Ace-Garageguy

It is, after all, Christmas Eve...

Friends don't let friends drive if they're staggering.

Not the same, but reminds me of a time I had an air compressor that was constantly "burning" the points on the AC pressure relay. I kept cleaning them with the trusty old point file from the dim recesses of time, she'd run a couple of days, then burn 'em again. Prior to looking for some obscure electrical cause, the last time before I cleaned them, I examined the points carefully under bright light and magnification. There was a fried ant carcass making a nice insulator between the points themselves. I have no idea if ants are attracted to small magnetic fields (like the coil in the relay), but once I sealed the relay housing so they couldn't get in, the problem stopped. For all I know, they could have been playing some kind of ant "chicken", seeing who could get across the points before they snapped closed.

Beautiful. The middle one reminds me of several places I lived while growing up, but especially of Halifax when we'd visit while I was small. Thanks for triggering some good memories.

Looks like a darkish metallic gold to me.

Trouble Is My Business is a short story collection by Raymond Chandler.

Because, with enough effort, experimentation, practice, and maybe just pure luck, you can get a great finish from almost anything. So...how 'bout post a few "spectacular" examples. EDIT: If you insist on trying to make Rustoleum or other similar big-box or hardware-store rattlecan paints work well for models, you need to stay within one product line where everything is formulated to work together. Your problem is very typical of what happens when consumer-grade spray primers are topcoated with something they weren't ever intended to work under. EDIT 2: Either that, or learn to use automotive grade primers. They generally are safe to use under just about any topcoat, but they have their own issues to master...like crazing the garbage polystyrene kits today are often made of.

1980's cars, I seem to recall, were pretty uninspiring for the most part...though there were some great ones too.

Chrome is a Google product, and ever since they removed "Don't Be Evil" as their corporate motto, they've been rationalizing how being just like the competitors they were poking in the eye with that slogan...or worse...is really good for users and business and consumers, and how we should all say several "hail-Googles" daily because they're such a benefit to mankind. Okayyyyyy.......

Rustoleum issues seem to be boundless. Saving a few bucks on material doesn't really make sense when it ruins almost any model you paint, now does it? Rustoleum products really are primarily aimed at the DIY market who are satisfied with dirt and runs and bubbles on their mailboxes and old outdoor furniture...not modelers who are trying to turn out high-quality work. Many of us used quality automotive-grade lacquer primers in the past with excellent results, but for a variety of reasons, that is not always an option today. Use a primer specifically designed for plastic models, and be sure it's fully compatible with your topcoats.

"Wagon-lit" is a commonly used expression meaning "railroad sleeping car" in much of Europe.

Excellent...but you left out the third option: whining incessantly about how unimaginably stressful it is to pick up the dry cleaning, take the car in for an oil change, go to the grocery store, and pick up the kids at school to get them to soccer practice...OMG OMG OMG...ALL ON THE SAME DAY!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!

What about all the millions of people who don't celebrate any winter solstice holiday? Just for the record, I'd like to wish them all peace, good will, and happiness this season too.

Indeed. Sad story...one of the shops I work with routinely dumps "obsolete" components they take out of cars getting later-model swaps in the scrap-metal bin. Always seemed odd to me that the management of a shop that specializes in old vehicles wouldn't pursue the market for surviving vintage parts, but they don't. Once I realized that, I started scrap-dumpster diving regularly, and have rescued things like a pair of good early GTO heads, a 5-speed gearbox from a TR-8 that only needed an input shaft bearing, a 4-bolt main 350 Chebby block that only needs a .010" bore to clean it up, the Ford 8-inch diff that's going in the first iteration of my '32 roadster, alternators needing nothing but a diode, etc. etc. The first time I realized the scrap-dumpster might be a goldmine was when I spotted a completely dressed smallblock Chebby engine in it. Even the carb was still on it. I checked the block and head casting numbers, then rolled it over far enough to get the pan off. Low and behold...a complete genuine 283 "power pack" engine with a forged crank!! To say I was astounded would be an understatement, and I went to the shop manager to ask him if he knew what it was, and since it was in the dumpster already, could I have it. He said "take it". But when I came back Saturday to get it, it was gone. EDIT: Since then I've adopted a "don't ask, don't tell" strategy. If it's in the scrapper, it's fair game.

Not to mention the meat-free, cheese-free, salt-free species. Hmmmmmm...I wonder if there's a recipe for kale, soy, and ground-insect tacos...

And people wonder why I'm so often in a foul mood. "Ewww. He's so angry." Most of my existence has involved dealing with and compensating for idiocy of this magnitude.

Nice DIY booth. Just a reminder...most dust or FOD in a paint job done in a booth comes from the painter's clothes or stuff that's dislodged from the booth itself. Blowing out the booth with the exhaust fan(s) running, and blowing your clothes off prior to painting...on real cars as well as models...is important. Keeping the area in the vicinity clean helps too, as dust dislodged by movement near the booth is easily sucked in to it by the fans, and it, of course, can land on the model.

Looks really good. Trust me: if you have the skill to get it that far, you can certainly get it the rest of the way.

Says a lot about today's world that ol' Santa now apparently has to have air cover. Hmmmm...looks like that wing icing is about to become terminal, too. Quite the piloting if he can put the little Cub down on the backs of his reindeer. Might wanna kill the engine before "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer" takes on a whole new meaning though. Ho ho ho.

Honestly, I seem to rarely have any computer problems, but lately when I do, they seem to be floogle-related.

Delete dumb guy post.

Good point, but my guess is the thing would race sans-air filter... Look closely and it appears there's a circular hole in the hood skin as well, directly into the scoop.

I'd love to see just exactly how that statute is written in your state legal code.