Ace-Garageguy

Thank you for the review and great photos. It looks pretty good, and it's definitely a great starting point for building a period hot-rod. But at the risk of starting another flame war, I see multiple relatively minor issues that those of us who look at the real ones day-in, day-out, and want a really accurate-appearing body shell will have to correct. But I may be wrong. I see a couple of things on the nailhead that make me cringe too. The exhaust port spacing is noticeably wrong (the paired end ports are slightly too close together, and the center ports are slightly too far apart). Since this is a major signature of the nailhead look, it would be nice to have it right...and it'll be the devil to fix. It's also unfortunate the block has big holes molded into it for the mounts. Makes it a little harder to swap it into something else. It's certainly good enough for me to buy several just for parts...and as soon as I have one, I'll post a detailed correction of the body...and exhaust port measurements...if my impression that some corrections are necessary is correct...as I have access to real cars (and engines) to measure.

Couple points. 1) CA glue (Zap-a-Gap) is much harder than styrene and can be tough to sand and get flat. 2) Sand the areas that have divots BEFORE filling. When you get a primer color or a bare plastic area around the divot, STOP SANDING. At that point, you'll want to make sure the center of the divot is well and thoroughly scuffed, so your filler of choice will stick with proper tenacity. 3) WHATEVER YOU DO, use a stick or a block to hold your sandpaper FLAT. Unsupported sandpaper will just ride down into the divot, and you'll be chasing the wave forever. 4) Though many fillers may work kinda OK, the ONE-PART fillers take forever to dry hard enough to sand, they SHRINK over time, and the adhesion isn't always great. I use Squadron green for tiny minuscule fills, and it works well for that...but never for large or deep fills. 5) I respectfully suggest you try the Bondo TWO-PART PROFESSIONAL #801 filler, available at auto-parts stores, in small 3oz.containers. There's a slight learning curve to using it, but it's an EXCELLENT ALL-AROUND FILLER, and it adheres well to painted, primered or bare (properly scuffed) styrene.

Maybe it's the very last one in the universe. Usually, there's at least one of these things on ebay, but there aren't any now. Fer shur...some folks are going to be asking stupid opening bids for these if this auction remains in force. I have seen this kit complete, unstarted, in the original plastic bags internally, with a very good open box go for about $120. I paid $75 for 100% complete, with about 5 parts glued, good box. I'm very familiar with this kit, and it DOES appear to be complete or very close to it. (There was no "brass plated tree" ...mentioned above...as part of this particular kit, by the way). The black stock hood top and both sides are present as well. The green version had no hood included in the box. Ever. Both chrome trees are present, and even all 4 cycle fenders are there (one's loose). Still, $120, tops. heck...I would have paid $120 to get another one.

DON'T. This will RUIN your parts. I have no idea why someone would tell you to do this, as you're a novice and may not know any better. Acetone is a solvent that will melt styrene into goo. Addressing your other comments: Nobody "warps and bends" bodies with heat and gets anything approaching a model that looks like it was built by something other than a chimp (at least, nobody I've ever seen; the technique may have some uses modifying certain parts, flaring fenders, etc, but it's far too difficult to control it accurately for a novice...to find what works for you, experiment and practice). Far as relocating the "pins" on struts to lower a car, well, that's basically the way it's done on real ones. Ever hear of "dropped spindles"? Same exact geometric relationship. And as far as moving strut towers to get camber, again, relocating the TOPS of struts INBOARD is how you get lotsa negative camber on a REAL car. Works the same way on a model. On the bumper thing...here's how you do it. You use your eyes to look at the difference between what you have and what you want. You use your brain to analyze what's different. You use your hands to cut up what you have, and put it back together looking like what you want, all the time using your eyes and brain to check your progress. There are no shortcuts, no magic, no easy way to get good results. You look. You think. You do. You learn.

Happy Birthday Greg...from all of us still living in the past.

This won't help you directly either, but it might get you going down the right internet rathole. Dig into some of this info and you'll probably find something very close to the AMT kit version. There were a lot of streamlined dragsters built in the wayback, and Micky Thompson is widely given credit for being the first, with a horribly crude and ugly fiberglass body mounted on an early "slingshot" style chassis. Two of the most famous of the early streamliners were Chrisman's "Hustler I" and Cortapassi's "Glass Slipper", both shown below. The Slipper dates from '54, and was the first digger to run a full canopy. Here's one I know nothing about...BUT it DOES have a canopy and the odd crossram injection found in the AMT kit...

