Weird ending to a weird week
Posted by Dr Diecast at 4/25/2008 7:54 AM and is filed under uncategorized 
So here we are on Friday morning and I haven't posted in a couple days. I am posting today for a couple reasons. First is a little update as to whats going on. The second to tell you whats planned.
First off I have been bothered by some things that need not be posted here but lets say it does effect my work time. The saying, don't sweat the small stuff" well...... you get enough small stuff and you do start to sweat it.
For the last couple days I have been hoping to get this batch of cars clear coated and in a move to try and save 3+ hours of travel time to the paint supplier I bought some clear locally that I had hoped would work but its so hard to work with that it was just the waste of a half a day. Yeah...... I know I should have just taken the 3 hours to get the right stuff, whatever...... my shop, my call, deal with it.
I had been having problems with my computer and it not having enough memory. If some of you remember I bought an external hard drive to save everything on and cleared up about 1 gig of space but for some reason its running at full again and even after moving more shit I still can't get more then 200mb, so while trying to create all the emblems for the 5 cars I want to clear coat yesterday the puter shut down twice losing everything I was working on.
Add to this that my bookmarks list has been deleted 2 days in a row and my computer time is just adding to the other things Im dealing with.
On a positive note...the latest ad hit newsstand's and the phone is ringing. This does however mean I spend a lot more time on the phone and that has taken some time over the last 2 days. Did get a couple contracts though so thats good.
So back last year I did a car for a customer...... I have mentioned it here before. She had me do a 69 Coronet R/T. She had given me the paint code or color and in the end it was wrong. So what happened was he called me after getting the car, loved it but really wanted the color correct. I would too for that matter. So in talking we discussed how he wondered if I could remove the head rests from the seats which I told him was no problem. Then he asked if could make the R/T fender scoops since the diecast was actually a Super Bee decaled to look like an R/T. I said I could and then while talking I was nice and agreed to fix the seats, make the scoops from scratch and repaint and re stripe the whole car for $100.00.
This was the end of last year..... so about a month, maybe 6 weeks ago, he contacts me for an update at which time I tell him how involved making the R/T scoops are and we are rolling along. Skip ahead to yesterday...... I get a phone call blasting me for taking to long and now he wants the car shipped back just the way it is because he can do the work himself and repaint, he doesn't need me.
Nice guy huh ? Guess we can add him to the list of people who need to work a day in my shoes before opening there big mouths and insulting me. So..... I have yet to decide what I will do with this. I have almost 5 hours into the scoops.... @ 25.00 an hour thats $125.00..... still have to paint, stripe and clear coat it ....... for $100.00. But he can do it himself.... so I might just cut my losses and let him.
My plan today........ to get these cars clear coated. By hook or by crook thats what has to happen. I have moved a few more things from my computer to my external hard drive so hopefully I wont have any computer problems.
On another note..... some know about my Nash Bridges "Fantasy" Concept Cuda that was developed for the other company RJC. Well it seems that the other guy who has been trying to copy my design in diecast is at it again. I saw pictured of his abomination of a Concept Cuda convertible and it just made me laugh. Basically he wants to under price the RJC car ($399.95) and the only way to do it was hack up some 71 Cudas and swap the parts over to a Concept Challenger. His Cuda has flat hood with no ridge line (apparently custom made), 71 shaker, 71 grill and headlights, 71 complete taillight section, a decal for the finder gills and chrome polished window frame (didn't that go out in the 80's ?). Add to this using the stock Challenger valance (wrong) and a modified (badly I must say) rear valance and well you get his price of $239.95. So you can save a $160.00 if you buy the Hyundai instead of the Mercedes. Guess that decision though will be made by the consumer. Below is my version.
Imitation is the highest form of flattery they say.
Ok.... I'm out!
First off I have been bothered by some things that need not be posted here but lets say it does effect my work time. The saying, don't sweat the small stuff" well...... you get enough small stuff and you do start to sweat it.
For the last couple days I have been hoping to get this batch of cars clear coated and in a move to try and save 3+ hours of travel time to the paint supplier I bought some clear locally that I had hoped would work but its so hard to work with that it was just the waste of a half a day. Yeah...... I know I should have just taken the 3 hours to get the right stuff, whatever...... my shop, my call, deal with it.
