Ace-Garageguy

Ebay is actually FIGHTING the proposed federal government taxes on online transactions. And while it's true the fees have escalated over the years, it still works very well, and you're protected nicely, as a buyer anyway. Could the fees be less and ebay still make plenty of money? Yes, but it's the typical "how high can we go and people will still pay" scenario that is inherent in the free-market.

In the case of the Red Baron at least, the full-scale car was built after and based on the model. While the model incorporated a significantly underscale representation of an early Mercedes aircraft engine, the real car used a Pontiac OHC 6-cylinder to get the approximate look of the kit version. There's also a V8 version somewhere, and a semi-rat semi-copy with a straight-8.

Cool little rod-truck. Your decals really work with the look and color. Nice save, and even more interesting because it's something you'd like to build in 1:1.

Great story, Tom. Mr. Daniel certainly had a fertile imagination. Fun stuff.

Real pretty. The pancaked hood is a nice touch too. The high rear 3/4 shot really shows that nice flow you've got going.

Man, that chassis and rear-end are some serious craftsmanship. Beautiful work. I'll certainly be watching the threads for anything with your name.

This is interesting. Apparently YOU think craftsmanship has something to do with "competing" to see whose work is best. Nope. It's highly PERSONAL, something you do for YOURSELF, and it's a much more CHALLENGING method of self-expression than snotting out a string of half-assed "work" and trying to pass it off as something special. A man becomes a craftsman because it matters to himself, the man inside...not a bunch of ignorant bystanders he's trying to impress with how outrageous his poorly conceived and implemented "death machine" is. It takes effort, dedication, hard work and practice to become a good craftsman, and it's a very personal journey to get there. This "making a statement" and taking it to ridiculous extremes where even basic structural elements like welds are unsound, is more accurately a celebration of incompetence, laziness and mechanical and technical ignorance, dressed up and masquerading as self-expression. It's as valid artistically as picking up a guitar and banging on it like a chimp, without ever bothering to learn any chords or fingering, and calling it music. Calling a turd a rose doesn't make it smell any better. Anybody can make a turd, and it doesn't take any talent, skill or effort. But wait...maybe that's the appeal...it's easy.

Machines, as I've stated before, have within the definition of "machine" the implication that they function. Function has within its definition the implication of FITNESS to function. To build ANY "machine" that isn't fit to function is simply missing the entire point of what a machine is. A pile of plodged together ###### isn't a machine. It's a pile of ######. There's NO rationalization for ###### welding, on ANYTHING. Again, it's not a "statement". It's stupidity posing as art. If YOU think that's cool and worthwhile, that's fine. You're entitled to your opinion. But, a weld is a clearly defined thing, and it's not subject to idiot interpretation or subjective comparisons. "Weld" has a clearly defined and accepted meaning, and strings of monkey-snot don't cut it in the real world. When we blatantly disregard critical meanings, and function, in the misguided pretense that somehow self-expression transcends what's right, there's not much left.

Oh please. That's what separates good work from ######, and it's why SOME people wipe their backsides after they go, and some don't think it's necessary. Each to his own. But I tell you what...NOBODY who knows how to weld would turn out anything like that by CHOICE. It's embarrassing, and unsafe. And it's not a matter of what someone "thinks about their welding". Either you KNOW HOW to weld, or you don't. The object of welding is to fuse two pieces of metal together, not to make some ridiculous style statement. There's no subjectivity to it. I don't know anyone else's background, but Ive been building REAL cars all my life, around REAL builders who do REAL work, and those garbage welds would get the "welder" laughed at and ridiculed ANYWHERE anyone knew anything about welding. And a vehicle with welds like that would NEVER EVER pass any kind of tech inspection for ANY kind of competition, or any kind of post-repair inspection by an insurance company. I don't get why people who turn this sort of stuff out apparently DON'T want to develop some kind of skill at what they do. Why is trash work acceptable? Welds like that aren't done for "Style"...they're done because the builder doesn't know any better. And would you believe a modeler who presented a model with grainy orange-peel on one side, runs and sags on the other side, gluey fingerprints all over the windows, and plug-wires hooked up the the radiator...who said it was his "style' and he wanted it to look that way? Probably not. POOR CRAFTSMANSHIP ISN'T ART...or "STYLE"...IT'S JUST POOR CRAFTSMANSHIP.

Gorgeous.

Well then....

Yup.

The Shadow knows...

We'll see. " Notification Preferences indicate that you want to receive ......general..... email promotions" . The "general" opt-out may not stop the specifically-targeted-by-buying-history emails. We'll see. And there are SOME ebay communications I want, so filtering out anything with an ebay origination won't solve that particular issue.

Excellent point, and one I need to look in to rather than complaining.

Well, just because i bought a gluebomb mess or "parts kit" for a specific build doesn't mean I want to be notified of EVERY piece of modeling trash that comes up, and just because I bought some '50s jazz CDs done by artists I actually LIKE doesn't mean I want to be notified of everything else in the genre. Constantly bombarding me with junk email is the same thing as annoying telemarketing...I don't have to answer the phone either, but I'm sick of the whole hysterical BUY BUY BUY mentality. I don't recall telling ebay they were free to clutter my inbox with useless stuff.

I have to say that when I first heard the "evilbay" moniker I thought it was idiotic. What folks have said about it bringing together buyers and sellers in a way never before possible is entirely true, and ebay and PayPal have delivered 100% positive transaction results to me. The very few problem transactions I've encountered have been ENTIRELY resolved to my satisfaction. However, ebay's most recent activity-tracking and constantly trying to get me to BUY BUY BUY and SELL SELL SELL MORE STUFF now, and constantly sending me emails for stuff picked by some idiot algorithm, that have practically NO RELEVANCE to what I ACTUALLY WANT, is getting a little out of hand.

The ratty look isn't what puts me off...it's the fact that so many of these rolling piles of trash are built with NO skill or appreciation for how stuff is actually done. Pathetic bubble-gum welds like this all over a car say "ignorance, lack of pride in accomplishment, and just plain laziness". You can build a "rat" and at least have it stuck together with acceptable welds...

X2

Compare it to this listing for another Riv kit from the same seller....it's missing a LOT http://www.ebay.com/itm/390695682593?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648

Yes, that and punctuation. Very stimulating stuff for an impressionable young woman...really...honest.

MakerBot 3D desktop scanner article, November 19, 2013 http://www.makerbot.com/blog/category/scanner/3d-scanning/ This is available now, but it's pretty much useless for picking up detail from objects smaller than 2"X2", and won't register surface details smaller than 500 microns (1/2mm...which is 1/2 inch, roughly, in 1/24-1/25 scale). We're still a long way from point-scan-print with an affordable, hand-held device. Still, a "long way" is a very relative term at the pace technology is improving. We COULD be there this year or next...or within 5.

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=79627

You're absolutely correct, Ken. That's where the necessity for a whole LOT more computing power comes in (much more than is currently in an iPhone size device) to track and calculate and constantly, instantaneously compensate for all of the jiggle. There is already digital image-stabilizing software available for some applications, but to package that power in an affordable iPhone sized device for consumers, and to achieve accuracy for 3D scanning of small model parts, where EXTREME accuracy is absolutely necessary to get worthwhile numerical output data (not just a picture), while jiggling...well, let's just say it's in the future.