Ace-Garageguy

When Revell released the first issue of Mickey Thompson's Challenger back in the early 1960s, one of the real-car mags did a story on the project, showing the 3D pantograph, and photos of the newly-cut dies. At the time, the R&D and tooling was the most expensive ever done for a model kit...somewhere in the neighborhood of $30k if I remember correctly. Here's part of the story of Revell's '57 Cadillac Eldo Brougham kit from way back when... http://hotrodbunny.com/the-history-of-the-revell-57-cadillac-eldorado-brougham-model-kit/

Seriously....now that I think about it, it seems that aircraft and particularly armor kit producers offer some really oddball, unusual and absolutely fascinating subjects. The model car producers, however, seem to prefer mostly the same old subjects that they seem to think will have mass appeal, and are therefore safer economic risks. It must cost a LOT more to research and tool to produce a HIGHLY ACCURATE and HIGHLY COMPLEX kit of something that only 1 or 2 of still exist in reality, in little ol' 1/35 scale (that requires very fine detail engraving and lotsa tiny parts to look right) than it takes to do another ho hum US car that can be found just about anywhere with a little effort. What's the deal? Why the extreme difference in the perception of the market for car-model builders and other subjects?

These would surely be big sellers too...

Why compete? MCG already has everything in place to make the stuff. Adding a product line shouldn't be too hard, considering my suggestion included MY willingness to put up bucks to make it happen.

And a 3D copying mill...which will scale UP or DOWN as high as a 1:7 ratio.

Here's a pantograph scaling mill working in two dimensions...

WHOA...Check this out...

Please tell us more about the connecting rods, please... Far as "rubber" tires go, I've made more than a few product-development mockups, and presentation models over the years. Some of the flexible casting resins seem to be ideal for making model-car tires. And something people doing resin casting tend to overlook or forget...the finished part will duplicate the surface finish of the mold exactly, and the mold will duplicate the surface of the plug or master exactly...right down to a flat or glossy finish. 400 or even 1000 grit sanding scratches are reproduced faithfully. I've tried and tried to explain to some of these guys that talcum powder and polyvinyl alcohol used as release agents will FUBAR the surface finish of their parts, and that there are multiple modern release agents that won't (most of my real-car and aircraft parts have had had to have a production-quality finish right out of the molds)...but a lot of them just don't want to learn, and persist using 50-year old processes. You'll get a LOT of resin parts with grainy surfaces, and they're very obviously molded from surfaces prepared with powder or PVA release agents. I bring this up mostly in relation to another thread asking "why model tires aren't made of rubber?" and the assertion that resin parts always look like resin parts...which is bull. Some of the cold-cast overmolded handles I've done for full-scale product models looked and felt identical to the final products, where high temperature injection molding would be the process. Sorry for the digression. How big is your spincasting rig? BEFORE COMPUTERS: Models were carved by master modelmakers in hardwood, in scales from 1/10 to 1/4, and reduced by pantograph to the production scale. Very VERY highly skilled operators required, obviously, because a man's hands operating the pantograph and the cutting tool did the work now assigned to a 5-axis CNC setup. I built this 1/10 scale model some years back... And enlarged it manually to full scale to build prototype parts...

A member of the ACME club here, Pico Elgin, has been working with 3D-printing tech since early days, and has done some of the digital masters of parts available from Shapeways. He's been printing rims and hubs with .010" holes already in them, and inserts steel music-wire spokes to complete the assembly. They are by far the best looking scale wires I've seen to date, as they also have nipples on the inner surface of the rims, and of course, the rims don't get glued together leaving a space for the wire spokes.

I'm running propane water heaters in this house, having switched over from piped-in natural gas and a big central heater, but this approach isn't for everyone...and you need to be very careful about the integrity of your hookups. I used electric on-demand heaters in the last house, and had a similar decrease in energy costs. As-built, that house was an energy disaster. The hot-water lines ran in the basement slab, so before you got hot water at the tap, you had to heat up the cold slab around the pipes. Idiocy. It's a big help $-wise if you can do your own plumbing mods too, because tying into tub and shower lines can be expensive if you have to pay someone to open up the walls to do it. Here's what the Dept. of Energy has to say... https://energy.gov/energysaver/tankless-or-demand-type-water-heaters

Mighty tasty.

