Harry P.

Disappointed how? Your model looks pretty good to me.

Tulio, you are the factory stock Ford KIng!

I didn't know you spoke German!

I still have to laugh that Atlanta was literally paralyzed by two inches of snow.

Ok, but the curb feelers really are coming from JCWhitney, right?

Oops! Sorry, yes I did.

Because I drive a Mustang, and the trunk is about as big as a shoebox! Thanks for the info, Cliff!

I like to jump around from here to there when building (don't know why, I just do!)... so I put the engine aside for the moment and decided to start on the rear end. The Aurora kit springs have U-bolt detail molded in place, but there's no corresponding mounting detail on the rear axle. Eventually I decided I like the look of the Lindberg's rear axle better, but it also has no spring mounting hardware...so I needed to remove the molded-in detail on the Aurora kit's springs because I was going to scratchbuild the spring mounting hardware. I can't find any good shots of the Stutz's rear axle, so I'm pretty much going on educated guesses here, but that's ok... remember, this isn't a contest model... all I have to do is keep Skip entertained! I cut the molded-in U-bolt detail from the Aurora kit springs with my X-acto: However, I soon realized that there is no way I could remove it completely without messing up the individual spring leaves. So I bit the bullet and decided to scratchbuild new springs using strips of styrene. The Lindberg rear axle has the driveshaft molded in place, but the shaft needed to be lengthened to fit the Aurora chassis. An easy fix... just saw off the existing shaft and replace with a longer one made of styrene rod. I did reuse the Lindberg U-joint, though. What you see here is my reworked Stutz rear end, consisting of the Lindberg rear axle (which just happened to be the identical dimension tip-to-tip as the Aurora kit's axle, so no work needed there), scratchbuilt leaf springs and spring mounting plates, U-bolts of brass rod, and the nuts that hold the U-bolts in place are made of hex-shaped styrene rod. I just drill a hole into the end of the rod, then slice off as many nuts as I need. This entire assembly will be painted red, so I assembled it first, then will paint it as a unit. Much easier than first painting all the individual components and then assembling. Hey... if there's any easier way to do something, I'm on top of it!

Exactly. I like to add enough detail to make things visually interesting... enough detail for the onlooker to see and react to, but I never try to get every last nut and bolt and wire on there. It's unnecessary, and besides, literally impossible to do in scale. Even on my Pochers, I add just enough detail to make it interesting, but I try to keep myself from going overboard.

We were supposed to get a "dusting" today... maybe an inch. It's been snowing most of the afternoon, and it looks like way more than a "dusting." More like 3-4 inches. Not too bad in and of itself... but I am literally running out of places to throw this stuff!

Guys... let's keep the personal sniping out of it. Anthony had his say, and that prompted a few of you to post your disagreement with what he said. That's fine... but from now on, let's keep the comments here specific to Jürgen's model, and nothing else. I really don't want to lock this, because Jürgen has already said he's coming back with more info on his method for forming the glass. Let's keep this on track and focused on the model.

Yes, we are.

I think he did a very nice job on that engine. I plan to detail mine to about the same level. Nothing crazy, not every last wire and bolt... just a presentable model.

How did you do the rubber gasket around the glass? Tape?

Please post questions in the Question and Answer section.

New motor mounts made of square styrene rod to mate the Lindberg block to the Aurora frame...

While it was probably a major PITA for your parents, that's a cool memory... an adventure you'll probably never forget.

ok... I've made my decision. I'm going with the engine in the Lindberg Stutz racer kit. While the Fuman Mercer engine looks similar, generally, to the Stutz engine, there are some big differences. Four port exhaust vs. two port exhaust, cylinder heads are differently shaped, etc. Besides... I want to see if I can take the extremely simplified Lindberg Stutz engine and turn it into something a little more realistic. It's more of a challenge to take a nondescript lump of plastic and turn it into a reasonable scale replica than to just assemble the very detailed Fuman Mercer engine. But remember... this is no contest model. I'm going to give the engine a reasonable amount of detail, but I'm not going to go nuts with detail. Anyway... the Lindberg engine is comprised of only a few pieces. The whole block, cylinder heads, water pipe, valve springs, etc. are all molded together as a single left half-right half two piece assembly. Once I glued the two engine halves together, the first step is to cut it apart! Why? Because the engine will be easier to detail if the major components are separate. I began by separating a few major components using my trusty razor saw: The Stutz engine's cylinder heads are painted a bright green, while the rest of the block is steel. It's easier to paint the heads and block if they are separate, so again the razor saw made quick work of separating the heads from the block: Now that I have the block as a separate unit, it's easier to deal with it. These four tabs are to mount the engine on the Lindberg chassis; the Aurora chassis is different (and more accurate), so the Lindberg mounts have to go. I'll grind them off with my Dremel: And in this last photo you can see that I have begun to add some external details that are missing from the Lindberg engine., using various styrene shapes including hex-shaped rod to make bolt heads, styrene tubing and sheet, etc. Lots more to come on the engine... I'm just getting started!

This week's car is an Iranian Saipa Tiba (2009-present). Who even knew they made cars in Iran??? Who got it right: DonW ChrisR MikeMc Badluck13 GeeBee Agent G george53 Pete J. customsrus

Different HL's have different levels of kits and paints/supplies. But yeah, HL isn't a "hobby shop" as we would define it... it's mainly an arts and crafts store that includes a model car aisle.

Oh my God! How do you people survive such unspeakable cold???

These models aren't as big as you think. The seat cushions are only an inch wide. Which means 16 inches wide in real life. Which means that a lot of "today-sized" people would have a hard time fitting into one!

Looking at the Aurora Stutz wheels/tires and the Fuman Mercer wheels/tires side by side, the Aurora wheels are actually more crisply molded than the Fuman wheels. The Fuman tires are nicer, but the Aurora tires have a tread pattern that I see on my Stutz reference photos, the Fuman tires are different. So I'll stick with the Aurora Stutz wheels/tires. Interestingly, in almost every reference photo I have, the front wheels of the Stutz have 10 spokes, the rears 12. But the Aurora Stutz (and the Fuman Mercer and Lindberg Stutz) have 12 spokes front and back. I know... stuff like this is all way too much "inside baseball" for most forum members...

Who doesn't love a clearance sale?

Big bucks, but man, what a beautiful model!