Monty

I saw some brass and aluminum tubing at Hobby Lobby and got the idea of making my own shock absorbers. I haven't done much work with metal with respect to model building, so I'm curious about how to cut tubing.

Bill, as a certified C3 freak and former owner, I'm loving this thread. Since you're all about accuracy, I hope you won't mind some input on your build. The rear tray covers on C3s are usually the same carpet color as the rest of the area. The small driver's side rubber floor mat will also generally be the same color as the carpet. Thanks for including all the steps you used to improve the gauges etc. MPC's C3 dashes are notorious for lack of top surface detail, so consider putting in defroster venting and radio speaker grilles at a minimum. This '80 was mine for 20 years, and I still miss it.

My Spidey senses told me there was a nicely done C3 Corvette awaiting my attention in here, and as usual, they were right. Couple questions if ya don't mind. 1) Which Testors red paint did you use? 2) Did you have to make any modifications to get that stance? 3) Any engine pics you'd care to share? Thumbs up on this build!

IIRC, this is a resin copy* of a 1/24 Monogram wheel from one of their B-body Mopar kits. I love everything about the original 1:1 design, and IMNSHO, Monogram captured its essence perfectly. The only issue I have is that it may look a little too big for the 1/25 cars I'd like to use it on. I'm wondering if anyone can think of a 1/25 wheel that looks as close as possible to the picture I posted. Pics would be great. If you've used this 1/24 wheel (styrene or resin) on a 1/25 car and liked the results, post up a pic of that build. *Our friend and fellow board member Casey happens to offer this wheel and several others on ebay under the name forward_resin. Very nice stuff.

Ausgezeichnet! I'm really intrigued by that Jade Green paint. Would you mind telling me who makes it?

Randy, I'm a huge fan of the C3 'Vettes, having owned this one for 20 years. I've got a dozen or so of the '80 - '82 MPC Corvette kits waiting to be built, so it was nice to see someone post up a completed one. My compliments on your paint and assembly work. Always nice to know which exact paint the builder used. Couple questions: 1) Could you elaborate on the fit issues you had and how you dealt with them? I'm particularly interested in how you got the stance lowered. 2) Any pics of the chassis?

They do have some interesting striations, but again, they look like they're mounted on a photo-etch fret. I can see why you like the site - lotsa neat stuff. That V8 distributor kit has the best looking vacuum advance canister I've ever seen in scale form.

Not bad, but I'm trying to get as close to original as possible.

Unless I'm missing something, it looks like the headlights they offer are either chromed plastic or photo etch. I'm hoping to find clear plastic or clear resin lenses for this build.

I just bought the AMT '65 Ford Galaxie kit and while doing some build research, came across posts from various modeling boards indicating that the clear headlight lenses are oversized and don't fit inside the bezels. I'm hoping some company has a good selection of lenses (with period-correct striations) in various sizes so I can get this part of the build as correct as possible.

And that answers that. Thanks Casey!

I don't have direct access to either paint, so I'm hoping to compare them this way if possible.

My first airbrush was a Paasche VL that I bought from a coworker in the mid-'90s. Got it for a great price, and didn't have much trouble learning how to make double action 'brushes work well. Still enjoy its practicality. Years later I came across a great sale on Badger's 175 (Crescendo) which also works well, but seems to have a greater spraying capacity than the Paasche VL. I could see it being my go-to 'brush for big areas. Lastly, I recently found the Badger Anthem 155 on ebay for a very low price. Don Wheeler, who posted above, gave this 'brush great reviews on his airbrush website. I was intrigued because it's designed to only use one needle instead of the usual three. I'm waiting for life to settle down enough so I can try it out for myself.

What kit is that stuff from?

I lived in the Dallas area for 25 years and shopped at Wild Bills countless times. There were so many car kits, they would often be three deep on the lower shelves, while the top shelves could be piled up to six kits high. Me and my best modeling buddy used to basically make a day of it & see what we'd come home with. Every once in a while our diligent searches would be rewarded by an older MPC kit, Poly-S paints, or something equally rare. The owner also used to stash some less common kits in the corner by the airbrush counter, so we always stopped there first. Given the number of kits, supplies, and range of paints, IMNSHO it's probably the best hobby shop in the Dallas area for car & truck modelers.

Just wanted to say thanks to Dave Branson for providing the '65 Galaxie convertible boot I'd been looking for. IIRC, the '65 convertible was only issued once, so some parts are kinda scarce, hence my gratitude.

I've read that the engines in the MPC and AMT '71-'73 Mustangs depicted above are either incorrect (FE-series 428s) or so mediocre in detail that they look like hybrids made of FE and Windsor parts. In your opinion, would the engine and chassis from this kit provide the basis for upgrades in these areas? I realize the induction system is race-only, but is it at least a Cleveland block?

I'm not looking for something buried in a ton of orange rust, just shades that indicate moderate to high mileage. Here's the range I'd like to stay in: If you could post pics with your paint combo, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Oh, believe me, I know. I've bought wheels from him in the past.

Thank ya, sir! Exactly what I was looking for - different styles and "brands".

Kinda disappointed in some of the kit batteries I've come across. Some look small enough to be motorcycle batteries and some have slightly sloping sides, which isn't acceptable either. Hoping to find much better, even if from multiple sources.

Those of you who've built their 1/24 Boss 429 and other variants might recall that their tail light treatment calls for the builder to paint a clear plastic piece red and install that behind the chrome bezels etc. Since tail light lenses are actually translucent, I wondered if using candy red over gold on the clear piece would give a better impression of a translucent red tail light than using solid red. Haven't done it yet. Just curious what you guys think.

Very nice work on both of those! After seeing them, I seem to be leaning toward the '60 engine, but we'll see who else posts pics. If any of you have built a nice rendition of the Galaxie's kit engine, feel free to post that up too.

I've been considering taking another shot at the AMT '65 Galaxie, which I last built over 40 years ago, and I was wondering if I couldn't make a slight improvement on their design. For the most part, I'm OK with the kit as it comes, but I've been wondering if the engine from AMT's '60 Skyliner or Revell's Parts Pack 427 wouldn't look a little more detailed. This will be a mild street machine, so a low-rise dual carb setup would be fine as long as it fits under the hood. In addition to providing your opinions, I'd appreciate seeing how you built any or all of them. (Please label accordingly)