Monty

Let me clarify. I have two separate images I want to merge into one via something like Photoshop, AI, etc. I don't know anything about Photoshop and I wouldn't have the first clue as to accessing AI.

I've come up with an image I'd like to have made via Photoshop, but lacking any ability to use that setup, I'd have to farm the work out. Is there a reliable pay-for-product site you can recommend?

That's weird about the link. Works for me, but I had to go through several pictures before I found one that worked in the post. TBH, I'm not in a position to spend Pentagon money on something like decals. Anybody have a realistic $ estimate for what I'm trying to get?

A couple months ago I finally got my last holy grail kit when Round2 repopped the old AMT Mach Won '70 Mustang funny car. I was elated until I opened the box and found that the original decal designs were no longer included. I had planned to build the kit as a box art replica of the original design just to do an updated version of what I built as a kid, https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/1/1217/17/amt-1970-ford-mustang-mach-won-funny_1_99930f145fd567a19a043f4d77ad1741.jpg but the current decals are entirely different so that won't be possible at all. Given that, I wondered if a) I could have a decal specialist make a complete set of the originals for me, b) If doing so would be a copyright issue, and c) who actually does this kind of work? TIA for all helpful answers

I’ll just say I must be fortunate. When I moved back to this small town about 8 years ago, I needed new contacts. I asked around regarding the best place to go, but long story short, the results were less than satisfactory, especially considering the high price. I eventually ended up at Walmart and received great service and excellent contacts at about half the price. I’m on my second set and not going anywhere else for eye care.

This. Revell offers more car kits that appeal to me, but some Tamiya kits (Jag Saloon etc) are remarkable in several ways. Also, while they seem to have finally gotten past it, Revell had a stretch where a number of their car bodies were visibly “off”. To the best of my knowledge, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that in a Tamiya car kit.

I'm experiencing a delay of several seconds between the time I click on something and the time it finally appears on the screen. I'm not seeing that on any of the other forum/site I'm on. Looks like I'm not alone.

Saw this on one of my 1:1 car forums, but there was no information included with the pic.

I'll touch on a couple of issues here by digging up an old post of mine from 2022, which was specifically about the incorrect use of apostrophes: This has been irritating me for some time, so I'm glad to see someone is finally taking it on. Here's what's embarrassing: Over the years we've had any number of foreign members (mostly European from what I could tell) and they never had any issues using apostrophes correctly, despite the fact that English may not have been their first language, while some American posters mystified me by using them in an almost random way. I've seen sentences with two plural nouns but only one had the (incorrect) apostrophe. What rationale were they using to make that decision? For those of us who learned to use apostrophes the correct way, so much of what we see posted looks as silly as someone typing a'u't'o'm'o'b'i'l'e's. To my way of thinking, this comes down to the dumpster fire of American education over the last 3 decades. I came up through what was considered a "good" school system, but during high school, the German, Japanese and South African exchange students told me privately that they could coast through the year because they'd been taught all this stuff years before and were extremely knowledgeable in every subject, including English. (I couldn't imagine making the transition from Japanese to English). My mom was an elementary teacher's aide later in life, but eventually quit in disgust over the continual degradation of standardized material and methods in favor of whatever flavor-of-the-month excrement was deemed to be "the new normal" by those who made education policy. Long story short: it starts at the low end and, left uncorrected, results in the scenarios you've posted above.

Great stuff! I really liked the Red Hot Chili Peppers sendup.

This is the hurdle I'd like to help him get over. If you saw the name of an original song and singer (say, Blondie, Heart of Glass) you could probably make parody lyrics work with the music mentally, but think of the impact you could have if you were to have the parody lyrics sung in a "voice" that approximated hers.

Dude...massive respect: Love the band name, lyrics we can all relate to, and the fact that we're talking about metal and models without having to deal with metal models (not a fan).

A friend of mine enjoys writing parody songs*, but has mentioned that for them to get the best reaction the listener has to be fairly familiar with the original song, which makes sense. I’m a fairly low-tech guy, but I wondered if there was some kind of software (AI?) that could create a parody adding his lyrics to music and vocals that sounded close to the original performer’s. Links etc would be appreciated. *Most are very political and are just something he does to amuse the rest of us, so you won’t see them published anywhere.

