Ace-Garageguy

Wow. Makes me want another real 7.

Absolutely positively 100% correct. There is no free lunch. Many folks also seem to equate electric cars with somehow magically lessening the "carbon footprint " too, but if coal or natural gas or oil are burned to generate the electricity, the carbon footprint remains virtually the same. Only if the electricity is generated by nuke, hydro, wind or solar is there any carbon advantage over burning hydrocarbon fuels directly in vehicles.

As long as there's irrational hatred, a range of antisocial personality disorders, and criminal greed in the world, some people will find ways to wreak havoc and sow death and destruction among their fellows. The TOOLS people use to do these things are NOT the issue. The REASONS are. Some fundamental flaws in human nature and various human cultures need to be addressed...if we want events like what we're seeing more and more frequently to stop.

Superglue works very well on some types of two-part vinyl tires. Also, this stuff has served me well from time to time, especially on the more flexible tires. When thoroughly dry, sand the tread area with 180 grit to minimize the seam, and to simulate a 'run' look. Then very thoroughly scrub the entire tire with old-style abrasive Comet, hot water, and a stiff toothbrush. This will remove the shine and give you a surface that looks like rubber.

One possible upside to this is the fact that GM is apparently partnering with Honda to go into the fuel-cell business...rather than trying to reinvent the wheel themselves. Honda has already convincingly demonstrated a residential-rooftop, solar-powered hydrogen generator capable of refueling a fuel-cell powered car daily for an "average" commute. Years ago. It is this kind of big-picture and out-of-the-box thinking that's going to make any kind of sustainable clean energy future actually work...as it takes the massive vehicle-refueling / recharging burden OFF of the power grid.

Far as I know, the only Merit kits to have gone to SMER were the Talbot-Lago, and the Alfa Romeo Alfetta GP cars. Both of them have engines, and though somewhat simplified, have the potential to make outstanding models. The little Cooper F3 car has an engine peeking out of the rear bodywork too. And as far as I remember, the rest of the Merit line are curbsides. There is an Aston Martin DB 3S kit that I believe went on to become a Palmer model, and I think the Ferrari in the line became a Strombecker slot-car body. In the Merit line, I'm missing the Lotus 11, and the Ferrari...though I have a decent Strombecker version.

Sorry...thought I'd found a '68, but it was a '70. Numbers are hard.

Closing on having a complete, unbuilt set of the old Merit historic racing car kits...the plan being to upgrade them when built with hand-laced wires using Plastheniker's method (thank the dogs that these photos weren't hosted on peebucket.

Yeah, and also sounds like GM's corporate focus of late, doing the PC thing, rather than identifying and pursuing the best solution. I had a lot of respect for GM for rather a long time, as much of their engineering work has been brilliant...like the now ancient smallblock Chebby engine, their early automatic gearboxes, etc. The C5 Corvette, introduced in 1997, along with the then-new LS family of engines, firmly established at least SOME elements within GM as being highly capable, and still product-driven. The C5 was an undeniably world-class vehicle, offering the performance of European supercars at a fraction of the price, and doing it with a pushrod engine. But all I've seen since then is incremental technical progress (towards vast overcomplication, as seems to be the industry standard) with a lot of noise being made about gender and ethnic balance within the company, rather than focusing on product excellence. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The points made above about the long-term environmental effects of batteries, and the current lack of electrical infrastructure sufficient to power an entire national fleet of electric vehicles, are very valid and worrying, though I'm certain a lucrative industry will develop to cleanly recycle old batteries...probably in China or Mexico (assuming America's apparent desire to be a clean-hands consumer nation that doesn't actually MAKE anything continues). The new nuke plant to have been built in my own state has been suspended after running WAY over both time and budget, as it seems that Westinghouse, once a leader in nuke plant design and construction, is no longer able to deliver on its promises...and has filed for bankruptcy. Its parent company, Toshiba, is concerned that Westinghouse may no longer be a viable business. Proponents of abandoning the plant at this point cite "decreasing demand for electrical power" as among their reasons. How does that position square with a push towards an all-electric vehicle fleet? As usual today, a lot of chickens running around largely headless, with no one actually driving the bus (please pardon the mixed metaphor).

I don't think you're crazy, and I also dislike seeing recyclable materials land-filled. There are a few modeling uses sprue can be put to (as Mike999 notes) but not all of it. I keep mine in old steel coffee cans. There are multiple options to recycle styrene in my area. It's one of the most commonly recycled plastics, and is the material foam cups and fast-food containers are made of, as well as packing peanuts. http://youknowstyrene.org/green-styrene/recycling/

"GM is committed to driving increased usage and acceptance of electric vehicles through no-compromise solutions that meet our customers' needs.” Hmmmmm....are those the same type of "no-compromise solutions" that caused the ignition switch problem? That little switch problem is looking like it will ultimately cost GM well over $10 BILLION to resolve. There are a LOT more parts they can screw up in a completely electric vehicle... ...and then try to cover up and deny if there's a problem.

This has always been a problem. Even the model train guys in the 1950s would spray a coat of something glossy before applying decals, and a flat-clear, when it became available, over the whole mess.

One of these lives in my neighborhood.

I never finish anything. No problem.

'73-'74 got the rubber nose. Correct. She's in the shop with clutch problems.

Rather than wasting your time engaging in a pointless conversation with someone who's either an idiot or a crook, why not simply state "there are NO slot car parts in this listing" and let HIM do the explaining, if he's so inclined...which I doubt.

I LIKE that wagon.

The "formula" is just the same for wheels as it is for determining any other scale measurement on any part of any car. For 1/24 scale, take the real measurement and divide by 24. For 1/25, take the real measurement and divide by 25. So...a 17 inch wheel on a real car would measure .708 inches for 1/24 scale (which is why a digital caliper can be handy). A 17 inch wheel in 1/25 scale would be .68 inches (which is 17.2 mm). The interesting thing here is that one inch in full scale is quite close to 1 mm in 1/25 scale, so you can get pretty close that way too. NOTE: Wheel diameter is NOT measured across the front face of a wheel. Rather, it's measured at the tire mounting surface...and very few model companies regularly get this right for some odd reason..

Now we're getting somewhere. Thanks. That appears to be a belt-driven centrifugal blower, something like a Vortech, feeding pressure to two turbos. EDIT: Thanks to you sir, a reverse image search yielded the first knowledgeable article on this Koenig setup I've seen so far. The 'standard' Koenig Competition is twin-turbocharged, about 800 HP. This is the Koenig Competition Stage II, about 1000 HP. It is indeed supercharged AND turbocharged, and I was unaware of it until now. https://www.carligious.com/articles/forgotten-supercars/mental-as-anything-1988-1991-koenig-competition Thanks again.

The little ZAZ is often misidentified as the visually similar NSU Prinz. The lower character line on the body side is one big difference...as are the scoops, of course.

Just arrived. So far, she looks to be a very nicely proportioned representation of the real car. I had intended to convert it to an S II coupe (the Revellogram / Aurora coupes bite and I couldn't find a Heller...) to model a full-scale client's car I just completed, but this model is so nice, I may have to build it close to stock. The wheels leave a little to be desired, but the tires are nice, and i think will fit the better wires in the Revell Jag kit.

Agreed. Some of my best-running vintage locomotives are Austrian and Yugoslavian models of US equipment, and some of the nicest vintage structure kits are German.

Picked up a couple more reference books...