Harry P.

I still think that seeing a person wrapped up with playing on their smart phone in a zombie-like trance while they walk down the street or while sitting on the bus or sitting in a coffee shop or on a park bench is just weird. The idea that a person needs to constantly be paying attention to that little machine at all times, no matter what, seems to me to be obsessive behavior, and can't possibly be a good thing. And I see it all the time. People have become literally addicted to their phones. I know that the people who do that see absolutely nothing weird about it, and will argue that I'm the one who's nuts.

According to the manufacturer the blades are sharper than their regular blades. http://www.xacto.com/z-series

Yeah, I know. NASCAR is more about "personalities" than actual racing. It's more soap opera than sport, IMO. That's fine... it is what it is, and it has its fans. But I think putting a little more actual "racing" into it and a little less "show biz" would be a good thing in the long run. But hey, that's just one man's opinion.

I've built several, probably 5-6 of them. No problems, they are very nice kits.

Ok, I know this is not what traditionalists want... but how cool would it be to see NASCAR run on road courses? I mean all the time! No more driving in a circle for three hours... a real road course with actual left and right turns! Sort of like NASCAR meets F1. I think getting rid of the whole "we only drive in a circle" idea would breathe new life into NASCAR. I know that a circle track is what NASCAR is all about. But, hey... they've changed everything else from what NASCAR used to be. Why not make one more change? Just a thought.

I think many American race fans see F1 as very much a "foreign" or "European" thing, whereas NASCAR is very much an American thing. That alone will keep F1 in the US well behind NASCAR in popularity.

To me the big difference between today's NASCAR and the NASCAR of years past is that now there's so much less actual competition. Back in the day, yes, they had rules that all the cars had to compy with... but there was enough latitude within the rules to allow differtent teams to do things in different ways. The cars were actually different from one another, and each team relied a lot more on whatever technical expertise they had, and "one-upsmanship" was the goal... getting the edge on the other guys with better technology, better tuning, and yes, even better cheating! Today the whole aspect of actual competition has been practically eliminated. All the cars are identical, and it's pretty much guaranteed that nobody will have any sort of significant edge over anyone else. It's all been homogenized and sanitized and much of the character of NASCAR has been removed. Individuality has been disallowed, and corporate sameness is now the rule. I don't have a problem with the goal being making money. ALL professional sports (and college sports) is about making money. That's just a given. But they've stripped out all of that "good old boy" individuality out of NASCAR in their attempt to make it less of a regional "redneck thang" and to appeal to people outside of the traditional fan base. They've been successful in doing that... growing NASCAR to levels that Richard Petty probably never imagined. But the cost was pretty high: they took out all the character.

I think it's a little early to write her off. Give it a few years and then you'll have a better picture of how well she can compete in NASCAR.

I remember the same "women can't do this" argument when the first female drivers broke into Indy racing. Janet Guthrie, Danica Patrick and the other females were all assumed to not have what it takes. I can see the argument for women not being able to compete with the guys in football or basketball, where physical strength and size are a big part of the game. Obviously most women can't compete with men when physical size and strength are the determining factors. But auto racing? Most of the male drivers are just tiny little things, and physical strength or agility don't really matter... I don't see why women can't be "real" racers. If women can compete in drag racing, they can compete in Indy and NASCAR and F1.

You might want to hold off on your critique of her performance until there's actually a performance to critique... And what about all the guys who have never (or rarely) won? Kick them out because they're not "real" racers?

And the other drivers aren't marketing tools? NASCAR is nothing more than a giant 3-hour commercial. Have you seen the cars and the driver's uniforms? Can they possibly find a bare square inch to squeeze another logo in?? I don't see any problem with Danica running in NASCAR. She's as "real" a race driver as any of the guys.

I buy Pocher kits. They're rare (they're not making any more of them!), and especially so in sealed, "never opened" form. I guess they can only go up in value if they're still sealed, but I've never bought one with the idea that I would save it as an "investment." I suppose I could have done that...and probably seen them go up in value... but I cracked them open and built them (or, to be exact, built some of them... some are still "in progress"). But even though I personally will build them, I don't have a problem with people why buy kits as investments, with no intention to ever build them. It's a perfectly legitimate thing to do as far as I'm concerned... if that's how they want to enjoy their model kits, more power to 'em! But it's just not the way I would do it.

Pretty sure he's kidding.

I agree with the old saying, "A kit is meant to be built"... but I also realize that there are some kits out there that are so rare and pricey that it might actually be a better idea to hold on to them in unbuilt form.

BTW... didn't your mother ever warn you about what could happen if you quote yourself?

True, but that doesn't mean we can't have an opinion on the subject or that we can't talk about it.

As far as "foreign" cars in NASCAR goes... none of the cars that run in NASCAR are actually what they are labeled as. A "Toyota" running in NASCAR has about as much of a connection to an actual Toyota as a refrigerator does. It's all about sponsorship... corporate exposure... and $$$.

Group hug!

Maybe they have... I'm just saying I never got anything on it.

Nobody has sent me anything on Desert Scale Classic 2011. If Gregg has it, he hasn't sent it to me. It could be in the next contest issue if I got it soon enough. As in right away!

What fans of NASCAR (and I am definitely not one of them!) need to understand is that what NASCAR used to be is long gone. Any even vague resemblance to what it used to be... racing factory-built (but modified for racing safety) cars, Ford vs. Chevy vs. Plymouth, etc., is long gone. The cars have absolutely nothing to do with factory, or "stock" cars. They're not even actually "Fords" or "Chevies" or "Plymouths" anymore... there is no tie to the manufacturer, the cars are all identical. I don't see why they even still bother with calling them "Fords" or "Chevies" or whatever, because they're obviously not. As far as the EFI thing... the cars are all completely different than they used to be. They have no connection to the way they were... everything has changed. So why bother hanging on to that one last link to the past (the carb) when everything else has already changed? Someone said it earlier: It's not about the cars anymore, it's about the "personalities." They're pushing the drivers as the show, the cars are just supporting players, because they're all the same! Today's NASCAR is nothing like what it used to be. I can see where fans of "real" NASCAR (the way it was up til about the '70s) would have a real problem being fans of something that's completely different than what they were fans of for so many years. But it is what it is, and old-time fans have to either accept the "new" NASCAR or drop it altogether. It's never going to go back to what it used to be.

??? This is your first post in this thread. How do you figure anyone was criticizing your methods? You haven't even told us what your methods are!

It's just a matter of personal preference. I take every part off the sprue, do any cleanup/sanding, test fitting, etc. first... then I use a piece of sprue and attach the prepared part to it with a dot of superglue (in a spot that won't be seen on the finished model), then paint it. When the paint is dry I just snap the part off my sprue handle.

??? It's not like you need a spare room! A dehydrator is not much bigger than a crock pot. You can put it anywhere... kitchen counter, in the corner of a room... how can you possibly not have room for it?

Stagecoaches don't have steering wheels...