40 ford boneyard progress

[Dave Harris sctchbld]

OOOoppps I didn't show the radiator in the last post. Here it is.
also here is an overall shot of some of the cars I already have finished & a Cord I built out of the front halves of two VW's long before Hot Wheels made a Cord . I built some of these in the 80's & just recently decided to build a bunch more & make a diorama of them. Thats partially because it will be a year or more before I can even begin to build a railroad -- need to retire ( again) & get moved to Colorado first . I went on a 1/64th car buying spree & I have about 80 of the little buggers to wreck! again

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WOW !! Was it REALLY FOUR YEARS AGO that I first talked about again retireing ---WELL NOW I DID IT!! Had to have a near death experience and the bus company to tell me they would not let me come back to work after I got thru with a month in the hospital! The boss told me he DID NOT want me to come back and possibly do more damage to my system--part of it caused by too much time at a stretch in the seat--mostly caused by the fact that I did not quit smoking, seems as tho stents collect nicotine like a magnet vand plug in a short time--- took 69 years to screw it up the first time --2 years to ruin the fix! I DON'T SMOKE anymore ---not that hard to do really .I was not going to go back to work anyway.
Some of you may remember that in 2010 I had a blocked artery in my left leg that they put a stent in--- well it plugged up again, now the entire length of my left leg artery is now stents! While in the process of fixing the artery ( after they decided to try and save my leg- first option was to cut it off!) the dye they need to use to see what is hapening when the stents are put in is toxic to your kidneys and I had a total kidney failure!! After almost a month of IV medications on a massive scale ( Probably G guage at least) my kidneys recovered and then all I had to do was learn to walk again !!
But I DID RETIRE and the Move to Colorado is started and will be complete by the End of August! Don't worry I am NOT going to any movies there! I have well over a hundred 1/64 cars to wreck now so I won't have time anyway.

[Bob C]

My GOSH !!! ...whatta hunka health history. Glad to see you are still around ! Colorado, huh ?...no campfires either ! Lookin' forward to your posts on a fresh start (?)...and more metal mangling How-Tos. Bob C.

[Charlie B]

It is great hearing from you Dave. I look forward to more of your junky modeling..
Glad you finally shook the cigarettes. My layout was built with cigarette money, and now it is buying scenery.
Charlie

[Dave Harris sctchbld]

Thanks Charlie--- After the first operation the Dr. said --Quit smoking --- of course no matter what thats always the advice they give.
This time the surgeon told me in the middle of putting in the stents ( I was awake!) that the material the stent is made from ( titanuum and stainless) attracts nicotine in the blood and traps it!! IF YOU don't QUIT this WILL happen AGAIN in very short order AND THEN YOU WILL LOOSE AT LEAST ONE LEG! I was already in the hospital and could not smoke --that pretrty well convinced me I was done and the month in there pretty well cleared me up. Once I decided the cigs were a thing of the past , I have had no problem --- really .
Me being Me --I did some research after I got home and found the surgeon was completly honest-- stents are like a nicotine magnet--- Wish the first time the doctors had been a bit more forceful about it-- I would have quit then had I known what I know now.

[Dave Harris sctchbld]

Well this post was about a boneyard -- seems thats where I almost went ! Now --on the backside of it I can see some humor in my ordeal -- was NOT funny at the time , now it seems VERY funny . By the way it is about two months now and the no smoking is going great! However I need to make some friends who smoke Marlboros ( SP?) because they have the nice patterned foil paper lining the box that is so handy in modeling.

Now to the funny part of this deal , while in the hospital with the complete shutdown of my kidneys and the humongous volumes ( 2 -3 GALLONS AN HOUR) of fluids and antibotics they were running thru me with tubes going in and more tubes to take it back out hoping that on the way thru it would do something, it did something all right --- washed virtually ALL the pottassium out of my system . When that happens you hallucinate --BIG TIME-- total paranoia -- but to you it is completely real --- I suddenly realized that the big headed bug eyed gray aliens we supposedly had at area 51 did NOT come from space --trhey were not born anywhere --- they were MADE right here in THIS LAS VEGAS HOSPITAL and I was being made into one!! I called everybody I knew and begged them to come get me out --save me , I almost convinced a few of my friends but not enough to come and bust me out! I called my boss at work and I think he came the closest to believing me -- maybe because he is retired air force with all kind of top secret clearences or is just gullible --not sure which. Probably Gullible --after all he kept ME on 11 years!
So there I am for about 3 -4 days in total insanity so to speak --- what really makers me laugh on the backside of the whole thing was that when I began to get my head together when my potassium went up and my kidneys started to work again and I realized I was NOT going to be an Ailen ----- I was actually a bit dissapointed for a bit! :cry:
My company just had a little gig saturday to Notice my retirement , very nice party actually , very nice of them , especially in that they don't usually do any of that especially after only 11 years ---- after the official stuff was over my Boss said he had one more thing that he thought I might like ------ A Coffee cup with a picture of an ALIEN GRAY on IT !!

