Taxdude

Almost all of the beading wire that I have found has had a gloss finish. The search continues.

Hi Tom, Generally a good idea but with the custom engine mounts, and the slightly adjusted body to frame position that won't work. On a different note how about, I come by after the Goodguys show so you can see the roadster?

I'm looking for a roll of black wire that can be used for spark plugs. Yes, I know that I can get a small roll from various vendors. But specifically what I 'm looking for is wire that is flat black or a most a dull satin. It has to be able to hold a shape so it can be made to droop. Most importantly the OD needs to be less than 0.40 mm. Almost everything that I have found is super shiny black and that looks so wrong.

I'm still struggling with the exhaust. Almost all model A's have the over the frame headers. So to be different I'm making my own headers that will then dump down inside the frame rail and exit ahead of the rear wheels. Problem is that the motor needs to be installed to make sure everything lines up correctly. The chance of a screwup is high.

Yep 1/25. I leave the big scale stuff to Jim Drew and Randy Derr.

I have a set of Modelhaus Divco wheels and tires that are perfect. Any build is always started with wheels and tires. Many ideas have died on the vine for lack of the perfect combination.

I have 3 of the Ssantuko knives and they are my favorites. They take such a nice edge that it makes using them a true joy. Also, you don't notice when you nick yourself at first.

Tonight I made a fired roasted corn salad with pickled red onions, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and avocado. Topped it with a simple vinaigrette. Needed a protein so tossed in some cubed leftover ribeye and a glass of red wine. It was perfect after 2 hours of brutal cycling.

Steve, you have some serious skills. Do you use a #11 blade to prep your food? Fred

Made a simple orzo salad with shrimp and calamari, olives, capers, sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes and roasted garlic. Topped with homemade greek dressing. Served it with pita beard. So good.

I'm a huge Red Winds fan going all the way back to the dark ages of the early 80's. The Darkness of Harkness.

Hi Jeff, I ride a Colnago M10. Best bike I have ever had. Super responsive and just soaks up the miles. My old bike was Cannondale. I've heard good thing about the Synapse.

All sorts of collections are cool. I know a guy that has a collection of flashlights that is incredible and far-ranging.

I love cooking, I look at it this way. Cooking is like scratch building. Sometimes it is great and sometimes you just want to put it back in the box. However, baking is straight out-of-the-box building.

So some working is going on but model-room time is hard to find. I need to strip all of the Alcad chrome and am going to try and spray Motolow.

I had an interesting conversation the other day with a modeler. He is an armour guy but really cool, and totally understands the work that goes into building a building a car (and never calls them targets). We talked about how we each have our interests, me for cars and trucks, I like building them, looking at them, researching them and driving them when I can. He is the same way about armour, well except for the driving part. We talked for quite a bit about cars and tanks and the process that we undertake to complete our projects. This led us to how non-modelers see us. We shared stories of how when a non-modeler (need to come up with a term for non-modelers, Muggles? Might have already been used) sees what we do or our stash of unbuilt models they don't understand. My favorite being when they look at my "Have you built all of these?" Don't be ridiculous, I will never build all of these. From here we talked about other things in life that we enjoy that might not be on everyone's radar. Things that others might consider nerdy. To which I say that everyone is a nerd about something or multiple somethings in life otherwise they are lying to themselves. So what else do you do that other's might consider nerdy. I'll start with a couple. I am a cyclist, yep the guy on the road bike wearing the spandex, skinny tires tiny seat. I ride anywhere between 150 and 250 miles a week. It is nothing to go out and knock out 70-80 miles on a Saturday or Sunday. Besides the health reasons behind this I am a huge supporter of the Make-A-Wish foundation and for the last 10 years, I have been part of a huge fundraising event that is culminated with a 3-day 300-mile ride. Anyone want to go out and ride some miles? I am also a huge fan of the old sailing man-of-war sailing ships from the late 1700's to the early 1800's. On my bucket list is getting over to England to see the HMS Victory and to Boston to see the USS Constitution. So now unburden your soul and tell the world what nerdly pursuits you have. Fred

The great thing about this board is the help that comes to you out of nowhere. I had used a decal to simulate the Mexican seat blanket. It looked OK. But it didn't have any depth of texture. But not having a better solution I decided to live with it. Then @gasser59 offered up a better solution. Printable fabric. Messages went back and forth and boom. The so much better solution. So the original and the way better.

MAybe I'll bring it down in the in the roadster this summer.

My grandmother had one of these and I got to drive it a few times. Instead of a speedometer, it had a calendar.

With very few free minutes to work very little gets done. But the body is in prime and just needs to be sanded and painted. The engine is painted and the trans just needs to be airbrushed with some Alclad. Here are some of the smaller parts waiting for a home. The bench seat Mexican blanket decal was a pita. It broke and ripped multiple times. I put it back together as best as possible.

I have yet to put any finishes on this build. Maybe tomorrow I'll do the Mexican blanket seat cover (Scale Motor Sports decals). Just need to figure out a way to make it look bunched up or like someone sat in the driver's seat spot. I'm open to any ideas. And go!

Some work on the dashboard. I filled the gauge opening with a piece of .030 sheet stock, still needs final sanding. Decided that the spacing between the gauges would be .030. Using a .097 punch the four holes were...well punched. The endgame here is that I wanted the gauges to be below the surface and the trim rings flush. To achieve this I punched out 4 disks, using a .087 punch from .010 stock and then the gauge faces, Model Car Garage, were epoxied to them (and yes the volts is backward, drats). Total size .015. I little fine tunning around the perimeter of each face and they drop right into the holes. The bar across the back sets the correct depth. The tach cup is a piece of aluminum tubing that has been slightly expanded at the opening to accept the gauge face and then polished. It will then be mounted on the steering column. can't decide on a steering wheel. Maybe a 40 Ford. The next thing to sort out is the windshield frame. I want the windshield to be kicked out at the bottom. To this, the frame is way to thick and a new piece of glass needs to be cut. I haven't decided if the frame can be sanded to half its width and then a lip installed to hold the glass or it a whole new frame scratch-built with a recessed area to accept the glass. Also, need to make the 2 hinges that hold the windshield out. At some point, big progress will be made. Quick build fail.

So how much detail is too much? I spent a few minutes today using a 0.3mm drill to drill out the base of carbs for mounting hardware. This is for the visible mounting posts. So do I do the same for the posts under the float bowl? This is a detail that most will never see. The extra portion of the mounting stud will be cut off. It is just fun to do but I think I'll do the other ones. Man close-up pics are not kind to those carbs.

Since I was changing the kit engine to a Y-block changes needed to be made. Also the engine is set back a bit since it is a touch bigger. So totally re-engineered motor mounts. But what a PITA. Getting all of the angles just right was very frustrating. However this is what I find truly enjoyable about building. It is also why I don't finish very many.

Thanks. This is the 3rd version intake.