Monty

Ken, I hope you won't consider this as me talking down to you, but I'd suggest you use this wheel as a guide to painting the ones on your build. Occasionally we'll see someone only paint the spokes & neglect the back half of the rim, which really looks amateurish. You'll want to use a detailing brush (0/10) to work around the lug nuts. While you're at it, give some thought to how the color of the wheel will look with the dark blue on your build. (See Snake45's picture in post #15) These 14 & 15 inch wheels weren't usually done up in glossy colors; they were mostly light, medium or dark (flat) grey, but there have been some done in a more metallic look that were also striking in appearance. HTH

Tony, this build appears to be progressing along nicely. The paint color you chose really stands out & looks like it went on very smoothly. For those of us who haven't worked with FolkArt acrylics, can you share any tips that might make things go easier? (Best reducer, paint thickness etc).

Art, I will always have to defer to your knowledge of the entire model manufacturing process, from initial research to final boxed product, but while you and Bob may not want those of us who comprise "the great unwashed" to see test shots etc, wouldn't something like that have prevented Revell's Charger from being released and (expensively) replaced? It just seems like you're saying the model companies' mistakes can always be explained away (inexperience, lack of followup) but again, assuming the Chinese are provided with all the measurements as well as reference pictures, how does anyone get something as simple as the hood wrong? Question for my own knowledge: in a typical model company's hierarchy, who is ultimately responsible for the final product? I just can't fathom anyone at Revell seeing that Charger roofline and saying "Good 'nuf for me. Box 'em up!"

Too bad Chuck K isn't here to poke holes in your "no such thing as perfection" means of deflection, but I'll be happy to do it in his absence. No one is expecting perfection, even from Tamiya. Second, feel free to address the points I made in my previous post. Despite teams being sent out to photograph & measure the pertinent aspects of a car they hope to turn into a kit, we still get stupid mistakes like the Lindberg 442's hood, which was originally tooled up with a raised center section instead of the recessed section Olds designed. Sorry, but when you had photographs to work with, that's not a niggle, that's a mixture of indifference and incompetence. And more egregiously, despite the presence of a "professional development team" we still got Monogram's bloated '69 Camaro and Revell's chopped top ProModeler Charger. Was Stevie Wonder in charge of these teams? I've noticed that you like to try and hide behind that "automotive modeler vs kit assembler" line, but did you honestly expect anyone, including the "automotive modelers" to just accept the Charger for what it was, let alone try to fix that roof?

I'm nuts about C3 Corvettes, so I'm glad you were able to rescue that glue bomb from plastic purgatory. I can see how getting results like this would make you want to rescue other gluebombs.

Joe, please accept my sincere, if belated, congratulations on completing such a fantastic rebuild of that old Challenger kit. Between your IPMS award and 4 pages of compliments on here, the consensus indicates that you've earned the respect of your fellow modelers. One thing that impressed me during the WIP stage was you weren't afraid to implement other members' suggestions if you thought it would improve the overall build. OTOH, I doubt I was the only one who learned some neat techniques as you improvised improvements to the engine bay etc, refusing to settle for "good enough".

Is there a particular reason you shut down the thread that had pictures of your Mustang? People on here are more likely to comment in a thread where they can see what you've done. Just a thought... From what I can tell, the 'Stang came out well. Any pics of the engine/chassis/interior?

I went to the University of Wyoming and had to drive I-80 to get there. There are some nasty hills outside of Laramie, which, when combined with typical Wyoming winter weather, virtually ensure that things like this will happen. It got to the point where I used to dread coming back from Christmas break. One year, my poor old Mustang made it to the top of the highest hill and then wouldn't do anything but fishtail. I had to pull it off to the side, hitchhike into town, then get a wrecker to tow it back to my place. On the way out to get my car, I was amazed at how many semis had jackknifed or plowed into another truck because of the conditions. I have no doubt that the local wrecker services make a mint during winter up there. Wyoming is a beautiful state...in the summer.

From what I've read, JoHan was more or less the American Motors Co. of modeling, with the smallest staff and least money of the major US model mfrs of their time. The JoHan bodies are constantly brought up in these conversations because they seemed to do the best job capturing the nuances of various car bodies at that time. I'm sure you could point out an error or two that they made, but I'll bet you any error that you mention won't even compare with Revell's chopped '69 Charger or that bloated Monogram Camaro I posted. Sounds like you're suggesting that we just blithely accept whatever errors happen because "budgets, ROI and other business realities" take precedence over getting the obvious things correct.

