jbwelda

that is SO awesome, I am truly humbled! please consider doing a FJ60 at some point and please please please cast it and sell it! jb

so what scale is this? 1/12? when I first was looking at it I thought it was 1/25 and I was amazed at the fidelity of detail! its hard to tell the scale because frankly it looks total 1:1. jb

yeah I hadn't looked that close when I posted above, and still I am amazed (and amused as were the copywriters for the box) at the concept. filings from the destroyed mold tool. cracks me up, but maybe I am just easily amused. jb

I am going to be interested in seeing you build those Gregg, like I said they pretty much went together without fuss when I built the one I showed. about what level of detail are you going to do, ignition wires and fuel lines, or more than that? note there is a dipstick that comes with the motor kit, so there is an excellent level of detail right out of the package. jb

gotta have the STP sticker! fantastic conversion! jb

Now that, even with all the glamour paint, is what I call a SLEEPER! can you imagine pulling up next to that and having the guy just stomp on that Ferrari drivetrain? Be sitting there wondering what the heck hit you! great concept and excellent execution! jb

> Each package includes filings from the dies. you're kidding! jb

started looking for the Danbury one after seeing this thread, heres a recent sale, only one I have seen so far: http://www.ebay.com/itm/351130503992?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT jb

I think there is a place called tweezerman dot com or something, I saw it mentioned in another thread somewhere here once, might search around for it. I ordered six or so pair from them and the results were interesting. there are really cheap composite material tweezers and more expensive metal ones...some very expensive (20$+). I bought three of each, straight, 45 degree bend tip and some with serrated jaws. what I have found is that I use the composite ones the most, they are light (not much of a big deal though) but they just feel right and I like not exposing say painted surfaces to metal. all pairs pick up the smallest thing I ever do (typically a piece of very thin detail master detail wire), without undue strain. the serrated jaw pairs are a bit too crude for that small an item but they do hold a little larger stuff well. my biggest problem with all the pairs I had (that I liked and used anyway) was that they would not reliably pick up very tiny diameter things like that detail wire. They were blunted on the ends or they had been stretched apart through misuse (guilty as charged) and no longer picked up really tiny diameter items well. I really have a hard time picking out tweezers that I will actually use without having them in front of me to try on tasks I typically use them for. I have a drawer full of tweezers that I never use simply because I thought they would be comfortable but I found myself unable to use them conveniently for some reason, many of those even when I had a chance to hold them in my hand before I bought them. most of it is they are too long, I find about 4" length is right for me. some years (decades) ago I was at a flea market where this guy had a whole table of tweezers, hemostats, dentist tools etc and all of them were field use items, and made of this strange composite material, colored green. I swear I still have those hemostats here, use them every day mostly to hold things on toothpicks for painting, and I have looked high and low for some like these with no luck. they were cheap too like 8 of them for 5$, I wish I had bought at least a dozen. jb

its only "fair" if the supposed "game" has the ability and known will to do to the hunter what the hunter would do to them. otherwise its just a bunch of beer drinking good old boy-ism hunting down an innocent animal for no other reason than to say they did it. if you actually eat the game that is some points for you but unless you are in as much or more danger than the game is I hardly call it fair at all. go fish in the midst of grizzly bears, and then I will be more likely to go along with it. by the way I am not anti-hunting, I am just protective of what we have left of our natural resources and think the odds should definitely be in the animals' favor out in the field. and the potential level of loss should be the same for both sides. jb

yes figures are a challenge, try fitting one realistically into a seat with hands on the controls sometime. but everything is a challenge if you ask me. personally I would prefer even a "ghost" figure, unpainted but there to nothing. I often use "ghost" items, figures, motors etc when I don't feel like detailing but require something there to be a placeholder if nothing else. and a car in a race diorama is just not right without something behind the wheel something hopefully at least resembling a humanoid figure. if you are not going to do the figures, my thinking anyway, don't do the diorama, just build the cars for singular display jb

