CAL

what's not going to make it for 2007? My super detailed Mazda 787B My super detailed Enzo Ferrari My Revell F1 Ferrari F2003 My Tamiya Serian My super detailed ME-109 My super detailed Johan 500K Mercedes My super detailed Tamiya F4U Corsair My F350 ambulance conversion a few large scale figure kits On the drawing board? I am supposed to be getting a "top secret" set of factory drawings for a Porsche 917, if I do get those drawings it's going to be a large scale 917 from scratch. If not I will be cleaning up some old projects from the past. What I am hoping is Eleanor makes it for the 2007 cut off.

Here are some helpful hints. Beware. Smokey Mountain Miniatures is someone else’s name. They do model trains. So you probably need to look for a different name. You might look at an Amiti Sub for a better way. You also don't need to cross section at 1/4 intervals. Vacuuming your RTV is more important that pressure casting your resin. Urethane is better than RTV. And your other parts may be better build with an armature, epoxy putty covered with milliputt vs. bondo. And machine what you can from styrene for your plugs. And you probably need to add a zero or two to your injection molding figures. If you did build airplanes and were to embark on this project you'd clearly see the connection. Know what you are talking about before saying it. I am not familar with your fiberglass techniques. It is usually done in a mold, not as you discribe. Male and female buck? And you might want to have someone proof your business copy, especially before asking for help of this nature. You might actually get somewhere. You also need to be able to listen, clearly not a gift, for some people they have to learn it... some people never do. Figure it out, focus on one thing, and do it very well vs. a dozen halfassed. HTH

I didn't want to say anything, but since you brought it up: it is NOT helping the guy's sitiuation.

See I think you are going about it backwards. You decided to build a boat without doing your market research first. You need to write to your audience. You are writing to yourself at this time. A big mistake. For starters why a 1/16 th scale? Why not 1/12? why not 1/24 - 1/25th scale? Why not something bigger. Maybe there is a reason why there are no 1/16th scale boats - no body or few are interested in one. Who exactly are going to buy them? Is your target car modelers? Boat builders? I may not seem like a big deal but trust me when I say it is, and it's going to determine the scale and media of the kit. “I believe a non-thought out plan would sound like jeeze guys, I want to build a boat, but I don’t know how. Who wants one? That would be rather ridiculous would it now?†It is ridiculous because you need to ask that question first. I like the idea of a drag or hydroplane boat, but I don't think I would get one because it doesn't fit scale wise. It's too big to go with any of the more common scale cars and trucks and too small for a stand-alone display. Personally I would like to see one in either a much bigger scale or 1/24 - 1/25 scale. In other words, just because there isn't X in this scale doesn't mean it will sell, but don't take my word for it. Do your market research and then decide what scale before coming in with blazing guns and say this is what it is, what do you think? You are getting a very predictable reaction from people. Depending on your reader (builder) and scale the construction is going to be different. Are you so sure you want to do a vacuum formed hull? How many is that going to scare away in itself? However, I agree that chunk of resin that big isn't the way to go either. However, there are other ways around this, but again it depends on the audience. Some of your described process doesn’t exactly make sense to me. With all these resources at your fingertips – let’s just say something didn’t add up for me, and some things were just plan absurd, which begs the question to be asked? Have you ever build a bigger scale model boat? Airplane? If you haven’t you should because that experience will go a long way with this project. To me it sounds, but I could be wrong, but it sounds like you haven’t even talked to anyone about it much less did it yourself. Why did I ask about airplanes? Because they are strikingly similar to boat building. I also don't believe a model kit needs a big name behind it to become a success, nor am I non-believer. I have work with a few people to produce garage kits before. I DO know what it takes. Notwithstanding, you need to be much stronger than that to crack like this over some critique and criticism. The second problem without your market research done is production. How many? You can’t do a limited run and sell it as a limited run without making it a limited run. Or you are you, like so many who have fallen in the past, just going to make a jillion only to have them sit around on the selves? Or do you make it special and number them 1 of 100 and limited production to that? The other thing that is not fair to people is do make something like this and then stop and make something entirely different. No plans to do additional boats? What is this funny car business. It seems much more profitable and lucrative than the boat. You can always do the boat later, but I am not going to tell you how to do it. You asked, remember? There is just a lot to cover and it doesn’t sound real thought through. It’s thin at best. I’d be happy to answer any further questions. BTW who is Smokey Mountain Miniatures? Don’t they do trains? What is the relationship? And a little name-dropping probably wouldn’t hurt. HTH Cheers

Yeah, I don't mean to sound negative either, but it doesn't sound real thought out yet.