I bought mine decades ago at...Kmart. Being roughly 12 years old, all I had for money came from my small town paper route, so costs had to be watched. I knew that most/all Monogram kits were molded in color, so that would help, plus I really liked the yellow/black scheme of the car. Once I got it home and I opened it, I was profoundly disappointed to find it had been molded in orange, not yellow. It eventually got built, mostly out of boredom, but I didn't feel the usual enthusiasm or desire to do a great job like I usually did. Anybody else get an orange one?

This section isn't limited to cars, so your build is certainly welcome here. In fact, there's at least one more talented semi builder who also uses mostly Testors paints and gets great results. If they turn out like his or yours, I'd say the more the merrier. As regards paint application, the fact that you pulled that off using rattle cans tells me you've got some wicked talent. That color combo rocks. If you don't mind me asking, what exact paints did you use for the pewter and the burgundy?

Kudos for finding a great way to replicate those seat backs. Your solution wouldn't have even occurred to me. Also really like the rest of the interior, especially the dash. Do any "recent" releases (Jolly Green Gasser) have a speedometer decal, or is that sourced from ebay? (I think I've seen them there). Either way, it looks great. Lastly, I made notes of what you did with the wheelbacks etc to improve the stance and make the poseable wheels/tires work more accurately, so thanks for that as well.

Glad they worked for you. A couple years ago I made the mistake of buying cheap Walmart toenail clippers to use as basic sprue cutters. (I blame my "thriftiness" on my partial Scottish heritage) They looked kinda like this, but nowhere as fancy. They were apparently made out of a combination of Chinese welding slag and Pop Rocks because one of the blades broke the first time I tried to use them, attempting to cut through 1/8" MPC sprue, which as we all know is right up there with Tungsten steel...or not. I now have something better.

In a previous post, I alluded to the fact that a situation had arisen that will affect any future repair and/or travel plans for at least the near future. In short, it means this year's Sturgis ride won't be happening, which is a huge letdown for someone who has made it there for the last 27 years. The original post was legit in every respect, but I'm not about to call out these businesses by name. In the meantime, maybe you could use your superpowers to solve the crises in Gaza, Ukraine etc. I'm sure they'd appreciate the help.

Good catch! Next time I'll actually grab a kit out of storage and open it before answering since my memory doesn't seem to be as good as I thought.

Would the AMT ‘70 Monte Carlo have everything needed for this?

If it helps clarify why I’m asking, I’d heard or read that MCW enamel is much more like old school single stage automotive enamel while Model Master enamels are strictly hobby paints.

I’m considering doing a two-tone airbrushed paint job using Model Master enamel for the lighter shade and MCW enamel for the darker shade. I’ve never used MCW enamels before and I figured it’s better to ask this before I order any paint. Since we’re usually advised to shoot the lighter shade first, I’ll do that. Once that’s dry, do you think the MCW stuff will cover without causing issues?

Yeah... life threw him a curve recently, so this may be off the table for a bit.

Just recently got a steal on a sealed MPC '88 Corvette convertible. I'm way more of a C3 guy but couldn't pass this up at the price. It won't overwhelm anyone with the amount of detail MPC put into it*, but it should be interesting since I've never built a C4 Corvette before. Anyway, despite the early 1:1 C4s coming with 16" Goodyear Gatorbacks, this kit has older style 15" raised letter tires. I plan on using the kit's factory wheels which were 16" x 8.5", but would like to find Gatorbacks that fit as closely as possible (old school kit tires fit these wheels^^^^). Resin might work well here since I wouldn't have to buy another kit, but I assume there might be some 1/25 kit-vinyl Gatorbacks out there too. TIA for any links etc! *Chevrolet hyped this new generation of Corvettes as being capable of achieving 1g, but MPC couldn't be bothered to design it with poseable front wheels and tires like they'd done for their entire C3 line. ?

I'm looking forward to seeing your take on this project. While this kit does have some nice features, there are a few areas that truly need to be addressed. The most egregious (to me) are the headlight bezels, specifically the raised rings which, according to the instructions, are where the headlight lenses go. Any good reference picture shows that these rings don't exist on the 1:1 car. Also, the exhaust system is molded to the chassis, which is a huge pet peeve of mine but may or may not be a big deal to you. It can be painted and look OK for the most part, but around the rear axle area it's very thick and needs more work to achieve best results. Hope to see pics as this goes forward.