Ace-Garageguy

Nice. Great reference. Thanks.

Who let you back in? You've been banned under several screen names for chronic disruptive behavior.

Back in about 2012, I was experimenting with speech-recognition and "digital assistant" low-power AI software. Nothing was particularly impressive at the time. The options for speech-to-text are surely better now, but I can't recommend one.

Beautiful clean work. I don't recall those old annuals coming with clear headlights. Did you drill out the molded in / plated originals and fit replacements?

The internet being what it is, I never post my age. Anywhere. Let's just say I arrived here shortly not too long after the end of WW II.

I'm intimately familiar with the almost mind-numbing effects of "low level chronic pain", have been for years, which is why I've lived a large part of the time the last decade on high doses of ibuprofen and aspirin. I realize a lot of people can't tolerate it as well as I'm thankfully able to, but I've found an interesting effect. The MORE I exercise, like long hikes on semi-difficult terrain, the LESS I have need for pain killers the rest of the time. Recently I had to do some very unpleasant physical therapy after an injury, and pain-killers got me through it. I'm once again able to work a full day, or do a long hike, with only a couple of aspirin to take the edge off. Had I relied only on pain meds, and declined the physical therapy, I'm convinced I would have become progressively more and more crippled up and useless. I also have arthritis in one hand in particular, and the more I exercise the REST of my body, the less my hand hurts, and the more I can do with it.

Got pix?

I like. Lots.

I'm not taking sides, and I have no dog in this fight...BUT...the "hmmm" does kinda make it sound like an insinuation.

Yes. Last time I was in the local HobbyTown, I saw a set. Thought I ought to buy them just to have around, but didn't. Come to think of it, they've been there for some time...only the one set...so if I get over that way this weekend, I'll look for them, at least try to get you a manufacturer and part number.

There's no shortage of chickenexhaust in the world. Too bad there's a steaming pile of it here too. But gutless little thieves who think it's funny to rip people off almost always get exactly what's coming to them eventually. It might be possible to make out OK for a while screwing trusting folks on the internet, but one of these days, you'll mess with the wrong guy. And it's not IF it will happen...just WHEN.

Lotsa times I've wanted to hit somebody up-side-the-head with one. Seriously, I'm a lot happier just doing my own projects now, and looking the other way when the hackers come out to play. In one of the shops where I work, everyone is competent...and it's a real pleasure to be there too. In the other one, competence is a rarity, and I have to put psychological blinders on every time I go in.

Wow. NO question about a heavy influence there. I'd really like the Mead version if the nose wasn't quite so pointy, but the Ford version looks like just too many people had their hands in the soup (pardon the mixed metaphor, but you know what I mean).

The "day care center for prima donnas" aspect gets old, but I can deal with it if all my people are actually GOOD at what they do. However, when I have a crew of talent-free hackers who, in the best Dunning-Kruger tradition, think they're all wizards and want to be treated like stars...well, let's just say I've gotten out of management.

No arguments there.

I have to admire a man who'll hack up a pretty rare (and getting kinda spendy) kit to build what he wants. Very cool.

...and...people who get scammed are either lacking in doing their own due-diligence as the OP describes, OR... ...people who get scammed are often looking to get something-for-nothing themselves, and their own greed or unscrupulous natures work against them. Con-artists know this about human-nature, and are the most efficient users of psychology going.

Or, it may show they have more imagination as to what to DO with a lot of build material, but not enough TIME to do it in. And it may also show some foresight, collecting kits to build PRIOR to the income of a working-person dropping significantly after retirement. Or, it may just show that they enjoy collecting. In my own case, because I never build anything out of the box, I use my considerable stash as a source of parts to draw from when I want exactly the right thing that's period- or application-specific. For instance, I just bought TWO Revell Shelby Series I kits (cheap) specifically for the ZF gearboxes (for a pair of Pantera builds) and the Northstar engines (one for a hot-rod, one for a Corvette). I STILL WORK FOR A LIVING, and have little spare time...but in a year or so, I'll have no shortage of stuff to build models from. Which was the plan from the beginning.

Damm. What a shame that once again, the "professionals" who get paid well to produce "scale" models don't seem to be able to measure accurately. I owned one of the real trucks back in the early 1980s, and loved it. I've recently found it again, in pretty terrible shape, but restorable. I'd intended to buy the Moebius kit to do a replica of my old one but hell...suspension's wrong, major parts of the cab shape are wrong, the headlights and grille are wrong, and there's a good possibility the piece of crapp will be warped anyway. Nope. NO SALE. Life's too short to waste any more of it re-doing for free work that somebody else got paid to do right in the first place, but just couldn't be bothered.

Actually, that's an excellent technique wherever you may need a little extra strength in a joint. AND...a single layer of .010" strip styrene on the backside of those joints can add a good bit of reinforcement to a very small bond area.

When you're logged in, just click on your avatar (initial in this case) and the page that pops up will have a bigger version of the avatar next to your user name, on the left of the screen. In the lower left-hand corner of that, there's a little box. Mouse-over it and it says "profile photo". Click that and you'll be taken to a page that gives you upload options. It's self explanatory from there. NOTE: You can upload pix from just about anywhere, even directly from your hard-drive, but the upper limit for an avatar is 0.24 MB If the image you try to upload exceeds that size, you'll get bumped and will need to pick something else smaller.

One of the truly greats, far as my taste goes... And this one, that unfortunately looks nothing like what's in the box...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or how about grown men who say "OH MY GOD !!!!!!!"

I LIKE it !!!

That's so cool it hurts.