Having spent several years doing product returns for the computer industry, I assumed Revell was going to have me ship the chopped kit back to them first. Like you, I was pleasantly surprised that I was allowed to keep the original and still get a new, corrected kit from them. Sad that it happened. but good move on their part.

I'll play. They can say "It's good enough" when they quit screwing up obvious body issues and eliminate some of the really silly errors. Here's an example. From top to bottom these are Revell, AMT & MPC '69 Mustang bodies. The AMT is the most accurate and served as the basis for Missing Links' resin kit. Look at the Revell side window. It's virtually a triangle, while the AMT kit looks far more like the 1:1 item. (BTW, this body, with this window design, originated with the Boss 429 kit in 1982. Revell kept this triangular side window when they tooled up the '70 Mach 1 a few years ago) In a related vein, we probably made a millionare out of that Russian resin caster who was offering the fix-it kit for the front end of Revell's '69 Mustang. Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought Revell made that Mustang too ugly to build. Want some proportional issues? This is why so many on here praise the JoHan craftsmen who were in charge of bodies. More often than not it takes an artist's eye to get some of these things right. I've been told that this Camaro is dimensionally correct, but it looks pregnant & you couldn't give me this kit. OTOH, Revell did an outstanding job on their '69 Camaro. I referred to silly errors earlier, and I'm sure most of us can think of some, but one that comes immediately to mind for me was Lindberg's initial release of their '67 442. The 1:1 car has a slightly lower center section of the hood; Lindberg made theirs with a raised center section (eventually corrected). Or take Revell's ProModeler '69 Charger. More bells, more whistles, more money...and a pre-chopped top. To their credit they made offers to replace all those bodies, but HTH did that thing make it to production in the first place? If they'll hire me, I'll gladly play Office Linebacker & try to stop as many of these errors as possible before they become "uncorrectable".

I was gonna ask the same thing. It's a beautiful shade and it looks like it flowed out perfectly.

I agree with the other guys - your paint seems to have turned out very nicely. What did you use on these? It looks like Italian red.

Holy cow, Tony! Between the striking paint scheme, the wheel & tire combo and that killer interior, my eyes don't know where to look first. Fantastic work!

Well poop, looks like you're right. Guess I better stick to Corvettes.

Ludwig, thanks for the info. I wanted to verify because I found several pictures on Google that confirm that TS-86 is indeed Pure Red, as you said. On their reference chart, however, they call TS-86 Brilliant Red. Either way, after seeing how it looks on your 'Bird, I'll definitely be getting some of this for future projects.

What? Someone built a '68-'69 GTO that wasn't Orbit Orange? Honestly, I love these cars in that color, but it's nice to see one done in other colors every once in a while. I'm glad you were able to do justice to that old build-up, Ron. I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to see that engine if you get a chance.

I'd been kind of following along in your WIP thread, and I could tell this was going to be fantastic when finished. Great job! Quick question: what is the Tamiya part number for "pure red"? I know they have about 5 non-metallic reds, but I didn't see one by that name. Thanks for any info you can provide.

Tommy, kudos for doing such a great job on this 'Cuda. I'm glad you decided not to use a clear coat because your build looks more like a 1:1 car of an era when the auto companies were using single-stage enamels. The shine is beautiful, which is a testament to the paint as well as your ability to apply it correctly. In addition, you chose a great color. Unlike classic Corvettes, we rarely see 'Cudas like this in red, so it's a nice change from Sub Lime, Plum Crazy or Moulin Rouge. You mentioned some wiring etc. Would it be possible to see some engine and chassis pics?

Putting the "die" in diecast.

I remember talking to the German foreign exchange student in high school and being astounded by the time, effort and expense required to get a license there, especially when compared to the cakewalk setup we have here. I'd love to see your disabler in place in cars, but I fear the self-important, must-be-connected-at-all-times crowd would get out the pitchforks and torches and hunt you down (assuming they could look up from their screens long enough to follow you)

Over the last few years, I've purchased a number of tires and sidewall decals from him, and I've pestered him with all kinds of questions. Each sale went through quickly and every question was answered within a day. He's a long-term board member here with an excellent reputation, and I'd assume any delay in his response probably has something to do with the Easter holiday.

Ron, you're a fairly experienced builder so I'm curious if this commentary was solely the result of your attempts to match the resin front end with the kit body, or did the resin caster include some helpful instructions? ...and while there has to be an adjustment of the fender (thinning out the underside of the upper fender edge on each side, due to the realignment of the headlamp buckets, and cleaning up the flash from the kit body) the part fit was pretty good, and vastly improved the looks of the model... Having seen your past work, I can't wait to see how this 'Stang turns out.