Hey, that vaguely looks like one of my projects. Can't blame you for not wanting to scratch build from the ground up. It's a ton of work.

Hello, I am Christopher, otherwise known as CAL, and modeling saved my life – seriously. I grew up building models, tanks, cars, and airplanes. I even did some stick and tissue as a kit. However, I am a car guy first. I remember the 1st model. My dad did most of it, but as I recall it was some off scale kit of the Gulf Porsche 917. My dad and me did a few other kits together before he got too busy with his Indy Porsche shop: a Hubley Duesenburg SJ, which I still have, and a Lamborghini. In fact if I thought long and hard about it I could probably list every kit I ever built since I was a kid. However, I was a troubled teen and really wasn’t into modeling past about 16. Girls, drugs and alcohol were much more appealing at that time, and for the next 15 or so years that mostly what I did. It was getting way out of hand and I was hanging around bad dudes with lots of weapons everywhere I went. I thought this is crazy, what have I become. If this doesn’t end soon it’s going to kill me. I am either going to OD, get shot, or ending up in prison. So I got out of dodge and cleaned up at least off the drugs 1989. It took a few more years to sober up, but I did in December 1991 I pretty much had my last good drunk Shortly after that, I had a good stable job building racing engines, and I found myself with a lot of extra money and time and was rapidly getting bored. I built a SBF Super Gas late model Mustang but that was too much like work. We were already running a TAFC out of the shop and my Mustang was more in the way than anything else. While that was all well and fun it was the same as road racing Porsches. My dad had a Porsche shop and my brother was taking care of Camel Lights, 962s and building 200mph 911s. So I kind of found my way back into that circle, never really loosing the fondness of Porsche I have. Now it's more of an obsession. Porsche kits make up the biggest part of my car kit collection with over 60 911 kits alone. In any event, it’s amazing how much you can save when you’re not wasting it on girls, drugs, and alcohol. On a whim, I stopped in a LHS and saw a Top Flight radio controlled P-40 Warhawk. I though hey now that’s pretty cool, but of course I was quickly talked out of it by one of the store employees. I began rummaging around the plastics and found a Revell Hi Tech kit, which had a small PE fret including. Never seen anything like that before so I picked it up. I quickly found a new use for that extra money I had, and after figuring out I needed some tools and an airbrush to even begin to try and build this aircraft with it’s fancy camouflage. So the next day I bought an airbrush and some tools and starting build a model. The rest is what you say is history. I did go back and get that Top Flight Warhawk and took up flying RC planes for a while, and eventual progressed into the real thing were I did about 20 hrs in a Cessna 172. I was seriously considering a career as a pilot, but my more responsible side told me to go to college instead. So I sold my 710hp SBF 9.30 sec Super Gas Mustang III and went to college. I did a lot of modeling and started a pretty good-sized collection of kits during my collage years. Mainly, because I had a PT job at a LHS and got a pretty good discount on kits and supplies. I was also getting pretty good at building and started displaying my work at the shop. One day a guy comes in and sees a Tamiya F4F Wildcat I built and offers me $70 for it. I am thing okay, what’s the catch? No catch he is just a lonely old guy who just lost his wife and likes models, however, admittedly cannot build plastic kits himself. He also wants my P-47 Hi Tech kit which was the first kit that got me back into the hobby. I am kind of sorry I sold those kits, but no they are on display for everyone to see. As it happens the guy that bought my kits killed himself a few weeks later. I guess living without his wife was just too hard on him. His daughters contacted someone at the local Aircraft Museum and donated his collection to them. They went through and kept the “good stuff:†kits that were well build and tossed out what was left. Well my Tamiya Wildcat did end up in the museum, but I never did find out what happened to my P-47. That was in 1993, and I was real active in the modeling community in the 90s. I belonged to a couple of clubs before me a few other guys formed our own club, where I held the office of President for a year. We put on some really good model shows and contests and did several demos at the malls, and I was winning awards with my kits, including a silver and a gold and a honorable mention at the Chicago IPMS Regional contest, which I feel pretty good about because I was up against some strong competition. Never made it to a National, I was getting kind of burned out of IPMS politics and kind of went my separate way. I transferred colleges and ending up in Denver, Colorado where I finished my BFA in Film Writing and Directing, which is another whole story to be told. That is kind of only scratching the surface of my modeling. I build pretty much anything that is is cool. Sometimes, even if it's a subject I don't like but the kit itself is neat or cool I will build it. Besides having an large Porsche collection I have some muscle car kits but mostly road racing stuff. I also have a large collection or WWII aircraft and armor and several RC warbirds, a RC heli , and a RC RS4-3 with ever hop up and upgrade you can get. I also got heavy into figures and have several "Girl" kits. I even did a few modeling articles and reviews, have been published a few times and started sculping my own figures. The past few years have been hectic and crazy. Not much time for modeling and my last project was put on hold for a few years. I met a wonderful woman, who was part of that chaos but we settled down and bought a house were I live now with her, our cat, Jack Sparrow, and our 100lbs Rottweiler, Bear. I have a dedicated modeling room, which was part of the problem before – we moved around a lot and never had the time or space to model. I was recently laid off and now have a little extra time and brought that project back out, and is what I am currently working on: Eleanor from Gone In 60 Seconds. Had it not been for modeling I am not sure I would have stayed off the juice, and not many know this story. Now it's keeping my sanity, spirits up, and my mind off other things during a difficult time for us.

