Ace-Garageguy

Hmmmmmm....I saw Norm at a show here just a little over a year ago, and at that time, the wire wheel rim molds or spoke masks were being modified or otherwise in-progress, if I remember correctly. I haven't checked since then, and he wasn't at our show this year. Anybody else know anything?

Here's a link, but all the sizes we could use are sold out... http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/index.php?manufacturers_id=105

That makes 2 of us. Micro Nitro used to, but he seems to be gone. At one time I'd found some PE wires made for 1/32 planes that looked good, but haven't seen them in a while either. The Herb Deeks wires currently available are for 15" rims, which is way too small for dragster / motorcycle wires. Deeks used to make these, but apparently no more. And these scale out to about 24" in 1/25, way too big... EDIT: These (below) are approx. 17" in 1/25 scale, were from Australia, for $100+ per pair. This is all the contact info I have...For Spoke Wheel Shop........... strobson@adam.com.au

I started just that back in 2012 when I had access to an early Brookville '30-'31 roadster body... The numbers on the AMT '29 body shell were pulled directly from the correct Brookville real body. I started with the cowl from the ancient but accurate Revell '30-'31 woody kit (because it fit the fenders and hood exactly right already), and began hacking down and narrowing an old AMT '32 shell. We all know the AMT shells are too short (height) through the cowls and door fronts to start with, so this approach makes sense.

Very competent pilot. It takes some real calm to remember to shut down the engines in a situation like that. Gear-up landings in private planes aren't all that uncommon, especially in Beechcraft Bonanzas where the gear and flap levers were reversed somewhere during production (I've forgotten when). Anyway, some people I used to work with made a ton of money buying insurance-writeoff Bonanzas that had bellied in and rebuilding them. Lotsa times.

Unfortunately, the hood of the snapper is about 2 scale inches too short (lengthwise) and looks ridiculous to anyone used to seeing the real cars.

All of which has reminded me of a long forgotten idea for a project...seeing what would be involved in getting the old snapper body mated with the AMT 5-window nose and fenders (the sedan is another wrong one, though the frames in both of the more recent AMT '33-'34 kits are identical).

And then there's the person who's very well-dressed, pays for the cart-full of groceries with an EBT card, gets the cashier to ring up the beer and wine on a separate ticket and pays cash, and goes out to a newish Mercedes or Lexus.

...and I've yet to meet a human so equipped.

Here's my in-progress chopped spin on the older version of the kit, where I've substituted a '32 grille, hood and recessed firewall for the earlier style that was previously included. And no, it does NOT have a '32 frame...it has the frame for a '28-'31 model A, which is correct. Here's the build thread that shows the frame, and a simple way to zee it.

DING DING DING DING !!! We have a winner, folks.

As we all know, a correctly-scaled '34 3-window has never been achieved in 1/25, and would seem to me to be another slam-dunk follow-on to a decent '26 / '27, if Revell decided to do that one (logically based on the underpinnings and existing tooling of the MIA '29 / '30). Probably ought to get these old hot-rod subjects in the pipeline while the geezers who'll buy them are still alive too. Enter the '34 market to test the waters (and minimize tooling expense) with a well-scaled '34 3-window fenderless hot-rod (stock roof height, with a traditional buggy-spring and quick-change rear end), but with the body specifically engineered to fit the existing AMT / R2 '34 5-window fenders and hood (which aren't exactly right but aren't too bad) and would allow builders to easily make up a stock version, and broaden the appeal of BOTH companies products. Second version: same kit, but chopped. Third version: same kit, but a stock height woody body. Or if Revell doesn't want to do a '34 3-window, it's a natural for AMT / R2. They already have the tooling for ALL OF IT, except a body shell and interior.

Which is "quality control" in a nutshell. And to have effective quality control, you have to 1) understand what quality IS, and 2) give a damm. Both things appear to be lacking when one looks critically at the functionality of many websites, the shoddiness and disregard for specs and dimensions of many manufactured goods from "offshore", what you get most times you hire a "professional" to provide a service, etc. When the schools teach that 3rd rate mediocrity is the equal of excellence, is there any wonder? Why try to do your job well when you get the same participation trophy (a salary) for just showing up?

I snagged one on Ebay shortly after reading this thread. It was cheap, in the original Kroger promotional livery and packaging. Apparently some were given out to Kroger employees...as stated by the seller.

Hell...I'm still catching up with stuff I missed in the 1950s.

In general, I don't have much use for the term "street rod". To me, it's become synonymous with mediocre, catalog-built-auto-trans-equipped-smallblock-Chebby-powered "lookit ME" vehicles that aren't particularly fast, don't handle or brake particularly well, and are usually short on function and reliability. Since I'm in the business, I see a lot of 'em. That said, two three of my favorite hot-rod / custom vehicles of all time are: 1) The Eddie Dye roadster 2) Josh Mills chopped '35 Ford 3) Dennis Lacy's '27 on '32 rails

100% possible, but even if you already had the STL files needed to run a print, just the body alone in 1/8 scale would be at least several hundred dollars. All the internal bits would really add up too. There's always the old tried-and true method of carving something out of clay. The big in-progress model shown is 1/10.

You can, of course, use a fiber-optic setup as you mentioned. You would have to route a fiber or a group of fibers to an element on the leader-light display that would correspond with each element that is required to make a number. Something like this, but with each element fiber or bundle going to a separate light source (if you want the thing to operate). Something like this...but not. Lotsa fibers to hide, eh? And then you'll have to work out how to control each light source to illuminate in the correct pattern to make a number on the leader-light display. Entirely do-able, but cumbersome. Of if you're really a wizard, you could isolate a small section of an LED display panel from a monitor or TV screen. Possible. Very difficult. Good luck with that.

I see a whole hell of a lot of useful information isn't forthcoming so...here's some. A diligent search of the web, coupled with some actual knowledge of LEDs and electronics will yield fascinating results. Here's something I just found...REALLY SMALL LEDs with pre-soldered wire leads. Now pay attention...the LEDs in the photo are shown with the nub of a felt-tip pen for size comparison.

As far as I know, all that's been offered in reasonably affordable plastic in 1/8 is the Big T and '32 Ford kits by Revell, their several years of Corvettes, a Jag E, and a Firebird. Lindberg has several variations on a T bucket and a rail dragster. Pocher has some Ferrari and Porsche subjects for a lot of money, in 1/8, and there's a company called Wespe that has some interesting 1/8 subjects in resin kits. To find a largish-scale early '50s American car, you're most likely going to have to start with a die-cast...but I think 1/18 or 1/16 or 1/12 will be as large as you'll get there...and 1/12 is getting pricey. Several fellas on this board have built really knockout models from ho-hum die-casts, and they can often be picked up relatively cheap with a little damage.

A 49 foot Merc would be a very much "larger" scale.

The "light" is a sheet of electroluminescent material that can be cut into small sections...exactly how small I don't know. Do you? Surface-mount LEDs are available in sizes small enough to do the job, but require additional circuitry to function, and that's what needs to be hidden...and is challenging for someone not familiar with fabricating very small electronic circuits to do.