Pete J.

I am sure many of you are familiar with Tom Danials Red Barron kit. It is a rather old kit, but our model club(San Diego Model Car Club) got a hold of a case of them courtsy of one of our members. It is now our common kit, club build for the year. Since I am not a resonable person, I could not leave well enough alone and decided that I did not like it as it was, so I decided to convert it into a differant but recognizable build. The color scheme will be black, brass and aluminum and I am going to add what I consider some retro-updates. The conversion is going to try to take it from WW1 into WW2 as a theme. Here is the start of the build. First thing that I decided to change was the stance and the tires. The the kit tires are a little dated. They are narrow and give a '50s agressiveness. I choose to go wider. I had some F1 rain tires that have been begging for a model for a while. I started by turning some rims to accomidate the larger tires. After that, I didn't like the low detail of the rear axle and so I turned a couple of differant axles and made a new set of springs from brass shim stock. Having done that, I really didn't like the engine which is a WW1 mercedes aircraft engine. To spruce it up cut off the old cylinders, and make some new cylinders from aluminum. Ok, that is enough for tonight. I will add more as I go along.

My preferance is Poli-Zap. It is formulated for the R/C guys to glue their lexan bodies back togeather. For the plastic model it has several advantages. First and most important to me, I have never had it fog clear or chrome parts! Second, it is a little thicker, but not as thick as zap a gap, so it will fill as well as bond and it is a little slower to cure. Third, it seems to last forever. I started marking my bottles with the date I bought them and I have had them last up to three years on the bench. Part of that I think can be atributed to the fact that I clean the cap and tip with a little acetone from time to time to keep a good seal.

For those who have been questioning insuring models, it is not really nessesary to have a separte policy. They are automaticaly covered as personal property on any homeowner, renters or condo policy. What you do have to have is a current list and some photos of your stash so that you can prove that you owned 953 kits. Valuation can be shown by ebay or some other auction site or current cost if the kit is still availble. You need a separate rider for such things as jewerly, guns, money, furs etc. because the above mentioned policies have specific restriction or limits in the policy. There are no such restrictions on models. I would guess that most insurance companies don't see a lot of claims for plastic kits. However there is one restriction and that applies to your built kits. Unless you bought it from someone else and have a reciept you will only get the value of a replacement kit. Insurance companies don't recognize your efforts unless you are a professional and they are inventory for sale. Then there is a whole differant set of rules that apply to business inventories. This also applies to your photos. The companies only have to give you replacement film. So, for the average hobbiest, just keep a list and some photos, but then that applies to just about everything in your house. Personally, every couple of years or so, I get the video camera out and shoot the whole house. I open all the drawers, cabinetes and closets and shoot everything. I then make a dvd and throw it in the safe depost box. Takes a couple of hours but I had to use it once and it came in handy.

My nickname came straight out of the way back machine(re Pebody and Sherman). I started using it when I first got on the internet when I was 50 years old. Figured pappy50 would be easy to rememeber. The avitar is a differant story all togeather. Several years ago I had the shear pleasure of visiting Lee Holman at Holman & Moody's work shop. They were the primary race prepairers for the original GT40 mark 2's not to mention the unoffical stock car arm of Ford. They still own all the original blueprints for the Mark 2s and are now making continuation cars. That is a photo of me sitting in Lee Holman's personal Mark 2. You ain't lived until you have heard that lovely 427 fire off! The only other power plant that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up as much, is a Rolls-Royce Merlin.

model

I suppose that a Chrysler Jeep makes sense if you are refering to a CJ manufactured by Chrysler corp to distinguish it from other CJ series vehicles. Through out the years there were Bantum Jeeps, Overland Jeeps, Willys Jeeps and I believe AMC Jeeps or more correctly CJ series general purpose vehicles, thus a Chrysler CJ or "Jeep" may be correct. In reality only Chrysler had a trademark on the word "Jeep" though it had been in general use since WWII. I will never understand how they got a trademark for it.

Good old mother England! US- wrench = UK -spanner US- color = UK colour US- Gas Truck = UK Petrol Browser etc., etc.....

Drun strate buger!

Mark - You mentioned larger tires bowing in. I used R/C foam inserts to over come this on the two 935's They were soft enough to let the tires sit down on the contact patch but gave them enough support so the centers didn't go concave.

Since this is #8 is that going to be a recurring theme in the part? 8 spokes?

That's y'all. Git'er write dagnabit!

My favorite is people who come into the store asking for a "hot water heater". If one already had hot water you shouldn't need to heat it. One need not be redundant especially with water.

Now this is rolling coal! A couple of friends of mine in 1981 at Fairchild AFB one morning.

Ah yes, the old "I vs. me" conundrum that a lot of people have trouble with.

It is more of a situation but it really rattles my cage when someone invents a word that is kind of like another word just to make them sound smarter or know more than they do. Example: On a number of home improvement shows I have noticed that when someone is gluing something togeather rather than saying " I am going to glue these two boards togeather with adheasive." there are a couple of people that have started saying " I am going to adheed these two boards togeather." as is adheasive adheeds things. Just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Brrrrrrrr!

