Ace-Garageguy

Road trips are some of the things I really miss, being pretty much chained to the Chevelle and DeLorean projects because I promised I'd get MY parts done before walking away.

Schrödinger's potato, no doubt...

I'm not familiar with that particular kit, but in general, any model with independent front suspension can be easily lowered in front by cutting the stub-axles off of the spindles and relocating them UPWARDS the amount you want to lower the nose. Measure. This duplicates in scale the effect of installing "dropped spindles" on a real car. Done carefully and allowed to dry very thoroughly (and possibly pinned) the reworked spindles will be strong enough, by a good margin, to still support the model.

I vote for something like a recurring payment option (through Patreon possibly) that allows those of us who hate being constantly bombarded by advertising to still support the forum financially. I would vastly prefer to support the forum directly than to have my viewing plastered with ads...ads that also generate revenue for Google/Alphabet, whose policies I cannot endorse and don't like having to contribute to indirectly.

Cars caught my attention at a very early age, as did trains and airplanes and ships and earthmoving equipment...but cars were much more accessible than the rest of the machines I was enamored with.

I don't think he was implying she was, but there HAVE been instances of people buying "sealed" kits only to open them and find nothing but empty sprues. There have also been, from time to time, questions on this very forum as to how one goes about replicating the factory clear sealed wrapper. Hmmmmmmm...

Part of the reason for that is because it's epoxy, not polyester, and with its very forgiving 1:1 mix ratio, it's almost impossible to over-catalyze the stuff. EDIT: Though we're not addressing it here, many liquid epoxy products ARE highly susceptible to runaway exotherm if they're contained in a too-small volume after mixing, and can also smoke/bubble/burst into flame.

While catalyzed fillers can indeed generate excessive heat from runaway exotherm, it really shouldn't be a problem if the material isn't over-catalyzed. Too much "hardener" in polyester putties will make them "kick" faster, but will also make them much more susceptible to runaway exotherm. I've seen less-experienced real-car bodymen over-catalyze the stuff so much that it literally smokes, and can even burst into flame. By the same token, too little hardener or layers that are too thin can inhibit curing of catalyzed materials. With "bondo"-like products, including 2-part polyester glazing putties, there is most definitely a sweet-spot for mix-ratios that you only learn through experience, and mixing the small amounts of catalyzed polyester materials modelers tend to use is particularly challenging, even for seasoned real-car bodymen who are very familiar with the products. The generation of heat during curing, called "exothermic reaction", is part of the curing-cycle chemical reaction, and is necessary for the material to work correctly. BUT...too much heat from over-catalyzing, especially easy to do during hot weather, can be damaging.

Sneaking little shadow-banning weasels, data-throttling ISPs who claim they don't, "tech" platforms afraid of the truth, or in general anyone who wants and tries to assert POWER over the free exchange of information and ideas.

Hood ornaments that impale pedestrians have a certain appeal these days, as so many seem to think they own space and time and expect drivers to stop for them whenever/wherever they step off the curb.

Story of my life since about 2011.

Simple. Did you buy it to resell it, to collect it, or to build it?

Because you want one.

About the same as any other swap. Custom mounts, headers, and full exhaust system; use a gearbox that bolts to the engine or fab an adaptor/flywheel/flexplate/whatever; tunnel and shifter mods if a foreign (to the car) gearbox is used; custom driveshaft; standalone engine management black box; cooling system upgrade to handle the increased heat rejection requirements (custom aluminum radiator, possible core-support mods); fuel tank/pump/lines mods most likely; possible firewall and engine bay mods for clearance; adapt existing wiring and instruments; oil cooler(?); trans cooler(?); adapt HVAC or standalone aftermarket(?); steering linkage clearance(?); custom cold-air intake/filter can(?); etc. Just send a large box of hunnerd dollah bills, and I'll get right on it.

Popular car colors that top the list are still white, black, gray, and silver; can you say "boring" boys and girls?

"Today" was never guaranteed the day before anyway, and when I look back on some of the stuff I've done, I'm probably living on borrowed time anyway...so what the jello.

"Future" could terminate literally any minute, but I've decided to behave like I'm going to live forever, and just get on with it.

A few more scores yesterday on the way home from my hike... First up is a Campbell kit #401 Quincy Engine House, long out of production and hard to find. Complete and unmolested, which is kinda rare as they've often been cherry-picked for their best-in-HO corrugated siding, and bags of details. They're typically in the $100 range when they come up online, complete. The corrugated real aluminum siding is finer and more scale-correct for many applications than the typical metal siding found in vintage Suydam structure kits. This is a cardboard-and-sticks "craftsman kit" that gets skinned with the aforementioned corrugated aluminum, and includes a lot of finely cast and injection-molded detail parts. It's a great little building for a logging or mining shortline, especially when combined with supporting structures and code 70 or smaller hand-laid trackage. It includes an addition with a shed roof for an attached machine shop, and a board fence for enclosing a parts or materials or junk storage area. Next up is a vintage plastic AHM 5827 Sand House, a natural companion to the engine shed above. Though several of the castings have very obvious ejector pin marks on the visible sides, this is fairly easily corrected, of they can be used as templates to scratch-build parts from wood. These are fairly plentiful and not expensive, but they don't seem to move well, as apparently most current RR modelers prefer later era scenery and rolling stock. Average delivered price is around $25. EDIT: There was a good bit more really cool stuff, but something in the rest of the post triggered the dreaded PAGE NOT FOUND, refused to post, and I'll be dambed if I'll waste any more time here trying to figure out what it was. Have a nice day.

65 was a long time ago, but I'm planning to double that (which I'll have to do to get to everything I have planned and/or already started).

Contributions to a retirement fund can be tough to make if you're just barely getting by, but it would be smart to go without that daily $7 latte to start building something to get you through geezerhood.

Pretty baby.

I was taught, in standard 6th grade science (NOT SHOP CLASS) in the public school system in Ocean County, NJ, the general operation of IC engines (4 stroke, 2-stroke, and diesel), steam engines, ram and turbo jets, shaft turbines in turboprops, rockets, electric motors, electric generation both AC and DC, the basics of electrical distribution over the grid, and a host of other things about how-the-world-works that was considered "common knowledge" at the time. I would be surprised if there were more than a few college grads today, unless they're mechanical engineers, that have the same basic knowledge. The dumbing-down of this country, the failure of the education system to impart basic "common knowledge" and any kind of critical thinking to go with it, is the real culprit here. Problems in the car industry (and everywhere else incompetence is widespread) are only a symptom. Poor education is the disease...as is just not giving a damb because actual knowledge seems to have little value when the standard today is "just Google it".

Paste may taste like pudding instead of pudding tasting like paste, so how can you be sure either way?

Those cars would be nothing but stains on the dirt back here in the Swampeast.

Pretty cool. I've never seen a Lark hardtop with the side windows all down before.