Harry P.

You're killing me! Ok...from now on I have to pay closer attention...

BTW... I don't know why, but the red in my photos is looking way too garish. It's really not that bright neon-y red in real life. More like the hood of the real car I posted above.

Yeah, but now that you pointed it out, I have to take of it! Otherwise it'll bug me...

It's beginning to look like a car. Still tons to do... exhaust manifold, shocks, trim around the dash/firewall, steering column and steering box in the engine compartment, just to name a few. But I figured I'd show you my progress up to this point. Ignore the rubber band "clamp"... glue is literally still wet! Because the Aurora kit I'm using as my base is a curbside, all the underhood detail is either pieces from other kits or scratchbuilt. Here you can see the scratchbuilt water pump, cooling fan, and lower radiator hose connection. The step plates on the sides of the cockpit are styrene strip that I covered with foil. In case you're wondering why the grille shell is painted and not brass plated, I like the looks of the cars from this era with a little less bling. This is the look I'm after...

If this was 1/8 scale, yes. But at such a small scale, I can live with a few compromises. I guess I could always add them. Yeah, you're right... I have to add them. I'm definitely taking a few shortcuts here... I save my crazy detailing for my 1/8 scale models!

Please post questions in the Question and Answer section, not where in Tips and Tutorials.

Wow. Fantastic work! It could almost pass for the real thing.

3-5 inches predicted for tomorrow.

They've walked back that forecast of near 60 degrees by Thursday. Now they're saying maybe 40-42.

Jürgen... very nice tutorial. I'm sure the truck builders here appreciate al the time and effort you're putting into this.

Nah. Not even close. Let's just call it a "well detailed" Bearcat. BTW... lots of progress. Glue is drying, I want to let things sit overnight. New pix tomorrow.

That's a licensing issue, not an incompetence issue.

If you are buying (not leasing)... Rule 1: Never finance the car through the dealer. Financing is where they make their profit. They will throw so many facts and figures at you, that you will become hopelessly confused. Believe me, even though you may have "agreed" on a selling price, the finance guy will find a very sneaky way to wring more $$$ out of the deal. The finance guy does this every day, for a living, and he/she is good at it, whereas you buy a new car once every couple of years (or more) and simply can't outplay the finance guy. The finance guy will win every time, no matter how smart or informed you are. Simply avoid the finance guy and have your loan set up elsewhere before you set foot into any dealership... and let them know you already have the loan taken care of. The dealer is only going to sell you a car... not a loan. Rule 2: Do all your research online ahead of time. Know exactly what you want before you enter the dealership. Salesmen love people who haven't made up their mind, and will upsell you... to either a more expensive model, or more options. Rule 3: Do not factor your trade-in into the deal. They will lowball your trade-in's value. Work your deal straight up... new car only, no trade-in. Sell your old car privately. In almost every case, you will get more for it that way than what a dealer will offer you. The last new car I bought (before the one I currently have, which was a unique situation), I figured out what car I wanted by doing online research. I already knew the basic type of car I wanted, so I read reviews, comparisons, Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds ratings, etc. etc. I also optioned the car exactly how I wanted it, and found all the pricing ahead of time. I walked into the dealership with a manila folder full of references. I knew exactly what the car I wanted–optioned how I wanted it–would cost the dealer. I knew about holdback, the myth of "dealer invoice," etc. I told the salesman what I wanted, told him I would add $300 to my price for his trouble and to let him make a few bucks, and asked if he would sell me the car at the price I asked. The first couple of places wouldn't do it. They said they "can't" sell me the car that cheaply. Obviously a lie... they can sell me the car for whatever price they want. Heck, they could give me the car for free if they wanted. There is no "can't"... it's really "we don't want to sell it that cheap, we want to make more money on your deal." As soon as they said no deal, I thanked them for their time and walked out. You have to stand your ground... some places, the guy will literally follow you to the door and beg you to stay and "work something out." Don't fall for it. After 4-5 dealership visits, I found a dealer willing to sell me the car I wanted, optioned how I wanted it, at the price I wanted to pay. Of course, this only works if you are willing to special order a car made to your exact option list and are willing to wait 6-8 weeks or whatever. I already had a car, I was in no hurry. But in the end I got the car I wanted at the price I wanted.

You did a nice job. You should try another pre-war car. There are some really good kits out there.

U bolts installed... Just like the rear, this entire assembly will be painted red and then blackwashed.

The front springs were built the same way as the rears. However, the way the springs mount to the front axle is slightly different than the way they mount on the rear axle. The front axle has wide spots or flanges on the top. The springs and axle are held together by U bolts that come down over the springs, through the flanges on the axle, and then they are bolted in place from below. Here you can see those flanges that I had to add to the front axle.

I drove over it the other day on North Avenue, where there is that little "waterfall" dam. Frozen over on the surface, but still flowing over the dam. Kind of odd to see that. I heard that the Great Lakes are more than 90% frozen over... the highest percent in many years. So much for "global warming"... Ditto for Illinois.

Ok, I just checked. You get up to 2 GB storage for free. Once you pass that, you can get a 20 GB plan for 3 bucks a moth, or a 50 GB plan for 5 bucks a month. I have hundreds and hundreds of photos on Photobucket... many years worth... and I've still only used 12% of the capacity of my free 2 GB plan. I can probably keep uploading photos for many years before I would ever hit my limit of free.

Photobucket for many years. Never a problem. And it's free–at least the basic account is. Once you hit a certain limit (not sure what the limit is), you have to pay for a bigger account. But in all the years I've been loading photos there, I still haven't hit the limit... it's still free.

Very impressive. The amount of thought and work you have put into this model is amazing. I have a few issues with your design (but of course, design is purely subjective), but aside from personal opinions on aesthetics, man, I am impressed big time.

There have been days here when the temperature swing from one day to the next was more than 40 degrees... 60 one day, 20 the next. It doesn't happen all that often, but it does happen. I think the midwestern US probably has the most unpredictable weather, with the craziest changes, of all the places on Earth.

Exactly. That's why I cut her some slack. She's a talented singer, but the pressure she must have felt was probably off the charts.

She did "Yesterday." A little "breathy," IMO... maybe she was too aware of the fact that she was doing a legendary song and she tried a bit too hard. But not bad. She's a good singer trapped in the "teen idol" persona. Imagine what she could do if her "people" let her be more of an "adult" singer. I think she has the talent.

BTW... to answer the original question... I know that musical tastes are largely formed fairly early in childhood, and most of us as adults tend to like the music that was popular when we were kids. So depending on our age, we're going to see a lot of different "favorite" artists. For me, some of my all-time favorites, in no particular order other than the Beatles are always at the very top of the list... Led Zeppelin Pink Floyd The Eagles Bruce Springsteen Rolling Stones Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Fleetwood Mac The Byrds Pearl Jam