Ace-Garageguy

Holy cow. What's the story on the Lola Mk6 GT on the left? Was that actually kitted? EDIT: Found one !

Jus' 'bout everything I got is mockups. Maybeez I'll post a few of the best ones...

Thing is, it would be so easy to modify some Chebby manifolds, as opposed to finding, measuring, drafting in CAD, converting to printable files, and then printing and shipping...why bother? Sometimes old-school simplicity just makes a lot more sense than newfangled complication.

That site shows the 279/317 with ram's horn manifolds, but also states those displacements were for truck use...with the exception being the 317 in the '52-'54 Lincoln. Photos of '52-'54 Lincoln engines invariably show the common up-and-over manifolds, with a crossover in front:

Got these a while back...a Spacemonkey two-pack of American-made blow-molded styrene (!) 1/24 scale WWII German V2 rockets. Excellent quality for what they are. Kit includes Cartograf decals for four variants, including a captured unit displayed at White Sands, and one representing the Operation Sandy version, the first ballistic missile launch from a ship at sea, the USS Midway, in October September (oops) of 1947. http://thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/03files/Space_Weapons_02_V2_Midway.html Big models, standing almost 2 feet tall; shown below with a 1/25 model for reference.

Steven Sloman, author of The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone (and who manages to apparently obliviously contradict his own research when speaking about his own beliefs...fascinating ) "One danger is that if I think I understand because the people around me think they understand, and the people around me all think they understand because the people around them all think they understand, then it turns out we can all have this strong sense of understanding even though no one really has any idea what they're talking about... But some people do try to rise above the crowd: to verify claims independently, to give fair hearing to others' claims, and to follow the data where it actually leads. In fact, many people are trained to do that: scientists, judges, forensic investigators, physicians, etc. That doesn't mean they always do (and they don't always), just that they're supposed to try. I like to live in communities that put a premium on getting things right even when...this means living with constant tension, but it's worth it."

Well, no. If you look at the built-up engine model, you'll see rocker arms. That identifies it positively as an overhead-valve (OHV) engine, definitely not an L-head.

Not me...yet. But I believe Replicas and Miniatures has the requisite '52 Lincoln taillights and Buick side spears.

Always good to see period race cars, especially the amateur back-yard variety so prevalent in the good ol' days. Looks great so far.

Yeah, I've had to pass on quite a number of those that were missing small parts like bodies... Another annoying one is "NO RETURNS!!! STUDY THE PHOTOS BECAUSE WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET!!!"...and the photos are of the sprues in the box, with no way in jell to see what's there. Between the weasels and the idiots, life gets more interesting daily.

Pretty impressive for battery power, but I'm more interested in the range...which determines any vehicle's overall practicality. And, um...the Rolls Royce IC-powered Supermarine S6b flew 407 MPH way back in 1931, so these guys have a little catching up to do.

Looks good. I've never seen two 166s that were exactly the same anyway, so without careful measurement of the particular car represented, which few modelers are going to have access to, it's pretty much a moot point. If the first impression looks close, that's about all you can reasonably expect.

Great looking trucklet, and inspiring...as I've always wanted a nice one of these too.

And...I won't pay the premium for "new" books anymore. I used to have a thing for clean, pristine printed material when I could find it, but it's a total waste of money now, considering the USPO appears tp be absolutely and totally incapable of delivering a book or magazine without tearing it or crushing a corner or three when they toss it around like a frisbee. Just found a $40 book on the porch with, yet again, two crushed corners. This makes every reference book I've bought in the last three months fubarred in one way or another in shipping...six in all. No point going in to complain either, as the tools that work there look at me like I'm speaking Swahili and can't even comprehend what the damage is, or why anyone would care. Maybe it's a good thing. Think of all the money I'll save if I buy previously-trashed-by-chimps books instead of new.

This one??

A couple more small engines with hold-down tabs cast integral with the crankcase: EDIT: And another one with a hold-down ring cast as part of the crankcase:

Here's a similar ring cast in unit with a crankcase in a way that makes practical sense.

I believe that what you have here is an example of what happens when the tooling designer doesn't understand the function or real-world construction of the parts he's modeling. A more correct and likely representation could be either 1) molding the "ring" to the engine crankcase casting proper (split at the crankcase seam, of course), and scribing a deep line between the "ring" and the base to represent the joint, or 2) adding short "cast on" tabs to the crankcase above the bolt locations, allowing the crankcase to be "bolted" to the base, where the ring, represented as cast into the base in that case, would only perform a positive locating function. EDIT: To save yourself some work, you could, of course, go with the idea that there's some unnecessarily elaborate attachment method we're not seeing UNDER the base that relies partially on the visible hold-down bolts, but in reality that would be a stupid design, and awkward to assemble. EDIT 2: Here's a one-lunger clearly showing hold-down tabs cast in unit with the crankcase. EDIT 3: Here's one with hold-down tabs cast in unit with a base that's bolted to the crankcase from the underside, with the crankcase-to-base bolts not visible from the top...which they wouldn't be unless there were visible cast-on tabs on the crankcase and matching holes on the base.

Hope he made it to that paradise he could see by the dashboard light...

Exactly. Anyone who presents himself as an "expert" really has a moral obligation to the truth to get it right. On the web, it's not hard to make an almost instant correction, but once something is committed to a printed page, it's there forever, and not many people will read a later correction anyway. Sadly, we live in a time when the SOP is to repeat as truth whatever has been previously repeated most often, but not necessarily what is in fact true.

Wonderful quality though, and if you want the one perfect set for a very special model, he just might be the place to find it. I have a few from him you can't get anywhere else. Both Casey's and Fireball's mentioned above are top quality too.

Very nice.

You have a good eye. I like your stuff.

Yup, as I learned over 5 decades of painting real ones.

Nice photos. All mine are on a machine I rarely put online anymore. Next time I do, I'll post some.