StevenGuthmiller

Yeah well, they’re not all that clean. Somewhere under that mess, there’s an engine. Steve

Okay, Then I identify as the pope too! Steve

I myself identify as the king of England. Therefore, you must all refer to me as "Your Highness", or "Your Excellency" from here on out. Steve

You won't be disappointed Carl! I've had mine for probably close to 10 years and I can't think of a single thing about it that I would change. Unfortunately, just for curiosity's sake, I checked the Dremel website, and this particular model. (8050-N/18) has been "retired". I truly hope that whatever they replaced it with is at least half as good. Steve

I have this exact model, and I feel the same way. My wife bought it for me as a Christmas gift some years ago, and jokingly, I love it almost as much as I love her! Steve

Thank you Steve! Spent a good portion of the afternoon finishing up the air filter and putting together an air cleaner. The air filter, (the dial from the lip balm tube) just needed the seals added on either side, which was done with plain old thin sheet plastic. The air cleaner is a largely scratch built affair, using sections from Revell '58 Chevy and AMT '70 Chevelle air cleaners, along with a wheel back from a Monogram '70 GTX for the base. (the blue section) The lid is from the Moebius '61 Ventura, and the snorkel is scratch made. Steve

Not very well. You definitely do not want to polish it once it's applied. The Gold is just a coating over regular BMF and will polish off very easily. I would imagine that the copper would be the same, though I have not tried it. Steve

My favorite is without a doubt, MCW. (Model Car World) Ready to spray acrylic lacquers in a vast array of colors, most of which are factory colors. I like Scale Finishes paints as well, but I find that MCW's metallic particles in their metallic paints are closer to correct for 1/25th scale. MCW 1964 Pontiac #6411 "Turquoise Metallic". Steve

Doubtful. I can't see paint being flexible enough to be able to withstand the rigorous handling required. Steve

Already been playing with black 30 AWG wire sanded flat on one side for the belt. Preliminary tests look promising. Steve

That's actually a pretty nice result! Steve

Decided to try the simplest, or at least most cost effective and least time consuming method, for addressing the obligatory bad pulley/belt situation evident in almost every kit. After cutting the belt from the existing kit pulleys, I carefully filed a groove around each pulley with a small three sided file. Worked better than I had expected! Steve

Thanks Richard! Continuing with some engine work, one thing that I've never liked, but always just kind of put aside is the obligatory bad looking pulleys and belts in pretty much every kit. Not being the type of guy that feels the need to have to run out and buy aftermarket parts, I wanted to at least give addressing this issue a go with what I have on hand. I considered building new pulleys from scratch, but decided that it might be a good idea to at least try the simplest approach first. So, I cut the belt from the existing kit pulleys, and with a small three sided, (triangular) file, began to carefully file a groove around the perimeter of each pulley. It actually worked much better than I had imagined! Now I just need to go to work figuring out mounting systems for the power steering pump and alternator, and then decide on the best solution for the belt. Steve

That really depends on how much you use it. My variable speed Dremel will last for a couple of weeks with moderate use, but I can go through a charge in a couple of days if I’m pushing it hard. When I’m not using it for a while, it’s in the charger, so I can’t really tell you how long it would hold a charge when idle. It’s a little like asking how many days can you drive your car on a tank of gas. Not very many if you’re trip is 500 miles. By the way, my variable speed, mini Dremel has become one of my most valuable tools. Although I somehow managed to get by without one for many years, I couldn’t imagine going without it today. Steve

That of course was my fear for quite some time as well, especially working mainly with vintage kits. But at some point, I came to the realization that I don’t usually hack on the bodies too much anyway, and besides, it’s just plastic. In almost every case, if a mistake is made, with the attitude that it’s just plastic, virtually anything can be fixed. It was a pretty freeing revelation for me once I began to think that way. I was no longer afraid to completely cut up that rare kit’s interior anymore. I figure it can only be better. Steve

Actually, I’m serious. The lighter in the ‘64 Bonneville is in the dash. ? Steve

I hate to make you bring it up with her again, but if you want to torture her a little more, tell her that the lighter is the random dash knob in between the radio and heater controls. Steve

I’m sitting here right now trying to read these responses on my phone.......at arms length of course. ? Steve

Yup. It’s all down hill from here. ? Steve

Flaunt it if ya got it! ? Steve

I’m only 60, but at this stage, I’m still doing pretty well. we’ll see what time brings. Steve

Thanks guys. Well. I've moved on to the engine, and after some thought and experimentation, ( as well as some input from fellow members ) I've decided to go with a single 4 barrel intake on this project. After putting it out there for suggestions, I settled on using the intake manifold from the Revell '68 Firebird, atop the Revell '66 GTO engine. Of course, I couldn't help myself from some additions and modifications. First, I opened up the intake manifold, and dug out one of my coveted Fireball Carter AFB carbs for the intake combination. While I was fiddling around with the parts, I happened to notice the casting plugs and accessory bolt holes on the ends of the heads while analyzing some reference photos, so some quick drill bit work added them in. Something likely to only be seen on one head, if at all, but it was about a 5 minute thing, so why not. With the manifold being open, I embarked on the short journey of creating a valley pan for the engine, which I of course got carried away with. But, before you say it, yes, I am fully aware that most of it will likely never be seen, but the point was that it was another fun challenge. Steve

I have nothing against 3-D printing, and think it's a good thing to an extent, but also a bad thing in some regards for the hobby. Personally, with my limited tech abilities, and at my age, I'm not going to embark on a whole new endeavor that's going to eat up even more of my precious model building time, but as I said, that's my personal take. As I said, I think it's good for the hobby as it stands now, because it can offer some things that we lack as far as detailed parts. I love some of Fireball Modelwork's parts and will routinely incorporate them into my builds, for things like finely detailed carburetors, which our hobby has lacked for decades. Where I feel like 3-D printing can hurt the hobby is by depriving the builder of actually learning how to build. I understand that it might be much easier to print or buy an extremely highly detailed engine, or engine compartment, or whatever it might be, but at some point, it's going to become just a matter of printing up a show caliber model that will basically require little skill or thought outside of painting and assembly. Old school modelers, like many of us, who have learned how to shape and mold plain old plastic into something tangible, will no longer have any relevance. Not that I care, because I'm still going to do things as I always have, but at some point, nobody is going to have to go through the thought process, and the dexterity that it might take to build something yourself anymore, whether it be something as small as a power steering pump, or as large as a complete interior, or for that matter, an entire car, when they can just print up something that's going to be better anyway. I would hate to be a judge at a model contest in the near future, who has to decide between the perfect and astronomically detailed 3-D printed model, versus the guy who spent months and months laboring over scratch made parts that are inferior to the 3-D printed ones. Do you reward the finished product, regardless of how it was obtained, or do you reward the actual work that went into it. I think that 3-D printing is probably the future of the hobby, without a doubt, but I think that it's proliferation also has some quite sad drawbacks. Steve

Had a run in with a car door at work.........The door won. Occupational hazard you could say. Fortunately, it never hurt too much, and since the evening of the first day, hasn't bothered me at all. Really looking forward to seeing what's under my thumb nail when it falls off! Steve

Thanks Trevor. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to go with the '66 GTO engine instead, The valve covers are more correct, and the intake actually fits better anyway. Now for some valley pan detail. Here's another little thing that grabbed my attention while looking at reference photos that was an easy add. Always looking for little details to add to enhance appearances, it was pretty quick and simple to add the plug and bolt hole detail on the ends of the heads. Not a big deal, but at least one of them might be noticeable in the finished engine compartment once a wash has been applied. Steve