Pete J.

I just had a chat with Matthew about Scale Motorsport and have some news. It seems I incorrectly said the business was closing. The business is definitely for sale and he is working very hard to see that it stays around under new owners. He wants the Scale Motorsport traditions and name to continue. They are still open for business and selling product. I will continue to buy their product as I feel it is the best available and encourage others to do the same. For the auto building fraternity, it is an important source of parts and I am hoping it stays around for a long time. My apologies for any confusion my prior posts may have caused.

So the answer/question seems to be, Are you a builder or collector. For builders, I find it unlikely that shrink wrap protects the model itself except perhaps in high humidity areas. Protecting the box from wear is a collector thing. "Original condition" is a collector thing. For the builder, as long as all the parts and instructions are there, it is good to go. As for me, I just keep the box, because it keeps all the bits together. I am not a collector, though I have a collection. I guess it comes down to intent. I honestly intend to build everything I have, but know that I am not likely to live that long. The collection is a self defense mechanism to keep from paying high after market prices and having what I want on had to build it when I am ready. It is a fine line we walk.

Organized clutter! Everything has a place. Sometimes it is on the floor, others on the bench top, and occasionally, very occasionally it is in a drawer.

I noticed a post on a "more teeth = smoother cut" and with plastic more teeth can be a problem. Yes, more teeth means a finer cut, but it also means more heat which is just what you don't want with plastic. If you add teeth, you need to slow the blade down to stop the heat generation and melting. Although it seems counterintuitive, with plastic, fewer teeth can mean a smoother cut with less melting.

I was lucky enough to visit Holman Moody some years ago and hear a continuation GT 40 start up. Here is a video I shot.

Ok, I am going to be following this one really close! Sotheby's Monterey in August. This is pretty much guaranteed to set a record. Holman Moody that finished third in 1966. Got to try harder at winning Powerball to get this one. https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/MO18/Monterey/lots/r0073-1966-ford-gt40/692159

It is a fine line to walk on this forum(and to be fair other forums) between offering help and being critical. Since in most cases, I don't personally know most of the people here, I just stay out of it, unless someone is asking a "How to" question. Since we are not face to face or voice to voice, you cannot gauge many of the things we take as ques in everyday conversation such as inflection, facial expressions or body language. With strictly the written word, it is easy to be misunderstood as few of us are highly skilled wordsmiths.

Actually it was a Bertone style study not Lancia. I think many people think it was Lancia because it was called the "Stratos Zero". Bertone did a lot of style work for Italian makers in the 60's and 70s. Many of the studies came in this wedge shape. The closest production car with this shape was the Fiat X-19 as well as the Lancia Stratos(if you can call that a production car).

Another peeve of mine! All the disingenuous "woo hoo, great builds". If you put your models up here just to get your ego stroked, I got to believe that you should find a good shrink. I don't mind if someone puts an atta boy on a quality build, but how many times have we seen a ton of attaboys on blurry, out of focus or just generally flawed builds. I'm not saying rip into it, but if it ain't good, don't throw false praise out there. Me, I reserve my attaboys for the good stuff.

Urban myth. Sealed=complete. This is just not the case. I knew a hobby shop owner who had a machine to reseal boxes. Cost under $200. He kept it for returned kits. Now he wasn't unscrupulous, he just didn't want people getting in the boxes on the shelf. He always inventoried any returns to make sure it was complete. That doesn't mean that someone else wouldn't reseal a broken or incomplete kit. We see the stories here with some frequency. Opened the box and got a bunch of junk parts or even a different model. Since vintage kits in original condition can sell for four or five times what an opened kit can sell for, it invites fraud. Almost all of my kits are not sealed. That is for two reasons. One, I have a lot of kits I got directly from Tamiya. Tamiya wraps them in their warehouse when they come in from Japan, before they send them out to the distributore/stores. They are all unwrapped in the warehouse. If they give you a kit, it will not be wrapped. Second, I buy a lot direct from Japan. As was mentioned earlier, kits are not wrapped on the store shelves in Japan and they don't waste their time wrapping them to ship. I just think people making too much out of a "sealed" kit is ridiculous. I would rather have an open and properly inventoried kit any day.

Often times the best way to learn how to avoid a problem is to figure out how to create it! Good luck!

