Harry P.

It's like a stick-and-tissue paper model on steroids! According to the instruction manual, every part of the real plane is provided in scale (scale permitting, of course). I mean, obviously the engine doesn't really run, and the altimeter doesn't really have internal parts and really work and the guns don't really shoot tiny bullets, but you get the point... if it's on the real plane, it's included in the model, right down to individual turnbuckle slack adjusters on all of the control cables for the wing flaps!

Just for the record... I never made any such comment. Not sure where Ed got that idea from.

Well, you'll find out that you are weird, and a lot of other people are weird too!

Seems like something the manufacturers should bring back. Sounds like a win-win.

Get a set of wazoo files... that'll take care of it.

Yep! Or one mulepower... or oxpower... or whatever "engine" you happened to own!

It's from the same manufacturer that makes the stagecoach, doctor's buggy, Conestoga wagon and buckboard that I've posted. The land vehicles are "Model Trailways" and the planes are "Model Airways"... available at Model Expo (modelexpo-online.com).

If it wasn't for the scale of the concrete texture giving things away, it could pass for the real thing! Nice...

This is my under construction Albatros D.Va. The Albatros was a German WWI fighter plane, armed with twin Spandau machine guns that fired through the propeller. The guns were synchronized to only fire between the spinning propeller blades so that the pilot wouldn't shoot off his own propeller! IMO one of the coolest looking WWI fighters of them all, partly because of the swoopy shape of the nosecone and fuselage (due to the inline engine rather than the more typical for the era air-cooled radial engine). I think there may be one or two of these things still in existence, but the photos below show a modern day clone (top) and a 3D computer rendering (bottom). As you can see, the markings on these planes were very colorful, and varied incredibly from one plane to the next. This was before the air force had any standardized color or marking schemes. Basically, every pilot in each jasta (squadron) was free to have his plane painted any way he wanted to, and some of the color schemes were really wild… you have to see them to believe them! These two are on the "subdued" side… you can imagine what some of the wilder ones looked like! Baron Manfred von Richtofen (Germany's top ace during WWI) flew an Albatros during part of his career, and his was painted all red… hence his nickname, the Red Baron. This model is 1/16 scale, with a finished wingspan of 22 inches and a fuselage that's 18 inches long. At this scale you can pack a lot of detail into a model plane, and this kit definitely has it. The model is built pretty much just like the real thing… a wooden framework comprised of dozerns of spars and ribs that you assemble piece by piece, just like the real plane. The engine, the hardware, the landing gear and various other parts are all cast white metal. The model is meant to be built as a "ghost" version, with no covering and the framework exposed, but I decided to build it covered, as the real plane would have looked. That means that a ton of intricate internal detail will never be seen on the finished model, but oh well… at least I have photos to prove it's all in there! Above: The left side of the engine, a Mercedes water-cooled OHV 180 hp straight six, unusual for WWI-era planes, which usually used air-cooled radial engines. The radiator on the Albatros was mounted in the top wing, directly above and in front of the pilot... so if the radiator got shot out, the pilot got a nice scalding-hot shower! You can see the wooden framework of the fuselage. After I built the fuselage framework I stained it with oil-based Varathane stain/poly combination spray to give the wood a nice, mellow, "old" color. The engine consists of well over 100 pieces, and is very well detailed. All the parts are cast metal, and the finished engine is pretty hefty! In the photo above you see the intake side... that big squarish thing in the middle is the carb, at the rear you can see one of the twin magnetos (the engine has dual magnetos and two spark plugs per cylinder, one on each side). Directly behind the engine is the gas tank. Above: The right side of the engine is the exhaust side, but at this point I haven't attached the exhaust manifold yet. Here you can see the other six spark plugs and the right-side magneto. That cylinder alongside the crankcase is an oil tank. You can also see the rear gun mounts (the unpainted white things on top of that bluish-green metal crossbar assembly)... guns have not been mounted yet. You can also see the mounting plates that the lower wings will bolt on to. BTW... this engine is the same engine as in the Monogram "Red Baron" show car! But in this case it's fully detailed, not the "blob" that comes in the Red Baron kit! Above: Here you can see the internal structure of the tail. This is before the rear horizontal stabilizer and vertical rudder are installed. Every one of those strips of wood is an individual piece that you have to assemble one by one, just like the real thing.Those lengths of gray thread that are taped to the rear of the tail structure are the control cables for the stabilizer and rudder, and will be attached when those pieces are installed. They're just taped in place now so they don't get tangled up inside the fuselage. Above: A general view of the front half of the fuselage. The large object directly behind the engine is the gas tank (painted with Testors Metalizer Steel), directly behind that are the twin ammo cans painted the same way (those curved arms are the feed tubes for the guns, which are not installed yet). And directly behind the ammo cans is the can that catches the spent shell casings (maybe they recycled back in 1917??? ). Also visible is the pilot's seat that I upholstered, and the scratchbuilt seatbelt harness made of strips of masking tap, wire for the hardware and carved styrene buckles. Strangely enough, with all the detail this kit has, there are no seatbelts included! The fuselage is sitting on a stand that I made of leftover scraps from various other laser-cut wooden models (the "sprue" part of the wooden parts sheets. No, I never throw anything away!). The stand comes in handy, because you need both hands for building! Unlike most WWI-era planes, the Albatros' fuselage was not covered with fabric, but with thin plywood veneer. This gave the Albatros a very stiff and rigid fuselage. Since the model is meant to be built "see-through" style, no coverings for the fuselage or fabric for the wings and tail are included... so I went to the local woodworking store and got some 1/64 birch veneer. I cut the individual birch panels out (following the layout seen on my reference photos), and used CA to glue each panel into place. The veneer is thin enough to easily follow the curves of the fuselage without needing to wet it (as long as you remember to orient each panel so that the grain runs 90 degrees to the bend). Once I have all the birch panels in place, I will sand smooth, stain, and varnish the fuselage. And here's a pilot's eye view of the cockpit. As a frame of reference, the cockpit opening is just a bit under 1-3/4 inches across. You can fit a quarter onto the pilot's seat cushion. Once I get the fuselage finished, it's on to the wings. They build up the same way as the fuselage... wooden framework, piece by piece. But unlike the fuselage, the wings are covered with fabric. Not sure yet what I will use... probably a tight-weave linen or cotton, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!