Yeah, I'm not entirely convinced it's real and not a model. There isn't any real proof one way or another as there is nothing in that series of shots to say for sure. There is a typo in the ad for a JLP-9 making me think there was another car floating around. There was no JLP-9. In theory it's the actual JPL-3. I am not sure when these studio photos were taken but it wasn't at the time it was auctioned because there were no names on the car, and there was two additional stickers in the front windshield and the fuel door decal is gone. It was nameless in 2001 at Gunnar Racing (it also didn't have the wheel cover on it at that time), 2005 at two historical events and 2006-2007 at no less than two auction houses. Perhaps these studio shots are quite a bit older, and don't look like they were done real professional. That in its self is a little strange to set up a and pay* for a studio shoot and not do it all the way - shooting on a cyclorama but not silk over the top (under the lights) for that matter the reflection of the lights don't even look like studio lighting. When I shot a Porsche in a studio it was about $25,000.00 for two days 1 to set up and 1 to shoot. That included studio time on a cyclorama, studio lights, stands, a double silk, a crew, craft, and a Sony HD 1080I.

I see now. The first car is chassis JLP-9 and the car without names is chassis JLP-3, which was also at a recent acution house, so we are, at least I was comparing two different cars. In that case it's real real real.

There wasn't any from 2001-2005 nor any on the car at the 2007 auction.

It's the real deal, or at least that was the auction ad said. The photos were take for an auction ad for the real JLP-3 (varified by chassis number). The car was also at Gunnar in 2001, raced in 2005 at a Monterey Historic event, was acutioned 2007; however, the $650,000.00 reserve wasn't met. Interestingly the photos at the actual RM Acution in March of this year or recent events do not look like the same car pictured in the acution house ad. Obvously customer supplied the photos. I don't think there is ever anyway to know if its a model or the real car without asking whoever took these shots - personally

Could, but doesn't happen that often. Furthermore, a studio shoot would have probably used a couple of silks so that the light would reflect in the shot. More evidence. The real car doesn't have as much distortion in the rear glass. There is also a big chip out of the front spoiler on the real car. as mentioned no names on the real car. There is also some kind of additional decal in the front windshield of the real car. A there is something a little off in the front of the "studio car." However, I been wrong before, but that was a mistake.

Just an update.

A couple clues. The real thing almost never gets shot at this angle, and unless it was a newly done restoration there is no abrasive marks from the track, whick it could be a resto as it's not in it's original markings or colors. Plus, I don't think there are any driver names on the real car. At least there weren't any in 2005ish I am thinking it's bigger scale maybe the JLP-3 Moby Dick here is based off Tamiya 1/12 th scale 935 BTW the Ferrari was a 1/3 scale. And Pierre Scerri is now building a 250 and a 330P Here is the original car. untitled.bmp

It's a model.

Another reason not to buy a Mac. INTEL.

