Harry P.

We celebrated Christmas yesterday (Christmas Eve) because of family scheduling and people having to be in certain places on certain days... it's a long story... so I had today off. A day of quiet time and more progress on the Christie. I got the seat installed. I described how I scratchbuild "diamond-tuft" upholstery in my Dennis fire engine WIP, so no need to go over that in detail again. As usual, I make a wooden base, add foam padding and my vinyl "leather" material. In this case the kit piece had the diamond tufted pattern molded in, so I covered the kit piece with masking tape and used a sharpie to draw the pattern on the tape, then transferred the pattern onto my scratchbuilt seat. The kit piece on the left, mine on the right: Then a stick a small brass nail (hull planking nails from a wooden ship kit) into the upholstered seat wherever a "button" is supposed to be... Then I carefully pull away the tape pattern and pull the nails down tight from the back side using small needle-nose pliers. Once all the nails are pulled tight, I add a generous drop of CA to each nail as it sticks out on the back side, and once the glue is dry I use sprue cutters to snip off each nail as close to the surface (of the underside) as possible: And the finished product, painted with black acrylic craft paint and installed:

Original issue Monogram 1/8 scale Jaguar XK-E (the one molded in red plastic for the body, plus black, silver, and chrome plated).

Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?

I don't know what company you work for, but obviously they are an exception. Most companies do not operate as charities.

If you owned a company, you'd look out for the bottom line too. It's what company owners do. Companies are in business to make money. They are not charities. That's how capitalism works, like it or not.

I like where you're going with this.

Bill... glad you're back.

Was it shaped like a pony?

Some real progress! A big landmark step... the front and back of this Frankenstein's monster have been attached. Still loads to do... front fenders, driver's seat, hose brackets, etc... but it's getting there! That pipe you see sticking down in the front is the exhaust pipe (no muffler!), and yes, the opening faced forward for a reason unknown to me. In the photo below you can see that I had to remove the flywheel. I tend to jump around and not follow the assembly instructions exactly... ... so in order to connect the linkage you see here, I had to remove the flywheel to access the engine. No biggie... I just snapped the flywheel off and will re-glue it. BTW... if you notice, there's a starter crank on the left side of the engine, and an electric starter on the right side. I guess John Christie believed in the "belt and suspenders" approach!

Are you sure it's 1/8 scale? I don't think so...

I think if you make a living forecasting the weather in Chicago, you deserve combat pay. When they say "if you don't like the weather around here, just wait a few minutes, it'll change," they aren't kidding!

Doing weather forecasting in Arizona has to be about the most boring job ever. Tonight: Dry and warm. Tomorrow: Sunny, dry, and hot. Repeat 365 times per year!

But remember... predicting the weather, as sophisticated as it has become, is still basically predicting the future. No way you can be right all the time.

Remember, do not post answers or hints here. PM me with year, make and model. The answer: 2000-2002 GAZ 3111 Volga

That looks very good! Nice work.

The stinkin' Bears. If they had won tonight, they would have clinched the division title and a playoff spot. Instead, they rolled over and played dead for the Eagles, and got humiliated. Now the Bears have to beat the Packers next week to win the division. If they lose, they're out of the playoffs. Geez... talk about choking in a big game. It was pathetic.

Somebody stole the wipers?

This Christie tractor doesn't have an "interior," the driver sits out there in the elements. Pretty basic stuff here... no climate control, GPS, or rockin' sound system! The dash controls (spark advance, coil switch) weren't exactly "handy" to get to... they were at the driver's feet! Obviously this thing was designed long before the science of ergonomics was ever thought of. The gas pedal is to the left of the steering column, clutch and brake pedal on the right, so driving this thing would be very different than driving a modern-day car. The steering wheel was huge... it scales out to two feet across. I guess you needed plenty of torque to get those wheels to steer.

I'm working on the "Christie" part of this monster now... the tractor. It's a pretty odd layout. The engine is mounted crosswise, and the radiator is in the back, below and behind the driver. The wheels are powered by a chain drive, and the cooling fan is driven by a long shaft that's geared off the magneto shaft. That big gear you see is the engine flywheel. Here's a view of the rear of the tractor. You can see the large radiator that's mounted in back. Oops... looks like I forgot to fix the ejector pin marks on the back side of the grille. Oh well... too late now. The good news is, the hood will cover it. Since the actual radiator is in the back (I have no idea why), the grille is for looks only...

The search function here is kind of hit and miss. Bill's suggestion works.

Very impressive work!

Tulio... very nice. Nobody I know does Fords any better than you,

Chuck, this is the right place to post this.

Looks to me that if you're any bigger than a jockey you could never fit into this car.

Correct. They were in "production," but very limited. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_Automobile