Harry P.

1/25 scale is just that... 1/25 the size of the original. You don't need a "scale ruler"... if the wheelbase of the 1:1 car is 108", then in 1/25 scale it would be 4.32" (108" divided by 25). Any scale works the same way... the scale is just another way of saying what size the model is compared to the original. 1/8 scale is 8 times smaller, 1/16 scale is 16 times smaller, 1/12 is 12 times smaller, etc.

Why the name change?

I just saw this online. Any time anyone dies at age 32 it's pretty sad, no matter what the cause. BTW... how ironic that "Grim Reaper" posted this...

A little progress... it's kind of hard to see much detail, because the engine is black. Cars of this era usually had the ignition wires running through a loom of some sort, to keep things neat. The kit doesn't have one, so I scratchbuilt one out of aluminum tubing. The mounting brackets are strips of thin aluminum (actually cut from a pie tin!) and the "bolts" are pinheads.

According to the letter, if you don't show up you're liable to be fined "not less than $5 nor more than $100." Jeez... it almost seems worth it to pay the fine, just to get out of driving all the way down there and sitting all day waiting to find out if you're picked or not...

New progress photos coming tomorrow, but in the meantime... I went to Hobbytown USA today to pick up some aluminum tubing and brass strip for some scratchbuilt details I'll be adding to this model, and while I was there I found this great brush. The bristles are shaped like a knife blade... flat and wide in one dimension, but thin and sharp in the other. That sort of shape is called a "filbert"... it's perfect for detail painting tiny things like molded-in bolt heads, better than a typical brush with a round or conical shape to the bristles. This one is red sable, and the bristles have just the right amount of stiffness and "spring" to them. If you're on the market for brushes, check this brand out. They come in a ton of different sizes and varieties, and they all are just $4 apiece. I was using this one all day, and it's a real pleasure to use. It's amazing how much a good brush is a factor when you're painting tiny details.

The only way to make digital versions of all the old issues that were done on film: For each issue you'd have to literally scan every page, touch up the scans if needed, then convert each scanned page to PDF, then put each PDF together into the complete issue. That process would take many hours... and that process would have to be repeated for each issue. Somebody would have to spend a lot of time and effort... and be paid for their time and effort. Putting old back issues into digital format is not a quick, simple or inexpensive job.

If they ask me, I'll tell them, "Why waste everyone's time with a trial? The guy is obviously guilty"... So much for an "impartial" juror!!!

The time you spent putting together that post could have been spent building...

Has anyone alerted the Global Warning "experts" in Copenhagen?

HAH! I got you this time! Final vote: 34 MODEL, 30 REAL. And it's... REAL! Next ROM coming Monday!

George is posting pictures???!!!

Cook County Circuit Court-26th and California... nice neighborhood! I hope my car will still be there when I get out!

Marcos, that silver Corvette is killer! Too cool! PS: foil those latches behind the seats!

Well, if this grand jury thing drags on, I just might have to!

Hey, great idea!

I got a certified letter today. Looks like I've been called to serve on a grand jury! Hmmmm... Chicago...Illinos...grand jury... I wonder which crooked politician we'll be indicting?

Mexican/American??? I think I hear a bit of a "Cherman" accent there....

If you can get a finish like that out of a can, why even bother with decanting? Your paint looks fantastic as is.

That yellow RR is one of the rare Pocher kits. Yeah, that one would definitely sell for well over $1,000.

The yellow Jaguar was made by Monogram... it was the mid-70s release (the kit was originally released in the very early 60s, molded in red). It was 1/8 scale. BTW... not all Pocher kits sell for $1,000+, only the rare ones. The more common kits, like this Mercedes, which was produced in higher numbers, can be bought for much less. The easier to find Pochers usually sell for anywhere between $400-$1,000 (roughly). Of course, in any given ebay auction, depending on who's bidding and how bad they want it, anything can happen.

Ettore's evil twin?

If you could send me a good clear scan I can recreate the whole sheet in Photoshop for you and email you a jpeg that you would then print out on decal paper. Or else you could send me the sheet and I could recreate it from the original.

From Car Talk.com: Tom: So the question becomes, to yellow or not to yellow? There's a lot of debate about this, but the research says that yellow lights are no better than white lights at penetrating fog. The theory bandied about was that yellow light has a longer wavelength and is therefore less likely to be reflected by the fog particles. Turns out, this is complete poppycock. Ray: Apparently, the fog particles themselves are so big that they reflect all colors of light. Basically, all light bounces off of them, so using yellow light instead of white light gives you no advantage. Tom: Plus, in order to get yellow light, what fog-light manufacturers do is put a yellow lens over a white light. That cuts your light output by 20 percent to 30 percent, which is counterproductive.

If I was King of the World I'd make the rule that you have to run a body that's stock in appearance. Yeah, you could use Lexan or polycarbonate or whatever for the "glass" and you could do the grille and headlights with a decal... but the body would have to match a stock body as far as proportions and dimensions. Would the end result be slightly slower cars? Yeah, sure, but so what? It would be a lot more fun to see funny cars that looked like real cars, like they did "back in the day." Same for NASCAR. Make the cars look like real cars again. I bet that fans would rather see funny cars that were maybe a second or two slower but looked like real cars instead of the amorphous blobs we have today.