With AMT alot. Ever since they moved production from Iowa the quality has gone down. The biggest problem is I get a lot of AMT kits that are short shot. The 67 Shelby that I am using for Eleanor has a bunch of short shot interior parts - I thought they (AMT) took care of this problem. I have had some AMT kits that are missing clear trees, wheel sets (not just like one but all of them) decals and had warped kits that are simply unbuildable.

It's actually a 951, cool nontheless, I'm going to have to get one. It's one of the few Porsches I don't have in my collection.

One of these... Too bad they're almost impossible to find, and it's probably not what you are thinking it is.

That could be. When I had a chance to switch to a Mac G5 (which was already limited when it hit the shelf in that the PC's around the corner were going to be faster and more powerful than the G5 could ever be. In other words it was a bit behind the leading edge tech curve with it was new). I was less than impressed. The only reason I'd get a Mac is to run FCP, but I am not trying to sell anyone one way or another. I am not the one who has to live with it. Not to mention that a Mac G5 close to what I was runing on my PC with all the SATA drives, RAM and other adds was $5800.00 - about $2300.00 more than I spent on my PC. The funny thing is I am the guy who is supposed to be the Mac guy, the artist the graphic designer, the reason why someone switches to a MAC. I even used one for 3 years. For the average user all this is all overkill, and they would never utilze any of it. They just need to surf the web, get emails, and manage their digi pix, and you certianly don't need a G5 to do that. For that matter, some say that a PC on Unix is better than a Mac and more versitile. After all the Mac OS is now virtually a Unix architecture and since it's IBM derived it works the same or a little better on the PC than the Mac. I think the big difference is the PC I built vs a pre packaged off the shelf one. It's been the most stable, fastest PC, that I have been on and by a long way the absoulute best PC I ever owned. I had some miserable PCs, and used some uncooperative annoying Macs in the past.

It's getting a little out dated now. I built it 2+ years ago and am thinking of upgrading, but nevertheless. The PC I built MSI KT8 Neo 64bit board 750 watt PS (I don't remember what brand but one of the better ones) I almost did a water-cooled system, but I ended up with the best fan I could find. AMD 3800+ FX chip Windows XP-PRO Maxtor Serial ATA 0-RAID 1/2 terabit for media Maxtor Standard ATA in Cool Drive 3s 1/2 terabit for everything else With an Open Promise RAID chip set available to expand if needed Firewire with several FW drives. Matched 2 GIG RAM 2.0 USB Nivida APG 7800 FX video card with dual 19" monitors + tv/video Memorex CD Drive Sony DVD R/W Drive XP-PRO is a lot better than 2000 expecially for any kind of graphics. The MAC I just worked on it. I know some of the features and specs, but I wasn't in it or built it. We had IT guys for that :)What I do know is below. G4 PS unknown Convensional cooling Standard 32 bit G4 chip Jaguar 10X No RAIDs Standard 500 gig HD. Firewire 500MB RAM later upgraded 1 gig but didn't seem to make a lot of difference. G4 graphics card w/ dual monitors specs unknown + tv/video Standard CD/DVD drive. It crashed as much as my old Win ME PC. It worked okay when it was working, but I honestly couldn't say it was better than my PC.

Honest opinion. I used a Mac at work and a PC at home. I was running very demanding graphic programs on each as a film/video editor. I used FCP and AVID prospectively. Many of the Adobe products I used on both, there wasn't that much of a difference between using AE on a Mac or a PC. I can say this. The PC that I built my self two years ago has been the best computer I have owned. It is still faster and more powerful than most things out there and has had virtually no problems (knock on wood). The Mac, a G4 with Jaguar 10X, was nowhere near as stable as my PC, (nor as powerful) and there wasn't anything it could do that my PC couldn't except run FCP. As I understand it, Mac is even closer to a PC than ever before. It seems much easier and convenient just to use a PC, especially if you are using any business programs or are using it for work. Most of the professional business world is on a PC, and I know Mac will run windows, but… The only people using Macs are the universities and colleges, and people working in arts and graphics, and the old die-hard Mac users. You can do whatever you want, but you are likely to scratch your head wondering what all the hype about Mac has been all these years. They are not that distant any longer.

At least it's starting to look like her....

While I am not perfectly happy with them yet I have a usable set of wheels.

Nice hearing from you guys, too.