1965 Buick Electra 225 coupe 1/25 scale model-Revisited!!

I thought I would revisit this subject, as it seems to be one of the more popular posts that I have done since I opened this blog in 2009. This of course, again is my scratch built posterboard, or cardboard 1965 Buick Electra 225 coupe in 1/25th scale. It is about 9 inches long in this scale. The reason why I'm doing this is, I took the time, last year to open up the protective display box so I could take better, unobstructed pictures of the model. As I said in my earlier post about this car, there were never any factory  produced models or model kits ever made of this car, yet. But beings that I had one of these cars that I drove in high school, I wanted a scale model of it regardless. Read  the older post on how I built this model in 1987.

 Warning, picture heavy!!

 Model may not be all that precise, but as far as I know, it is the only one of its kind in existence, as of this typing.

Everything is cardboard except for the plastic interior box,  the acetate window "glass" and the chrome plated plastic Jo-Han 1977 Cadillac Coupe deVille wheels.

My car did not have the optional front fender cornering lamps, just above the sides of the bumper, so that is reflected in this model.

Center corner crease in the rear window was unique to the Electra coupe, in the Buick line. Oldsmobile Ninety Eight coupes also had this same rear window treatment. It was repeated in 1966.

Enjoy.

The long taillights, first used here, on the 1965 Electra, would later on become a Buick hallmark for years to come. That along with the front fender "Ventiports", (portholes), which those were premiered on the 1949 Buicks.

Heavy ribbed lower body chrome plated pot metal side mouldings, which ran the total length of both sides of the car, weighed more than what most whole cars of today, do. Just kidding. This also was a styling cue of Buick Electra's made from 1963 through the 1966 model year. For '67, it was discontinued. A modernized version of this design was brought back for the 1991 through 1996 Buick Park Avenue.

Chrome block serif type capital letters spelled out "ELECTRA 225" across  the rear flanks of the huge quarter panels of the car. 1965 was the last year Buick did this styling feature. In 1966, Buick went to a two piece chrome plated pot metal cursive script model name badge.

If I can make a model of this car out of cardboard, how much harder for a model manufacturer would it be to replicate this car in die cast metal, or plastic. Come on model companies!! You are missing a whole new marketing opportunity out there as alot of these big American luxury cars were never replicated as scale models, even when these cars were new. As such, they are now becoming today's collector cars.

Here is the link to my original post on this model.

http://jayveejayaresjunk.blogspot.com/2010/04/1965-buick-electra-225-coupe-125-scale.html

Just a little note that I do not do commissioned model making work. This is just a hobby of mine. If I did it for a living, it would not be enjoyable for me to do, and I would probably stop doing them.


Jim.

Record size Imperial moth, July 19, 2012!!

This unusually large Imperial Moth visited my mercury vapor light overnight last night, and the first thing I noticed about her is her unusually big size. I have been collecting, and dealing with butterflies and moths since I was 10 years old in July of 1968, and in those ensuing years, I have had numerous dealings with Imperials, as well as all the other indigenous species of the giant silk moth family in Pennsylvania, such as the Cecropia, Luna, and Polyphemus moths. I have never seen an Imperial moth in this gargantuan size before in my whole life. The average live unmounted. wingspan of these moths is usually around 5" to 5-1/2". This one has a wingspan of 6-9/16"! Rounds down to 6-1/2". That is about the average wingspan of a female Cecropia (Robin) moth, the largest indigenous giant silk moth in North America. Cecropias can get as big as 7-3/8" in wingspan, so they still hold the record in my book. But this particular Imperial gives the Cecropia a run for its money. In a way of comparison, the Monarch Butterfly has a wingspan of about 4". Maximum wingspan is measured when the wings are in maximum natural wingspan position, which is usually the position the wings are in when the insect is in flight, as the image immediately below shows.

My wife calls this moth, the "Scrambled Egg Moth" as its coloration looks like that to her. When each of my family members saw it they all went "Oh, My Gosh!!". They all have seen the different species that I have raised, captured, and bred over the years, but they also have never seen an Imperial this big before.

The caterpillars of this moth feed mainly on the leaves of sassafras, pine, walnut, and Norway (hard) maple.
The adults do not feed. Their job in life when they reach this stage is reproduction, then after that, they die. 

UPDATE

Here is the mounted specimen. Since this moth is so unusually large, I felt that she should be preserved for prosperity. But before she was preserved, she laid a few fertilized eggs, which have since hatched. I am now in the process of raising 13 caterpillars that have hatched from them. I will update this blog post as the caterpillars grow, which takes from what I read on the internet, takes about 2 months, or around 60 days to reach maturity. They will then stop feeding, and burrow underground to pupate. That should happen sometime in mid to late September.

Below, are the first images of this moth's offspring. These caterpillars are about 4 days out of their eggs, in the first "instar", and are in real life about 1/2" long. An "instar" is a period of growth every caterpillar goes through, which ends with the caterpillar shedding it's skin like a snake, so it can continue to grow bigger. The skin will only stretch so much before it gets too small to handle the caterpillar's growth. Each time it sheds it's skin, it is then able to eat and grow some more before they shed again. Most butterfly and moth caterpillars do this 5 times. The last time is when they change into a pupa,or in the case of butterflies, it turns into a chrysalis. Most moth caterpillars spin cocoons before they shed that final caterpillar skin inside that cocoon, away from prying eyes. With the Imperial moth, though, it's caterpillars, when they are full grown, burrow a few inches underground before it turns into a brown pupa, in it's hollowed out subterranean chamber.

The Imperial caterpillars are growing very fast. I am feeding them on Norway Maple, which is a hard maple.

The images below are greatly magnified as these guys, like I said are only about 1/2" long, right now. They are right near the end of their first instar of growth.

UPDATE 8/23/2012   (Edited and added 9/1/2012)

The image below is of  the offspring of that big Imperial Moth that I caught last month, on July 19th. I started with 13 caterpillars. 8 are left, due to circumstances beyond my control. I am raising them in a screened 6 gallon bucket pail with small Norway Maple branches stuck in a baby food jar in the bottom of the bucket, with water in the jar that has a hole in the lid to accept the cut branches, but it keeps the caterpillars from crawling down into the jar, and drowning. This keeps the leaves fresh for a lot longer than just throwing leaves loosely in the bottom of the container for the caterpillars.  These two guys are in their fourth "instar", about mid term in their eating and growth life. I am rearing them on Norway Maple leaves. Right now they are about the size of a tobacco hornworm, another caterpillar that looks similar to the one that Mark posted, but a tad bigger. At  the end of this fourth instar, the Imperial larvae will shed their skins, and will enter the fifth and final instar of growth before they burrow underground to pupate to overwinter,there. When these caterpillars are full grown, they will be over 4 inches long, and fatter than my index finger! Yes, they get that big!!

Jim.