peteski

I built the AMT version about 30 years ago. I don't recall anything specific about the kit. I think it was one of the first kits I ever entered in a model contrast. I built it and sold it to a gentleman who owned a real Cobra. I have few 4" x 6" photos if it (this was before digital cameras). I should scan them and post them someday.

I also have a bit of a problem with LEGO "models". Sure, I can call them models, but they are not true "scale models". Due to the materials they use (plastic blocks), the are mere representation of the 1:1 object. Even the 1:200 scale Titanic is just rough representation of the ship in 1:200 scale. To me a scale model is an object that accurately represent some 1:1 scale item. The details, it surface appearance and colors should very closely resemble the 1:1 item. LEGO models have surface that looks like it is made from bricks, and many details are out of scale or not very accurate. It is just the nature of LEGO blocks. Compare the appearance of a LEGO model 1:200 Titanic with Trumpeter 1:200 scale model Titanic and decide for yourself. Yes both are models of Titanic, but that is where the similarity ends. However both types of models require skill and patience to complete. There is nothing wrong with a LEGO creation of someone is into LEGO hobby.

I remember these trucks, with a garbage truck body, picking up our trash (back when I was a kid, living behind the Iron Curtain).

People like that assclown could your a close encounter with a "clue bat"! Yes, it seems that every year drivers are becoming less and less courteous, and also seem to ignore traffic laws. It seems that it is all about them and how fast they can get to their destination. It is probably combination of true cluelessness, entitlement, playing with their smart devices while driving, or even fumbling with their very complicated touch-panel dashboard controls. Some of those dashes are a huge driving distraction when operating them while driving. So much for ergonomics. i It is all about how flashy and complicated the manufacturers can make them. Thanks you all for unleashing this rant from me. I feel better now (well, until the next time I get in my car and go anywhere).

To have a wide variety of sizes (for things like gauges) I make my own punches by sharpening the ends of K&S Metals telescoping brass tubing I chuck a piece (that has a square-cut end) in a Dremel (or larger drill for larger diameter tubing) and using a file, file an edge while the tubing is spinning. I sometimes follow up with fine grit sandpaper to make the edge sharper. I then us them by hand on thin material like paper. I just place the tubing over the item I want to cut, then spin it with my fingers while also putting downward pressure on it. That results in clean cuts.

Maybe something bad happened when they reshuffled tens of thousands of posts after reworking forum's categories? Oops!

They sure are! Smallest ones made! Footprint of 0.020" x 0.040". That scales out to 0.5" x 1" in 1:25 scale. A size of a typical small 1:1 automotive light bulb, like #194. Did you get them pre-wired, or will you solder your own wires?

You piqued my curiosity! Do you mean SMD 0201 or 0402? Back over 20 years ago I built the Revell Peterbuilt wrecker and I lit it up. At that time those tiny LEDs did not exist yet. I used tiny bulbs in the light bar, and built a circuit which sequentially ramped up and down their brightens to simulate rotation. Things are bit easier today. I hid the electronics in the wrecker body.

I'll be watching this one. This kit seems to be priced pretty high on eBay. It will be nice to see one built. Doesn't that light bar have 4 rotating reflectors on each side? That will be quite feat to make them all rotating. Maybe you can simulate the rotation by having several LEDs cycling in sequence at each light bulb location.

Thanks for the confirmation on the grease gun. I recall an old fashion "clicky" oiler mounted in the engine compartment of a V16 Cadillac from the '30s. Back then lots of things required frequent manual oiling. But what was the purpose of a grease gun in a Cobra? What was the driver supposed to grease "on the fly". Why not keep the grease gun in the garage to be used after riding the car?

I wish I had those photos when I was building my 1:43 289. I painted the foot boxes white, but they look to be off-white. It always helps to have good reference materials! Also, could you tell me what the blue cylinder is on the right side foot box? I was told it is some sort of a grease gun?

Seems that we have some *VERY* confused people on this forum.

