Name:  Jim Shepherd

When did you start building models?  Around the age of 7 or 8

Why?  I always liked cars and like the idea of building miniature cars that I liked.  Also, the box art caught my attention and still does.

What was the first model car you built?  It was a 1963 corvette – that my uncle repainted while I was asleep.

What types of models do you build?  I like factory stock and restomods.

What brand(s) of models do you build the most?  Revell and AMT

What do you like most about model building?  I find it relaxing.

What part(s) of model building do you find the most challenging?  The sanding and polishing to get that brilliant shine!

Anyone special who provided you guidance/inspiration/support?  I would build models occasionally, but when I met the guys from the ACME Club I really started to build a lot of models.

If you could have one older kit reissued what would it be?  The one I am searching for is the MPC 1985 Pontiac Trans Am

What new model would you like to see issued?  I would like to see 4 door cars and wagons from the 1950’s & 1960’s.

A great turn out for our post 4th of July meeting, about 35 members attended with 22 models on display. The 35 people attending included 3 new members:
1. Kevin Hetmanski enjoys building various truck models and will be opening a RC hobby shop in the near future. I’ll share more details as they become available.
2. Leigh Guarnier collects diecast and I am looking forward to seeing some of the items from his collection.
3. Tony Sciarrino builds mostly 1/43rd race cars and believe has some actual racing experience as well.
Welcome to ACME, we are glad you are part of our club.

Happy Birthday to the following folks celebrating birthday’s in July:
Pico Elgin, Jim Sheperd, Mike Hackey, Bob McAllan, Paul Wehner, John Gum, Eric Cole, and Leigh Guarnieri.

Bob Downie delivered the review of our joint build of Aoshima’s Lamborghini Huracan Performante. Bob did an excellent job of correcting the body flaws, laying down an awesome paint job, and fighting with several issues regarding the headlights, rear fascia, etc. My contribution included the chassis and engine, both of which were very easy and hassle free. Look for a full review on the website in sometime in July.

Four additional models were handed out for reviews at the October 2019 meeting.

Mike Crespi took additional pictures of many of the models on display during Show & Tell and will be adding these to an album on our website in the near future.

After the raffle Jim Sheperd did an incredible how to about adding working lights to models. He brought along a Camaro Indy pace car which has to be seen to be believed, I counted eight working LED’s in the light bar alone. Not sure how many total there are but it has to be close to 20. While there are multiple sources for LED products Jim likes Evan Designs based on there selection and in particular their customer service: Evan Designs

Name: Pico Elgin

When did you start building models? – I was about 10 years old and started building military models, primarily planes and ships.

Why? – My Dad was in the Seabees and I started building models of the planes, ships and boats he told me about in his stories.

What was the first model car you built? – 1961 Ford convertible 3:1 kit. I slapped every part in the kit on it and brush painted it with enamel. It was something else.

What types of models do you build? – I like to build models of the most significant cars across different time periods. Those which were significant because of their styling, engineering, or both.

What brand(s) of models do you build the most? – I build mostly my own designs and over the years I developed skills in carving masters, modifying existing kits, and now really focused on using 3D design and printing.

What do you like most about model building? – Hard to say there is just one thing, I Really enjoy doing the initial research and developing new skills to bring the models to life. I truly enjoy building and my building day typically starts at 6:30 AM.

What part(s) of model building do you find the most challenging? – Manually scribing panel lines and other surface details. Sometimes two-tone paint schemes can be very challenging as well.

Anyone special who provided you guidance/inspiration/support? – Yes, Lee Baker influenced many of my builds and provided inspiration for many more.

If you could have one older kit reissued what would it be? – Heller Bugatti Type 50 What new model would you like to see issued? – 1956 Ferrari 250 GTO, body by Zagato, chassis number 0515.

Below are some pictures of Pico’s favorite models and a screen capture of a 3D he is working on in order to print a body.

Even with the weather being as it was 32 people attended the meeting and brought 37 models to the tables for Show & Tell.

The April issue of Scale Auto is pretty incredible with tons of great tips about painting models with various types of paints, etc. and includes 4 pages of coverage from last year’s show with 5 ACME builders having their models pictured.

The club decided on two themes for our club builds for the 2019 show: Ford GT Heritage (Ford GT40’s, and both generations of the new Ford GT) and the new 1934 Ford Pickup. We will have a separate display area for these builds. Remember these can be individual or group builds.

For those participating in the Porsche 959 group build, these can be displayed in the same area.

The models displayed for Show & Tell were awesome and the build quality and level of detail continues to impress me and inspire me to try new things. 

