Spex84

Super cool so far. In-scale hinges are something I've never tried before, so it's interesting to see this build come together!

Any interest in LaSalle transmissions for the Olds Rocket? Or a Rocket in 1/16 scale? I wanted an engine to drop into the '27 Ford roadster that I've been working on....and had the valve covers already, so it seemed like a no-brainer to make an Olds dummy block. The project escalated into this: Olds V8 with Edmunds-style 2x4 intake, LaSalle transmission with Olds tailshaft and appropriate bellhousing, weedburner headers, and a siamesed mushroom-style air cleaner (kinda like the one in the AMT Mod Rod/Ala Kart kit). I'm currently setting up the file to test-print with my 3D printer at home, but I need to order more resin. Woohoo!

Hmm, that is interesting. I just assumed there was a Baja Bug on the market somewhere already! I'll have to keep that idea in mind for later, unless someone beats me to it in the meantime.

Wicked. It has a clean 1965-ish look. Not every T had cowl lamps and freakish upholstery! You make kitbashing look easy as pie ?

Fireball Modelworks. Proprietor: Joseph.

Wow!! I love layouts like this so much. This made my day. It speaks to the car-lover, the modeler, and the designer in me. I spent my early years creating exploded-view drawings of all my various ideas and dreamed that maybe one day I could somehow turn it into a career. It didn't really happen...but the passion is still there Even just the tasty line weight on those sketches makes my heart ache. Incredibly cool stuff. Thanks Tim!

Pre-drilled distributors have been some of my best-sellers! And that's despite all the existing pre-wired options out there. It's tapering off now as people begin to buy more 3D printed parts off of FB and Ebay. I've eyed the crab distributors before....hadn't thought of doing seatbelt buckles though. I like the spark boot idea! They'd be very delicate and a little tricky. Very much worth considering. One idea I've been mulling over is a "project-saver" pack for hot rods with items that would have saved my stalled projects: axle risers and blocks for setting ride height and stance. Wheel chocks to hold kit tires in place for mockups. And problem-solvers for the engine bay: remote oil filter, remote thermostat housing, modular hose bends, distributors, water pumps for converting kit race engines for street use, generators/alternators with brackets and appropriate pulleys, steering offset boxes, etc etc. The kind of stuff that could prevent a kitbasher from having to rob 12 kits to build a single car! Every use case is so specific though...it might be best to focus on things that are truly universal.

In the course of my daily work I encounter that kind of thing a lot, leading me to occasionally create instruction sheets for people so they have something to refer back to. Of course, then the software updates and the UI changes or something and my instructions become obsolete. Lol! The simplest corner-cutting solution would be to take photos with a smart phone, and then email those images to a forum member who is more inclined to fiddle around with uploading/attaching/posting said images. Then you're off the hook! If you want to learn some new tricks, then go for it Just write it all down so you can refer back to it later; I'm "young" but I do this all the time.

A rose by any other name is still a rose! But seriously, I can say I have gone out of my way to buy unbuilt vintage examples of both the '57 Chevy and '50 Ford convertible just for the cool period-correct custom parts. Prices for such kits are getting ridiculous. I'd be very happy to see them return in a newly-issued kit!

I have a book called "A Century of Automotive Style" that includes some shots of the '59 Impala clay mockups in their bizarre glory. Not sure if those are the same photos that are now readily available on the internet. The designers really swung for the fences, haha! If there are more previously unpublished photos I'd be delighted to see 'em.

I love this truck! Great color combo, the stance and wheel/tire package nails the late 60s look. The orange-ness of the interior (as opposed to just red) is what really makes it, for me.

Yes. It's one of those "we didn't stop to think if we should have done it" situations, IMHO. Somewhat of a race to the bottom. It will save artists time when it comes to defeating the struggle of the blank canvas...but it will harm them overall if compensation is driven downward by management types who think "why should I pay you when your results are almost the same as this AI and the AI is 10000 times faster?" I do see an oddly freeing characteristic of this, though: when I was working as a digital artist I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to match styles and combine elements of different styles, in order to generate work that was essentially more "art-like content" as opposed to "real" art, that is, art that forms as an organic result of an artists' deep interrogation and articulation of the subject matter, self, and materials. If I could hit a button and just instantly solve the question "what does Batman look like in the style of a Hanna Barbera cartoon?" then I don't need to waste brainpower or labor on it. I can focus on art that is more personal and reflective of my individual relationship with the world, whatever that turns out to be. I hope AI-generated "art" becomes just another tool in the toolbox, once people get over their initial infatuation with the shiny and weird results.

