Kit Basher

I agree, Bill. That is what teachers should be doing. The numbers you cite are disgraceful. But if our schools are failing to teach even the basics of English, math, science, and history, maybe parents should at least take care of teaching domestic chores, basic finance, and manners.

In all fairness, did any of us learn those things in school? I sure didn't. Whatever "life skills" I have I learned from my family. My Mom taught me to cook, do laundry, and clean my room. My Dad taught me how to manage money and plan for the future. I learned basic mechanics by maintaining lawn mowers, vehicles, and farm equipment. I learned my trade of woodworking thru OJT and trial and error. My point is: maybe we shouldn't expect understaffed and underpaid teachers to do what families should do.

Your chances are good, Snake. The store that had none on Monday, had them yesterday.

I am a woodworker by trade, and I see one big downside to combining the two: DUST! Unless you are a scrupulously clean woodworker, all your model stuff will be covered with it. That said, I do airbrush paint in my wood shop, but only first thing in the morning before I stir the dust up. The only reason I do that is because I have no other place to do it. I don't build in there. I could see making a separate room in your wood shop for modeling, with a door that seals well. One thing I always recommend, unless your compressor is very quiet, put it in another room from where you paint, and pipe the air to where you need it. 10' x 10' sounds big enough, unless you have a lot of kits to store. Good Luck!

Plain (unwound) guitar strings are available from .008 (inch) to .020 and larger. Violin strings can be even smaller. Epoxy is also good for making the ball on the tip of the antenna.

It works both ways, I love the '50-'70s cars I grew up with, but I would love to drive a Viper or Aventador.

Yes. Guitar strings and music wire are spring steel, so they hold their shape. A two inch piece of guitar string would flex a bit when you pushed on it, then spring back to its original position. I use it for antennas all the time, and a musician or music store would probably give you their old ones for free.

Guitar or violin strings.

I hope they don't make an airplane like that. You know- "when pigs fly".........

It looks fantastic, Richard. I really like the "chromeless" look on this car. I think all your decisions have been just right.

I have built the "Off Road" version of that kit, and it is a nicely detailed and well fitting kit. It has great tires.

The Frederick store, which had nothing today, usually has kits when they do this. I think I will check the new online flyer when it comes out, see if they are on there.

Nothing in Frederick, MD

Thanks, Greg.

It's snowing pretty good here in the foothills of the Blue Ridge. In a normal year, I'd be planting early vegetables in my garden. Crazy weather!

Let's put a Hemi in it! Or at least a Harley.

Aha! Thanks Harry. That pic makes it look like you sit beside the engine, not on top of it. I guess you wouldn't need a heater for those long winter rides!

There are some online sites where you can create your own plates. I like all my models to have Virginia plates, so I stole some images from the Virginia DMV, and use "photoshop lite" to create the lettering. If you have MS Word, it works great for resizing, and I agree that photo paper works well. Here's one of my home made plates.

Another option is to use epoxy glue. That's what I do when I have to glue painted parts together.

That chassis pic is cool. Except I can't figure out what makes it go. I don't see a chain or a driveshaft anywhere. As far as sitting on the engine, no different than a motorcycle. In fact, that's what it is, three wheeled cycle, swing arm rear suspension, springer front. I had those same drum brakes on my old Yamaha, they stopped just fine, especially since the whole thing probably only weighs 400 pounds. It has to have a pull start, no room for a kick start. I wonder if that thing sticking up in front is the rear brake lever, or maybe the shifter. What's old is new again, these guys just put the two wheels in front:https://sp.yimg.com/xj/th?id=OIP.Mf904221f152bd2e96124ace880f07b42H0&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300

He looks quite content. If I ever got in that thing, I'd never be able to get out!

I have been following this all along and you are doing some amazing work. If it makes you feel any better I like the new black nose better than the first one.

Thanks for sharing it with us, Harry! Currently 39 degrees, with wind chill 24 degrees. And I'm considered to be in the South!

You made me curious, so I tried some stuff I have around called Vyna Bond. It worked fine. Excess glue wiped right off, with no damage to the tire. It's supposed to cure for two hours. I waited one hour, I can't get it apart. Amazon has it, and probably other places as well. It's generally used to repair rafts and waterproof bags. I've mostly used it to glue vinyl tie down rings to vinyl canoes. Once it cures, you can pick up the canoe by the tie down ring. Update: 10 hours later: I tried much harder to pull the tire apart this morning. I did it, but it wasn't easy. The glue did not "melt and weld" the tire like it does river gear. Still, it was a pretty strong and flexible bond. No way to know how it would do long term. So that's the result of my experiment, hope it helps some.

Very nice!