Actually that is only partially true. Channellock made most of the griping tools(pliers etc.) For the 15 years I have worked at Sears, most of the forged Craftsman tools like wrenches and sockets had a source code from Danaher. It is unfortunate that in the last few years they have been outsourced to China. Darned shame too. The old Craftsman tools had a quality feel to them that you couldn't get from China. Just another way our great leader Eddy Lampert has put his stamp on Sears. Taking a great name and tool and trashing it for a few cents more in his pocket. When I first started working at Sears we use to get a lot of people from Europe and Asia come in a buy "Made in USA" tools. You have to wonder how much it costs Sears to sell a wrench that costs a little bit less because it is made some were else. Sad.

Ok, here is the question. You just opened the bottle and out pops the genie. He grants you five wishes. The catch is they have to be five real flesh and blood cars and you have to live with them for the rest of your life. No wishing for a gazillion dollar exoto car that you can sell and buy a hundred thousand Fiat 500's. You actually have to live with them. They are your transportation. No frigin race cars or homolgation specials! They got to go down the street. Oh, and mantainance is included, but you wrap it around a tree, TS man, they ain't fixing it unless you can pay for it. So, what do you choose and why? Here is my list in not particular order: 1. '69 ram air IV GTO Judge - I fell in love with this car in the muscle car era and just like the lines of it. Homage to the big block street gran prix cars. 2. '60 250 GT California Spider SWB - Yea, Ferris Bullers day off car. A lot of Ferraris to choose from but I think this one had some of the nicest lines of any of the early(In my life) Ferraris. Has to have the 250 V-12. Oh, and I just don't like the look of a Daytona. Looks like it was designed by an ammunition maker. 3. '71 280 SL 'benz pagoda roof. A friend of mines dad had one while I was in college in ice blue and it was a great car to drive. The last year of this car were the most refined and best like so many last editions. The fit and finish were impecable and it was a great car to drive. This would be my daily driver. Easy car to live with. 4. '74 Porsche 911 carrara, Rated as one of the worst porsches ever build for maintance. It was the first year of the battering ram bumpers and had a lot of emissions stuff that went south. So why do I want one? I had a '74 911 and I want it back! Best/worse car I ever owned. 5. '03 458 Italia Yea, I hear you. Crazy exotic but I have seen several of these at cars and coffee in Irvine and I could walk around this car all day long just looking at it. I can't find a line that I don't like. And when one of these leaves the lot, Oh, my word! It is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Or maybe even sans apparel. Ok, your turn----- Oh one last question to put this thing into perspective- What do you drive now? Me? '93 MR2 turbo. You?

The Micro Mark tool is limited to the size of the roller or larger. The one from The Small Shop can roll as small at 1/8" in diameter with all the rollers it has.

I don't use this very often, but when I do it is almost indispensable. http://thesmallshop.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=12

I am no shrink, but I have raised two kids. Well, almost. They are 31 and 24 and they still need some raising from time to time. First point, punishment is about revenge. Consequences is about behavior modification. Removal of privilage or granting of privilage is an effective behavior modification tool. Example: You can't watch TV until my tools are returned. This teaches the value of returning things to where they belong. I am with holding your allowance until the cost of replacing the tools is met, teaches the value of the tools. Make the consequence fit situation. Also, it is important to set limits and be consistant with them. Each violation gets the same consequence. If the same thing keeps happening then there is something else wrong. The best way to be heard by a child is to physically get down to their level( kneel, squat or sit on the floor) and look them in the eye. Lower your voice to just above a wisper so they have to pay attention to hear you and speak calmly. If you yell they are not likely to be paying attention because they are in fear. Think how well you listen when you are afraid. I recall one instance with my daughter was a teenager and I was quite upset about something and she was certian that she was right. In the middle of the conversation she said, "Don't lower your voice too me". I could hardly control the laugher and complete the discussion. One last though. Physical violance teached children that physical violance is ok in their relations with others. In my relationship with my children, I reserved physical punishment for life threatening situations only. I have yet to need to administer physical punishment. P.S. I have my wife to thank for this philosophy not my parents.

I have one on the back shelf. Built one about 20 years ago and air brushed it in VietNam Camo. It is a real pain to paint. Very soft plastic and nothing sticks to it very well. I took some 1:32 scale Sidewinders and wing tanks. Kind of slowed the whole mechanical part down, but it did look good. Fun model. Enjoy it!

I did just that for several emblems that I did for an MGBGT and they looked very good.

I've used this method with good sucess. However there is one step that I changed. Instead of pouring epoxy in the dam in step three, use white glue. The advantage is this: When you have reached step 8 all you need to do is throw it in some hot water and let the white glue desolve. This solves any problems with braking the part to get it free.

Same here Randy. Just showing the metal work makes this a winner! Just buff it up an a thin layer of clear to keep it from tarnishing.

That was me! I kept wait for that "Sweden's stupidest farmers" video moment. That much torque with no suspension and tires made for maybe 15 mph was just an accident waiting to happen. I expected to see him up a tree or through the barn at any moment. Go Sven!