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Everything posted by Ace-Garageguy
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Hmmmmm. When I found it difficult to get in and out of my friend's old Miata a few years back, rather than blaming the car for being "too small", I blamed myself for becoming fat and out of shape...which I've been on the very successful road to correcting. Now, ingress and egress is only mildly discomfiting, and driving the little car is a blast. I do have to wonder though...something as huge comparatively as, say, a recent Dodge Challenger...HOW can it be so cramped inside compared to a vintage Dodge Challenger? Even kit-car and hot-rod builders have been making an effort to accommodate the almost universal embiggening (which is a perfectly cromulent word) of people in the "civilized" world, and I remember eons ago when interior room was a significant selling point car manufacturers loudly touted. Maybe designing everything on a spiffy little screen in CAD isn't completely a substitute for GETTING A BIG GUY TO ACTUALLY SIT IN A MOCKUP OF AN INTERIOR...ya think?
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Technology in this sense means a substitute for physical involvement with reality. A spear is a TOOL that enhances a man's ability. So is a wrench, or a hammer, or an airplane. But today's "technology" is all about removing a man's ability from the equation, and encouraging little human-shaped jellies to muddle through life with the absolute minimum effort. If you were in a position where you had to hire hard-tech personnel (mechanic, machinist, welder, fabricator...floor sweeper...), you'd soon find out that if something can't be done with an app, there's almost nobody willing to even try to do it. The companies that'll be bringing autonomous vehicles to a future near you damm well better develop robots to fix 'em too, 'cause if things continue the way they're going now, there aren't going to be any humans who CAN. EDIT: Many younger folks don't see the need for learning history, general science, etc., because they believe anything they need to know is available from Google instantly. Unfortunately, this mindset usually makes them so devoid of general knowledge that they don't realize the first answer Google vomits up is very often WRONG, but has been mindlessly rebleated so many times by the like-minded willfully-ignorant it's been accepted as fact.
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What non-auto model did you get today?
Ace-Garageguy replied to chunkypeanutbutter's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
I agree completely...though there are a few contemporary designs I rather like. Not all that many, though. EDIT: Here's one... -
What non-auto model did you get today?
Ace-Garageguy replied to chunkypeanutbutter's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
Old Bachman / Rivarossi. Really cheap because someone somehow managed to break the drawbar. I got another one (different number) that had the side-rods and valve-gear bodged. There's no shortage of bargains to be had if one can un-chimp prior damage. -
What non-auto model did you get today?
Ace-Garageguy replied to chunkypeanutbutter's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
Got another vintage HO scale Norfolk and Western class J, 4-8-4 streamlined locomotive. The class J was the last passenger steam locomotive built in the USA, until 1950, and finally retired (and all but one, no. 611, scrapped) in 1959. Also among the fastest steam engines ever built, they were capable of over 100 MPH. I saw them still running in regular revenue service when I was a little kid, and rode behind the restored 611 back in the mid-1980s when she was pulling steam excursions. -
Far as the "like" debate goes, all I can say is "who cares?" There's an element in today's society that lives for the number of "likes" they get on the interdwerbs. They're everywhere. Millions upon millions. There're also a lot of people who take the time to actually write responses online; sometimes, though admittedly rarely, even reasoned and coherent responses. Look at the typical YouTube video. You'll see "likes" and "dislikes" outnumber written responses by an order of magnitude, at least. But the folks who care enough to write something, or who just have to say something (no matter how idiotic), do it in spite of the one-click options. I don't think having a "like" button would deter anyone who has an intelligent comment, and it'd supply easy dopamine hits for the approval junkies. Is that a win-win? Meh.
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The functionality of several online sellers' websites continues to deteriorate almost daily...to the point now of being laughable in spite of the annoyance. You can tell the HR departments aren't hiring on ability, and the more they "fix" things and make them "better", the worse they get. You can also tell management isn't doing much oversight. These are big companies, too. On the other hand, a few of my favored small suppliers have sites that are a pleasure to use, easily navigated, obviously intuitive, and flawless in operation. Kinda makes one wonder.
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Aoshima 1/24th scale Pagani Zonda C12
Ace-Garageguy replied to Justin Porter's topic in Car Kit News & Reviews
Yummmmm... -
62 Valiant old track car
Ace-Garageguy replied to BIGTRUCK's topic in WIP: Other Racing: Road Racing, Land Speed Racers
Agreed. -
Don't touch the hot iron.
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Very nice. Another one of the best looking US cars of all time.
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Digression #23355.5: Yes, the old AMT '32s are all pretty bad, but they CAN be modified into reasonably accurate models with a little applied effort. There's something wrong to my eye about the Revell 1/25 '32 Ford roadster body too. I haven't taken the time to figger out what, exactly, yet...but it just doesn't look quite right somehow. The Monogram 1/24 shell, on the other hand, looks good as-is. EDIT: But it's not like the oopsies we see on older kits are limited to 60+ year-old tooling. There are glaring and subtle inaccuracies concerning form and line on MANY Tamiya kits as well, but because they go together fairly easily, lotsa builders don't seem to notice or care. Recently-tooled Revell offerings have plenty of faults too...but the kits developed from scans are getting pretty impressive.
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Ahhh...now that, sir, is a good looking effect. Much thanks. Hmmmm.................
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Maybe there's a phone app for "AMT '57 Chevy build". That'd put the whole "skill" and "effort" thing in contemporary terms.