The thing that's been freaking me out lately is AI-generated "art". There are tools like Dall-E and MidJourney that can produce stuff that, while nonsense upon close inspection, is acceptably "epic" and art-like to the casual observer. In creating concept art for games and film, I'd read somewhere that the "formula" for arresting artwork is 85% familiar subject matter, 10% mixing in something a little different or interesting, and then a 5% "wild card" that adds a little spice to the mix. Programmers have apparently now leveraged a similar formula that allows users to type a text prompt and get art-like images back. Some of the stuff I'm seeing is junk, but some of it is actually pretty darn cool and does a fairly staggering job of emulating the look and feel of various artists' styles, at least if you squint a little. When so much of art for entertainment design is "combine X with Y with a dash of Z"...I see this tool being employed heavily. What that means for individual talented artists, I don't know. I do think it's going to drive us further towards the notion that ideas are cheap and a dime a dozen. Now even the execution of the idea is going to be cheap. Even the most artless person can now type: "horde of zombies attacking an airport in a rainstorm in the style of Christopher Nolan film" and get a dramatic but vague pitch image for their latest script. Yikes. Here's my "painting" created by the prompt "red spacecraft parked on Los Angeles street, in style of John Berkey":

I've admired Dan Palatnik's work for at least the last 10 years! I wondered if maybe some of those files would end up getting 3D printed....he's done so many cars now, and their proportions are generally pretty spot-on, moreso than a great many (most?) 3D models out there on the web. The Cad engine is looking good! I just spent ages making an Olds Rocket V8 and I think it's put me off modeling engines for ever (lol). I salute your patience.

What a beast! Looks like it printed very well. Those models might be pricey, but as a sometimes-3D modeler, when I look at that Caddy I see at the very least $4k worth of meticulous work, which makes it an absolute smoking deal!

WOW. That is one spectacular model! What a beautiful car. The coupe top looks fantastic. I'm unfamiliar with the differences between the roadsters and coupes, so I can just enjoy this one at face value. Small modifications like thinning the spokes go a long way, and the paint is absolutely killer. Great photography too. Outstanding work!

What a wacky and wonderful subject for a model (and no small amount of hard work!) It turned out beautifully! Congrats on owning the world's longest scale model limousine!

Looks fantastic to me!!

Looking fantastic! The color combo is loud but interesting.

I appreciate the recommendations, Charles, thanks!

I dig it so far!! The 1:1 inspiration has some serious rubber rake going on. Back tires could be the Revell '32 Roadster units, front...I have no idea!

The jealousy flows through me Looking forward to seeing the stuff you'll be printing. I've had my eye on a the Anycubic Photon Mono X 6k...can't quite swing it yet. I'd love to be able to print entire bodies without cutting the files into chunks!

Incredibly cool. The staging of the little SUV and the way it's squatting (sagging rear springs?) just makes the scene, for me. The weathering and variety of debris is endlessly fascinating. It's a "simple" scene but there's so much to look at. My only critique is that the VW van in the midst of the I-beam debris would probably have been crushed and warped by the weight of all that heavy junk getting piled on top of it!! And if there was a way to sprinkle the place with 1-2mm debris (bolts, washers, bits of rebar, pieces of cable) the density and dispersion of junk would match the reference/inspiration images even more closely!! Thanks for sharing. I don't know how you achieve such believable and realistic surface finishes--it's so inspiring to see!

In a word-- yes! The intake was designed to fit the more prototypically accurate heads on the Revell Tony Nancy 22jr nailhead. Shaving down the chunky tabs on the Revell '29/30 nailhead until the surface is flush with the mounting surface for the valve covers will get you most of the way there.

This is very cool so far. I'm so used to seeing '30 and '32 Fords that non-Ford hot rods make me feel kind of....itchy? Inspiring to see one being built. I really dig the chromed steelies...the AMT '49 Ford really has the nicest examples ever. It captures that "summer of '62" look nicely. If I was going to "improve" on the look, I'd actually lean into the awkwardness and go with more, not less: I'd visually elongate the front end by adding a fifth dummy vent to the cowl itself!