We also kicked off the ACME Model Review program so look for reviews of the Revell Boss 302 Mustang & 68 Chevelle SS396 at our May meeting.

Several people stuck around for the “Working with Resin” round table which provided good insight and guidance on working with resin whether it is a complete resin kit or trans-kit. Will summarize this and work with Scott to make it available on our website.

Printable PDF file of the Working with Resin Document:

Working with Resin Documentation

What a show!!! So many incredible models on display from an amazing and talented group of builders from all over the US and even Canada. Had a blast, had a ton of fun, my aching back and feet to prove it. I love it when builders tell us that our show is their favorite show of the year, we work hard to make it the best show possible for all of our guests. The ACME show is voted people’s choice style by the people at the show. Congrats to all the award winners!

Best In Show: David Thibodeau – Model Factory Hiro 1/12 Gulf Porsche 917; dedicated in memory of Peter Wingfield

Bike Week Theme: Terry Love – 1:9 Triumph

Asian Invasion Theme: Rodney Clements – Honda Accord wagon & jet ski combo

Web Theme Non-Tracked Military: Mike Witkowski – Dragon Wagon

Augie Hiscano Award: Bill Cunningham – Scratchbuilt 1953 Lancia D24

Top Ten Awards:

Curtis Dillon – 1970 Maverick Pro Mod

Steve Boutte – 1947 Chevy Coupe

Claude Jones – Geo Storm with trailer

Shane Harrold – 1971 Ford F100 Custom

Dwight Clements – Wagon Rod w/’59 Century Custom boat

Clay Kemp – Clint Boyer #14 Ford Fusion

Jay Savarese – 2017 Corvette C7R Test Mule

Rodney Clements – 1941 Chevy lowrider pickup

James Hart – Custom Mystery Machine

Please note that we have added the 2018 ACME Southern Nationals to our menu on the left side of the page. Included is show information, themes, and flyers. Vendor tables are available; historically by summer we are already sold out and have a waiting list. We look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday, November 3rd, 2018!

Our Web Theme for 2017 is “Non-Tracked Military Vehicles”. Humvees, Jeeps, Kubelwagens, MRAPs, Deuce & 1/2, Staff Cars, SAS LRP vehicles, Recon vehicles, Military motorcycles, that kind of stuff. Watch this space for reference list of some available kits to work from.

Thanks to everyone who made our 20th anniversary Southern Nationals a huge success! 123 builders officially entered 610 models, there were a total of 643 models on display. The quality of builds was amazing as usual, the camaraderie among all the builders was enjoyed by all. Dr. Cranky and Ken Hamilton conducted a pair of very popular seminars. Our show next year moves to November 4, 2017, a week earlier than usual, due to the community center using the gym for Veterans Day 2017. Our themes for 2017 are “Asian Invasion”, any car built in Asia or by an Asian manufacturer, and “Bike Week”, any motorcycles. Our web theme will be announced separately.

A big congratulations to the builders who earned awards:

Deja Vu Theme: David Morton; 1959 Cadillac Convertible

Left Turn Only Theme: Andy Caldwell; 1963 Parnelli Jones Indy Watson Roadster

Web Theme Ford vs. Ferrari @ LeMans: Gale Brown, 2017 Ford GT LM GTE LeMans 2016 LeMans winner

Top Ten: Tom White; 1950 Krupp Titan SWL80 & Hanomag Trailer

Top Ten: Leonard Harold; 2012 Camaro Super Gas

Top Ten: Dennis Matthews; 1958 Impala Lowrider

Top Ten: Calton Temple: 1961 Impala Lowrider

Top Ten: Ken Hamilton; Tire City Diorama

Top Ten: Freddie Pena; 1948 Chevy Coupe

Top Ten: Gary Kulchock; Peterbilt “Binford” Tow Truck Rat Rod

Top Ten: Joe Scavato: 1/16 1933 Cadillac Town Car

Top Ten: Michael Jackson; 1950 Chevy Pickup

Augie Hiscano Memorial Engineering award & Ken Mosezar Best In Show Award: David Morton, 1930 Delahaye “Delah Who?”

A reminder of this year’s web theme pitting models of Fords and Ferraris that raced at LeMans. These don’t have to be winners, just models of either Ford or Ferrari race cars that did race at LeMans.

Thanks to all who used our advance registration; at this point the advance registration is closed. Register and pay either in the hospitality room Friday evening Nov. 11, or Saturday morning Nov. 12th in the Jonquil Room at the Smyrna Community Center. We look forward to seeing everyone at the show!