Ace-Garageguy

More pix at http://s18.photobucket.com/user/PPiira/library/JPS/

Reworked the helmet fairing, lower, more rounded in back. Also fitted the headers this side, cut the hood for them, and relocated the front 4-link to clear. Pretty tight up in front, but everything would clear enough to work. Reworked the nose profile and curvature as well. Maybe not much different to some eyes, but much, much better to mine. EDIT: But now I see a little bump in the curve that crept in due to the different hardnesses of the plastic and the bondo. Gotta fix that. Man, these big photos really show stuff it's easy to miss otherwise.

[url=http://s1019.photobucket.com/user/fastoldcarz/media/Not%20my%20dogs/MARCH%2025%202015%20053_zpsaqxjvewk.jpg.html][/uR The ERA Cobra and GT-40 replicas are among the most-accurate-appearing of all the kits. The ERA Cobras are slightly spoiled for me because they're on rectangular-tube frames instead of the signature round-tube frames of the real cars. Still, it's pretty hard not to love the looks of this car. I think I'm in love.

Really starting to get ass-chapped about some aspects of my current primary business relationship. Maybe time to be movin' on.

Years ago when I was a much nicer and helpful fella, I had lots of "friends" who'd let me fix their cars, houses, lawnmowers, bikes, loan them my truck or tools...or money...but it almost always seemed when I needed something, they were "busy that day" or "broke" when I asked to be paid back the money. Now I have 2 or 3 friends who are actually friends, not users. I figure I'm lucky to have even that many.

Like it. That rear 3/4 view is especially wicked.

Sorry about your friend, Carl. It sounds that, especially during all the crapp he had to go through over the years, he was lucky to have had a good friend like you.

Ahhh...if only it were indeed that easy. I'd discorporate this very instant.

Remarkable. And just about the only way to produce a part like this (3D printed). The bumps on the spokes are due to current limitations in the printing process, but this is a very good indication of what's coming in the next couple of years as the technology continues to develop and become more affordable for the mainstream modeler. I have several models that would look much much better with a set of these.

I've had to deal with Gecko-tier claims reps who had so little knowledge of vehicle structures, they wouldn't (for example) accept an estimate that included all 4 layers of structural stampings inside a forward door jamb that was punched inwards a foot. Morons. Trained and paid? How can this be? Their mantra was "if I can't see it, I can't accept it"...so either you call the tards back out for supplement after supplement...delaying the repair and using up the insured's rental vehicle time...or you force them to watch as you peel layer after layer of crushed metal off the car. Guess which one I did? I've had claims reps who were so morbidly obese they were physically incapable of bending down to check underbody damage, and again, refused an estimate that contained "something they couldn't see". We were forced, one time, to move an in-process vehicle off the lift and dolly the wreck in question on it, just so a fat fool could "see" the damage. I've had the "good hands" guys try to refuse paying the blown-head-gasket part of a collision claim that resulted from the head-injured owner of the vehicle forgetting to turn the engine off after the radiator was holed in the crash. Is it any wonder I'm completely disgusted with the insurance AND car repair industries? Honestly, only 1 out of ten claims reps I've ever dealt with were actually competent to do the work. Somebody help me understand.

I just love semantic distinctions. Consider these. Scale Model: A scale model is most generally a physical representation of an object, which maintains accurate relationships between all important aspects of the original object. (source Wikipedia) Toy: A toy is an object, often a small representation of something familiar, for children or others to play with; plaything. (source Dictionary.com)

Or move really close to the interstate and sleep with the windows open. Seriously, I know it sucks. That's why I joke about it. It's been a part of me so long I don't notice it much, very often, unless I think about it. The white-noise machine is a good suggestion though. A friend gave me one that does surf, rain, and a bunch of others. Quite realistic.

Yeah, won't even go in a freakin' straight line. Oops...more soon-to-be-dead-guy's "views"...

Ah Grasshopper...you have just taken your first step into a far, far larger world than you ever dreamed existed... Or, "Why did the Tom cross the road? To get to the chicken on the other side".

You be the judge. Monogram 1/24 '30 body, chopped, everything else 1/25 Real car...

You just have to get the plastic past its "glass transition temperature", Tg, which for styrene is about 100C, or boiling water. The tricky bit is holding it in the correct shape as you heat it, without cooking the meat off your finger bones. I'll do a scratch-built hood tutorial soon.

Every time I've looked at swapping Revell Boyd T bodies on to AMT fenders, it's worked fine. I've measured the things and they're really all pretty close. The turd in the Buttera and Buttera-derived kits (the itty bitty '34) is the Ford engine and automatic gearbox. They ARE significantly underscale...which is unnecessary, as a correctly-scaled smallblock Ford 289-302 etc. will fit. It's tight, just as it is shoehorning a little Ford V8 into a real T, but it goes in there.

'32 rails under a '26-'27 has been a popular look for quite a while... You can build jus' about anything on '32 rails...

Everything looks really good from here.

Yup. Real silence would be nice. Oh well.

Cool tip. I see it's time for more experimenting. How many coats of metalizer are you using to allow this?

Beautiful model of a beautiful car. Love the colors. The classic Packards are the epitome of understated elegance to me. Not flashy or showy, just clean and rich looking. Always loved the '41 180 Darrin (Banacek's car), too. Almost bought a running 110 sedan, cheap, thinking I'd rebody it from the cowl back and do a Darrin clone. Then found the 180 wheelbase and front fenders / hood are longer on the 180. Plan abandoned.

I'm thinking this new kit may get a lot of guys doing mods they might not have thought they could tackle earlier. Just like in building real hot-rods, what you can do with this new kit will be limited only by your imagination, and your willingness to step out of your comfort zone and do some hack-n-whack. Researching how it's been done for 60 odd years on the real cars will go a long way towards getting into these things, too. One of the big hard parts, narrowing a '32 chassis to work under a '28-'29 shell, has already been done apparently...and the other Model A frame comes pre-zeed. Those two kinda big-deals remove a lot of the critical alignment issues new scratch-bashers may have trouble with, and make it easy to focus on other stuff. Building a hood for an A with a '32 grille shell is just about the perfect introductory project for someone interested in getting into scratchbuilding body parts. The hood needs no compound curves, and if the body and grille are firmly jigged, it's easy to make a VERY accurate pattern from card-stock or masking tape. Then just lay the pattern on .020" styrene sheet, cut it out with a sharp X-acto, and bend it under hot water to shape. Done. I'm wanting a boxcar load of these kits, frankly. No more endless scrounging other kits and gluebombs. Happy modeling !