Autocrossing my first car, a '62 Bug, both with the stock 40-horse Bug motor and later with a 356 SC Porsche engine. Taking it out on a frozen water-filled quarry was kinda fun too, but probably not very smart in retrospect. Using the Super 7 S2 as my daily driver, and many years later the old Beck Spyder as a daily were kinda nice too. Driving from Atl to Arizona in a Geo Metro convertible was fun, and really horsing a client's '72 911S made me smile. Fell in love with the 911 that day. Then there was the night in Buckhead in a real Auburn Boattail Speedster, driving the world's very first Datsun 240Z convertible (built by me) before it was stolen and cut up, and the girl who came up to me and said "I'll do anything for a ride in that car" when I rolled up to a bar in a client's Aston Martin V8 Vantage. I had an old Chebby step-van for a while too, ex-KrispyKreme green-and-white, and that thing was terrific fun. Felt like the donut man...though in those days, I didn't look like him.

JB, I'm not saying it's impossible for tampering with the vehicle to have occurred prior to the Diana incident. I wouldn't make such a definitive statement unless I'd been able to do my own analysis of the vehicle systems post-crash, or had had direct access to undoctored information. Nor am I sufficiently familiar with what IS and what IS NOT possible to hack on the '97 S280 (and from what I've read online, most of the conspiracy theorists seem know less than I do about the car). What I'm saying is that, when I read multiple posts on multiple sites by multiple posters, and the copy is identical, copy-pasted over and over and over, it makes me really question the validity of ANY of the information offered... especially when the posters use a whole lotta !!! (the text equivalent of the overly-dramatic music background to so much of the conspiracy-theory youtube stupidity), shady but vague innuendo, and seem to have no particular knowledge of how vehicle hardware and software actually work and interface.

The incremental bidder also has a rating of only 13. I've seen, many times, low-number bidders drive prices up idiotically like this, only to see the item re-listed later, and the bidding stay at realistic numbers. Shill? Little twinkie bidder who doesn't realize a bid is a contract, or maybe thinks it's cutesy fun to do this, and has to get mommy to get him let off the hook? Who knows? Anyway, last time I followed these Aurora '34 kits, they went for $60 to $120 usually, depending on the day, who's bidding, and exact condition. I bought one for $75. And anyone who thinks they're going to "win" an auction by bidding low, early, is delusional.

Greg has put up multiple threads with hot-rods he's liked, particularly recently as examples of what could be built from Revell's new model-A offerings.

So tell me...why is it any more acceptable to attack the standards of the OP than it is for the OP to question the standards of a rod builder? Nobody has to agree with Greg's comments, and Greg doesn't have to praise what he sees as flaws in a build. But somehow, it always turns personal.

While there has been much speculation about the chip in the Diana-crash S280 Merc, many of the hysterical speculators (who repost and repost the same nonsense with no examination of the engineering realities) seem to have no clue as to WHAT the computer in the vehicle is actually capable of, and the fact that it's NOT capable of actually steering the car. The system varies the sensitivity of the steering, NOT the direction the car travels in, and without SIGNIFICANT additional modifications, it can't be done. The "drive-by-wire" system DOES run throttle control through the computer, and the application of the ABS system, as well as some other secondary "stability" functions (like limiting rear wheelspin when accelerating on slick surfaces). In the '97 S280, acceleration could conceivably be taken over (the dreaded "unintended acceleration" syndrome ), the ABS function of the brakes could be disabled, the power steering could conceivably be made to be NOT POWER steering...but the vehicle would STILL be controllable by a competent, NON-PANICKING driver. In the now-old Mercedes, I'd be seriously surprised if hackers could wreak havoc with onboard electronically-assisted systems beyond a simple lock-out, shut-down or refusal to start, assorted nuisance functions ...or maybe dumping the seat and navigation settings. Of course, an engine-shutdown or uncontrollable throttle could easily be fatal in many circumstances...given the relative lack of ability of most drivers to cope in any kind of emergency. But today's cars idiotically have ALL the vehicle functions monitored, assisted and in some cases, overriding driver input...all this running through ONE computer network. For YEARS, I have been vehemently opposed to the insane stupidity of routing ALL vehicle functions through ONE computer network, especially vital control and safety functions THAT SHOULD BE ISOLATED AS A STAND-ALONE SYSTEM. When the ONE network is accessible through a wireless interface, the potential for disaster should be obvious to anyone with even the smallest intellect.

