Ace-Garageguy

It looks great from here, Ray. Nothing to feel bad about on that model, for sure.

Ah, this is fun to watch. The QC is coming along nicely.

Cool idea. A cardboard gasser.

Which is exactly why I respectfully suggested earlier that it would be good to try to find something about the model that IS worthy of praise. I've often been surprised and even inspired by very original and creative concepts and ideas that weren't particularly well executed technically. You can sincerely praise the IDEA even if the execution leaves much room for improvement.

I think the "preview" function may not be available on this particular forum platform. They don't all have the same capabilities, and this one is different from the last one. Still, it's not difficult to read through what you've written BEFORE you hit the "post" button, is it? And if you have a change of heart, the "edit" function works. A little glitchy sometimes, but it works.

I feel so warm and fuzzy and accepted now.

Just about any gasser front leaf-spring setup will benefit in stability if a Panhard rod is added. Stability and predictable steering response are your friends when the front end is getting light at 140 MPH or more.

Maybe the best thing to remember before offering commentary on anyone's work is to simply apply the Golden Rule. Read through your comment before you post it, and think how YOU would feel if someone said it to you...and try to remember that not everyone is as tough or as confident as you may be too. But you know, this is almost a non-issue here. I rarely see an unkind comment regarding anyone's models.

Yes sir, that's the general idea. That's not a particularly well thought-out example though. It would benefit from having a straight axle if possible, as those dropped ends have a way of introducing odd twisting forces into the whole mess under braking loads. They act as lever arms that tend to try to rotate the top of the axle forward more than a straight axle would (and yes, dropped axles that we love on old street rods do the same thing, but are pretty much necessary to get a car down low).

That's like totally awesome.

I blew the photo up and had a good look...though it gets pixelated and is still hard to interpret. I'm pretty sure the axle, which is entirely straight and made of tubing, is suspended by coil-overs mounted to the axle just inboard of the brackets that the radius rods mount to. You're right about there being a Panhard bar, which would be absolutely necessary to control side-to-side movement of an axle suspended by coils. Upper and lower radius rods, which are present, would control fore-and-aft axle movement and resist braking torque...though if front brakes are fitted, they're tiny.

It's good to see someone putting so much effort into restoring and upgrading one of these. Your shop diorama just gets better and better too.

The paint is great. I had to read your post over again to make sure you'd done it with a brush. The colors work very well together too. Nice job. Pretty cool oil-spotted diorama base as well.

That's pretty pathetic management and communication on the company's part. I'm very sorry that happened to you. Colby's right; you don't want to work for a bunch of idiots like that. There's no excuse for treating anyone like they're disposable, and terminating with no warning. Hang in there. I know it's tough, but something better is sure to come your way.

Fine fine fine.

Very cool. Clever and creative recycling of a nuisance waste product you'd think would have no use whatsoever.

Click bait, bromance, cloud computing, crowd funding, fracking, Obamacare, presbo... I dunno. Are these new enough? Seems like 20 years ago was last week.

There are some truly world-class models posted on this forum, some really good stuff, a lot of average work, and not really much poor work at all. Almost everything posted has at least something on it that is honestly worthy of praise, like a beautifully weathered rat rod that has unfortunately horrible proportions, for instance. I think looking critically at the work shown and finding the things that are done WELL and praising those is more constructive than saying a blanket "awesome build" for every orange-peeled poorly-fitting model with garden-hose plug wires. This approach avoids the endless and tiring "awesome" remarks and also avoids being needlessly harsh to less skilled builders. And if you can phrase a way to improve a model without making it seem like an attack, I think that's even more of a plus. It's also more palatable to offer well-intentioned constructive criticism if you offer a truthful pat on the back for something that IS done well first.

Well, the wheel jig arrived. I'm glad I bought it because it's really a time-saver compared to what I would have had to go through designing and making one on the lathe with no dimensions to work from other than some buggered wheels. With the jig came a bag of other parts that look like what was left after the model was thrown against the wall. Seriously. The plastic wheel parts that came (and that I don't need) are covered in tube glue, obviously applied with no regard for the instructions. It kinda boggles my mind that somebody could idiot-trash one of these things, as they're so expensive. I'm seeing complete sealed kits of this car on offer for anywhere between $470 to over $1000 now, so I guess I ought to be very happy with what will probably be a total investment of around $300 by the time she's done.

Yup.

Yes, that one does. This is the condition of the old girl in the shed. I've gone back to visit the one I found several times and took a little polishing compound last time. While she won't look as good as the one in the photo, she'll clean up pretty well. Most of the paint appears to be original, which is hard to believe...the tell is a lack of masking lines on the rubber and chrome and no overspray on the jambs or wiring, etc...though I've seen cars here recently that were that old with mostly original paint. The paint under the dirt is dull and faded, but a little compound will bring the gloss back up pretty well. Several of the laminated safety-glass windows are separating and bubbling around the edges and the rubber is hard everywhere. There's no sign of rodent infestation in the interior, amazingly, but some of the old fabric wiring insulation in the engine bay is chewed. Otherwise the engine bay is remarkably clean. The car belonged to the current owner's grandmother who apparently drove it well into the 1990s, parked it when the fuel pump went out, and then "mechanics" working on it apparently burned out the starter cranking and cranking and cranking and cranking and cranking and cranking... I haven't bought it yet and I'm not 100% sure I'll be able to. I really need to get rid of one car before I get another one. But I WANT it.

Found a '41 Chevy 2-dr sedan, literally in a shed. Has a layer of dust on it an inch thick, but looks like it's a creampuff under the filth. Factory stock, light gray, good to excellent original interior, would look like this cleaned up. Hmmmm....last registered about 20 years ago. Unbelievably low mileage showing on the clock, but the condition bears it out. Guy's asking a little too much, but still, if I could get her running cheap (only supposed to need a starter and fuel pump). I've kinda wanted a "grandpa" car for a long time, and this would fill the bill nicely.

Just happened to pick up Michael Gruber's "The Return" on the $5 shelf and B&N. Guy can write escapist action fiction with some real intelligence and style...unlike a lot of practitioners of the genre. Need to buy his other stuff now, see if it's as good.

Beautiful work. A pleasure to watch it all come together.

Just remembered...I have this one very close now too. Again, I think there may not be enough interest; it takes some extensive chassis work to get the body to fit, as the car is sectioned and the wheel wells are opened up considerably.