Aaronw

I was thinking it was a bit of an understatement.

Death metal goth tree frog in this case.

A big problem, at least for US trucks is everything changed after 2007 due to new emissions laws. Pretty much every diesel engine manufacturer had to start over from scratch. I think the Moebius IH trucks are the only kits released since 2007 and they have IH engines.

As improbable as that start up system sounds, I find it impossible to believe anybody tried to steal it. I know they are weird, but I kind of like these things. It reminds me of a happy tree frog. I'd love to get my hands on one of these for my summer drive to work, if I could get it cheap. I could do without the faux wood paneling though.

I'd be in for the W500.

That is really neat, a great looking truck. Several 1-1 apparatus makers have dabbled in heavy trucks so this is a very plausible what if.

0.04" = 1" in 1/25 scale Many people like to use 1mm = 1" for 1/25 scale which is very close (1mm = 0.98" in 1/25) Common Bead sizes (beads listed by mm dia are obvious) 6/0 = 3.3mm, 8/0 = 2.5mm, 9/0 = 2.2mm, 10/0 = 2.0mm, 11/0 = 1.8mm, 13/0 = 1.5mm, 14/0 = 1.4mm, 15/0 = 1.3mm Common American Wire Gauge sizes (size of the wire, does not include insulation) 8 = 0.1285" / 3.264mm, 10 = 0.1019" / 2.588mm, 12 = 0.0808" / 2.053mm, 14 = 0.0641" / 1.628mm, 16 = 0.0508" / 1.291mm, 18 = 0.0403" / 1.024mm, 20 = 0.0320" / 0.812mm, 22 = 0.253 / 0.644mm 24 = 0.0201" / 0.511mm, 28 = 0.0126" / 0.321mm, 30 = 0.01" / 0.255mm Hard to give a specific answer without knowing the size hose you are replicating. Radiator hoses run anywhere from 1.5" -2" on cars up to 3" + on a large truck. Lots of smaller 3/4" to 1" hoses for expansion tanks and accessories (A/C, heater etc).

Harbor Freight has lots of neat little things you don't know you need until you see it. Rulers, protractors, compasses, calipers, marking tools, punches, organizers etc. Stuff that at $20-30+ dollars you would pass on, but at $5-10 you can find a use for. You really do need to look things over though, some of the stuff is actually decent, some is pretty crummy. Most is lightweight, and would never hold up under professional use, but is fine for the occasional user or for our hobby uses. I have a small set of 5 or 6 hollow punches, the whole set is about the price of one punch from a reputable maker, they work fine on plastic. I have a set of 1-60 wire gauge drill bits hat cost $20, individual wire gauge bits run $2-5 at Ace Hardware or Home Depot. Probably nowhere near the same quality, but they work fine on the plastic, wood and soft metals we use. Wire gauge drill bits are nice for models because of the close spacing of sizes. I have the mini-chop saw mentioned earlier, 2" blade, kind of flimsy but works fine for the light weight work we do.

Some neat ideas there, but apparently not much interest.

I saw a post from Rob (Jantrix) which mentioned the Peking to Paris Challenge. It got me thinking a vintage endurance race community build might be fun, Peking to Paris, La Carrera Panamericana, Pikes Peak Hill Climb, European Rally Championship, early years of the WRC etc. A couple of websites for ideas http://www.endurorally.com/ http://panamrace.com/

Oh and for your 1/24 WW2 deuce and a half look at Wespe resin from Romania. http://www.wespemodels.ro/military_models/military_models_scale_1_24/scale_1_24_gmc I've got one, it is very nice and for a resin truck kit not a bad price.

I've done some paper real space models, mostly of space probes like the Voyager. The commercial kits with laser cut parts can be very detailed. Also lots of free kits you can download. If you don't like paper you can use the parts as a guide and transfer to styrene sheet. I have a 1930s British medium tank kit I downloaded and intend to finish in plastic since there are no plastic kits of the subject.

I got asked for the year of birth when buying beer recently. I was a little surprised by the question so it took me a few seconds to spit out the year. The girl at the register just kind of laughed and said sometime she forgets how old she is too, "am I 25 or 26"?. I didn't mind being carded, not a big deal, however the realization that I have been able to drink for her entire life didn't make me feel warm and fuzzy. Mentally I still think of myself as about 30 until reality is rudely shoved in my face and it is pointed out that the number of 30th birthdays I've had is into double digits.

I think it falls a little short of the NFPA standards.