I had been having problems with my computer and it not having enough memory. If some of you remember I bought an external hard drive to save everything on and cleared up about 1 gig of space but for some reason its running at full again and even after moving more shit I still can't get more then 200mb, so while trying to create all the emblems for the 5 cars I want to clear coat yesterday the puter shut down twice losing everything I was working on.
Add to this that my bookmarks list has been deleted 2 days in a row and my computer time is just adding to the other things Im dealing with.
On a positive note...the latest ad hit newsstand's and the phone is ringing. This does however mean I spend a lot more time on the phone and that has taken some time over the last 2 days. Did get a couple contracts though so thats good.
So back last year I did a car for a customer...... I have mentioned it here before. She had me do a 69 Coronet R/T. She had given me the paint code or color and in the end it was wrong. So what happened was he called me after getting the car, loved it but really wanted the color correct. I would too for that matter. So in talking we discussed how he wondered if I could remove the head rests from the seats which I told him was no problem. Then he asked if could make the R/T fender scoops since the diecast was actually a Super Bee decaled to look like an R/T. I said I could and then while talking I was nice and agreed to fix the seats, make the scoops from scratch and repaint and re stripe the whole car for $100.00.
This was the end of last year..... so about a month, maybe 6 weeks ago, he contacts me for an update at which time I tell him how involved making the R/T scoops are and we are rolling along. Skip ahead to yesterday...... I get a phone call blasting me for taking to long and now he wants the car shipped back just the way it is because he can do the work himself and repaint, he doesn't need me.
Nice guy huh ? Guess we can add him to the list of people who need to work a day in my shoes before opening there big mouths and insulting me. So..... I have yet to decide what I will do with this. I have almost 5 hours into the scoops.... @ 25.00 an hour thats $125.00..... still have to paint, stripe and clear coat it ....... for $100.00. But he can do it himself.... so I might just cut my losses and let him.
My plan today........ to get these cars clear coated. By hook or by crook thats what has to happen. I have moved a few more things from my computer to my external hard drive so hopefully I wont have any computer problems.
On another note..... some know about my Nash Bridges "Fantasy" Concept Cuda that was developed for the other company RJC. Well it seems that the other guy who has been trying to copy my design in diecast is at it again. I saw pictured of his abomination of a Concept Cuda convertible and it just made me laugh. Basically he wants to under price the RJC car ($399.95) and the only way to do it was hack up some 71 Cudas and swap the parts over to a Concept Challenger. His Cuda has flat hood with no ridge line (apparently custom made), 71 shaker, 71 grill and headlights, 71 complete taillight section, a decal for the finder gills and chrome polished window frame (didn't that go out in the 80's ?). Add to this using the stock Challenger valance (wrong) and a modified (badly I must say) rear valance and well you get his price of $239.95. So you can save a $160.00 if you buy the Hyundai instead of the Mercedes. Guess that decision though will be made by the consumer. Below is my version.
Imitation is the highest form of flattery they say.
Ok.... I'm out!
John for what it is worth, your Bridges 'Cuda looks much better than the other guys, in fact his looks like the silt sediment found in the bottom of the Hudson River, worse yet, like the East River in NYC.
I guess the saying is true, plagiarism is the biggest form of flattery, except in this case, I call it trying to steal someone else's thunder. Maybe he should change the name to Back Door to Robert James Concepts.
Must be all the shit in the chicken coop. In my opinion, his Cuda still looks like a Corvair, just like the last one he tried to copy you on.
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Immitation may be flattery, but ask Coke, Luis Vuiton and the makers of DVDs. When an idea is copied, it cuts into market share and discourages artists from putting out high quality work. And when the customer gets a lower quality piece, they get screwed too. You can buy jeans from Kmart, but everybody sees your seat sag but you. Are the snickers of the people who see what you bought worth the savings? I think buying a POS is a waste of money in the first place.
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Hey John, I gotta say that your NB Cuda Concept is very much appealing, it looks amazing!!! Beautiful job you did there, once again! I didn't see the other one but I know I don't have to... BRAVO!!!
CJ
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