ColonelKrypton

I don't so much the cold or snow although too much snow can be irksome. Freezing rain Ice storms on the other hand are always irksome++ We usually get several every winter here in the Eastern Ontario / South Western Quebec / upstate NY / along the St. Lawrence Valley seaway area but this Winter Mother Nature was kind to us and we hand only one small one of note. The previous couple of Winters were particularly hard and damaging in this area with much heavy wet snow and freeing rain. It was nice to have a Winter with a bit of reprieve. I always remind myself that no matter how bad I think it is locally and I find it irksome, someone else, somewhere else is having a worse time of it than I. cheers, Graham

Surface tension works well for many such tasks. Using a small paint brush is a good tip. What you may be thinking of is something like this: https://uchida.com/products/jewel-picker has a sticky end. Some tools are double ended and there are several sizes. Also a wax stick ( bees wax ) is another. You will find this tools in craft stores, Amazon, eBay, your favourite hobby store, ( etc ) Not always easy to search for as they are called different things by different users. Wax sticks can be found by searching ( on Amazon for example ) for something like: nail art wax stick or nail art picker . cheers, Graham

Very nice. Those were the days of real drag racing, not the billion dollar "Sports Entertainment" it has become. cheers, Graham

I did miss it, thank you for posting. Lots of inspiration to be found there. cheers, Graham

That is common practice brush painting acrylics - several thin coats vs one heavy one. I am still learning, trying to break that "gotta cover in one coat" mentality. This is common subject matter for topics on Britmodeller. The focus there is primarily aircraft and military vehicles but the techniques of painting are all the same. This is a youtube link to someone who brush paints exclusively and uses Tamiya acrylics: And this a link to one such topic on Britmodeller ( there are many more if you care to search ) https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235136960-tamiya-acrylic/ cheers, Graham

Hard to say. Post a link to one of his youtube videos so we can have a look. Could be he is adding some retarder. Tamiya product number 87114 is the retarder for Tamiya acrylics. I would also use the Tamiya X-20A thinner as well rather than distilled water. Follow Tamiya's instructions. I found it made a real difference. cheers, Graham

Many decades ago, when I was decades younger, my favourite radio station was WWWW in the Detroit area. One day, overnight, they switched from rock to playing both kinds of music - country and western. I guess they couldn't compete with the then rising star that was WRIF in Detroit. Ya gotta go were the money is. I listen to all kinds of music including both kinds but the Canadian content rules have driven me to choose US based stations when given the chance as their content can be much broader based hence more enjoyable. I can't recall the last time I heard the Allman Brothers or Junior Johnson on a local station. My station choice these days is WICD in upstate NY. cheers, Graham

nicely done, very creative cheers, Graham

Often the usual end result of the "open bidding process" ( to be fair to anyone who wants to bid ) and usually selecting the "lowest bid" ( to be fair to the taxpayers ) with the unintended consequence of such messes and in the end it is on the backs of the rank and file taxpayers to clean up that mess. cheers, Graham

tea strainers are another good choice but ( obviously ) smaller in size but also possible to find even finer mesh size. The local dollar store often has such interesting bits and pieces. cheers, Graham

I have a set of Starrett and they are very nice but I find that the collets are a bit too hard and I find that they do not hold drills as well as I would like. Good for holding work pieces however. My preference is for the Tamiya pin vises, the large product no. 74050 and the smaller one product no. 74051 ( or 0.1 to 1mm drills ) and have several of both. Very concentric and grip drills very well. These are actually made by Minishema and branded for Tamiya. cheers, Graham

I saw that one too. Watched it twice. There are a number of other youtube channels which feature building such model trains a number of which are Japanese in origin. I have only a passing interest in model trains but I do enjoy watching the videos; lots of food for thought and technique. cheers, Graham

So can bow/arrows, crossbows, axes, chainsaws, knives, lawn darts, snow mobiles, motorcycles, ladders, power lines, chain saws, ( ad infinitum ) but that is not the point. Or arrogance, and generally no, least not with the nearly pointless punitive fines often handed out to such drivers and that is the point. Such drivers are prime examples of candidates that would fair well at the Darwin Awards. cheers, Graham

Amazing work indeed. cheers, Graham

Very, very nice. Well done. cheers, Graham

Good Monday morning all, There being no opinions expressed one way or another regarding my question on whether to post all within the main community group build topic or just to save that for chat and for the builder to have their own WIP topic; an executive decision was made and that is to simply leave it up to the individual. So, someone like @Ulf who started a fabulous build in the original TROG community group build and then carried on in his own WIP could continue to do so but would still be most welcome to continue his build as part of this #TRoG-IM-2024 The Race of Gentlemen In Miniature 2024 community group build. Bikes are big part of TROG but I have not had much luck in finding suitable model kits of early American motorcycles. There is an Italeri 1/9 kit of the Harley Davidson 1942 WLA as used by the US Army and a couple of Italeri and Miniart 1/35 of the same. I am tempted to have a go with the Italeri 1/9 WLA but the kit does not seem to be very common and a bit on the pricey side. Besides, bikes are not really within my usual interest and it has been many decades since I last tried my hand at model motorcycle kit - the old Revell ( I think ) Triumph drag bike. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained and having a go at something outside my usual interest is often times reason enough. I will leave you with the following youtube ( just a few of many ) links for inspiration: cheers, Graham