I was not berating Helmut's model. I think the model looks good. It wasn't even criticism - just a question. Plus, if I was posting photos of my model, I would welcome questions, or even constructive criticism. Not sure why it that is not "Kosher" here. Should we all only state "nice model" when someone posts their build, but we see something that we might like to get more info about? I'm glad that Helmut didn't think there was anything wrong with my question. Also thanks to you both for answering my questions.

Very well done! That MB van is not something we see often featured on this American forum, but IMO quite welcome. Actually I didn't even know this model existed.

I noticed someone tagged my earlier post with a "confused" tag. I wonder why? What is so confusing there? When I build a model, I try to make it as realistic looking as possible. Real car does not have a large number embossed on the inside of the engine cover, so I would have ground it off, just like I grind off other things that do not belong on a model (like the copyright text on many plastic model kit floors). I mostly hang around plastic model sections of this forum. Maybe with diecast metal models this is not usually done? I'm confused as to what the confusion is.

Welcome to the forum Harry! Lets see some of your models. There are sections of the forum for pretty much any type of models.

I always like the looks of that car: wide and flat! Your modifications greatly improved the looks of that model, but since you repainted it I'm surprised that you didn't remove the part number on the underside of the engine cover.

That photo does show the truck very well. I like those panoramic windows - like sitting in a glass booth.

Very nicely done diorama. These cars had plastic bodies (well, it was actually made of resin-impregnated cotton),so there would be no rust. But the IIRC, color of bare plastic was sort of reddish brown, so you might be lucky that your rust on the body parts represents bare resin. ? Back when I lived in Poland my uncle had one of those Trabants. It was white. He and my aunt used to take me on vacations in it (along with my cousin). I also remember that at some point the trunk lid cracked (from the lock tumbler down to the bottom edge. I remember my uncle took couple of flat pieces from my cousin's wooden erector set to use under clamps for repairing the crack. He used epoxy glue. Thanks for bringing up those memories!

I love Foamy (especially the tech support stuff), but I haven't checked for any new stuff for a while. The Starschmucks stuff is also right-on-target.

That doesn't seem quite accurate either. Chine (citizens or even ruling power) are not to blame. The greedy Western company executives who wanted to make their products as cheaply as possible outsourced the manufacturing to countries where production costs were cheaper. You know, to maximize the profits and keep the executives and shareholders happy. China just happened to be one of those countries with cheap labor and no environmental laws. Then, with all that foreign money flowing in, China became wealthier nation and started buying mothballed brand names and, lots of real-estate in the USA. Now they are reaping the benefits, created by all that foreign money from greedy foreign companies. But we don't want this to become political.

The Sham-Wow guy should be a spokesman for this wonderful device! Speaking of scams and shams, did anybody else besides me notice that quite few companies which produced quality of products for many years went out of business and those trusted and highly regarded brand names were purchased by Chinese companies, and they now use those names to sell all sorts of c-rap!. Names such as Bell & Howell, Fuller Brush, Sharper Image, and even German Blaupunkt. There are many more, but those are the ones that just popped into my head after seeing them in fairly recent TV ads. And then there are those "Bionic" self-retracting garden hoses. There is nothing bionic about them - someone forgot to look up what "bionic" really means.

Sometimes there is no substitution for some manual scraping.

I appreciate you guys dong the test. Rockwell hardness test will be nice, but totally meaningless to me, especially with no point of reference. Simple bend-or-snap test is good enough for me. Or even a "fingernail test" (pushing end of a fingernail into the hardened resin to see if it makes a mark which eventually almost heals itself, or if it is hard enough that no mark is left).

I'm surprised that it gets that hard. Could you do a test for me? Run about 1" long bead of your UV adhesive on a piece of aluminum foil. Once it is hardened, peel it off the foil, and bend it. Is it flexible or does it just break? My Bondic just bends. It is not very soft, but not really hard either. The other problem I have with Bondic and the original UV light (and even a stronger UV flashlight) is that while the resin semi-hardens, the surface remains sticky. I discussed this in another thread some time ago. However, when I cured Bondic with sunlight, it not only got really hard, but the surface was nice and shiny (not sticky). The discussion we had hypothesized that the curing lights don't use the most favorable wavelength of UV light, where Sun's light contains a wide spectrum of UV light.