Harry P.

While the painted pieces of the rear axle were drying, I started work on the chassis. The main chassis is made of stamped steel, and it's pretty solid (and heavy!)... the side rails are plastic, and bolt on to the chassis. Here you can see the progress on the front end, which has fully functioning suspension. All the suspension parts (upper and lower A arms, spindles, etc.) are also made of metal. Mercedes has always been known for technical and engineering innovation and excellence. This car is no exception. At a time when many cars still had solid front axles and leaf springs–pretty much unchanged from what a stagecoach had–this car had independent coil spring suspension at all four corners. You can see that the front end is basically the same as what most cars run today, that is, upper and lower A arms with coil springs. Here's a shot of the tie rods/steering linkage, looking at the bottom of the chassis:

I don't think so... the typeface isn't right for an Illinois plate.

And a Happy Festivus for the rest of us...

After I clean up each part–remove mold seams, sink marks, etc.–I attach the part to a piece of scrap sprue with a tiny dot of crazy glue. The sprue makes a great "handle" to use when painting the part. After the paint dries, I just snap the part off. This is 1/2 of the rear end...

Jon, your sig line is funny!

Has anyone ever figured out why Daisy is blue???

I like the Murcielago before this one... this one is a little bit overdone, IMO.

Mary wanted to use Christmas stamps on her holiday cards, so she went to the Post Office to buy some. "What denomination?," asked the clerk. Mary sighed. "Have we gone so P.C. that it's come to this??? Oh well, give me 20 Catholic and 20 Methodist, I guess."

Another member that didn't bother reading the rules that he agreed to when he signed on!

Dave, I swear, you have to be the most upbeat, cheerful guy there is! You always have a positive attitude. I'm not sure how you do it, but if you can, it's a great way to get through life... Merry Christmas!

No vote???

Not bad for 15 years old!

Very cool! I like it... But you should really foil the door handles...

I think a certain Mr. Boyd also got a little cover space...

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the WINTER SOLSTICE holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. In addition, please also accept best wishes for a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make this country great (not to imply that this country is necessarily greater than any other country or area of choice), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual orientation of the wishers. This wish is limited to the customary and usual good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first. The term "Holiday" is not intended to, nor shall it be considered, limited to the usual Judeo-Christian celebrations or observances, or to such activities of any organized or ad hoc religious community, group, individual or belief (or lack thereof). Note: By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher at any time, for any reason or for no reason at all. This greeting is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. This greeting implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for the wisher her/himself or others, or responsibility for the consequences which may arise from the implementation or non-implementation of it. This greeting is void where prohibited by law. Please check with your physician before accepting this, or any other greetings. Have a very P.C Christmas!!!

I just gave you a Firebird and a Mustang the past couple of weeks!

That's a cool bike. I like the ones from that era, I've built a few myself (1/9 scale, tho)...

The only Trig I'm familiar with is Sarah Palin's kid!!!

Start saving up your pennies... you're going to need a lot of them! But it's worth it...

Actually the scale of a model is a fraction. A 1/25 scale model is one twenty-fifth the size of the original. That's a fraction, plain and simple. It can also be seen as ratio, but whether you want to see it as a fraction or a ratio doesn't make any difference. Whether 1/25th of the original, or 1/24th, or 1/8th, or any other scale, they are all fractions, and all tell you what fraction of full size the model is as compared to the original.

Here we go... real or model? The answer: REAL!

Oh, I'm just getting started! Lots more engine work done today... I'll post photos tomorrow.

Try a google image search for Mercedes G4 W-131

I think Rommel's Rod is just a made up car... there were no cars like this used by the German army.

But it took George 3 years to figure it out!