oldcarfan

I have a feeling that 3d printers will eventually become as common as regular printers are now. I also have a feeling that the hobby will move to an open source kind of thing where skilled hobbyists will design a file for a particular car or tank or something and make it available for free download. Maybe we need to start a Napster for modelers!

Does anyone know if all the 3Dscanning and computerized milling and stuff makes the process any cheaper or does it end up being about the same as the old school man at the milling machine?

Love this! I missed it the first time. Now I'll have to go back and read the build thread.

I like it. I have wanted to try something like that but I really have no skills when it comes to scribing new lines. Good job!

I don't really have a favorite right now. It all depends on the subject. In the old days my favorite was always MPC, especially their annuals!

Icon may have been covered before, but I thought I would bring it up. This article about Icon has some truly cool ideas for future model projects! http://jalopnik.com/this-guy-makes-the-worlds-best-suvs-1453905912

Experience has taught me that even if the scenario for a movie sounds interesting, if Tom Cruise is in it I can just skip it. Saves both time and money.

I loved MacGuyver, especially the episodes with his pilot friend that would always get him in trouble!

I tried this a few times years ago. On one base I used a piece of fine sandpaper, sprayed flat white. For another I used some of that textured spray paint from Walmart , I also tried that canned snow that they sell around Christmas time to spray on windows. It was a bit too coarse, but wasn't too bad. You might also just put a base coat of flat white and then pull back and dust some more from a distance.

You might check this site too. http://www.forgottenfiberglass.com/ They cover old kit cars...

If you are exacting, you can vac-form a new windshield and trim it to size. I'm not that particular so I epoxied mine in place and used a fine tip Sharpie to simulate the rubber gasket. It came out pretty good.

I would so love to find one of these.I tried to make one of these a few years ago, but couldn't manage it. I've scratchbuilt several Scotty and a few teardrop trailers, but I could not manage to carve one of these. Love it and have fun with it.

I love those!I have a couple of these somewhere. I should build them some day.

Sorry my last post was a little off topic perhaps. Once this equipment becomes more commonplace, I'm sure that many hobbyists will be passing files back and forth online just like we trade music downloads. It's concievable that the model companies might even start selling digital files in some cases in lieu of actual kits.

Just saw this today from Makerbot.It is a 3d scanner that can be used to create a file that can then be printed by a 3d printer. http://store.makerbot.com/digitizer.html If I read it right, it does up to 8x8 inches currently. It's still too exensive for most of us at $1500. But if the techonology follows the same curve as calculators, VCR's and other electronics, it wont be too many years before the quality and resolution will increase and the price will drop. They'll probably be sold cheaply at Megalomart! I suppose that will open up the whole file-sharing issue just like Napster and copyright CD's and stuff, but it would sure be nice to be able to be able to reproduce parts or kits that no longer exist.

We've just moved here and am looking for a place to buy. The last place we lived was 3 hours from a hobby shop, Wild Bills in Arlington, but at least it was worth the trip! King's Hobby is here, but the selection is not too good. Village Hobby is long gone. Also no one carries MCM here either. Help?

I have a couple that I wish I still had, but the one I really miss is a 1957 MGA that I pulled out of a field. It had only surface rust and rotted wood floorboards. I traded it to someone before I really got the chance to do anything with it. The guy that got it tied a rope to the bumper and pulled it to free up the motor. Then he put fresh gas and a battery in it and it started up.

Thanks, I like to do things like this every once in a while for a change of pace.

Love your build! As I get older, I find myself wanting to build less common cars. I'm tired of Mustangs and Camaros.

My kids came across my old Disney comics a while ago and I looked through them and in one featuring Gyro Gearloose, I saw what used to be my favorite. I don't think he had a name, but he was always helping Gyro and sometimes saving the day. I decided to make him using copperttubing, some beads for joints and a light bulb. He is what would be 1;1 scale of 12 inches, assuming Gyro to be adult human size. Anyway, here he is.

Both silicone and resin have a limited shelf life, so whenever aI get in th emood to do any of that, I try to put together enough parts to use up all the silicone. Then I buy it and make my molds all at the same time. Then I cast parts until I end use up the resin. That way I can add them to my parts box. Once I am through casting for a while, I put the molds into a zip lock to keep them clean.To cut expenses, if you have any unusable molds, either ones that didn't come out right or ones that have been used up, you can chop them up, and drop them in as you pour the new mold. The finer you chop them up the better.They will take up space and you will end up using less new silicone. I have done this several times and have never had a problem with it.

Looks good, nice work! Jada made a diecast a few years ago and I always wanted to get one and make it stock, but never found one in the local stores.

I knew a guy a few years ago who would buy memorabilia (Star Wars and Star Trek stuff) and figures that other people had made. He would make a mold of it to sell on Ebay and at shows. He was pretty bold about it, sometimes he wouldn't even take the copyright off of the legit stuff before making a mold. He said that the big guys were too busy to pick on a little guy like him.

Casting is kind of like taping a show off of TV. You can do it for your own use and no one cares, but if you copy someone else's work to sell, then people are going to start noticing. The Hobby Lobbys around here have the Aluminite casting products for $29, and you can use the 40% online coupon and get them for around $18. There isn't enough to do a body in just one kit, but you can do a lot of engine blocks and other small parts.

That last drawing is from the mentioned website. Hope that is ok.