Fat Brian

I'm going to do atleast two, the one going now is a modernish custom with hopefully some traditional flair. I'm doing chrome bumpers and window trim but I removed the front and rear side trim and the trim under the side wildows, I frenched the headlights so the bezel and the vent below it will be body color with maybe some silver detailing. It has a six inch chop and rear fenders widened by about three inches each side. It will have a modern driveline and wheels which I haven't picked yet. The other will be a early drag car, maybe radiused rear wheel wells, raised front but within period rules, not a street freak for sure. I want to use the stock engine for this one, maybe with a period superchager like the Latham from AMTs 25 T kits or something equally classic. I will probably keep the trim for this one, run steelies, open headers, use the rear seat filler panel and the supplied roll bar. I will probably use some of the kit decals but I'm thinking about trying to tie the car to the Jackie Brenston/Ike Turner song "Rocket 88" which is widely regarded as the first Rock 'n Roll song ever recorded. Ignore the video, the other one had Bettie Page doing her thing in it and I felt it wasn't apporpriate. [media=]

The trucks are geared incredibly low, between the transmission, transfer case, axle ratios, and then the planetary hubs the gear reduction is massive. Most of the trucks now can pull standing start wheelies if the traction is there, with the right electric motor it might even out perfrom some current trucks. Since they usually don't run for more than five minutes or so at a time maybe heat build up won't be too big of an issue.

Very interesting, this is a very informative conversation.

Microsoft is Trying hamstring digital printing with DRM. Patent could shackle 3D printers with DRM 15:29 16 October 2012 Paul Marks, chief technology correspondent One of the greatest benefits of 3D printing technology - the ability to make replacements or parts for household objects like toys, utensils and gadgets - may be denied to US citizens thanks to the granting of a sweeping patent that prevents the printing of unauthorised 3D designs. It has all the makings of the much-maligned digital rights management (DRM) system that prevented copying of Apple iTunes tracks - until it was abandoned as a no-hoper in 2009. US patent 8286236, granted on 9 October to Intellectual Ventures of Bellevue, Washington, lends a 3D printer the ability to assess whether a computer design file it's reading has an authorization code appended that grants access for printing. If it does not, the machine simply refuses to print - whether it's a solid object, a textile or even food that's being printed. The piracy of 3D designs is an emerging concern, and 3D object sharing - rather than file sharing - sites have already sprung up. While no 3D printer maker has adopted what might be called "3D DRM", international treaties like the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement mean it is not out of the question. Clamping down on moves to 3D-print handguns may fuel such moves, for instance. What has riled some tech commentators is the fact that Intellectual Ventures that does not make 3D printers at all, but simply trades in patent rights - a practice detractors call patent trolling. The firm, run by Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold, quietly files patents under the names of a great many shell companies (as this Stanford University analysis shows) and then licenses them to companies using the ideas it lays claim to, litigating if it has to. Intellectual Ventures is thought to hold more than 40,000 patents. The new patent may face challenges to its validity, however, because it extends rights management beyond 3D printing to much older computerized manufacturing techniques, such as computer-controlled milling, extrusion, die casting and stamping. Companies in those businesses are likely to have previously considered some kind of design rights authentication, says Greg Aharonian, of bustpatents.com in San Francisco. He says that museums were wondering how to protect 3D sculptures against printer piracy back in 2002 and that DRM was in the frame then. So Intellectual Ventures' claim to novelty - a key part of whether any patent is determined to be valid and enforceable - looks weak.

Only the Mars version gets three.

Well, tonight the top came off. I decided to go with the more difficult chop where you cut the roof into quarters. I like the look better, the new roof is wider which plays up how low it is and the rear window doesn't slant as much and I don't really care for the fastback look on this car. The first cut I made was across the roof width wise at the door line on the B pillars. Next was the lengthwise cut. Here the roof is quartered and the B posts have been removed, the A and C postd have been cut down about six scale inches. Here is the roof tacked in place with tape, you can see how much will need to be filled. This is the new roof profile, it still needs some fine tuning and I need to decide what to do with the B posts. I also removed the drip rails from the roof side and the chrome strip from the top of the doors.

I have to agree that a big part of the fun of monster trucks in the sound and all electric just won't be the same. But, in my crazier moments I am thinking about putting a Cummins 4bt in my SC300 so what do I know?

It will be interesting to see if they actually compete with the battery truck or if it's just a concept build. The runs are so short and the trucks are mandated to weigh a minimum of 10,000 pounds so carrying 36 giant batteries isn't really a big deal. I hope they don't try to use this vehicle to promote electric cars, the two really aren't remotely comparable.

Wow, now I have to buy another one for a period custom, dang.

I'm not worried about winning, trying to build for shows ruins the fun for me, I just wanted to know what the general rule is. I can inderstand not valuing a purchased resin kit as much as a scratch build but designing the kit in 3d still takes a good deal of skill and it's a shame that it may not be valued appropriately.

