Ace-Garageguy

That's pretty funny. Actually, what I'm trying to hit is the sweet-spot between the first mockup shots and the last post-stretch shots. The windshield pillars will look leaned back more, and the C-pillars will get thinned towards the top. That's the idea I'm working towards for now, anyway.

Interesting thing about this hobby is that things one modeler notices and cares about, another one misses entirely. Case in point...I couldn't care less about what interior was in what car, because I'd probably never build one stock anyway. As long as the scaling and proportions are spot-on, it doesn't matter to me if the door handles are right or not either. But it does matter to me if the frames and engines are correctly scaled and represented accurately.

Yes, I did some digging. She's at least based on a Fairy Gannet AS-4 / ECM-6, but I've never seen that belly-pod... Aha. She's an AEW-3 variant...

I agree with you in principle here, particularly as the chopped '48 in the Revell kit would be a competently done piece of work in the real world, and not all custom cars appeal to all viewers equally. But are there some clumsy lines on it? Yes. However, if you're going to do a scale-model of a production car, or an actual existing custom, it's simply part of the job to measure and divide by the scale-of-choice accurately. The old kits that were often based on promos were in many cases very accurate proportionally and dimensionally simply because they were built using factory-supplied dimensions. But measuring really isn't as hard as many folks would have us believe.

What is that crazy thing with the counter-rotating props, big belly, and double-folded wings? I thought I knew airplanes, but I've never seen anything like that before...

More on the black-art intricacies of auto boxes and stall-speeds... http://bankspower.com/techarticles/show/9-Understanding-Torque-Converters http://www.badasscars.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=78/prd78.htm

Great resource. I hadn't seen that one before. Thanks !

BUT...if you have significant crazing, the solvents in the paint have eaten into the plastic just like liquid cement. Sometimes, the paint in this case is so firmly attached (literally melted into the surface) that strippers won't take it off.

Long stacks tend to make more torque at lower RPM. A torque-converter, the first element in most automatic transmissions, multiplies torque, so you don't need as many revs to launch the car. You want to optimize torque lower in the RPM band. Automatic transmission cars, especially in the days before lotsa custom-tailored high-stall-speed torque-converters (lotta folks call 'em "stall-converters" for some unknown reason) and automatic launch-control black-boxes, could benefit by having more torque at lower RPM. Manual gearbox cars could be held at engine torque-peak, and launched with the aid of slight clutch slipping. Auto-box cars get held against the trans with the brakes engaged...mash the gas and let off the brakes simultaneously to launch. Subtle but significant difference in technique, and where in the RPM band you needed the torque to peak. This short video explains why and how a torque-converter multiples torque, and why you can launch at lower RPMs...where you tailor the engine torque-peak with longer injector stacks.

Thanks Dennis. Unfortunately, after I stretched the roof, I kinda fell out of love with the proportions. That's where the project stalled. I've been seeing how much I can do to get them back to the original mockup without having to remove the stretch. There's a lot of meat in the AMT roof, so it's kinda looking like I might be able to get there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As usual, thanks to everyone for your interest and comments.

See any difference?

When I wrote that response, I wasn't aware Xingu's building was a "pole barn". I understand the difference in construction, and where the structural stability comes from...but thanks for the clarification. Still, I should have been more precise. Most of the shop construction I've seen, primarily prefab steel aircraft hangars in the southeastern and southwestern US, have had foundations and floors poured prior to erection of the rest of the structure (unlike Xingu's building)...but not poured at the same time, obviously. More or less like this... Smaller shops and hangars I seem to remember sometimes having had only a single pour, but still, the floor was in place prior to erection of the structure above it.

"Radiography" is x-ray imaging. I wonder if he means Rapidograph...

Designed by Harry Bradley? Harry Bradley was a good great designer. How drunk did they have to get him to do this horrible thing?

That's a unibody car. The "frame" members are welded in hat-sections as above, not separate.

It matters to me. I had a grandfathered-in paid account. It's being shut down in 30 days. To hell with migrating to another sharing site, and to hell with reposting thousands of images all over the web that will shortly disappear. I've spent many hundreds of hours writing technical articles, answering questions, and posting complex projects in "how to" formats. All that time and effort was wasted. Damm right it matters. But I can see how it might not be that big a deal to somebody whose content was primarily "look at my pretty models".

See...third party hotlinking WAS PERMITTED even to the free accounts until the crash. Storage of images was virtually unlimited, but usage of bandwidth over a certain monthly quota would get you temporarily suspended. Your images would disappear until the month "reset". Bandwidth usage was determined by how many people were actually looking at your images on whatever sites they appeared in. Nobody clicks on your thread, no bandwidth use. As I became more active on the web, I started getting occasional shutdowns for exceeding my permitted bandwidth usage.That was about the time I signed up for a paid account, and began running an ad-blocker. There was no shortage of communication from PB prior to the money grab if you were running over the limits your plan allowed. And because I particularly valued maintaining access to my images, I paid attention to emails from PB. But the big money grab came without warning for the most part. The Terms of Service were changed almost over night, and everything went dark.

The "attempt to attain peace" came at the expense of the lives and limbs and eyes and sanity of the men who thought enough of the concept of peace to risk everything in order to achieve it. The day has become a means of expressing thanks to men like that, still living, who will willingly walk into hell to insure freedom for the rest. Every American soldier I've ever known had a sense of duty to lay down his own life for the liberty so many take for granted. That ideal, sir, is something that deserves universal respect.

Nope...I don't poison them for several reasons. 1) It's a lot kinder, I believe, to kill 'em with snap-traps. It's usually instantaneous, and if it were ME, it's the method of dispatchment I'd prefer if I had a choice between the two. I've seen a poisoned rat die. It's not the kind of suffering I'd like to inflict on anything, no matter how destructive and useless. 2) Dying rats tend to hide in the walls and other inaccessible places. The stink can be quite awe-inspiring after a while. 3) Between the feral cats, crows, and various species of hawks that live around here, there's no shortage of animals that appreciate a free lunch. And it's a boom year for rats. So far 13. The previous record for one season was 11.

The tires are ridiculously undersized for a blown car on 16" rims. Did you look at the tire size chart I posted for 16" rims from Radir? The rear wheels in the kit scale out to 16".

Actually, what you've done is quite "scientific". You noticed a problem. You set up an experiment to try to duplicate the problem. Then you set up an experiment to try to eliminate the problem. You recorded the results. That's about as scientific as it gets...unless you do it multiple times exactly the same way to absolutely verify your results. "Scientific" doesn't necessarily mean a lot of math and special equipment. All it really means is careful observation.

1 1/8" is 1.125" expressed as a decimal (tenths of an inch). Divide by 24 for 1/24 scale. You get .047" 1 9/16" is 1.5625" expressed as tenths. Divide by 24. You get .065" 11 7/8" is 11.875" as a decimal equivalent. Divide by 24. It's .495" in 1/24 scale.

X2. Beautiful paint. There are still three dead PhotoBucket links at the top of the first post, but 5 good ones below them.

You have my sympathy. I had to put down my own cat-friend of 14 years a while back.

Yes, it's a beauty for sure. I believe it was featured in the other mag...