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Cool New Site

Sunday, May 28. 2006
I got an e-mail suggesting I visit Vintage plastic today. It's a pretty cool site, and looks like it has some great potential (a lot of the areas are still being filled in at the moment). You should definitely check it out, my favorite part so far is the buildup section of the discussion area. (yes, despite the lack of buildup tutorials on my own site, I really like them).

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Speeding Bullitt

Monday, May 22. 2006
I've been getting bogged down with long-term projects lately (yes, I'm stil working on the resin GTO...this weekend involved some extensive refitting of th grilles and rear bumper before they would mate up properly to the body). So to take a break, I put together the '68 Mustang from Bullitt. I used Revell's prepainted diecast kit, which may be considered "cheating," but it was a fun little build. I still had to make some modifications, like getting rid of the solid front axle, adding brakes, and using BMF for the trim. The whole thing went from new-in-box to finished model in a very short time, and overall I'm happy with how it looks. Maybe next weekend I'll tackle the Charger from the same movie.

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Pixar's Cars

Thursday, May 11. 2006
Lightning McQueen

Pixar's Cars toys have started arriving in stores, and I saw the first of the 1/24 diecasts tonight. Mater was OK, but Lightning McQueen was definitely cool enough to pick up. The paint is nice & glossy, the markings are all bright & clear, and the windows are actually translucent - a nice touch. The scale actually looks pretty good for a cartoon car, too - a little "stout," but it definitely fits in well with other 1/24 replicas. All he really needs is some detail work around the mouth, eyes, exhaust pipes, lug nuts, etc...all the little stuff that often can't be done on a mass-produced piece.

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Delays, delays...

Wednesday, May 10. 2006
Wow, I just noticed that it had been a month since my last posting here. Not that I've been slacking off - if you haven't yet, check out the major news going on at my other site, The History of the Batmobile. All-new toy section plus a new trivia contest where you can win this:



I've also nearly finished the '69 GTO (the chassis fit was more of a problem than I expected, but that's taken care of now), and have a few other things on the bench that are nearly ready to go. More updates coming soon!

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Oops

Sunday, April 9. 2006
The first of the month came and went, and I completely forgot to post the new Tip of the Month. That has been remedied.

In other news, the GTO is still coming along well. The interior is pretty much done, the body is painted and awaiting polish, and the chassis is done as far as it can be (several detail items can only be aded once things are all together). As long as things go well, the final major assembly will be done next weekend and I can start on the final details.

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Updated Star Wars Droids

Thursday, April 6. 2006
I was cleaning up my Star Wars droid customs, and decided it was a good time to reshoot the old photos. Every one of them now has a new big, clear, full view of the figure. I also added a custom that has been finished for a while but never made it to the site, a repainted Vulture Droid.

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Happy Spring!

Sunday, March 26. 2006
Quick update today. First, the '69 GTO is coming along well; the body is painted, the chassis is done, and the engine has been installed. I'm still cleaning up a few small pinholes in the resing front seats, then they will be ready for painting. Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures soon.

Also, I've added a new page to the site. Some of you might remember that I was selling printed detail sets via eBay a while back. The response to them was very positive, but life got to a point where it was too much work for me to keep the auctions fully up to date. I have just set up a PayPal shopping cart, so I can start offering these again (you can see them all here). I plan to expand this page with extras and other stuff I have in the future.

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General Update

Monday, March 13. 2006
I set up a new photo booth for picture taking, and used the opportunity to reshoot all of my Batmobile models. The two most recent bat vehicles have also been added, the 1948 and 1952 models.

The GTO I mentioned earlier is coming along well; engine, chassis, and interior are painted and the body has been smoothed out & is ready for paint. Photos coming soon...
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Seeing Red

Thursday, March 9. 2006
1 Badd Ride is one of the "new kids" in the world of diecast. So far they only have two cars in 1/24 (an '06 Mustang custom and an '06 Corvette custom), but their preview images promise more good cars coming soon. They definitely deserve credit for the detail work they put into their cars, as well as some unique innovations like he way they created the Mustang's mesh grill.

