Ace-Garageguy

This is, I believe, the first boxing. Stock steel wheels and "wires". Good luck finding one.

I've never understood the slavish worship of a particular make. The "purists" sometimes seem to forget that, for example, the original Porsches were just hot-rod Volkswagens. Lamborghinis were built by a tractor manufacturer who wanted to do Enzo Ferrari one better. No matter how spectacular and "purebred" the vehicle, in the beginning, they were all made by guys who put their pants on one-leg-at-a-time. On the other hand, cutting up a pristine or historically important example of a rare machine to make a personal "creative" statement makes no sense to me either. If I found a virgin '32 Ford roadster or 3-window coupe, no way would I rod it; there just aren't enough left...and you can buy all new steel anyway. On the other hand, heavily modifying my own '74 911 seems perfectly reasonable; my car isn't that nice, it's one of the least desirable of the series anyway, and there are tons of other 911s far more worthy of obsessive restoration.

Carol for Another Christmas (1964) - Rod Serling's retelling of A Christmas Carol

Different guys, similar idea...

Yeah, now THAT is a hot-rod Porsche (rear track's a little wide in these renderings, but it's more reasonable on the real in-progress car):

My new shop's not that big, and my youthful dream of owning a big enough foundry to cast a locomotive frame just never worked out.

At least they have lotsa blueprints. But of course, things like the ability to cast a huge steel frame no longer exist in the US.

Fascinating real-life connection to the PRR, sir. That road, the NYC and the B&O were all my favorites as a kid growing up in the Midwest and the Northeast. And yes, the S1 is incredible. I'd like to model it someday...but who knows. I have a very old virgin Penn Line HO T1 kit; kinda primitive by today's standards, but should respond well to some intense upgrading and detailing.

COOL project. I'll be stealing this idea, for sure. Remember...the most sincere form of flattery is imitation.

So cool. I'd love to have a real one...

Yeah, and I always seem to arouse the ire of a certain cadre when I complain about that. They call 'em "toys", and insist I should just lower my expectations. OK...so why even bother putting the "scale" on the box? Babies playing with toys don't care about scale. Da da goo goo poo poo. But "scale" actually MEANS "scale" (I know...what a concept). If it's not reasonably close, it ain't "scale" anything.

Experts? Really? Can you get a degree in that? Probably.

Well, little car came in. I'm always amazed that adults can measure the same thing, divide by 24, and get wildly different results. Is it REALLY that hard? The lines and proportions aren't horrible, though they're very noticeably wrong in many areas. More disturbing is that the JL version is a good half inch wider and longer than the Franklin Mint version. Another rough approximation of "scale"? Seriously, if you can't do the work, why bother? Get a job at Wendy's. There IS enough meat in the casting to shave some of the bloat from the sides of the thing, to get a better initial impression. But considering the TIME it will take to get it to where I can live with it, I just shoulda bought another Danbury. HOWEVER...on close comparison of the Danbury model and online photos of real ones, it looks like Danbury might have taken a little "artistic" license too.

I got this little guy for WAY less than the going rate. Being willing to take some damaged models has saved me a bucket of money. Most of the time. I have a sad little '55 Pontiac that looked easily salvageable in photos, but has the dreaded zymak rot. It'll be dust in another couple of years.

You guys are killing me. After seeing the Chrysler Airflow above, I rooted around and found a slightly damaged 1/24 two-door by Franklin Mint (my model but not my photo). Bent door hinge (not mentioned by the seller, but an easy fix) and a few other minor issues...but after fixing the door and a clean-and-polish, it makes a happy addition to my FEW diecasts of otherwise unavailable subjects. I'm kinda surprised it's so nice. I have some Franklin models that aren't even close to Danbury standards, but this one doesn't miss by much.

I fell in love with the Pennsy T1 the first time I saw one, and still think it's one of the most beautiful machines yet made by humans. The streamlining was designed by Raymond Loewy, same guy who did the '53 Studebaker and the Avanti, so there's a definite car tie-in here. Sadly, none of the original 50+ remain, having all been cut up for scrap. But there's a group of enthusiasts who have set out to build a NEW one, from the ground up.

I'll be enjoying seeing your spin on this. I bought one after seeing Bernard's build; didn't know about it previously. It's got some of the hunkered-down purposeful look of the GT40, probably why I like it.

Real fine.

I've loved this for decades...but don't even bother running it through tinny toy computer speakers.

A lot of things here look pretty upside down from our perspective, too. Nice machine work, by the way. The Unimat 3 is a nice little machine. I have an original Unimat from around the mid 1960s. It converts to a mill, making it very versatile.

I SUGGEST THAT ANYTHING REMOTELY DANGEROUS BE OUTLAWED IMMEDIATELY, FOREVER. THE PERCEIVED SAFETY OF THE MANY, EVEN IF THE PERCEPTION IS COMPLETELY ERRONEOUS, IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY PERSONAL LIBERTY. AND LOGICALLY, BECAUSE LIFE INEVITABLY ENDS IN DEATH, IT SHOULD BE OUTLAWED TOO.

Part of the FAA definition of an "ultralight" is a 250 pound maximum empty weight. The Jetson website states an empty weight of 190 pounds, so from that perspective the answer is...maybe. Top speed of an ultralight is limited to 55 knots. The Jetson will do just below 55 (software limited). HOWEVER...an ultralight can NOT be operated over towns and cities, generally, and operation in controlled airspace requires specific prior permission.

Pretty easy to just make a couple.

Yeah, looking back I think I meant GP (for Grand Prix), and 2008 as the model year. Numbers and letters are hard, and when you're old and senile, they're even harder. EDIT: I misquoted the HP numbers on the LS4 in the GP too. It's only 303 with a 4-speed slushbox. And after checking my notes, I see the hot-rod Fiero I alluded to was not a complete drivetrain swap either, but another LS (not LS4) bolted to a manual FWD F40 six-speed gearbox via a machined adaptor, all sitting on a modified Fiero subframe (NOTE: The LS4 will basically bolt to the F40 gearbox, with a starter location mod. The other LS engines require an adapter). The lesson here: I really shouldn't post unless I actually KNOW what I'm talking about...or look it up. However, the idea of a sidewinder LS in the back seat of a 911 is still entirely feasible.

Great shots, Ray. Exactly what I had in mind. Thanks.