Yeah, that would have been helpful!

Buckboards originated in the Appalachian region of the eastern US around the mid 1800s, and were meant as cheap, basic transportation for one person. The earliest buckboards were very primitive... they were nothing more than a large, wide board (or several narrow boards placed side by side) between two unsprung axles, with a simple wooden bench seat on top. Over the years the design evolved, and by the late 1800s, fancier buckboards like the one depicted in this model featured fully sprung front and rear axles, a sprung seat, and many times even an upholstered seat cushion. But even at their most evolved state, they remained very simple, basic vehicles. This 1/12 scale model is made by the same company that makes the stagecoach, doctor's buggy and Civil War ambulance that I posted previously. The model is basically laser-cut basswood parts with cast metal hardware, fittings, brackets, etc. Raw basswood is a very pale wood, even lighter colored than balsa... so it would never do to replicate the hardwood (usually oak) that these buckboards were made of. So all the basswood parts were stained by dipping them into my own homemade "stain" consisting of water with a little acrylic brown, yellow, red and a tiny bit of black. Once the wood parts were dry, they looked a little too "cold," so I painted them all with Future that had a bit of acrylic yellow mixed in to "warm up" the tone of the wood. Then the parts were sprayed with Testors Transparent Black window tint spray to darken and "age" them, and finally a coat of Testors Dullcote. All the cast metal parts were painted flat black. On with the show... The above photos show you the general layout. It's just a very simple design... every single piece is visible, which is the beauty of a simple vehicle like this. It's all on display, nothing is hidden behind fenders or under a hood... it's all out there in plain sight. Some more elaborate buckboards had a second seat, but this one has just a simple platform behind the driver for cargo, surrounded by a low rail. The hardest part of this model was building the wheels. Each spoke has to be individually carved and sanded to shape--the spoke is square in cross section at the hub, and both tapers and becomes round at the rim end... so each spoke "blank" has to be hand formed. The hard part isn't forming one of them, it's forming all of them so that they all look identical (or as close to identical as you can make them!). Then you have to glue each spoke individually between the hub and the rim, and finally you add the iron "tires," which are strips of thick cardboard that I painted a metallic gray color to simulate the look of iron that would have been in constant contact with the road surface. And no, that vertical thingie at the front right is not the radio antenna... ... it's the whip (or the "accelerator pedal" in automotive terms!). As you can see, the front axle features a transverse leaf spring set, just like a Model T. The wooden axle was clamped to an iron reinforcing bar via the large U-shaped axle bolts, and pivoted (steered) on a "fifth wheel" type of pivot. Out back things are a little different. No transverse leaf springs, but a unique double helix-type of spring called a "Schuler spring" (named after its inventor?). I don't know if this type of spring setup was unique to buckboards, but before this model I had never seen anything like it. The "interior" (if you can call it that!) was nothing but the driver's seat, the front board (called the buck board, because it protected the driver from the horse if he bucked), and an iron foot rail. Here's a close-up of the seat. You can see the leaf spring arrangement, and the scratchbuilt seat cushion that I added to the model.

That would be an impressive model in 1/24 scale. In 1/43 it's amazing! Nice work.

They're dorky looking but in a cool way!

Think about it. Think about how many people buy and sell on ebay. Think about how some people are honest, how some people are weasels, and some people are flat-out crooks. Then think of the millions of listings and transactions that happen on ebay. In my opinion, what ebay does is nothing short of miraculous. The fact that ebay works as well as it does, despite the morons there who keep trying to mess things up, is amazing to me, and I give ebay all the credit in the world.

Final vote: 33 REAL, 16 MODEL... so by 2 to 1, you were right! It's real!

I like thin crust, too! To me, this updated version looks just right (except for the too-busy side scoops, which I would delete). But the price is just outrageous.

Coupe $466,000, convertible $485,00. Just a tiny bit over 80K.

?

Spring? It was 12 degrees two nights ago. Hey Al Gore... where's that global warming you keep selling?

Pony Express.

There! Fixed it. I want one. Really, reeeeeeeally want one.

Why is this photo so distorted?

If Jaguar offered that car right now at a realistic price, I'd go out tomorrow and buy one.

Oh man... I love it! LOVE it! And that dash is so perfect... a beautiful update of the original. Very nicely done. Just two complaints. One, get rid of the silly scoop business on the sides and you'll clean up the design 100%. And two... the price!

These magnifying lamps (if fluorescent) use the ring-shaped bulb that goes around the magnifying lens. Not sure if those bulbs come in different color temps or not, like CFLs do. If so, no problem. But regardless... LCD is the way to go, IMO. Bright, clean light, no heat, incredibly energy-efficient.