the thing about hummers is their width. you cannot go anywhere near where I go out in the canyons and desert with a rig that wide. that's whats nice about Toyota land cruisers and tacomas: they are narrow for their length, and have excellent ground clearance, as well as steep approach and departure angles. I have been on many runs where the hummers and suburbans had to be towed out of obstacles. that hill in those photos above is nothing, believe me...maybe for the east coast or Midwest but let me take you a few places in California, Nevada, Utah and you would see what a real hill is like. and let me give you a hint: no one will ever tell you to "hit the gas" as you crest a hill. that's strictly for those who want to walk home. believe me. jb

ok well I haven't been exactly idle though I "finished" this project some time ago, I've been working on some refinements and additions, but will be posting up finished version within the week. meanwhile here is just one of those "additions"...a Trek 8000 mountain bike that sits on a bicycle rack at the front of the trailer. I also added a top luggage carrier to the Cube and did some detailing under and around the trailer. for now here is a picture of the bicycle, you can't see the Mooneyes logo on the head stem in this view but its there. by the way the luggage carrier and bicycle, photoetch spokes and all, come with a Honda Odyssey van from Fujimi. came complete with a patch of astroturf to rest it upon! thanks again for looking! jb

round here we call em clown cars and the shriners ride around on them in their parade. them and Isettas. jb

if you had the slightest interest in them, particularly if it was later in the day, you should have offered him 5$ to get them out of there. he probably would have taken it after you had shown him what was up. jb

theres no reason in the world the current 1.8 couldn't be made to produce another 80 horses as far as I could see. you don't need a big heavy V8 in there...in fact a well prepped 1.8 should walk all over any V8 on anything but the most lax "road" courses (eg: NASCAR road course) and of course the 1/4 mile. and if Mazda ever manned up with a modern V6 turbo, that's all that would be needed imo. and you could probably reach the rear spark plugs, not that you would nearly ever need to. jb

ok heres one that just kills me: diorama of say a race start, both great looking cars, both posed coming off the line maybe with wheels up, all panel lines inked before paint, all appropriate tires sanded flat and bulged realistically, all valve stems in place, what could be more perfect? Well, how about if they had a driver figure? And of those that do, how about if that driver actually had his hands on the steering wheel and gear shift? jb

my own pet peeves and things I try to go to extraordinary lengths to look right are crooked/nonparallel wheel/tires and headlamp lenses in crooked or not oriented properly (and in parallel). I hate that and especially for the wheels looking funny I have torn apart models to try to fix that and generally spend an hour of sweating over them when I initially install them. those pins and polycaps very rarely set the wheels right and I go through all kinds of effort to get wheels sitting square on the ground, parallel to the chassis and each other and all four tires touching ground. I don't usually look nearly as hard at others models as I do on my own; and what I let pass on others without comment bugs me no end on my own. OCD is my middle name sometimes. jb

ok thanks for the correction, I must have gotten that into my head from the prototype. still 2.4 litres are not much for that much weight. otoh its pretty easy to get 200+ horses out of that size engine so maybe its not so punky after all. all I know is my friend who has one has complained about it not being able to get out of its own way ever since he got it. and hes not really a "car guy" so for him to complain about performance, but especially the handling under power in corners, which he really despises, along with his impression of a Pokey Cruiser, made me think those cars were another lost opportunity like the HHR. I think both those cars could be hugely redeemed by the availability of some major horsepower under the hood. just like the Fiero and Miata (I own an early one) could have been. put 250 horses into a Miata and then you really got something to charm the ladies and impress the boys. jb

why am I unable to see those photos? all I get is a page not found message. oh its because your addresses were all mashed together. why don't you learn to use the features offered here to post your photos here directly, like I did the two above...I couldn't untangle your addresses to get the other one or two or however many there are. thanks jb

get one of those micromesh kits and be sure to go all the way to the 12000 grit, then put on some wax and you will be amazed. jb

so isn't it true that a PT Loser, er, CRUISER, is in reality a Neon with a big big fat body and a bunch of extra weight that make them wallow like a wounded whale in a corner? if so, I will take the Neon. if not...I will decline on the PTL. jb

neither of those photos show up for me, both appear to be broken links could you please just post the photos here? thanks jb

please to prod me if another becomes available! jb

anyone mention Columbo's Humber sedan or whatever that was? edit: oops just learned it was a Peugeot jb