Ace-Garageguy

Well, if I remember correctly, most of us knew it was a fantasy, NOT something to be acted out, and the object of the exercise was to rescue the helpless maiden from the evil whatever, and the maiden and the rescuing hero would ride off into the sunset together. I don't recall any upsurge in women being chained in dungeons and tortured when I was a kid, and monster movies with story lines like this were prevalent and mainstream. Enter the internet. Pornography is rampant, its use is continually on the rise, as is the objectifying of women even in this oh-so-PC age of institutionalized hypocrisy. Romantic, deep and meaningful relationships are marginalized, sex is portrayed as being primarily for "fun", and family units and values are deteriorating daily. Here's just ONE statistic, among thousands of similar findings... "In 2013, Google research showed that porn sites get more traffic than Netflix, Amazon, and Twitter combined. In the UK, as of 2013, porn websites were being accessed more than all social networks combined, and more than all shopping websites combined". And this: "70% of UK teens say porn is seen as normal by their peers at school.46% of teens said sexting is a part of everyday life for teenagers.2/3 of girls and nearly 50% of boys said growing up would be easier if porn was harder to access". Frankly, I'm just not seeing where the BS PC bit has taken us to anywhere better. We just sweep the real problems under the rug, and pretend that things like the little monster vignette above were oh-so-terrible, and the world is a brighter, happier place now, full of unicorns and rainbows. Nah.

Interesting, but "camless" valve actuation has been around for a long time, and prototype systems have used hydraulic, pneumatic and electromagnetic control of the actual valve operation, with a microprocessor running the whole show. There are already large industrial and ship diesels using this technology, but for cars, it's a lot of complexity for a relatively small increase in performance / efficiency. Wanna build your own? Here's a brief overview. http://hackaday.com/2016/02/16/where-are-all-the-camless-engines/

Beautiful work.

I look at a lot of rough 1:1 vehicles, and your weathering is spot-on for realism. Your bed, fenders and boom are perfect too, and match photos of old wreckers I have in my own files. Excellent work.

And let's not forget the XP-47J, the fastest of the WW II-era aircraft, clocked at 505 MPH in level flight on August 4, 1944. The record stood until August 21, 1989, when a highly modified Bearcat did 523.6 MPH.

The main parts of the BNL 6.1 Hemi engine and gearbox appear to be made from molds taken from Revell's version of this engine. Sadly, there is one Revell version (in the Magnum wagon) that's ridiculously overscale. Depending on which version BNL used for the master, you may have a problem. If you're not specifically needing the dual EFI on the BNL version, you can get a complete Revell kit (recent Challengers and Magnums have the basic engine) for about the same money as the BNL resin version, and have the rest of the kit left over for parts stash duty. Again, the Revell Magnum wagon is the one with the too-large engine. To answer more of your question, I've test-fitted the correctly-scaled Revell version in several earlier chassis / body combos, and other than the typical crossmember, engine mount and firewall mods you almost always have to make for swaps of this type, you should have no real problem. PS. The huge drive belt on the BNL version is also ridiculously overscale in width as well for some strange reason. I guess measuring is still just too hard.

That's partly what I'm having to do, but I'm frankly chapped that my go-to primers for MANY years, and that are very good at what they do AND very cost effective, no longer work. I rather resent being forced to change my materials of choice and procedures that have worked well for me up til now, simply so the kit manufacturers can save a few pennies per kit by using cheaper, less solvent-resistant styrene blends. Progress again. Very often, "new and better" isn't better at all. The procedures offered up by Art Anderson and Steve Guthmiller will obviously produce the kind of results I'm looking for (the photos of their work certainly prove that) but some of the other suggested procedures simply won't. Shooting "mist" coats from the can will only make orange peel, and sanding it out will only succeed in obliterating fine detail. These were not issues for me before, as it was possible for ME to shoot a slick, wet coat of primer with no orange peel AND no crazing. No so any more.

Yes, the real airplane had a bad reputation. But if you research the history of the aircraft and its pilots thoroughly, you'll find its "killer" moniker was somewhat undeserved...largely the result of the sensation-chasing press and public knee-jerk reacting to something they don't understand...as they usually do. One fatal crash was the result of an oil cap coming loose, smashing the canopy, and causing the pilot to lose control. This is not a fault with the aircraft itself, rather a fault of the ground crew who "secured" the cap. Another fatality was the result of an owner fitting larger fuel tanks, in direct defiance of the Gee Bee's builders recommendations, and in the process changing the little plane's center of gravity to the point it became uncontrollable in flight. A later crash was the result of a mechanic leaving a rag inside the engine cowling. The rag got sucked into the air intake, killing the engine during takeoff, and the pilot. There were problems with directional stability on the earlier ships, but larger fin and rudder surfaces fixed that. Jimmy Doolittle (a rather well-known pilot with some pretty outstanding accomplishments in the field of aviation) supposedly referred to the Gee Bee as "the most dangerous airplane I've ever flown" but also as worth the risk, as it was, at the time, the fastest aircraft in the world. He also said "“She’s got plenty of stuff. I gave her the gun for just a few seconds and she hit 260 like a bullet without any change for momentum and without diving for speed, and she had plenty of reserve miles in her when I shut her down.” The reality is that ALL these old racing planes were a handful, and were only flyable by the best of the best of pilots at the time. The Big Radial racers of the 30`s all shared some common traits, big engines, small airframes, large fuel capacity, high wing loading, tall gear, and they were for the most part blind on take off and landing. They often were operated from poorly prepared short strips, demanding a slow approach speed, and a 3 point landing, and if they had brakes they were generally weak and not very effective. With all of the above is it any wonder few survived intact.The 30s racers were single purpose, no compromise machines The Gee Bee R2 built by Delmar Benjamin and Steve Wolf was constructed with a great deal of attention paid to making it an absolutely accurate replica, partly with the intent of proving whether or not the plane WAS really as dangerous as people of the 1930s would have us believe. The R2 replica Mr. Benjamin is seen flying in the video clip above seems to be an entirely capable machine in the hands of a very competent (and well above-average) pilot. I believe it had well over 1000 hours on it when it was retired, with only two or three minor incidents, and minimal damage.