[Dave Harris sctchbld]

Those are fantastic, I would love to see more of these! Maybe a small howto while doing one would be great!
Now I got to figure out how to do that in N-Scale

Jim , when I get to Colorado in Sept and get set up again , I will do a piece and step by step on the next car OK?

For now here is a bit more of The Mercury Convt. The rear Qtr panel got scraped a bit never tended to so it caught cancer , next pictures.



                   

[Dave Harris sctchbld]

The seats had to be scratched as the car came with bucket seat, the "leather" of the seats is more of that wonderful foil paper out of cigarette packs ,I bet If I could buy just that foil , I could sell it !! Fewer and fewer smokers among modelers and that paper is fantastic! . I run the foil paper thru my little corrugated metal tool and it makes lovely pleated seats.
The cancer the Quarter panel caught is getting worse , alway does .



           

[Bob C]

Dave, Glad to see you back again,...again ! That foil from the butts; is it the texture or the thickness you're looking for ? For texture, if its not too coarse, the foil seals on cottage cheese and "Philly" cream cheese have an upholstery-like texture and retain it well during smoothing of the material...flexible but fairly sturdy. Jello pudding cup tops have a similar but finer texture, and "Swiss Miss" tapioca tops look (to my old eyes) like rolled aluminum or stainless on the un-inked side. Ya never know when this stuff will come in handy (I keep telling my Cardiologist !)... Bob C.

[Dave Harris sctchbld]

Dave, Glad to see you back again,...again ! That foil from the butts; is it the texture or the thickness you're looking for ? For texture, if its not too coarse, the foil seals on cottage cheese and "Philly" cream cheese have an upholstery-like texture and retain it well during smoothing of the material...flexible but fairly sturdy. Jello pudding cup tops have a similar but finer texture, and "Swiss Miss" tapioca tops look (to my old eyes) like rolled aluminum or stainless on the un-inked side. Ya never know when this stuff will come in handy (I keep telling my Cardiologist !)... Bob C.

Bob , thanks for the tips , it is pretty much the texture I am seeking , I will take a look at the items you suggest I am sure they will be good for something that I should have already tried-- must be slipping :o --- on the other hand I don't know which my vein surgeon whould scream more about cigarettes or tapioca and pudding by the gallon, cream cheese?---- NO question it's great but we better get the grand kids to eat it! And don't tell the parents!

Dave

[Dave Harris sctchbld]

Rats!~! Still not able to get my hobby stuff unpacked and set up to work yet, garage still unheated and with temps as low as 41 below , kind of slow going . But here are some pics of a 47 Chevy that I attempted to replicate one I saw on a junkyard forum , it was not wrecked , just run-out and left to rust.

               

[Dave Harris sctchbld]

Here is the prototype, actually I have seen several Chevys in almost the same shape.

   

[Bob C]

The "Junk-Master" returns - again ! Nice to see you're still on the right side of the sod....and doing more neat (miniature) recycling projects. Fourty - one BELOW...PA is chilly but haven't felt temps like that since Great Falls (MT) in the late 60's - BRRRRRRRR ! The Image stabilization on the camera must be working well...compensating for the shivering ! Bob C.

[Dave Harris sctchbld]

OOOOOOOPPPS! When starting to find some of my model stuff, I came across this Buick? --that I started quite a while back , long enough that I had forgotten it completely. At this point I am not sure if it was to be a Junkyard car or if I was going to build a custom? I can not figure out what the parent car was. If you look at the under side you can see that it has almost a complete aluminum wrap , fenders , doors and a decided boat tail trunk. The rear quarters and deck lid are almost all added aluminum, the port holes in the fender are for sure Buick --- so what was I making? Darned if I know, grill surround looks almost like 53 or so Buick, but the fastback body is pretty much prewar or early post war? Now what? Finish it off as a Junk car? Or build a slick custom to park outside the yard?


                   

[Dave Harris sctchbld]

The world of Hot wheels size cars has sure moved on past 69 cent hot wheels, look at this 53 Mercury model. I have had this
( actually a couple of them) for a while now , just can't seem to bring myself to junk them , but one day ------ after all that's what I bought them and a bunch more by the same maker for -----to fill a junk yard!!