charlie8575

Very nice, Charlie. Emergency! is now playing at 5:00 PM Mon-Sat. on MeTV, and unless I'm not home or have my hands full with something else, I'm watching it. Perhaps you could rig a digital recorder hidden away at the shows with a "push me" button, just to add to the flavor a little.. http://www.phonezoo.com/ringtone/196001417/emergency-warning-buzzers-emergency-.htm Charlie Larkin

Excellent. Charlie Larkin

Nice job on that, Tom. Those first-gen Valiants look nice; if I could find one for a driver in the nice weather, I'd take it in a second. Charlie Larkin

It looks good in pictures, Mark. That'll be a nice model when you're finished up. Charlie Larkin

Thank you, Greg, for a badly-needed laugh. I hope your car suffered no permanent damage from the clown. Charlie Larkin

Thank you, Bill. Unfortunately, the present state of American education disagrees with us completely, and that's why, with the exception of some substitute-work I still do, I left K-12 education. Seems they don't like common sense and self-sufficiency being taught anymore, along with other things like respect, courtesy, honor, honesty and the other stuff that makes Man complete. I now do a little business consulting, some contract work, and I'm working on opening a firm to manufacture modeling products. Releases should be coming early next year if all goes to plan. Charlie Larkin

I'm experiencing all these problems right now with my newer computer-controlled car. Now, granted, it's nineteen years old and parts DO wear out after awhile, even solid-state electronics, but when something that's creating a real problem keeps recurring after replacing something like half a dozen different sensors (and it's all the sensors that would cause the issue), plus a couple of odd parts you wouldn't think of that might still cause the problem, it becomes insanity. George, I have to give you credit for doing the coil on that LT-1. My own car is a Roadmaster, and one of the parts I ended up replacing was the coil, as my mechanic said "it's a long shot, but it's worth a try." Getting that SOB out of those riveted brackets was a nightmare. All the grinding and drilling in the world couldn't get them to work loose. So far, I've replaced five or six sensors, the coil, and the battery (which was dying and my dad suspected it was screwing up the electrical system), and the thing is still stalling, balking, surging/retarding, losing power under load and running rough. All the vacuum lines are tight, the hoses are tight. Stalls when it warms up and becomes all but impossible to restart until it's dead cold about 3/4 of the time. Seriously, if anyone has ANY ideas, I'm willing to give it a shot. I will say, though, that with the new coil and battery (installed today), it is starting to behave much better, but it still died on my way home, stalled out one more time, and tried to stall while I was en route to my destination earlier. Back to the main topic, the disposable generation we seem to be in has little or no respect for anything that takes time, knowledge or skill if it isn't a video game or some other electronic thing. While teaching and subbing, I explained the whole process of building a model to a lot of kids- some seemed interested, others screamed at the "agony" of effort. Like Dave, Bill and a few of the other posters, I've explained fixing cars with simple hand-tools and, if you were lucky, a dwell meter. "Why don't you replace the sensors?" "What sensors?" However, a small amount of gratification came when the subject of antique cars came up, and I was able to show a bunch of seventh graders through the wonder of the Internet pictures under the hood of wonderful machines like capital-C Classic Packards, V-16 Cadillacs, and even more everyday cars like a Flathead Ford or Stovebolt Chevy. These kids were in awe...at the simplicity. Why, yes, you can do most of the work yourself. Sure, if you can use a wrench, socket and a screwdriver, you can do about 90% of the repairs on your own. Can you use a multi-testor and dwell meter? You can do 95% of it. Replace parts? No- reBUILD parts, here's how- distributor, generator/alternator (we got a couple of GTOs in, too), starter, carb, and so forth. I think I might have even inspired a future restorer or two. They can be reached, you just need to know how. Most importantly- kids- I mean junior/senior high school kids, are WILLING to learn if it's of interest. Start them early and they'll stand a better chance of growing into self-sufficient adults. Even if their new car needs to have throw-away parts replaced, they might still be able to do it themselves or at least talk intelligently to their mechanics. Charlie Larkin

Looking good, Mike. This will be a nice build when it's done. Charlie Larkin

Sounds like a very sharp color-scheme. This'll look great, Rich. Charlie Larkin

Starting to look good; I'll look forward to seeing the foil on it. Coat the sweep with some clear yellow directly over the foil; that'll do a nice job of simulating the anodized sweep-spear. Charlie Larkin Tom, I like yours. The dog-dishes and blackwalls add a rather interesting, different touch to the car. Charlie Larkin

As stated elsewhere when the news hits, it may be "new for 2015/16." Charlie Larkin

Now THAT is impressive. It evens sounds good. The other running model engines I've seen all sound like weed-whackers. That actually sounds right. Very nice job on that, whoever did it. Charlie Larkin

It appears to be- "color pictures in 60 seconds" is a giveaway. Kodak also had an instant camera called the Instamatic, which copied Polaroid so closely, they ended up losing a very costly lawsuit to them around 1982 or '83. Dad has an Insta-Matic in the closet, but you can't get film for it any longer as it took some weird-spec film that wasn't compatible with anything else. I'd suspect that Keystone is designed for the Polaroid peel-back product, based on how it looks, and FujiFilm makes a direct replacement for it now that Polaroid is gone. That would also be why Keystone wasn't named in the suit- they designed a camera that was different, but compatible with the commonly-available Polaroid film, thus making no direct infringements on their patents. Charlie Larkin

I've never seen one of those before, Tom. Very interesting. Does it take Polaroid-type film of some kind? If so, Fuji is now producing at least a couple of different types of Polaroid-compatible film. I've seen some pictures shot with it, and the image quality and color are excellent. Check a good camera shop near you, as they're should be one in Phliadelphia somewhere. Otherwise, B&H Photo in Manhattan and Abe's of Maine (which is actually in New Jersey now) carry it as stock item. Charlie Larkin

Thanks for volunteering to do that, Ben. Charlie Larkin

Very nice, Peter. Charlie Larkin

Most interesting and unique. I like it. Charlie Larkin

Nicely done, George. Did you make the Fordor, or is that a resin body? Charlie Larkin

Thanks for the update, Richie. Very thoughtful of you to do that. Michael- heal up ASAP. Charlie Larkin

Agreed. People who do that should be banished to driving Yugos or Fiat 850s. Charlie Larkin

That's the ticket! Charlie Larkin

The dark blue looks nice. I would seriously consider at least painting the roof a different, lighter color, though, such as white. With regard to pictures, move the camera back from the subject. That will help focus. Good indoor lighting will work, but you should use a contrasting background, in other words, with a dark car, use a white background; black with a light-color car. Posterboard works well. Charlie Larkin

Thanks, Bob. I'll update when it comes out of the freezer- a busy last couple of days combined with a rather nasty cold has had me pretty well sidelined building-wise. I'll probably play with it tomorrow. Charlie Larkin

That's fairly easy. 1. If you want the block look, score the board first to simulate the sections of floor. 2. Paint the board with water-based flat gray paint. Oil-based paints may damage the foam-core. 3. Using dry-brushing, brush on varying shades of gray, black , brown/rust and other colors. The idea is to slightly discolor the board, not completely coat it. Charlie Larkin

Hmmm....the problem would then become removing the duct tape adhesive. It's not a bad idea, though. I might give it a whirl. I wonder if good masking tape would work, too? That residue will come off with good dish soap and lukewarm water. Honestly, I hadn't even thought of that. To make sure we're talking about the same stuff- you're thinking something along the lines of Solvaset or something similar? Charlie Larkin