Ace-Garageguy

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.

INBOARD END: OUTBOARD END:

PART #4235 BELOW

Dremel with a cutoff wheel. Cut it a few thousandths large, hand file to final shape.

Nice job. My favorite car and team from the golden age of gassers.

Nah. I think the hot setup if you're going to do a V8 911, and exactly what I'm contemplating for mine, is to swap the entire sidewinder drivetrain out of a 2009 G8 Pontiac GXP with the 6-speed...in the middle. 415 happy horses right out of the box, and the sidewinder swap would put the center of mass in a better place than the tail-waggy stock 911 has it. Ought to drive the purists nuts too, getting smoked by a hot-rod 911 "built from junk". Only problem is that there's not a lot of 'em, so finding a wrecked donor might be a pretty good trick. EDIT: I've driven a Fiero with the GXP/6speed swap (though I did not build it), and it makes the car what it should have been instead of letting it die. And if it'll fit in a Fiero, it'll fit in a 911 with a little more fabrication work.

Thanks Tim. That should be a fascinating read. I'll be tracking that issue down.

I have another of the FPP 166s, and it is very nicely proportioned. You're right about the Revell Barchetta too...it is indeed 1/32, and not so well-proportioned. But that could be due to the source-car too. As has already been noted, no two of them are the same, and a few of the real ones are downright odd looking. Ideal did a Barchetta in 1/16 or 1/18 or 1/20 a long time back too. I have a couple I'd intended to massage into a good one and take measurements from in order to scratch one in 1/24 (same reason I bought the old Revell version), but after seeing the FPP version, there's obviously no need. I THINK this is the Ideal 166:

My experiences with the USPS have been all over the board. Like you guys, I've seen packages travel all over the country to get to Georgia from cities on the east coast or Midwest. Most of the time my local guy is great, making sure packages are under cover on the porch, along with the paper mail rubber-banded to it. BUT...in the past somebody has left packages at the end of the drive, in an inch-deep puddle in the driving rain, or on top pf a car, or just thrown over the fence. When I came back from an out-of-town trip in early November, the mail I'd had held was in one of those white corrugated-plastic PO open-top containers, in the middle of the front yard, FULL of water. Right now I'm on the way to the PO to try to track a package I NEED for a project, marked as "delivered" on the website, but nowhere to be found on my property. That said, MOST of the time they do a pretty good job overall.