So another case of the same subject close together, weird.

Weren't the Renault 4s a cooperative effort between Heller and Ebbro?

Danno has it right, this is a chemical car, basically two large soda acid fire extinguishers mounted on the chassis. You have to remember that at this time most fire apparatus in the US was still horse drawn and many smaller cities and towns would still be using steam pumpers or even hand pumped fire pumpers. The idea with something like this is 2 firemen could zip to a fire and catch it while still small. They were so effective that for many years it was believed there was something special in the soda / acid / water combination that helped suppress fires, but really it was just getting there quickly before the fire got big. I've got the touring car and will definitely have to get this one.

Is it possible that this is based on the Heller kit? Either a straight reboxing or modified tooling? Ebbro has been doing similar collaborative projects with Heller and Tamiya so it makes more sense than them doing a completely independent kit of a somewhat oddball (although to me very cool) subject so close behind Heller.

Is Airtraxx currently in business? I've run across some on ebay that look like individual sellers clearing out a collection, but can't find any information to order from Airtraxx or even a retailer who carries them. I don't even know what continent they were based in. I've seen both the Saab and a Volvo 120 series but they were being sold in a lot with a bunch of stuff I wasn't interested in. As they were being sold with 4 or 5 other unusual resin kits the price went well above what I was willing to pay for those two. The photos I've seen look workable, although it is unclear what kits can be used to finish them as there is a lack of Volvo and Saab kits to begin with. I would assume the actual caster would offer suggestions.

These are great looking cars, British cars don't seem to get the respect of other European brands, but they have produced some really elegant cars over the years. Other mainstream brands that have had little attention would be Volvo, Saab, Peugeot, and until recently Renault and Citroen. These all had success in racing as well as being sold worldwide. I'd love to have one of these little Saabs While they have not been ignored Mercedes and BMW have not been a well represented as I would expect. Lots there to choose from, BMW 2002, and Mercedes SL 230 seem like obvious choices.

You could start with this resin cab from AITM http://www.aitruckmodels.com/pages/ck40dodgecntconvkit.html As for the chassis and bed, maybe AMT Dodge Little Red Express? Several options for the 4x4 and wheels 1984 GMC, one of the Monogram high roller kits, or a monster truck kit would probably work.

I've never had a full floor of that stuff but have had a few work places that had islands of the tiles on concrete floor, walkways, large mats in front of work benches etc. It is pretty tough stuff and has a little bit of cushion compared to concrete so easier on the legs if you stand / walk on it for a long time (more like a wood floor than concrete or ceramic tile). It certainly adds a nice man cave look to a room.

Sort of, Ford had the cabs made for them by the Budd company. Several other companies had the same / similar cabs made for them, Mack was one of them, although the cab interior is different. I never really noticed, perhaps an artifact of the C600/800/900 mishmash. Sounds about right that they would use the C900 engine with a C600 axle and put a C800 badge on the door.

I've modeled over a variety of surfaces, and other than extremes (shag carpet, featureless mono color hard surface) I don't think it much matters as far as models go. Hard surfaces like linoleum or wood result in a large bounce factor so while it is in theory easier to see a dropped part, it could be anywhere. Carpet on the other hand will conceal parts, but they are typically found in a fairly small circle from the impact point. I currently have a very low nap carpet (cheap industrial carpet) which isn't bad, as only the smallest parts can actually hide in the carpet, and the bounce factor is much lower than linoleum. I take it you are looking at something like these tiles? https://armorpoxy.com/commercial-floors-and-hangars/supratile-interlocking-tiles/

Aftermarket tracks could work for you from two perspectives, one you could buy a set, 2 you might be able to trade for a set from a kit that are left over after being replaced with aftermarket tracks. Lots of armor guys like to replace the "rubber" tracks with aftermarket tracks. The flexible tracks would look more like the rubber band type tracks you find on snow mobiles, so would probably be a better choice than most aftermarket tracks anyway. You might try to find a Monogram 1/35 M48A2 tank kit. It was re-issued recently and is pretty cheap for a tank kit, I got one on clearance at Walmart for $9. The tracks are black rubber / vinyl about 1" wide with a block tread pattern. You could probably make use of the various suspension bits as well. This kit http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXZWR8&P=W The left over parts could be used for some sort of mad max type vehicle (or trading material if that kind of things doesn't appeal to you). I've also seen people use this kit to backdate a Tamiya M48A3, so again a possible trade for the remainder.