1) Cut and paste until you have a rough shape that's similar to what you want. Shape and fill until it's perfect. There aren't any shortcuts or magic tricks. 2) Most "styrene" has a Tg (glass transition temperature) of around 100C or 212F. Tg is where the material flows, basically. It will simply sag, pretty much uncontrollably, at that temp...not really possible to re-mold complex shapes like wheel rims. You CAN bend styrene rod for roll-cages at slightly lower temps, and possibly correct body warps if you're careful and competent. 3) By far, the easiest way to lower any strut-type suspension, or one with a spindle, is to simply cut off the stub-axle from the strut or spindle and position it UPWARDS the amount you want to lower the car. The same relationships exist on model car parts as on real cars, so if you understand what you're doing, it's all pretty obvious.

it is definitely an oddball, and first impressions may be misleading, but it's an easy one if you've spent much time in its homeland.

This one really deserves to be finished. Cool.

Ed's spectacular lightning photo above. Man. Nice. Remarkable getting the exposure at just the right moment of maximum intensity. You must have a really quick shutter finger, sir.

Headin' out to sit on the front porch with a big ol' root-beer float and listen to the crickets. Warm night, cool float...really takes me back to being a kid. Simple pleasures are still the best in my humble opinion.

The 1/35 guys will pay what it takes to do it.

Stupidity and ignorance in the general population...but they have become so ubiquitous I sometimes think people now TRY to be morons...like it's somehow cool to be a know-nothing idiot.

The print files are translated directly from highly accurate laser scans of real people dressed in the period-correct gear. The prints are done directly from the translated scan files, so scale can be changed to whatever the client needs, instantly...these are NOT resin copies of 3D prints. Price, trimmed, is about $25 each. It will come down somewhat, but it takes time to do prints of this resolution. Time is money. A 20% discount is available to modelers who will trim their own pieces. As printed, still having supporting structures...

Only way you're going to get a definitive answer is from rigorous scientific testing. Repeatable. Recorded results. Anything else is just opinion, guesswork, repetition or anecdotal.

This sounds like it ought to be worth at least a couple hundred grand ($$$) government study. Though Art explained the mechanics of fogging due to humidity, your question as to why the areas of your model in contact with something didn't fog went largely unanswered. My best guess is that the support of the model or part forms enough (not much, obviously) of a heat-sink (heat source in this case) to ever-so-slightly stabilize the temperature of the part it's touching or near to, keeping the part in question from momentarily flashing below the 'dew-point' that causes micro-condensation on the surface of the model or part, and subsequent hazing. Having always polishes off the surface of lacquers, and is rarely even deep enough to affect the appearance of metallic particles in paint when it's polished carefully. As you've obviously already noticed, clear-coating kills the hazing too, though the clear itself may haze, needing a polish to remove it. The first time I encountered lacquer fogging was very early in my painting career. I was painting a real Alfa Romeo Duetto outside, under a parachute (for my booth), and just as I was shooting the last coat, it started to rain. The humidity skyrocketed, terrible fogging, and I thought I'd have to do the entire job over. Called it quits for the evening, came out in the morning and noticed, much as you have, that there were certain areas of the surface hardly hazed at all. On a whim, rubbed my finger over one of the worst-fogged areas. To my delight, it got somewhat better. Color-sanding and compounding made her beautiful again. EDIT: The fact you don't have the problem airbrushing is a key indicator. Most likely, the temperature drop of the compressed gas propellant in the spray-cans is more than the temp drop you're getting from airbrushing. I usually get minor blushing with Duplicolor paints, but since I know it will go away, I just don't worry about it.

A little girl about 7 smiled and waved at me and yelled "HI!" as i drove by her and her mother getting in their car. I'd been in a crabby mood from the idiot can't-count moron at McD's, but the little girl kinda made my day. Kids are great. A free smile and a "hi" for no reason whatsoever.

Minimum pixel-count low-res version...

And a Magritte-inspired version..."ce ne sont pas les Beatles traversant la route"