Pete J.

That is some really nice engineering Mark. Looks like a nice tight fit. Sorry I missed it Friday. Got my final exam tomorrow and it promises to be a real bear!

Since you can't solder it in place, are you going to machine some sheet metal screws? ;)

I was self employed for years and I know what you mean. Problem is that when I worked for myself, I had the worst boss I ever had. Slave driver!

Same here.

The Hasegawa eggplane series has gone through a number of transitions since it was introduced. The earliest reference I can find is a salesman's brochure from 1978 with Kittyhawk as the brand name. At the time these were all 2 sprues with no figure. The next two iterations were from Hasegawa and were just box changes with the Hasegawa name on them. The fourth iteration included both stands and caricature figures such as a spook for the F-4 Phantom and an astronaut with the space shuttle. The latest release which is still going on, has no figures or stands.

Ok since road kill brought up eggplanes here are a few of mine. Unbuilt but I got a great deal on all the kits Some of the photo etched stuff I like to build.

I'm going to go out on a limb here(I'm sure someone will be standing by with a chain saw) and take this back to topic. If I were to give this perspective that those who are not tied to the aviation community, this is very similar to what I experience every time I go out in my MR2 and have a big old Peterbuilt long nose on my bumper. I am sure my car can disappear into the blind spot in front of a big rig. Operating any vehicle with an obstructed view requires special vigilance. That is why I try to stay away from such situations. I'm sure that if the pilot in the small home built had been aware of the large garbage grinder coming up behind he would have made an effort to make himself more visible by taxiing down one side of the taxiway or the other rather than staying on center line. In short, all accidents can be avoided but having the forethought to do so, but it is often times difficult to think of everything.

This accident is no different from other aircraft accidents in that is was a series of events that had any one of the events not happened the ultimate end would have not come about. You can analyze each of the events and try to place blame but ultimately it is the pilots responsibly to operate the aircraft safely and that in the end almost all accidents are laid at the feet of the pilot in command thanks to FAR 91.13 and the NTSB will tell you that. When the NTSB investigates an accident it is for the purpose of finding a way to prevent the accident from happening again. In my mind the major contributing factor aside for the Avenger pilot not doing proper clearing, was allowing a very small aircraft to taxi in front of a very large tail dragger with very limited forward visibility in a very congested area on a narrow taxiway. I would bet good money that this will be addressed at length in the ground handling briefing at the next Oshkosh meet. Taxiing the old tail dragging war birds is a challenge and this should be segregated from the very small aircraft. One last comment. Some comments were made about there being no wing walkers. I have never seen wing walkers on an active taxiway except when obstacle clearance is an issue. Using wing walkers to maintain clearance from other aircraft who are also taxiing just doesn't happen.

I really appreciate the precision of your work Mark. It takes more skill than most model builders realize to get all these parts to fit correctly.

Art Same here. Great get-together at Kurt's place. Wish you could make it to the San Diego club a little more often.

One has to have three hands to do so.

One very good reason to photograph your models as you build them. I was looking at the last photo and I noticed that it somewhere along the way, I lost one of the push rod tubes. If you look at the jug directly under the left side prop blade you can see it is missing. I just replaces it.

Mark, you think he would notice?

Aircraft is coming along. Here is a shot of the first time I have fit the prop and spinner to the engine. The wiring of the engine was a real bugger. Their are 28 wires to run and I had to turn 28 sparkplug connections. The plug wires are .017" silver solder. Hopefully I will be able to get back to the hotrod soon!

Very nice model, but it falls into the "Why?" category for me. I guess if that was a family car you might want one, but the effort to create and master this thing seems a bit much for the small market. Glad he has a couple of bidders. I am always glad to see someone get a little reward for their effort.

I have been using Poly-zap from Zap products as my primary super glue for as long as I can remember(and that is a long time ). I started using is because it was made for clear Lexan R/C car bodies. It is about the same thickness as Zap-a-gap so it fills a bit, and it is a relatively slow setting glue so you have time to adjust the position of your part. I have never had a fogging problem with it ever. I have used is on clear and chrome and stuff that has a coat of Future on it. It also seems to last a long time in the bottle. I have a couple of bottles that are 3 or 4 years old and it is still good.

I like the idea of giving it back. It would be a great treat for both of you.

Heck, a lot of those "visable" kits were done for science projects when I was growing up. I did one that was the inner ear for a Biology class in junior high. One of my favorite science projects.

Harrry Looks like you got us all, but I have to say you really pushed the limits on this one. I was very intrigued and read the web site. These are street legal cars and have been driven across multiple states. These cars straddle a fine line between a model and a custom car. Yes, it is scaled down so I suppose that would fit the definition of a model, but they have Toyota running gear. If he had a scaled down flathead with running gear I would probably think it leaned closer to a model. As I said this is getting into a real gray area. Perhaps a separate thread on "what is a model" would be started.

Mark, Really coming along nicely! When you mentioned a front spoiler I immediately though of something like a Ferrari 312B. Not a modern spoiler by any means, but kind of period correct. Just something to ease the airflow over the tires. I am sure that whatever you come up with will look just right. You have a great eye for this kind of detail. This is going to be a show stopper for sure!

I am not a collector! I will build every one of my models sooner or later!!! Like the next 150 years of so!

Kind of an interesting hammer to see in the pavement. Ball peen hammers are not all that common. For those who don't know, they are a metal working hammer. I've used them at the forge when I was a kid, for expanding metal and bending it for curves. I also used them for riveting. I still have one and a box of copper rivets and washers, in case I ever have to rivet something together.

Not surprising that it is not around. Looks like a cross between a 312 and a 312b. My guess is that someone got a quick look at it and went home and did it from memory. Weird car, especially in 1:12 scale.

The problem with medical tapes is that they are designed to work on skin. As such the adhesive is not designed to last for long. Eventually, the adhesive will dry up and loose it tack and separate. I have had that happen with seatbelts made from medical tape. For this reason I prefer cheap two ply toilet paper. Separate the plies and drape it over what ever you want to cover and brush it with thinned white glue. That way the adhesive will last as long as the model and you will get a similar effect. I use the cheap toilet paper because it has a little bit of a cross weave pattern that shows up when it is wet. The more expensive ones don't seem to have that pattern. Don't know why, they just do.

Well, the title is Christmas decorations, not Thanksgiving decorations. I hope your holidays are happy, filled with family and friends. I hope they warm your heart and sole and make you a joy to be around. But more than all that, I hope when the season rolls around next year, the memories of these holidays make you smile.