Anyway, onto the subject of this post: I had picked up the Corvette, but passed on the Mustang. It was nice looking, but neither the silver/black nor the white/red really called to me. That changed tonight when I came across this:



No mention of the red/black had been made, so I was quite surprised to see it there on the shelf. The seats look a bit weird (they're blue, I would've preferred solid black), but that's a minor nitpick on an otherwise excellent replica. Nice job 1BR, I look forward to seeing more.

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Need some Hess RV mirrors?

Sunday, March 5. 2006
I picked up a 1978 Hess training van this weekend to turn into the EM-50 from Stripes, and it had some extra parts that may be useful to anyone looking to restore a van. If you're interested, the mirrors are available for purchase here.

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March News

Wednesday, March 1. 2006
First up, there's a new Tip of the Month for March. I actually remembered to mention that fact on the home page as well, so it's no longer erroneously claiming January as my last update.

Next, I want to draw your attention to the new menu on the left. It has all of the same information as the previous menu, but now in a handy collapsable format so you won't have to scroll to see what's available. It even works well with older browsers and those who prefer to surf with Javascript turned off. The next wave of site updates is going to involve some new pictures, as a lot of the ones I'm currently using still look rough.

Finally, this month begins the toy & hobby show season here in New York. Don't forget to check your local event calendars, Scale Auto magazine, and college & community center newsletters to see what shows are coming near you.

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Updated '52, Getting my Goat

Sunday, February 26. 2006


The '52 is essentially done at this point, just a final polishing and it can join the others.

In non-Batmobile news, I've got a new project on the bench: a '69 GTO convertible, based on a resin kit by R&R Vacuum Craft. The kit is a good starting point, but it needs some work to become what I want. The biggest thing that needs to be redone is the chassis & running gear: it looks like it was cast from a promo, so details are limited. I'll be combining parts from Monogram's '69 and AMT's '69 Chevelle to get fully detailed piece.

The hood and nose also needed to be reworked to make them fit correctly, and the windshield needed major cleanup. The body details are nice & crisp, so I was a little suprised at how rough the hood fit was...not so surprised with the windshield frame, as most convertibles need work here. I also have the engine assembled & painted, ready for detailing.

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Happy Burt Reynold's Day!

Saturday, February 11. 2006
I first heard about this "holiday" on yesterday's check of Theater Hopper and Joe Loves Crappy Movies (if you're not reading these comics, you should definitely check them both out). It seemed like a perfect time to roll out my first Burt Reynolds movie car, the Smokey and the Bandit Firebird T/A.

In retrospect, I'm surprised it took me this long to get to one of his cars. With the Cannonball Run movies, Hooper, and Stroker Ace on his resumé (along with the aforementioned Smokey and the Bandit movies), Reynolds was the go-to guy for car stunt movies for years. I just watched Cannonball, now I'm off to check for the availability of Dodge vans.

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New Model in Progress...

Monday, February 6. 2006
I am taking part in a Batmobile Community Build Project in the Polar Lights section of the HobbyTalk forums. It gave me a good reason to work on a project I've been thinking about for some time: the 1952 Batmobile. Basically it has the same overall shape as the '50 Batmobile, but the fin doesn't have an "elbow" and the front wheel openings are cut lower in the body. I'm also doing it a little more upscale than the '50: wood panelling, full carpeting, etc. Here are a couple of shots of the finished interior:





Body mods are done, and the shell has been painted and is currently drying. So far I have been very happy with how it's coming out.

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Up to Date

Friday, January 27. 2006
The Links & Info columns have been modifed on every Transformer & Batmobile model page, to allow me to keep them up to date much more easily. No more out-of-date items at Amazon, or lag times on new items!

Also: more photos by LoganKirstad and Ottoniel Becerra have been added to the Guest gallery.

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