My brother builds cars, AND ONLY CARS!!!
He puts so much time and detail in each kit that it takes him an average of 8months to finish.
I've done a couple. It's a nice diversion.

Rob, I had no idea they made a model of the batmobile in 'shell mode' . That'd look pretty cool!

I had another setback last night... While the interior was drying off, I decided to brush some aluminum buffing metalizer on the front bumper and grille. As soon as the paint touched the plastic, there was a reaction!
A small 'skin' of plastic started to form and create a teture! I don't know how to describe it, but tiny ridges started coming up from the plastic (under the paint)... I hadn't seen that before.

Strange thing is, that didn't happen at all when I airbrushed brass metalizer on the other grille. (there parts are the ones I stripped the chrome off of, by the way)

Like I stated before, the undercarrige is done... and that's about it. This may not be completed before Wednesday after all..


BTW -- anyone know the average going price of the old Ertl Ecto-1A? I need to get one off of eBay now that I'm pretty sure the kit won't be re-issued.

YodaMan

There was a coupon that came with the very first Batmobile movie kits. Mail in a $1 check and they sent you a black vacuformed armored Batmobile cocoon that you could set on top of your completed Batmobile (as long as you didn't pose the machine guns in the deployed position). Very simple little part that is cool.


Polar Lights just reissued this kit as a snap-tite kit.
Hobby Heaven carries them for $12. See information about the kit on Polar Light's website.

I've been brushing up on my car stuff too. My brother-in-law is an avid NASCAR fan and I've gotten roped into building him one. It might be fun.

I tell yah guys.....once you get into it....you will soon find that there can be as much work to go into detailing a car model, as there is an armor, aircraft, ship, sci-fi, or figure model. And for the most part....painting it and getting that nice smooth gloss finish is alot harder than making some camo scheme. At least with a cam scheme....normally close enough is ok....but with a car...unless its a junker, the finish has to be pristine.

I posted some pics of my BTR-80, and hoped to have gotten some pics of some of my cars and other armor while my friend was here with his digi cam...but he was running short on time...so all we got was the BTR.

In my room here...I have a Dale Earnhardt #3 GM Goodwrench car...from the NASCAR circuit, a '70 Dodge Challenger in red, a '91 Dodge Stealth Twin Turbo in Burgundy Metallic, a Porsche 911 Slant Nose Turbo Convertable in red of course, and a blue '56 Crown Victoria.

Mostly I am into '60's and '70s muscle cars, as well as modern sports cars....in my collection of probably 90 or so unbuilt kits, about half of them are cars, as that is what I did before the armor and aircraft bug bit me....(they make up the other half of my unbuilt collection). My cars range in everything from a '49 Merc, to a '67 Corvette, to 3 Lamborginis, a Countach, a 25th Anniversary Countach, and a Diablo, Mazda Miata, as well as a 1/16 '69 Camero Z-28 but Monogram.....don't know why...but it seems that the larger scale of the kit...the better fit it has....as far as Monogram is concerned anyway....it would be one of my crowning jewels...albeit not even started yet....the other would be a 1/25 Ford GT Mark II, America's first Le Mans winnier....is put out by the Union Model Co. of Japan, and is part of their Memorial Collections series....I have no idea if this company is even still around or not, as I have never seen any other kits put out by this company....it is quite the detailed kit!! And will build up to 2 or 3 different versions of the Le Mans racers.

Oh Rob don't get me started on Batmobiles and Ghostbusters cars!!!

My wife will kill you

Love the info you gave, hmmm now to find a giant fluffy figure to go with the gohostbusters diorama

Cheers, Michael

Then do not click on the following link http://www.javelinamx.com/Batmobile/index.htm that has neat info regarding the various bat-vehicles. Or this one http://server3003.freeyellow.com/bucwheat/bat/batman.htm that is a fairly comprehensive list of Batman related models. You would not find them interesting

I have an Army NASCAR kit that I have been working on and off for a while. It is a Ford Thunderbird done in Desert Storm motif used by Alan Kulwicki. I also picked up a drag car done in Tony Schumaker's "The Sarge" with new Army logo. I'd like to do a NASCAR of the new Army logo #01 car. I figure either the car or the decals will be released soon.

No, I'm not a race fan, just like collecting up the armed forces logo'd cars.

Rob, do you know of a good place to get those aftermarket NASCAR decals? I've looked in the shops around here and can't find a kit with military finishes.

I hit the base hobby shop the other day and they have a table outside the shop where they put marked down magazines that are a few months old. I was able to pick-up a January copy of Scale Auto that had an article on detailing NASCAR kits. Best of all it was marked at $1 and the guy gave it to me for free. Can't beat a deal like that.

I saw the decals for the Army NASCAR in a stock car book by MBI called Ford, Lincoln & Mercury Stock Cars (ISBN 0-7603-0487-4). I did a quick internet search and posted at a couple model car sites until I got a hit. JNJ did a set and I was able to buy the decals for $5. Added them to a proper year car (1990-1993 time frame Thunderbirds changed body styles), then found some PE for the right year car. Someone on this site sent me the proper tires (Goodyear vs. Wooster). The dragster is a recent reissue of an older drag car with new "The Sarge" Army black and gold decals. It ran me $10-11 at my local shop.

There are several armed forces cars out there (I've seen the Matchbox-sized versions). I'd love to find the #31 Lowes Army car for a 1/24 or 1/25 model. It has a nice decals of a photo of an M1A1 on the hood and has a red, white and blue scheme (car not tank). The Marines have several variations that are cool too.

Well, wash your hands when you're done and don't talk about it in public.. everyone does it, but no one talks about it...

And, it's not OUR fault if you grow hair on your palms...we warned you.

-kidding- just kidding...

Since we're making confessions here, I've got the Tabasco Nascar burried deep in the stash, one day I'll get the hang of mirror bright paint finishes and do that one up right, but not this week.

I play the slammer card too, 1/72 modern jets and historic aircraft for the ceiling of my classroom.. but sometimes they become more than just slammers.. witness the Italeri F-15E with all the extra TLC and the cruddy Italeri 'Bombcat' with Hasegawa ordinance and a Baremetal foil masked canopy...

Mike
Painting the F-15 E as we speak..

So you want to "build a car", eh? sure - sounds harmless at first.... "I can do just one car" you tell yourself... but then it leads to another... and then another! It will consume you! think of your family and friends - the disgrace you will find in the workplace! Trust me, I am a reformed "4 wheels and chrome" guy... you have to try to just take this one day at a time and say "NO"! What's next you nutcase? Raising Chinchillas for profit? Building the "See Trhough V-8 engine"? Where does the madness end!?

If it makes you happy my next car can be a 1/16 Kubelwagen. :-)

Or Willy's jeep.

Look for some pictures here in a little bit... I need input on the wheels.

YodaMan

These are the wheels. The ones on the left are still covered in the (unmodified) gold plate. Though you can't see it in the pic, the gold doesn't cover everything, giving a silver appearance to the hub.
The wheels on the right I stripped the chrome from and airbrushed brass metalizer. I thnik this looks a little better.

This is the car with the brass grille...

...and here it is with the aluminum metalizer gone haywire.

This is a detail view of the metalizer gone bad. I'll have to sand that smooth again...

After seeing these pictures, I've decided to go with the brass look on the front grille and the bumpers too. (I know there isn't a whole lot to see from these pictures, but let me know what you think!)

YodaMan