The 3d printing thread took an interesting turn when it was opined that contest judges should take into account if a certain build has 3d printed parts and make deductions from said model if another build is of equal quality and impact but scrtach built. My question is, is it standard judging practice to favor scratchbuilding over purchased aftermarket parts? If three models are of equal quality and one has scratch built parts, one has aftermarket resin parts, and one is 3d printed does the scratchbuilt car win simply because it was scratchbuilt? What if the 3d printed model was designed by the builder who is showing it, is their creativity worth less than the builder who did the work by hand?

If I buy a pre costomized body from Jimmy Flintstone how is that any different than having it printed out? I still didn't contribute anything to the body other than painting it. I would say a person who desings and prints their own parts has more invested in them than someone who buys precustomized parts and just assembles them. This is exactly what I was talking about, what is the purpose in this gradation of who is a real builder and who isn't?

It could be a couple of things. Maybe there was some flash on the opposite side that is making it sit higher, or maybe some paint build up is not letting the suspension seat squarely. I would gently take the front suspension assembly off and check all of the mounting surfaces to make sure they are flash free and there is not any excessive paint build up, also check the mounting points on the chassis for the same things. Also, if the tires don't roll make sure that the opposite side tire doesn't have anything like a burr from the tire web on the bottom that would make it taller than the other side.

I=disappoint Oh well, I'll be home soon and check out the wifes tatas.

I love the stance and those Pegasus big and littles look great.

Do we currently put purchased resin bodies in a different category? I've never seen it done. Just because you can print it out doesn't mean it will totally paint and assemble it's self. Yes, the builder will have less invested in some areas but if they desingned the parts themselves they will have increased skills in another area. I hope that this technology won't lead to a whole "You didn't really build that, you're not a true modeler" bunch of mess. We all except for the very few super talented and ambitious among us start from a kit at some point, I mean they are very few totally DIY 100% scratchbuilders out there.

I have some 442 motors to choose from but I also have a ZR-1 motor that may find its way in here.

I am really excited about this technology, I guess since I do both sides of it, working with 3d models and building plastic ones. I just see how incredible it would be to make a 3d model of anything you want and be able to have it in plastic in whatever scale you like. If a builder isn't confident in their plastic working skills or is trying a technique for the first time they could do in the computer and make sure it's perfect before committing the final design to plastic. For instance, I'm going to chop the new 50 Olds but I'm stalling because I'm not exactly sure of how I want to go about it to get the look I want. If it was a 3d file I could work with it and modify it until I'm happy and then print out the finshed product ready to hit the paint booth. What if you could print out the tube chassis of a drag car or the rollcage to a stock car and it would be one piece and straight and all the tubes would actually be round and with no impossible to clean seams everywhere. It will effect builders differently, some may not have much contact with it for a long time, while others will jump on it right away. Some people prefer to really chop up parts and let the plastic dust fly but some will prefer to do some things on the computer and start with ready to go parts. In the beginning you will able to choose your exposure to it, kind of like resin parts now. Some builders embrace the stuff and really use a lot of it and some have never and will never use it all. It is your personal choice and that won't change any time soon.

Wow, my wife is going to hate that, but she does always say she wishes she had some help around the house.

Realistically we are probably 3-5 years away from having a home unit that can reproduce parts of sufficient qualty to make it worth the investment for the average builder. Still, 3-5 years away from a technology that will fundementally change our hobby is pretty significant. This could do what the rewritable cd and mp3 player did to the music industry if the model companies are not ready and willing to adopt different busniess models. So right now the texture is a little rough, if the resolution of the printers multiplies at the same rate as that of digital cameras it should double every six to twelve months. In a few years the texture should be more like that of flat primer than sand, something very workable especially for one off custom kits. Only the outside of the body and any chrome parts need to be super smooth, everything else would probably benefit from having some texture to it.

I added the frenched headlight bezels tonight, I will putty them up and smooth them out later. I made the slightly angled, I wanted to see how it looks and if it doesn't work I can always sand them flat.

The stake truck is not even easily converted into the 53 truck shown. The front axle needs to be moved forward, the wheels are wrong, the chassis is most likely too long, the fuel tanks are wrong, among other things. It would be so much work they might as well just start fresh, especially since they will lose the ability to ever reissue the cab over C-600 like the W900A to T600A debacle.

Monogram already made a 69 Coronet 440+6, AMT was making the 68 Road Runner, 69 GTX, and 70 Super Bee, Monogram did a 70 GTX and Road Runner. The 68-70 B body market was pretty crowded while they already had a good tooling for a 67 GTX that was easily converted.

Why would they do that, how could they be so stupid? Stuff like this creates a fecal storm when there doesn't have to be one.