Tiny but very nice. cheers, Graham

Tamiya Paint Remover product no. 87183 or Tamiya Lacquer Thinner (yellow cap) product no 87077. Lacquer Thinner is a generic term and not all lacquer thinners are the same as other lacquer thinners. Typically the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions lacquer thinner is a "hot solvent" thinner that will "eat" or damage polystyrene. It is certainly true that there are lacquer thinners which are very "hot" and will damage polystyrene but there are others which will not Tamiya lacquer thinner (yellow cap) product no. 87077 will not damage polystyrene. It is mostly isopropyl alcohol ( i.e. IPA (not India Pale Ale ) cas no. 67-63-0 ). I have tested this several times. In fact I have soaked model "chrome" parts in this for several days with no ill effects. It will remove the "chrome" by softening the underlying lacquer/enamel causing the "chrome" to flake off. Better yet and my favourite is a 50:50 mix of Tamiya Paint Remover product no. 87183 and Tamiya Lacquer Thinner (yellow cap) product no 87077. These products can be re-used multiple times. The solid bits will settle to the bottom and can be filtered out. I have tried just isopropyl alcohol but found that it was not as effective as the Tamiya Lacquer Thinner (yellow cap) product no 87077 or Tamiya Paint Remover product no. 87183 or a mix of the two. I am purposely being very careful to note the Tamiya product names and product numbers as there are the only ones I have tested that I know work. I have not tested Tamiya Retarder Lacquer Thinner (orange cap) product no. 87194 but I have tested a couple of the Mr Color thinners ( but not all ) and they have something in their mix which will damage polystyrene if left to soak for any length of time. If you are curious as to what chemicals polystyrene is resistant to, there are many documents to be found on the web; including this one which I find is a good quick and handy reference: https://nationalpolystyrene.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Chemical-Resistance-Table.pdf cheers, Graham

Good day all, First off, if it was not clear, this community group build is ongoing and is for 2024 which implies the start should have been January 1, 2024 - but, we got a late start. Unofficial end will be December 31, 2024. After that, it there is still some interest, I propose the creation of another similar community group build for 2025, and so on. On another note, I spend a lot of time on Britmodeller where group builds are very popular with many participants and are well organized. Typically for any given community group build there is one common discussion topic and then each participant creates there own work in progress ( WIP ) topic in which they post about their build. For anyone interested in participating in this community group build - what are your thoughts? Should we encourage the use of the main topic for discussion purposes on the community group build and encourage individuals to create a WIP topic within one of the "On the Workbench" as appropriate sub forum areas posting a link to their WIP topic OR just have everyone post to the main discussion topic within the community build sub forum area? cheers, Graham

@tim boyd and others, after a bit of discussion it was thought that this community group build theme might be best carried over in a new topic for 2024 for which I volunteered to oversee and have created a new topic to carry this theme forward Any uncompleted builds from this topic ( 2023 ) can be carried on in the new topic at the builders choice. cheers, Graham

A quick search using Google will find many results for TROG or "The Race of Gentlemen". For some inspiration, here are some links to Motor Trend web pages: https://www.motortrend.com/s/the race of gentlemen/ https://www.motortrend.com/s/trog/ Lots of pictures and lots of ideas. A similar search of Youtube will also provide many results. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+race+of+gentlemen https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=TROG Anyone remember what kind of bike Eric von Zipper ( as played by Harvey Lembeck ) rode in the Beach movies? How about Marlon Brando in "The Wild One" ? cheers, Graham

Very nice. cheers, Graham

What irked me today was that there was not one single thing that irked me, not even an errant cloud that needed yelling at cheers, Graham

What pleased me to today is that there wasn't a single thing that irked me, not even an errant cloud that needed yelling at. cheers, Graham

Good day all, The Official TROG rules for cars and bikes can be found on the the TROG web page: https://www.theraceofgentlemen.com/entry After some thought, for our purposes I have taken the liberty to amend those slightly while trying to keep within the spirit of The Race Of Gentlemen event and our The Race of Gentlemen In Miniature community group build the idea being to be a bit more inclusive and hopefully encourage participation. Herewith, the basic requirements, edited from the original found on the above noted web page, for clarity: Vehicles Basic: Year: Bodies must be 1934 or older, pickups are acceptable, American made only. Engine: American made 4 cylinder and V8 flatheads 1953 or older. Early OHV: Year: All cars or trucks up to 1941, American made only. All cars or trucks will need to be hopped up, cut down or customized in a traditional late 1940s to early 1950s style. Engines: OHV 1953 or older, American made only. DRAG/RAIL: All Entries must use stock model T or A frames only. Wheel base or front and rear axels may move or be altered in either direction. Acceptable engines are, FLATHEAD 4, FLATHEAD V8, STRAIGHT SIX and OHV 1949-1953. No bodies or tin is allowed in the drag class, only a small firewall if desired. Roll bars must resemble safety bars of this era. Square bars, round tube only. Running gear: 1953 or older. Ford banjo, quick change, or period correct pre 1953 non Ford rear ends for non Ford vehicles rears only. Wheels & Tires: Stock wheels preferred. No aggressive knobby or paddle tires. No wood T wheels. No modern wide slicks Paint: Period paint that emulates the early days of racing. No late model graphics, No vinyl stickers or emblems, etc. Cars can be shiny, primed or have old paint. Cars must have visible race numbers. 3 number maximum. Numbers should appear utilitarian, not modern or fancy. Paint, white masking tape or shoe polish also accepted. Headlights are optional. Fenders are optional. Full exhausts or open headers, the choice is yours. A vintage style round or square roll bar is needed on roadsters. TROG does have a class for bikes, pre 1947 American made ( see above noted TROG web page ) which is quite limiting due to the available model kits that fit this requirement. There are a few 1/48 and 1/35 scale and only one ( that I can find ) 1/9 scale ( Italeria issue of an old ESCI kit ) Harley WLA types so there is not a lot choice. There is a 1/9 scale period Triumph 3HW that could be included if anyone wants to build a bike. Suggestions? Subject to tweaking and clarification, nothing is absolute or carved in stone, we don't want to get mired down fussing over nits. Comments, suggestions, yays or nays are appreciated. cheers, Graham