Useless to me, other than as a layer of protection for the decal sheet I'll leave in the box so I know what kit a particular decal may have come from.

It IS quite an achievement, though very little of the car is exactly as it was when it was built, and it's been re-engined as well as substantially re-engineered. I'm pretty sure Danny's plans are to continue to pursue the absolute wheel-driven land speed record.

We did some research on those two cheapie lathes here a while back, and while they're certainly better than nothing, their accuracy would probably leave a lot to be desired...and accuracy is quite important when you're making tiny parts.

I personally don't recommend sanding, other than to repair mold lines and the like. Unless you're very careful with sanding, and somewhat experienced, you run the risk of obliterating fine details. Rather, I'd suggest a through scrub with a toothbrush, hot water and a mild abrasive cleanser like Comet. This will give plenty of "tooth' for good primer or paint adhesion, remove the mold lubricants that can lead to fisheyes in the paint, and get in all the little nooks and crannies you cannot possibly reach with sandpaper without damaging finely engraved details. I always wash my models with 70% isopropyl alcohol just prior to painting too, as added insurance against fisheyes. Steve Guthmiller (above) consistently produces first-rate finishes. This is one of his, so you can take his advice to the bank. ...and mine look pretty good for spray can jobs.

Here's a link to the Airfix kit on our very own firum.

A more definitive look at the Heller body. Obviously MUCH better than the MPC mess.

The Heller kit appears to have a fairly accurately proportioned body, entirely different from the MPC joke thing.

Model designed by a vision-impaired drunk, who also happened to be 5 years old. The original isn't a beauty, but it does at least have the guite decent proportions of a Fiat X1-9. That kit is horrible, Palmer-esque

Most definitely X2!

That's a very attractive model. The body is swoopier than I'd imagined. Gots to get me some of these. Thanks for the great low-angle shots.

After you cut the part from the fret, you may find you need to clean up the little bit of material remaining. I use small diamond-grit needle files. The material that photo-etched parts are made from is often harder than the "hobby" files made for wood and plastic. If the file you're trying to use is not at least as hard as the material you're filing, it won't work. A diamond-grit covered file will do the job very clean and quick.

Without doubt, the most fun part of any build for me is when I can step back for a bit and get a really good idea of what the final product is going to look like. This is where all the fiddling with the boring bits starts to pay off, and what I need to keep me interested. Taking photos at this point and hanging them over the bench seems to be just about the only way I can maintain the enthusiasm to complete all the niggly little things...and big things...that seem more like work. I've mocked her up with a face, and stretched the wheelbase 1 scale inch to 107". I've also sectioned the grille shell about 2 scale inches, and decided to lay the windshield back pretty far. I'm usually pretty happy when I like a build from every angle, and sometimes it takes some adjustment to get the proportions and lines to satisfy me. I'll do a 'walk-around' to make sure I like all the different perspectives. I'm pretty happy at this point. We still have very close to the same stance as the original mockup, but maybe just a tad lower in the rear, and a tick higher in front. The car, to me, now looks more agile and a little less drag-racer brutal. High front 3/4 works. Human-perspective front 3/4 works. Slightly high side-rear works. Human perspective rear 3/4 works. Yeah, I'm pretty happy.

I know next to zip about RC boats...but a guy I work with is building a 4-foot replica of the old Miami Vice boat...with a chain saw engine and a really cool little outdrive setup. I don't know if that's typical or not, but it sure looks like it oughta haul posterior.

Understood. There's no sin in not being a very good builder. Just FYI...several years ago I bought a bunch of gluebombs from this same seller, very reasonably priced and loaded with salvageable parts. Nothing like what's on offer now.

Oh geez. More models I want with more ideas for way-too-complicated builds that will probably never get finished. I'm in for at least the Foose truck and the Suburban. Maybe after I retire in 5 years or so I'll get the time to build everything...

Great effects. I especially like the different under-color on the front fenders, as though the car was repaired after a collision at one time, and color-changed at the same time. Very nice. VERY nice.

Wow. Looks more real every time I stop by. Incredible.