Harry P.

That video made my head hurt!

Let's say we have two concentric circular running tracks. The inner track is one mile in circumference, the outer track is five miles in circumference. In order for the runners to make one lap of their respective tracks and get back to the start/finish line at the same time (like the dots on the record), the runner on the outer track has to run five times as fast (he has to cover five miles while the runner on the inner track only has to cover one mile). Right? So replace the runners on concentric tracks with dots on a record. What changed?

Exactly. The outer dot is traveling faster than the inner dot. But the record is spinning at only one speed. So how can the outer dot be traveling faster than the inner dot when they are both traveling at the same rotational speed? Let's say the rotational speed of the record is 33 1/3 RPM (the speed of a normal LP). That means both dots make 33 1/3 revolutions per minute... yet the outer dot is covering a much greater distance in that minute... so it must be traveling faster than the inner dot. But if both dots are making 33 1/3 orbits per minute, how can the outer dot be rotating faster than the inner dot?

Imagine you are looking straight down onto a turntable with a record on it (you remember turntables and records, right? )... There are two red dots painted onto the record–one right next to the spindle and one at the outer edge of the record. Both dots are lined up along a radius of the record (line A in the diagram below): Let's call line A the "starting line." Now we turn on the turntable and the record makes one revolution. The red dots (along with the record) will rotate, the red dots beginning at the starting line, rotating once, with the red dots ending back at the starting line at the same exact time. One revolution. With me so far? Ok. So we can see that the inner dot (the one next to the spindle) traveled a much shorter distance than the outer dot to cover that one revolution. Yet both dots started and finished their one trip around at the same exact time... they both left the "starting line" at the same instant, traveled one revolution, and ended up back at the starting line at the exact same time... yet the outer dot traveled a much greater distance! If the outer dot had to travel a much greater distance to make its one revolution around and get back to the starting line at the same time as the inner dot, it must have been traveling much faster than the inner dot. But both dots are on the same record, and the record can only rotate at one speed. So how can it be that the outer dot travels farther and faster to make its one revolution in the same time as the inner dot... yet they are both traveling the same speed (whatever speed the record is turning). How can the outer dot be traveling faster than the inner dot... and at the same speed as the inner dot?

The car in the picture is the 1948 version, after Louis Fageol bought the original car and turned it into the "Supersonic." http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Fageol_Supersonic

And getting your pant leg caught in the chain! But seriously, folks... I imagine those drive chains had a very short life, with all the grit and dirt and stuff that was constantly getting in them.

ok, dumb question... When a car takes a corner, the outer rear wheel has to travel farther (and rotate faster) then the inner. The sharper the turn radius, the more pronounced the difference has to be (simple geometry). If both rear wheels were driven by identical chains, obviously this flexibility in wheel rotation speed was impossible. So how did these cars react in a tight corner? One of the rear wheels must have hopped or skidded or something. Not exactly confidence-inspiring handling characteristics.

Yet with all of these benefits, it was phased out.

Back to the Locomobile and a question I've been trying to figure out but can't. What was the idea with chain drive? I mean, think about it. The engine spins the driveshaft... that in turn spins the axle that the front sprockets are connected to... that spin the real wheels via chains and rear wheel sprockets. Why didn't they just move the shaft that spins the chain sprockets back and connect the rear wheels directly? What purpose did adding the chains into the equation serve? Did it have something to do with lack of a differential and the chains somehow flexed enough to allow a car to make a turn without the rear wheel skipping? I don't see how that could be the case. I know there has to be some mechanical reason, but I can't figure out the concept of chain drive. What am I missing?

You're going to get the storm that we just had. Six inches here yesterday.

I love MeTV! Not to be confused with MTV...

I made up the spare tire mounting brackets out of various bits and pieces of styrene sheet, rod and tubing. They are not exactly prototypically correct, but an approximation of what I see in reference photos. And at this scale... who's gonna know the difference, anyhow? I curved the arms of the brackets over a candle flame. The A parts will mount to the sides of the trunk, the B parts will hinge on the A parts, and a belt I'll make of paper will connect from A to B and hold the spare between the A and B arms of the brackets. The C part mounts to the lower center of the rear muffler cover and the spare will sit in there. Once the cement hardens overnight, I'll clean these parts up a bit and paint them gloss black and install. They're a hair too big to be truly in scale, but once painted black and installed, you'll never even notice that. I can only build so small!

I use either Testors Transparent Black Window Tint spray, or my own homemade wash of Future with a bit of acrylic black... or sometimes I use both. It all depends on the look I'm after.

Gold BMF. I don't think brass BMF exists. At least I've never seen it.

Houston, we have a problem! Well, we had a problem... The rear fenders were up way too high when mounted. Too much clearance between tire and fender, so I had to rework the rear fender brackets and mount them to the chassis rails in a slightly different spot to bring the fenders down from the stratosphere. Now we're getting somewhere! Still on the to-do list... attach the horn wiring, metal step plates for the running boards, and fabricate some sort of spare tire rack. And also fabricate some sort of spare tire! The Fuman Mercer tires are too big, and the Lindberg Stutz racer comes with a spare, but it's too small. I need a tire that's just right. And the big question... windshield or no windshield? It's getting close to being done...

I did.

Yes, I scrape the paint off areas that will be glued.

Me too!

Very nice!

Man, that is one slick paint job. Nicely done.

Amen. The day we're not allowed to express our opinions here is the day this forum shuts down.

Yep, these Aurora kits (or any kit, actually) can be made to look darn good if you put the time and effort into it.

Went there today!

OMG! Actual progress!!! Got the front fenders installed. Running boards, tool boxes, steering wheel. It's beginning to take shape now. The tool boxes are molded in one piece, so I used a razor saw to cut the tops off, then glued them back on. Madness? Nah... it just gives a more convincing look... now the tops look like they could actually open because there's a defined gap between the box and the top. The toughest thing to do was the brass trim around the firewall/dash. It's real brass, so obviously it had to be bent to shape. Let me tell ya... it took me quite a while to get the bends exact enough to follow the shape of the firewall without gaps. In hindsight, it would have been easier to bend the brass trim first, then shape the firewall to fit the trim (easier to sand wood than bend brass to a precise shape). In fact, the one in the photo is the second one I did... the first one looked just about perfect, but I cut too much off one of the vertical "legs" and was left with a big gap where there should be none... so I had to make another one. All in all, I probably spent a good hour or more just bending that darn trim piece to shape. BTW... that unconnected bit of tubing sticking up behind the horn is the horn's electrical line. Still have to locate that to the side of the body in that triangular-shaped area just aft of the firewall. Once the glue on the fenders really sets up good, rear fenders are next.

Post it as a WIP on its own.