Harry P.

As usual for me, I start with the engine. Like many high-end cars of the '20s-'30s, in addition to the actual engineering, the engines were designed by stylists to look clean and sleek. Many times, ignition wires were hidden under various types of sheathing or covers to keep the engine looking crisp and clean. In this case, the distributor and ignition wires were hidden by shielding that kept all of that "messy" stuff out of sight, with the plug wires popping out of the shielding just enough to reach the plugs. First step was to cut apart the kit shielding like this: Then new pieces were made of styrene tube, drilled to accept the plug wires, and pinned on the ends so that there would be a way to reassembe everything: Here's the almost finished engine, with scratchbuilt spark plugs added. You can see how the ignition wires feed into the shielding to keep everything looking tidy. Also note the unusual placement of the exhaust manifolds. Instead of the usual location on the outside of the cylinder heads, this Lincoln had the exhaust exiting on the inside of the heads, with the exhaust manifolds centrally mounted in the engine "valley"...

Now that the '28 Mercedes SS is "Under Glass," time to get going on another kit in the pile. This time it's a 1/16 scale 1928 Lincoln Model L Convertible sedan. This is a big car, meant to be chauffeur-driven, with a second windshield for the passengers and two fold-away jump seats in back. This is the kit:

Getting it to come down all the way. Somewhere there's interference between the right side hood panels and what's underneath. If I push down on the right side of the hood it goes down where it should be, but as soon as I let go it pops up again. Not sure exactly where the interference is... I'll have to take the hood apart and try thinning down the thickness of the edges of the panels from the inside and hopefully that will create enough clearance for the right side to nestle down where it's supposed to be.

You can't slip out the center hinge pin once the ornament is glued in place, and because I intend to remove the hood one of these days and try to get the right side to close correctly, I just dabbed a tiny dot of glue on the ornament. That misalignment on the right side really bugs me, because I got both doors and the left side of the hood to close just about perfectly. I just want to put this one aside for a while and get back to it at a later date... right now this kit has given me too much stress... I just need to work on something else for a while and come back to this one later. I also still have to find a suitable replacement for the spotlight so I can add that and the rear view mirror.

Congratulations!

I think they're turn signals. The rearview mirror/spotlight assembly has the chrome messed up, so I have to find something that can pass as the spotlight and then add that and the rear view mirror.

This kit was a real pain, from building the wire wheels to getting the doors and hood to fit. Lots of frustration, and the right side of the hood still doesn't fit right. I may go back one day and try to fix the hood, but for now I'm putting it aside and calling it done. If you're interested, all the blow-by-blow gory details are here.

Worked on the left side. Can't make it work on the right side... too much going on there with the three exhaust pipes, the three vertical spacers, etc. I'm not going to mess with it any further. Uploading to under glass soon.

Welcome aboard!

One of your best, Rich! Perfect "old school" look, and the engine compartment is especially nice. This is one to definitely be proud of.

I don't understand the question. I'm going to install a small pin on the inside of the lower rear corner of the hood side panel. That pin will fit into a hole that I will drill into the flange that projects vertically up from the fender unit and runs between the radiator grille shell and the firewall (that flange is where the bottom edge of the hood side panel rests against when the hood is closed.

That needs to be updated, and I will update it. Gregg put that language there some time ago to address a specific instance, trying to stop certain troublemakers who were making trouble on purpose. It was sort of a "spur of the moment" reaction from Gregg in an effort to address a specific problem at a specific time, but it needs to be revised.

That sums it up just about perfectly, except one small point. In your point #1, it should say "If you post up pics, you need to be prepared for comments, both positive and negative (not necessarily criticism, but criticism if criticism is valid). Otherwise... you got it.

Still having major problems with the hood panels. I've had the hood installed, uninstalled, installed again, uninstalled again... Basically the same problem as I had with the doors... the hood doesn't shut flush on its own, it's going to need some "persuasion." My fix will be the same fix I used on the doors... a small pin mounted to the lower rear corner of the hood side panel that will engage a small hole drilled into the fender unit's hood flange. Hopefully that will allow me to "snap" the hood shut the same way I can now snap the doors shut. This one should be "under glass" tomorrow if my hood fix works out.

That's what I've always said. Criticism/comments about the model are fine, personal slams are not. Putting a person down doesn't accomplish anything, as the rule says. John, I think you and I agree more than you realize.

John... on a public forum, the public (the members) have the right to comment. It's understood that if you post pictures of your work, your work is open to comment. If you don't want members to comment, don't post your work. Like I said, it's inherently unfair for one member to post their work on a public forum and then insist that all other members are only allowed to make positive comments. That's just not how a forum works. Criticism and critique is not only a valid part of how a forum works, it's an inherent part of how a forum works. As long as the comments are directed at the model and aren't personal, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

If a person doesn't want any problems pointed out or commented on, that person shouldn't post pictures of his work on a public forum. It's just that simple. It's not fair that a person should post pictures, then expect all the other members to not point out anything they see or limit them to only positive comments. It's a form of tacit censorship, it goes against the whole point of what a public forum is, and it won't fly here. When you post your work here, every other member has the right to comment on it, good or bad. As long as the comments are in regards to the model, not the person.

This week's car is not a clown car! It's a 1964 Lihjtburn Zeta Sports. Who got it right: sjordan2 wisdonm GeeBee MikeMc Draggon otherunicorn bbsbase mr moto Thom customsrus blunc

I like the dashboard detailing. Nicely done.

I don't see why so many people seem to have this idea that they have to "pass on" the hobby to the next generation. Why shouldn't kids pick their own hobby? Let each generation pick what they are interested in, not what the previous generation wants them to be interested in, or thinks they should be interested in. In the '50s and '60s kids and adults were big into cars, and building model cars was a logical extension of that. According to studies, today's "millennials" are far less interested in cars than older generations, and many don't even own one. The percentage of teens with driver's licenses is dropping. Today, kids are far more interested in social media and electronic entertainment than in cars. So be it. We had our hobby choices... let's let the kids make their own hobby choices.

Little Johnny is late for football practice, so he asks his dad, "will you do my homework for me?" Little Johnny's dad gives him a stern look. "Now Johnny, you know that if I did your homework for you it wouldn't be right." "Gee, dad, can't you at least give it a shot?"

Hello, Manny/. Welcome aboard! You're the first member from Namibia...

Slight problem with the hood installation. The wire that slips into the cener piano hinge also slips into a tiny retainer loop at the top of the radiator shell and the top of the firewall, that's how the hood is held in place. The little retainer loop on the radiator shell broke off, so I had to make a new one. Since there's a bit of stress on this little part, I want the glue to dry overnight before I try to install the hood.

It's nice to see an "oldie!"