Harry P.

Today the high was in the low 50s. Tomorrow night's low is supposed to be ZERO. I don't know if I should break out the grill or the snow shovel. From the 50s to ZERO in one day. Only in the midwest!

It was in the 50s today. I swear, we have the craziest weather on the planet here in the midwest...

Knox-Martin it is! One of Christie's competitors.

The subtitle of the book is a little off... America's last independent auto maker? What about Tesla? What about Fisker? And all the others...

For those of you who have stuck with me all this time, the final payoff is close! A few more details have been added. Front fenders installed: The guard on the flywheel wasn't in the kit, so I scratchbuilt one from thin aluminum sheet (cut from a pie pan!). This shot also gives you a good look at the front end, with that massive horn between the acetylene headlights, and the fake "grille" (remember, the radiator is in back, behind and below the driver): In this view of the back end you can see one of the hanging lanterns and the scratchbuilt wooden tool box. I added that "loop" to the end of the left frame rail to keep the fire tools in place. Without it, they would be flopping all over the place. Also in this shot you can see the door at the bottom of the boiler (just below the rear axle) through which the coal was shoveled into the fire, to keep that pumper pumpin'! Also, you can see the very faintly engraved "trap door" in the floor of the coal box, right in front of the boiler's door. This door was there so it could be opened and the coal box swept and cleaned out every so often (Ok... I'm guessing here, but why else would there be a door in the floor of the coal box?). I finally got around to gluing the chimney cap into place. I added some "soot" around the opening; the chimney grille was cut from a piece of fiberglass window screen: Once I get the hood decaled, it's on to Under Glass!

Yeah, I guess you really did need strong arms to muscle this rig around!

Beautiful! I love all the details. Real fabric on the seats? That's pretty cool...

There are two kerosene fireman's lanterns in the kit... they hang on hooks on the sides of the boiler. They are each molded in halves, in white plastic, with clear plastic "glass" globes also molded in halves. I painted the lanterns Rustoleum Metallic Brass, blackwashed them for a more "old timey" look, and added the kerosene adjuster knobs (they are more of my soon-to-be-famous leftover brass planking nails from a model ship kit). There was no way to hide the seam where the clear globes are glued together, but a coat of Future helps to hide it a little. The wires that hold the glass globes in place were molded into the clear parts, so I had to hand paint them black with a very tiny brush. That's a dime in the photo for a scale reference.

The kit hood is two pieces, hinged down the middle with little plastic molded-in pins on each half of the hood acting as the hinges. The real thing had a piano hinge along the hood from firewall to "grille," which is missing on the kit parts. So I scratchbuilt a fake piano hinge (I didn't have any small piano hinges "in stock" and didn't feel like going out and buying one). I just added the hinge "leaves" made of strip styrene, the rivet heads are brass hull planking nails, and the barrel of the hinge is aluminum tube with the hinge segments just faked by rolling the tube under a sharp X-acto blade (without cutting through the tubing!). The hinge barrel will be glued to only one side of the hinge, and that side of the hood will have the molded in hinge pins removed and some thin brass wire run through the hinge barrel to act as the new hinge pins for that half of the hood... the other half of the hood will keep the molded-in hinge pins. That way it'll look like the hood has a real piano hinge, and both sides of the hood will still open. In this photo you can see the molded-in hinge pins. The side of the hood that gets the hinge barrel glued to it will lose those plastic pins, the other half of the hood will keep them. I've done one side of the hinge "leaves" here, the other side will be identical: BTW... those light lines on the hood panels are Bondo. I had to fill the slight gap where the separate hood panels glue together. Here's a better look at my faked piano hinge barrel:

I don't think there's any danger of you being laughed at if you post your model. Like I said, there are builders here at all skill levels who post their work, from beginners to guys that I can only hope to be as good as someday. Nobody will judge you based on the skill level of others. We're a pretty friendly group here! I suggest you go ahead and post that latest model of yours. You might be surprised by the encouragement and positive feedback you get.

The Cord is a real beauty.

Everyone has a different skill level. There are people out there whose skill level I can't come close to. The secret is not to compare yourself to other builders, but to push yourself to be the best you can be, regardless of where you may fall on the skill range. I try to to make every model I build better than the last one I built. The idea is to get incrementally better each time out, not necessarily comparing myself to others. As long as I can honestly tell myself that I have made progress on my latest model over my previous one, even if only minimal progress, then to me that's a "win." You might want to give it a try. Challenge yourself to get better, don't compare yourself to others.

This week's car is a 2000-2002 GAZ 3111 Volga. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAZ_Volga Who got it right: W-409 wisdonm MikeMc GeeBee george53 ChrisR Badluck13

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time... Plans that either come to naught, or half a page of scribbled lines. Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way. The time is gone. The song is over. Thought I'd something more to say... Great song. Great band.

She wouldn't be a real "ex wife" if she didn't do that...

Looks like the instructions are right... but there is also another box on the right front fender in this photo. I think I might just move the toolbox over to there.

If I did that, the rear wheel would be in front of the box and you wouldn't be able to access the lock. Maybe it would make more sense to move the toolbox to another spot... on the right front fender, maybe? But this is the location the instructions call for.

I agree with Bill. Come on, Art... quit teasing and come clean!

How on earth do you crank out so many high-quality models? And these don't even include all the cars you've done! I'm impressed, both by the quantity and by the quality. You're one of my favorite builders... but you already know that!

And I agree with Ray! Very impressive work, John.

Does the roof look concave? It does to me. A flaw in the casting, I guess.

Man, what a collection of beautiful models! Hard to pick a favorite among such a stellar group, but I'm going with the Falcon Ranchero, with the Valiant a very close second. Oh heck, let's call it a draw between those two!

The kit-supplied toolbox is molded plastic (obviously)... but I think I can do better. Basswood, stained and varnished. The hardware is all scratchbuilt... sheet aluminum cut from a pie pan for the hasp, the hinge barrel on the hasp is brass rod, and the lock is brass rod and a chunk of styrene, painted Rustoleum Metallic Brass and blackwashed. I carved the keyhole into the styrene with the tip of my X-acto blade. That's a dime in the photo so you can get an idea of the size: And installed at the back of the pumper, on the right-side frame rail next to the boiler:

I also got the front wheels and fender brackets installed. The tires are black molded plastic, so I used some fairly coarse sandpaper to scrub them down and give them more of a used look.