SSNJim

Not quite a year later, and the ice treatment failed miserably. I've never had much luck with that. I'm working to scribe through the glass to get the visible parts out. They'll be replaced with clear plastic, but maybe a Deora will sacrifice its windshield.

Here's a pretty good thread on the Hubley wagons: Lots of stuff I never knew, and it seems they're fairly common kits for being 60 years old.

The local commuter train system in DC (Washingon Metropolitan Area Transit Authority [WMATA], mostly known as Metro) was fully automated for years. The drivers were just along for the ride and customer comfort. People liked seeing someone "in control" of the train, even if the driver was only a figure head. After a couple of accidents, they changed all the trains to manual control so the drivers have to drive. Now, there's incessant delays, jerky rides, and all sort of issues with service. Metro claims the trains will be fully automated again real soon now. There are incompatibilies with old cars and new among other issues. It's a difficult problem, and that's just a relatively few trains in a limited arena. The Metro tracks are completely inaccessible outside of a few points, mainly stations. Nonetheless, it's not unusual (maybe once or twice a month) for a train to strike a person. A few are what are termed "Metrocides", where a person intentionally jumps in front of a train, but there are people who just fall off the platform for whatever reason.

For sure. I had to turn off my 5GHz network just to install it, then I could turn it back on.

I've got a smart bulb now. Love it. Used it to replace a timer on a lamp in a difficult to reach place. I've got it scheduled to turn on and off at a certain time, and I can turn it off from my cell phone whenever I wish so I can watch movies without reflections. If you had told me even three months ago that I would ever connect a light bulb to a network, I'd have laughed in your face. Turned out to be a pretty good idea.

I would think a dark shade of just about any color in a high gloss would do it. I don't think of smooth as a color as much as I do an effect, including body lines, color, trim/badging (or lack thereof). Dark colors and high gloss tend to show the contours of the body better than light colors.

Interesting that gas turbines never really caught on for land-based use because they are heavily used in ships. Most non-nuclear powered warships built since the early 70's have them. The range of the ships seem to be comparable to their oil/coal-fired steamship predecessors. Gas turbines are also used as portable and fixed generators on land and sea. General Electric is still one of the major suppliers.

I'm with you. One of my modeling goals has always been to build a 1/25 scale K-Mart (I guess Walmart nowadays) parking lot full of daily drivers. I'm not quite there, but I'm working towards it.

Very cool. I'll be following along. It might be a good candidate for Lamborghini-style doors. Looking forward to seeing how this develops.

That is for a medium-size rear-facing TV that has a feed from a rear-view camera. Following drivers would be self-conscious seeing themselves on the TV, which should minimize tailgating and other aggressive behavior. At the least, they'll move away from the camera.

Yeah, I've never heard of it either, but it was on the news feed of my TV's screensaver. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/hershey-kissmobile-goodbye-new-year

Very nice!

Ahhh, you're that Jonelle. I remember visiting your site years ago when I had my '97 P71. I always found it very interesting, and I visited often. It's nice to find it again. I'll be back to it. Nice job on the Corvette.

That's a pretty nice safety wire ornament hanger. I like it - it fits with the racing markings.

Mine is very similar, but much simpler. I drilled 4 holes (two at each end) in the 1X4 just big enough for the coat hanger wire. I then bent the coat hanger wire in to a flat bottom U shape to fit through the holes and inserted them. Once the wires were fully inserted, I made sure the lengths were equal then I bent the top 1/4" or so of the wires to a 90 deg angle. There's about 5" from the 1X4 to the 90 deg bend. It is very useful and can be adapted to many different models of different sizes, and very stable. I've used it by bending the wires for everything from Lego block sized items to 1/25 semi-trailer sized items and larger. If it is tall enough, I will often put the body on the top, and use masking tape to attach hoods, bumpers and splash pans to the legs. Every decade or two, I'll take a pair of pliers and remove the paint build up.

It looks very 60-63 Falcon-ish to me. I think I see the left rear fender, tail light and bumper.

Very nice build. Is it powered? I haven't seen Reddy Kilowatt in years.

True. Apparently Coke won the drink concession on Amtrak trains, and this is a sort of a celebration and to let people know. Just thought it kind of fit in with the Coke branding spree that AMT has been on. I certainly didn't expect to see something like this on a federal government-owned locomotive.

Apparently, Coca-Cola is going through the alphabet looking for corporate sponsors. I was standing on the Metro platform right next to the Northeast Corridor, and I saw this AMT-rak locomotive go by on its way to Washington, DC. Yes, it's in revenue service - you can book a trip on a train pulled by it.

The AC Moore in Bowie has been going out of business for a while. In the early stages, I was pleased to see their models were 40% off, so I took a look. All their run of the mill AMT/Revell stuff was marked at $44. Yes, $44. That would have brought them down to about regular market price. No, thanks - I'll pass on that.

I've seen that Allison at my local HL, but didn't have any interest. I just googled the model number, and it is a pretty interesting engine. It's powered some of my favorite aircraft (C-130, P-3, C-2), and a marine variant is used as an electrical generator on all American cruisers and destroyers. If I can get anywhere near the mall this weekend, I'll pick one up with the coupon.

True now, but a few locations did have service departments. The one that used to be at 11th & K St NW in DC did have a service department with a lift at one point. The service department was closed a year or two before they moved to 9th & H NW in DC's Chinatown. They had a bare Roadster rolling chassis with the dual motors in the showroom that was pretty cool.

Lindberg released a 1/25 San Francisco Cable Car a few years back. I assume it's the old Hawk; I think Lindberg bought Hawk a few years ago.

I've got one or two of the R/C versions (no external antenna!), and am always on the lookout for more by this manufacturer. The Bentley has a decent if shallow interior, and the Porsche 918 is better detailed than most model kits - the 918 is almost indistinguishable from a model. Nice cars, almost always under $15, and available at Tuesday Morning, Ross, Marshall's, TJ Maxx, and the like. Sometimes you will see the friction cars, too.

Interior looks pretty good. Attached (too late for some, too early for others, but a handy comparison) is the blue dash of our 69 Thunderbird. The white square above the gas pedal is part of the key ring. Sorry for the picture quality, but 110 cameras were not known for their impressive pictures.