Ace-Garageguy

Agreed.

Hacked up gluebomb bits on a Viper chassis...

Levels of proficiency or acquired skill are more dependent on innate ability or talent than on practice; some folks will just never be good enough to play Carnegie Hall, no matter how long and hard they pound the piano.

I don't have specifically what you need, but I've been doing lotsa different Google image searches for ca '65 Pontiac block details, 3X2bbl hose routing, linkage, stuff like that, and there's tons of pix of all of it...but you often need to try several different search terms to get the best results.. I wouldn't bother with most of the other search engines though. Sorry as I am to say it, DuckDuck in particular is pretty useless for any hard technical images.

Yup. Dispose of the old batteries, obviously, then use a solution of baking soda and water, with a small "acid brush" (hardware store) to clean and neutralize the leakage goo. Lightly polish the contacts with a pointed emery board if necessary (always a good idea), then spray it all down with something like LPS or CRC contact cleaner. I like to use a little "bulb grease" (car parts store) on the contacts prior to putting in fresh batteries. I've fixed countless things in similar or worse condition, from flashlights to key fobs and cameras. Assuming the corrosion hasn't wicked into anything internal, that ought to do it. EDIT: In a pinch, brake cleaner spray is a decent residue-free contact cleaner, but it will often attack paint and plastic, so think about what you're doing first.

I can't honestly say. After having some really unpleasant experiences using customer-supplied (interwebs or cheap-line parts-store aftermarket stuff), I only buy OEM if I can get it, or top-line parts store bits. Even then, most everything is "offshore" sourced today, and QC isn't always what it should be. Buying anything today is a crapshoot, so I always buy what I think is the best quality I can find, from "name" manufacturers or old-stock OEM. My time is simply too valuable to waste it making parts fit that don't, or replacing garbage that doesn't work. And if I DO end up with a bad part, if I bought it locally, I can get a replacement or reimbursement TODAY, not some time in the future, if ever, from an interdwerb seller. Bottom line: these days you rarely get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get. Quality costs.

Yup, that's it in a nutshell. In not that long, all the ultra-cool-modren-hot-hip-happening-be-there-or-be-square crapp will just be more obsolete "quaint" relics, and all the folks who think they're so leading-edge-with-it today will just be another generation of old men shouting at clouds.

Lot of 'em seem to have problems using round things...globes, balls, phone dials, clocks, anything with wheels that isn't self-propelled...

Good thing you don't have to watch it then, huh? Thing is...they do really good work and pass on useful knowledge, which is my primary judgement criteria.

"Transmission interrupted; please stand by for a message from Matrix Central"

No. We're all in the matrix as ones and zeros. Lots and lots of zeros.

Nope. When the Jag C-X75 turbine-electric came out, I fell in love with it. Performance was blistering, turbines can run on just about anything that will burn, and I'd been interested in micro-turbines for decades. I was also interested in the dieselpunk aesthetic, thought it would be fun to blend the ideas, and I started two turbine-electric concept builds for a dark sci-fi diorama. As is typical with much of my model work, I got ahead of my skills (at the time) which caused the projects to stall, but everything's still on the in-progress shelves and I've learned what I needed to move forward. This is the thread on the one you are referring to (that Studebaker is not mine): And this is the first one:

Prose be da wunze gets paid fo what dey do, and armatures duz it fo free.

Facts are routinely twisted, suppressed, or faked to suit the narrative.

Holy k-rapp. The real one was yours? Damm man. Nice.

Beyond "well done". WAY beyond. When you really have to look carefully to determine a model IS actually a model, that says more than anything.

Two real beauties.