos of the two helo models that they are indeed NOT from the same tooling. )

My current residence is within spitting distance from a booming little short-line railroad that operates on trackage that's been in continuous use since the late 1800s (lots of local residents hate it, and have complained to the railroad and the city about the noise...especially the horns at crossings...but I figure if you don't like noisy trains, don't move in close to a railroad). I'm reasonably sure the house I'm in was built as a railroad bunkhouse, judging from the layout of the original part of the structure and the fact that it was originally heated by two coal-burning stoves, and is very close to the location of an old freight yard (I can't be absolutely certain, as records about the property prior to the 1950s have so far eluded me). Anyway, this AM I heard the train coming and looked out as I usually do, just to watch. Today we had a SIX-unit lashup of vintage EMD GP locomotives, mostly GP38 and GP40 series, some dating back to the mid-1960s (this small railroad just retired its last 567-powered high-hood GP a couple of years back, and though I was sad to see her go, she's going to be preserved rather than scrapped). It always makes me smile, seeing old machines that have been well maintained, still loyally doing the job they were built for. Many railroads have learned that it's more cost effective to maintain and rebuild old equipment that's relatively simple and VERY WELL BUILT, than it is to replace it with the latest-greatest whiz bang wonders that require more down time for servicing. 8705 in the photo below was the old GP18. The GP18 series was built from 1959 through 1963, so the old girl had a career that spanned at least 50 years. I seriously doubt you'll see any locomotives built today still operating in regular revenue service in another 50 years.

Ditto. I'm not seeing them as ever really being a "model seller" anyway. Mucho interesting stuff in the way of repurpose-able craft and jewelery items though. With all the online model sites available, as well as eBay, or if you have a good LHS, I don't see much point in messing around with craft stores for models...unless of course they have 40-50%-off coupons on things people actually want.

PM'ed.

If you want a high quality symmetrical body, whether in scale or full size, you need to build a buck first. Without a solid surface plate and some sort of accurate measuring bridge, free-carving a symmetrical part like this is very difficult even for the most accomplished scratch builder. A buck allows you to transfer exact shapes from side to side, which is essential to achieve symmetry. What's shown below is much more elaborate than what you will need for the nose of these vehicles, which have curves in only one plane (for the most part), but you should see the basic idea. Once you have a symmetrical buck, you have options. You can fill the ribs with clay or bondo, or skin them with sheet plastic. Then you can make a mold from that to make your final fiberglass OR vacuum-formed part. It's a rather involved process...not difficult, but it takes many steps and much thinking ahead (my advice is derived from many years of scratch-building full scale body parts, and lotsa scale stuff as well, and master modelers like Gerald Wingrove use bucks for the same reasons real-car body builders do).

Well, with the A, you've got 4 possible bodies: Speedster, "Convertible D", cabriolet and coupe, plus the 4-cam Carrera versions of those body styles. The B/C body shell deletes the Speedster but keeps a "roadster" style (both had removable roadster-type windshield frames, while a cabriolet has a welded-in integrated frame), only adds the Karmann notchback coupe to the possibles list, far as I recall, and it's not a widely known version anyway...but you still have only 4 possible body types. If they'd done an A, I'd buy all of 'em. If they'd done a C (which has disc brakes as the main difference), I'd buy at least one. But the B? Probably not any time soon, and then only to convert it to an A. The A Speedster is THE most iconic of all the 356 cars, so I just don't get the strategy. Kinda like if you can only do one 1950s Chevy, picking the '58.

I've never had anyone refuse to mount and balance tires, even takeoffs (which I almost always use on my own daily drivers). They whine and moan sometimes, but they do it. For me, anyway. Your mileage may differ.

Nothing I hate worse than a thief who destroys property getting to whatever he's stealing. I don't mean it irks me. I mean I HATE destructive sneak thieves. Far as I'm concerned, the best punishment for somebody caught doing that is to just put him through a wood-chipper.

Take 'em to the tire store. Usually (around here) it's $20 per to demount the old ones, mount and balance the new ones, plus $5 "disposal" fee per old tire if you don't keep 'em.