My New Years Modeling Resolution

[Bill Eh?]

James, every time I watch your Stash Report, I am in total amazement of all the prime Japanese kits that you have. I know that I will never get to all of mine ... how can you possibly complete all of yours?

[jaymcminn]

To each his own, but I don't really worry about it. I'll snag a kit if it catches my fancy whether I intend to build it right away or not. In the case of my 1/12 Trumpeter GT40, I got it for about $140 in about 2014... since then it's gone out of production and you're lucky to find it for twice that now. I will admit to getting modeler's ADD pretty frequently... I probably have 10 started projects just waiting for me to get back to them, but I know eventually I'll get the bug and finish them up. Good luck with your resolution!

[disabled modeler]

  On 12/12/2017 at 7:16 PM, Renegade said:

A very worthy goal. Hopefully it will be realized.

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Terry...thanks...I am really hoping I can get some of them done this year its like torture to look at them and want to restore them but cant yet.

[JeroenM3]

Never got that problem, sure i have a few model builds that were unfinished at once (4 max at a time so far) but thats just because i always start putting things together and only realize i cant assemble the body or put it on because i forgot to paint it first. I then always start sanding, priming and painting the model, and while thats happening i start a new one keeping me busy while every layer dries out and at the end it can harden for like a week minimum. When its hard it goes together and its another one finished.

My resolution though, al be it a very difficult one, learn how to put the window glas in without having smudges on the windows like i now ALWAYS have sadly, ow and glue parts onto the body that need to be different color to the paintjob without getting it smeared on the paint like i have a tendency to do sadly...

[Renegade]

  On 12/14/2017 at 10:59 AM, JeroenM3 said:

Never got that problem, sure i have a few model builds that were unfinished at once (4 max at a time so far) but thats just because i always start putting things together and only realize i cant assemble the body or put it on because i forgot to paint it first. I then always start sanding, priming and painting the model, and while thats happening i start a new one keeping me busy while every layer dries out and at the end it can harden for like a week minimum. When its hard it goes together and its another one finished.

My resolution though, al be it a very difficult one, learn how to put the window glas in without having smudges on the windows like i now ALWAYS have sadly, ow and glue parts onto the body that need to be different color to the paintjob without getting it smeared on the paint like i have a tendency to do sadly...

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Latex gloves should help on the windows and using a toothpick to apply small amounts of glue should solve that problem.

[El Roberto]

  On 12/8/2017 at 4:54 PM, Lizard Racing said:

I know just how you feel.  I have to fight the impulse to try and multi-task builds.  If I had a 4 x 8 work table, maybe I could.

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You do realize that having a bigger work table won't work.  Stuff expands to fit the space available. 

[niteowl7710]

  On 12/15/2017 at 3:00 PM, El Roberto said:

You do realize that having a bigger work table won't work.  Stuff expands to fit the space available. 

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Plus Godwin's Law of Modeling states that regardless of the size of the work surface, you will actually work in a cluttered 1sq foot area directly in front of your chair.

Edited December 16, 2017 by niteowl7710

[Tom Geiger]

This is a hobby and my art to me so I don't set any production rules or quotas.  I work on a model until I lose interest and move on to what I currently have a fire for.

This year has been very busy at work, and I have a brand new grand daughter to spoil.  I've also let my passion for my bucket list item of getting my lifelong stamp collection into order.  I probably spend as much time as some folks do building models,  running a model club and show.  There goes my hobby time! So I haven't finished anything this year. I'll live.

I do have a tradition that I've held up better than 15 years.   I call it my annual Christmas Model Car Amnesty Project.  Just as the president grants a specific turkey amnesty from becoming Thanksgiving dinner every year,   I pull an unfinished model project off my shelf and finish it over the Christmas holiday.   I've usually had the week between Christmas and New Years off.  Early on I realized that this wasn't enough time to do a new project start to finish, but there was enough time to take some poor old unfinished project that is maybe 50% done, and complete it!  So that's what I've done.

The rule is that I start right after my last work day of the year, which would be this coming Friday.  And I can work up until my first work day back.  That would be Tuesday January 2nd, 2018.  In years where I had a more ambitious project going, I bent the rules so that as long as I kept going, it was considered a finished project as I completed it a week or more later.  

This has gotten a mess of long stalled models off my unfinished model shelf!  

This year i believe I will finish up this 1963 Valiant stock car.  It's been sitting long enough!

 

[#1 model citizen]

  On 12/16/2017 at 2:30 AM, Tom Geiger said:

 

This year i believe I will finish up this 1963 Valiant stock car.  It's been sitting long enough!

 

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That's a pretty cool Valiant. Is that a Mustang roof? And did you rework the engine compartment? Did it even start out with an engine compartment?

[Tom Geiger]

  On 12/16/2017 at 5:27 AM, #1 model citizen said:

That's a pretty cool Valiant. Is that a Mustang roof? And did you rework the engine compartment? Did it even start out with an engine compartment?

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Thanks for asking!  It started like this...  someone knew I liked old Valiants and gave me this body just like you see it.  A complete mess from being used as a toy by apparently a child named Martin Terry, whose mother marked his toys so he wouldn't lose them.  You are correct,  the Valiant body was a curb side.

I cut the hood open and added the engine bay and chassis from the AMT '71 Duster kit.

The Duster is 5 scale inches longer than the Valiant. There is a perfect spot to cut as shown here.

The model was coming out so good that I sacrificed a perfect 1964 Valiant body to add the roof.  No worries, the Valiant has been set aside to build a replica of a 1964 Valiant convertible I used to own.

So it's time we got this one on the shelf!

[#1 model citizen]

  On 12/16/2017 at 1:07 PM, Tom Geiger said:

 

Thanks for asking!  It started like this...  someone knew I liked old Valiants and gave me this body just like you see it.  A complete mess from being used as a toy by apparently a child named Martin Terry, whose mother marked his toys so he wouldn't lose them.  You are correct,  the Valiant body was a curb side.

 

 

 

 

 

The model was coming out so good that I sacrificed a perfect 1964 Valiant body to add the roof.  No worries, the Valiant has been set aside to build a replica of a 1964 Valiant convertible I used to own.

So it's time we got this one on the shelf!

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Well believe it or not I at one time had 4 Valiants: a '63 2dr sedan that I bought to flip, a '64 V200 convertible, and 2 '65 Signet convertibles, 1 being a parts car. My favorite was the rather rusty & ratty '65 after I replaced the original 170 cid engine with a 225 from my '61 Dodge wagon that some one totaled as it sat parked on the street.  It was fast! I did a little light to light racing with a friend in his 350 T-bird. I would be up to 35 mph before he would catch up with me. He could not believe he was being left in the dust by a single bb,l 6 cylinder until he looked under the hood. I sadly had to sell the car. The guy bought it replaced the 6 with a small block V8. He had to do quite a bit of tweaking to out do the performance of that spunky slant 6! I do truly miss both the wagon & the fun I had with the Valiant.

I hope that some day I can find a few of those models you have. I do have a couple of 1st gen Valiants; an unbuilt '60 and a very clean built '61 got off Ebay. I also have an unbuilt '65 Barracuda and '66 Barracuda that has built and disassembled but very worthy of a rebuild.