Chuck Doan

Beautifully done!

This is beautiful!

Hi Virgil, actually I thought it would be pretty easy. Nice slab sides. The blend into the original fenders and running boards might be the only tricky thing. He has several more pics in his album. Could be built as seen or still-in-service.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_grippo/6327068979/in/pool-outtopasture This one wouldn't be too hard to do.

I agree, that lumber stacker and the diorama was outstandingly great. A neat, unique concept and beautiful modelling too.

http://www.flickr.co...s&m=text#page=0 http://www.flickr.co...ourt+signs&ss=2 Nabbed a few signs on Flickr...there are a lot of neat old sign groups over there.

Yeah, that is a very subjective thing. Hope you can find one!

It is a basic introductory book written (pre-internet) for car modelers who may have never strayed from that realm and need help on how to get started. It covers (all in one place) most of the planning, materials and details one could use to create a nice setting for model cars. It is still totally relevant, especially for the car builder who does not want to become a diorama specialist. More advance diorama builders should already be familiar with the material in this book. If interested, I agree you should search for a reasonably priced edition.

I haven’t snapped for quite a while now while at the bench. Like others I usually just go away for a while. I am, however, hell on computer mice and keyboards! When I buy them I always make sure the extended warranty can be for ANY reason (like spontaneous disassembly)

Spectacular!

Wear gloves too.

On my Epsom printer I can only choose a quality like "Best Photo". There is also a setting for "high speed" which I turn off. I usually use Photo Presentation paper (a bit thinner than glossy photo paper), but there are other choices. If your printer allows resolution choices, I would experiment starting with a high one.

Like Art, I use the text wrapping command. I usually use "tight" and my pictures can be controlled. I am using Word 2007, the new version may do something different.

I'm glad this came up as I had missed it before. That is a great job!

Nice progress Tom. Your letters and that sign are just great.

Nice start, that is some impressive carving Tom!

Usually the distance it falls is proportional to the time I have spent on it. Tweezer flicks are the most maddening. I haven't gotten around to mounting a light under the bench...yet!

Just gorgeous!

This IS coming out great! That Coke machine is super, a real eye catcher. Very nice details all around!

Yes, it is nothing like hand scratchbuilding and should not be compared to that. It is more akin to assembling a kit that you design yourself. Careful assembly and finish still pays off.

Here is an album of a 1/2" scale gas pump done using 3D printing: http://public.fotki.com/ChuckDoan/model_projects/12-scale-gas-pump/?show_vi=1 It is an interesting technology and it will only get better and more affordable. More practical materials are showing up regularly. Owning a machine is less likely for most of us (plus they get obsolete real fast), but using a printing service is getting easier all the time. The hard part is making the computer models however, there is very affordable software like Sketch-up that can create the STL files needed for printing. I imagine we will see more services offering to do the computer models for us too. I have only tried it a couple of times and found it to be a great way to make parts I could never do because of lack of skill and/or having the needed tools. The philosophical arguments and comparisons to scratch building and hand crafting are probably similar to any of the areas where computers have replaced hand work such as CNC machining and those animation cells (and almost everything else!)

Very nice idea for a little dio!

Congratulations! A nice honor.

From the pics it does look like most of it can be salvaged. The second time will be even better!

Looking great Danny! I would leave the flooring as is. As Tony pointed out, it could have been done this way. I have also seen plenty of examples of NOT-by-the book construction in the real world (which to me, can be much more interesting!) Thanks Tony for the good info!