That, sir, is very useful. Thanks.

From my own experience, I feel that individual tankless on-demand water heaters installed at each point of use are the most efficient. With a central tankless heater you still have to let the water run a little while to purge the cool water out of the hot-water lines before you get hot water at the tap. I have on-demand water heaters at the kitchen sink and the bathroom now, and my summer water-heating energy cost is about 1/3 of what it was previously. My water bill is slightly lower as well.

So, I assume you leave your house unlocked and the keys in the ignition whenever you park your car. Good luck with that.

Great videos. Very informative. But I think it's important to make the distinction for the probable majority here who aren't as familiar with manufacturing processes as we are, that the first two videos deal with tooling for RESIN models, and the second two videos are about tooling for INJECTION MOLDED STYRENE models. The materials the tools are made from, and the production processes, are entirely different for the two materials. Though both processes now rely heavily on computer modeling and CAD during the design phase, that's where the similarity largely ends.

Always fascinating watching your work, and the prototype info you give is very interesting. Nice to know the real truck got rebuilt rather than scrapped and replaced too.

FULL FACE RESPIRATOR MASK SIZING https://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/resources/respirators-choosing-the-size.html

And here's a tutorial on converting plastic rims...

But it's NOT rocket science. There are multiple tutorials on the web explaining in depth exactly how to do it.

Based on looking at MCG's catalog prices, I'd guess a fret of 4 dragster wire centers (enough for one car) could be done for about $16. As they also make machined aluminum pulleys (an engine set also goes for about $16), they probably have the capability to do machined rims as well. I'd guess a set of very VERY nice wires could be brought in at $40, or you could just buy the centers for $16 and convert plastic rims.

One of the Autodesk "help" pages has this to say: "The Intersection Curve tool creates 3D sketch curves from intersecting geometry. You can use it to create shapes used in consumer products, piping, and to control the shape of complex lofts." https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/inventor-products/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2016/ENU/Inventor-Help/files/GUID-37BA1DCE-6BC4-41CD-A36D-577F31B304FC-htm.html

Unless I missed something vital, the discussion over there appears to be the identical info posted here, with some of the info probably sourced here...like the 1/32 scale aircraft wheels in sizes we could use being out of stock. EDIT: ...and we're in effect saying that out of 7.6 BILLION people on the planet, ONLY ONE had the capability and interest to make the PE parts for R&M? EDIT 2: Model Car Garage makes beautiful PE stuff. Anybody know the guy over there? I'll PAY to have the artwork done to make PE dragster wire-wheel centers to use with the old Revell dragster wire rims. EDIT 3: And I'll buy the first 20 sets. Paid in advance.

Get help, Joe. Really.

More about your engine, please... And here are a couple of other "traditional" builders on this board...Spex is a highly talented artist, and his work here shows it. Tim Boyd has been a fixture in the car-modeling community for many years, and is widely published. Bernard builds very evocative "period" pieces, but sadly, the images on a lot of his build threads disappeared due to the great PhotoBucket debacle.

FIRST: You probably shouldn't assume anything about whether or not I've dodged any age-related health issues. I have several, but I don't choose to make my medical history public on the internet. SECOND: My experience with said issues has given me first-hand and convincing experience of the benefits of vigorous exercise, whether it hurts to do it or not. I've already mentioned that I UNDERSTAND some people get seriously injured, and some people get life-changing and life-threatening illnesses. I mentioned Harry's cancer. You're right...no amount of exercise will cure cancer or put people back together. But with 60% of people in this country now being significantly overweight, and all the medical literature to back up the assertion that overweight and inactivity ADDS TO AGING-RELATED ILLNESS, I'm only reminding people WHO STILL HAVE CHOICES that many of the health problems they have might be, at least in part, THEIR OWN FAULT. Medical research has demonstrated a pretty convincing link between overweight, inactivity and colon cancer and diabetes. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/obesity/physical-activity-fact-sheet https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110823165448.htm