I saw something at a contest this weekend that just made me go mental. I walked away and said nothing except to a friend. Didn't want a ruckus. There was a model that was detailed to the nines. Stunning amount of work. Spent a ton of money on aftermarket stuff. Generally well done. Missed the basics entirely. Seams still evident on the tires, goobers in the paint, sink marks in the body still evident, rear spoiler all wonky and out of alignment, decal work peeling and poorly aligned. You don't dare say anything because you can see that the builder put a ton of work into the build, but just missed on the simple things. Really made me sad to see that much effort for a poor overall build.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BIAzP4KInc

Boom shaka laka!

Loved his show. Very much a travel log as much as a cooking show. He showed how to get into the local culture. I must say with hind sight the last few showed kind of had the feel of a farewell tour. Good friends on one last road trip. Sad he is gone. The world is a little darker without him.

No photos 'cuz it is kind of a bland looking plate but crock pot pork chops with sauerkraut. Layer the kraut with the chops, sprinkle with a little brown sugar and caraway seeds on each layer. Then as a final touch pour a stick of melted butter over the top. Slow cook for 8 hours on low. Yumm! For a final touch, we are getting great corn on the cob from our local farm stand. Dessert- vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries from the same stand. Oh, and a Stone IPA to top it off. Very German meal.

That is really a great pair of rusty hulks. Perhaps the only thing missing is a Rust-eze bumper ointment Sticker(sorry, grandson is really into the movie Cars). I love the peeling upholstery.

Driving test was a piece of cake for me. I grew up on a farm and had about 10 years driving experience with a jeep, tractors and various trucks by the time I showed up at the DMV. Now at 19 I went to take my private pilots license. Now that was a challenge. I had to fly 100 miles to Cheyenne and arrive at the appointed time. Spend the first hour being grilled by the examiner. Plan a flight to a destination specified by the examiner. Take off and fly the plan part way. Have the examiner pull the power and simulate loss of engine, fly to a simulated engine out approach, go around and return the Cheyenne. Land and debrief the examiner. Passed the first time, but it was 5 hours of testing. Yup, that was a test.

Just a thought for 426 pack-- It doesn't matter how many times it takes to pass the test. You get the same license with the same privileges if you pass first time or 20th time. There is no gold, silver or bronze license. All the same! Go git em.

No way in heck was I stopping at that point on the freeway! That is the worst place possible that he stopped. It is an exit with two exit lanes and it is the common practice to weave out of the left lane of the exit to stay on the freeway and cars frequently drive at freeway speed into the overrun that Batman was parked on. You are a target parked there. I have to believe he had no choice there. Just up the ramp are three gas stations with plenty of places to park a disabled car.

Just from experience with all kinds of saws, it is about a lot of factors. Feed rate and friction are the two biggest factors because plastic melts at a very low temperature and that causes a lot of the issue you describe. Any time you use a power saw on plastic you run the risk of melting the plastic. Unfortunately the cutoff saw you bought does not have a speed control and frankly I've never seen one with a speed control, but you could probably slow it down with a dimmer switch added between the outlet and your saw. Unfortunately that method slows it down but also reduces the torque the motor produces. Run the saw as slow as you can an still have enough power to cut and just ease it through the plastic. Also and some lubricant. A few drops of dishwashing soap in water would work well and not contaminate the plastic. Then you have to consider the teeth in the blade. On a small saw like this the teeth are generally not very sharp but the more and finer the teeth the smoother the cut, but also the more power it takes to run the saw. This is all a balancing act.

I grew up in western Nebraska so I know of what you talk about. However we have a bit more traffic in SoCal and I understand the need to have safety checks. The licensing of seniors is progressive. I have a 90 year old friend who is still driving, but is severely restricted. to daytime, local roads. That is mostly due to his vision deterioration. He has to go in annually for a driving test.

Got my first license to drive unsupervised when I was 14. It was a permit to drive to and from school and school events. Had to pass the regular driving license. When you turned 16, if you had no violations you just went down and paid a couple of bucks and they issued you a regular license. Trust me, you will be just fine. Don't overthink it! Oh, and buy the way, there are a bunch of us on this site that are getting to the point we will have to test every couple of years to prove we still have our wits about us and can drive safely!

I'll stick with my '93 turbo. Just rebuilt the engine and replaced anything that was worn with OEM parts. New upholstery and replaced the t top seals. I have essentially a brand new car. Oh and it is fast enough to get me into all the trouble I want.

Or, you could get a kit car version.