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Harry P.

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Everything posted by Harry P.

  1. An easy way to think about this is that volume equals lower per unit cost. A model manufacturer has to spend a certain amount of money in order to manufacture the first model... the more models manufactured from the same "pot" of money, the less each unit will cost to manufacture. On the other hand, a resin caster can only manufacture a very limited amount of product from his "pot" of money, so the cost per unit is much, much higher.
  2. This whole week has been brutal. Not snow, but intense cold...like 25 to 30 below wind chills. It was about 3 or 4 below this morning when I had to make by first doctor's appt, then a second later in the afternoon. Stopped for gas, and my hands were so cold I thought they were frostbitten. The wind was blowing so hard it was freezing my eyes shut. Final stop was Walmart (thank God for my new handicapped parking placard!)... for a guy like me who is suffering from two very serious illnesses, all that activity wore me out. When I got home I could barely make it up the stairs.
  3. Very nice! Looks like you got all the opening panels to fit quite well, which makes a huge difference when you see the model all closed up. Excellent job. But i do question the use of a 2x4 as a hood prop. Not very Italian. You might want to scratch something up from wire,
  4. The only "master" worth anything is being master of your domain.
  5. I love it! Super clean and crisp, excellent foil, beautiful interior detailing, etc. All go into the "Plus" category. The only "minus" is that when you remove the top, there is nothing there. No folded top to be seen. Maybe you need to find a top boot that fits (or scratchbuild one) so that when the top is down, the boot covers the "missing" folded top.
  6. You need to read the "What's the Story" thread from a little while ago in the General section.
  7. Here's what happened: Golden Bell Press is the company that printed and distributed/mailed the magazine. Gregg's part in this was that for a certain monthly payment from GBP, Gregg was to supply the printer with finished files, ready to print, every month. I'm not sure what the exact arrangement was between Golden Bell and Gregg, not sure who even owned the magazine. Then Larry Bell, the owner of GBP, suddenly decided to retire and shut the whole operation down. The magazine was now strictly in Gregg's hands. The contributors still sent me their material, and I still laid out and produced all the pages and the cover, exactly as had been done before. But now, when I sent Gregg all the final files for a particular month, it was up to HIM to get the magazine printed and distributed, instead of Golden Bell Press paying Gregg a monthly fee to supply them with the files (which they then printed and distributed), With Golden Bell Press out of the picture, Gregg himself had to pay for the printing and distribution, and it has been a problem, financially, for Gregg to continue producing the magazine out of his own pocket. That's basically how it happened, and as of now, I don't know when (or if) any more issues will be produced. Only Gregg knows where things stand.
  8. I don't know. I haven't talked to the heart doctor about that.
  9. Just a recap for all of you who sent me kind words and good wishes (and contributed to my gofund me account)… and just to sort of put all the info in one post rather than the several existing posts regarding my situation. A quick summary of what happened to me: Diagnosed with cancer in August 2016. Got radiation treatment (3 weeks, 5x a week) to shrink the tumor, then began chemotherapy. That's when everything fell apart. It seems that my very first chemo session was so strong that it sort of blasted my heart. I was in intensive care, where they were able to restart my heart. But the damage had been done. My heart was now pumping at 25% of "normal." A week in intensive care, then a week in a "normal" hospital room, then three weeks in an in-patient cardiac clinic… and as of last Thursday, now home. The doctors seem to think that I have recovered enough to live alone, albeit at a very limited capacity. I have to walk slowly, stairs are hard on me, I have to eat a modified very low sodium diet, etc. I also have to do arm and leg exercises (with very light weights) every day to build up my strength, and by association, my heart. Obviously I will never be the same again. The goal is just to be "functional"… to be able to live on my own, go to the grocery store, etc. Just be able to accomplish normal daily tasks. It will be a long and slow process to build up my heart, and chances are it will never get much better than 35% or so… at which point the doctors say they would implant a defibrillator in me. Right now I have to wear an external one 24 hours a day… it's sort of a "bra" with electrodes in it that contact my skin. If there's a problem, it will go off and of course I would have to call 911. So far all is quiet, fingers crossed. And in the meantime, as I am trying to recover from my heart problems, chemotherapy is ongoing… but with a different "cocktail" that will not affect my heart. Sure wish they had used THAT in my first chemo session… none of this heart trouble would ever have happened. So there you have it… cardiac patient, cancer patient… fighting TWO huge problems at the same time. It's very hard, and most of my time is spent either taking pills, exercising, or seeing doctors. No time for model building, or work (in fact, because of my condition I can no longer work and have to apply for disability, which will be my ONLY source of income. That is, IF I'm approved, and that can take up to a year. If they deny my application, I have no idea what I will do for money. That's the story as of today, January 2, 2017. Thanks for reading this and thanks to everyone who has helped me in one way or another.
  10. Spectacular. All of the elements are really coming together. Love the roof, love the interior, love the chromed parts. I love it all! This is model building at a level you just don't see very often.
  11. Lots of beautiful models in that set. Every one of them is a winner. but I'm partial to you classics.
  12. That's quite an impressive collection, and the variety is spectacular. I don't think any builder could have a more successful year. Outstanding work in every case! I have only one nit to pick... you need to tone down and darken the copper chains on the tailgate of the rat truck.
  13. Rock/Classic Rock for me, but if I had to "outside the box" I'd go with Little Big Town.
  14. Harry P.

    49' Merc

    That looks like it came out real nice. Great paint, sharp decals and foil, nicely detailed engine... and YES! The stripes are correctly cut where they cross the panel lines and don't run right over them! What's not to like?
  15. The first one is the 1924 Fiat Mefistofele, the second one is the 1927 Fiat 806 Corsa (no photo)... both are fairly new reissues from Italeri in 1/12 scale. The third one is a circa 1908-10 Rolls Royce baloon car by Entex, in 1/16 scale. The long rear deck was designed to carry a hot air balloon to the launching site (hot air ballooning was a big fad of the era). Each of these kits have been issued many times under various brand names and with various box art. All three kits contain several hundred parts and are a real challenge to build. The RR balloon car has vinyl "wiring" and a special jig, so that you actually lace the spokes on the jig, then add the rims. It was a pretty hadr process... it took me many tries before I figured out the correct lacing sequence before I had an actual correct wheel made.
  16. Very cool project. This should wind up being a real beauty. But you really should have filled that huge sink mark on the manifold.
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