Pixie's Workbench - 2mm/ft Diesels and a 305mm/ft Cavalier

[queensquare]

Three corners?

Tim

Fair point, just don't leave me in charge of applying the brakes!

 

Jerry

[Wyvern]

Very Nice Tim, have you taken it out in the wet?   Love to have one myself

 

Guy

[Nigelcliffe]

Like you, I have never been a car person, but six months ago succumbed to one of these:

 

Perhaps Pixie could send you a nicely cleaned front number plate.

 

- Nigel

Edited November 20, 2016 by Nigelcliffe

[Pixie]

Used it to drive to the church for my wedding, then didn't touch it got a year before eventually selling. Just didn't make sense having it and not using it (given it was stored in Devon.)

The fact that I couldn't get Evie in there made it even less likely to be used.

 

Bah, you should have kept it.

 

I think you're wise to hoover up all the parts you can from the scrapper. The guvnor at my regular car MOT place is a fan of Mk1 & Mk2 Escorts and the prices he's had to pay for things like new wings are eyewatering.

 

I'm glad it makes sense to someone else; I've questioned my own sanity sometimes whilst cleaning up old parts. Coincidently there's a Mk.1 and Mk.2 Escort specialist here in Bracknell; they'll sell you a whole new Mk.1 bodyshell for around £3000 - a big outlay but seems quite a good deal for a solid basis for a project.   

 

Vactan looks useful. I use a similar chemical called Fertan, which I found when looking for coach enamel.  I'll have to compare the prices. Fertan is a touch expensive. I would also recommend ACF50 which is an excellent preservative for bare metals. It'll be good to use on parts like the wiper mechs and brake lines. It's also die-electric so you can use it on the wiring connectors. Just put some onto some rag and wipe it on. 

 

I sourced my Vactan through eBay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VACTAN-RUST-CONVERTER-AND-PRIMER-1LITRE-RUST-TREATMENT-/121025597300?hash=item1c2db00f74:m:mYYpZUgj75pkU5IhpgzgyUQ. Usual disclaimer. I'll give some ACF50 a whirl!

 

 

You'll find that compared to a modern car, the Cavalier will be delightfully simple to service and maintain.

 

It's been good fun so far; it's certainly far simpler than I expected. The brake lights being triggered by a simple push-to-break switch on the pedal; or the simple brass washer on a float within the brake fluid cap that drops, making contact with the warning light circuit, are simple yet solid bits of engineering. One of the areas I plan to cover in the future is the difference in the engineering in a 1980 Cavalier and a 2001 Fiat Punto (my daily driver... which is also orange). The Cavalier is all nuts-and-bolts, designed for component replacement and designed to last a life time. The Punto is full of cheap pop-rivets and clips, modular replacement and evidently built to a price. It's interesting comparing the two.

 

One already qualifies for Historic (i.e. nil!) VED and next year, the other will. The DVLA are consulting on dropping the MOT requirement for vehicles over 40 years old. Currently, pre-1960 vehicles are MOT exempt

 

That'd great if it happens; when looking at the Irish Cavalier it became apparent that Irish vehicles over 30 years old don't requite an NCT. I guess there must be some kind of roadworthiness test, surely?

 

As I understand it, the Cav will be nil VED eligible in 2020 so not long to wait.

 

Yep; the £235 a year is a little hard to stomach I must admit.

 

 

Like you, I have never been a car person, but six months ago succumbed to one of these:

 

 

 

That's a beauty, Tim.

 

 Perhaps Pixie could send you a nicely cleaned front number plate.

 

I have a fine selection, scavenged from dying Cavaliers, available.

 

Pix

[Pixie]

Cavalier Chronicles - Part 5 - A Financial Intersection.

 

For a brief moment, I'd like to put aside my Englishman's etiquette and talk about money. A faux pas, I know, but bear with me. When I tell people about owning a 'classic' car, the topic of expense usually arises; toned with the sincere belief that the GDP of a small country is required to support such an interest. And, to be honest, before starting this adventure I thought the same. As alluded to in the first Cavalier Chronicles; I'm from a fairly humble background. I work an averagely paid job, have a whopping student loan and really should be saving for a house deposit. I'd usually cling onto the money issue when the 'Why haven't you bought your Cavalier yet?!' topic came up down the pub, there was no way I could afford it on top of my current out goings. I'd then conveniently slipping out for a smoke to kill the conversation dead.

 

But, therein lied the solution.

 

For reasons only known to the 20 year old me, I started smoking when I was in my final year of university. I'm not sure if it was the stress of finals, the people I lived with at the time or a weak form of rebellion but I did. It started with an occasional fag and a pint in the evening; slowly morphing into an almost daily afternoon smoke and a cuppa and, before I knew it, my morning routine focuses around a strong coffee and a ciggie. I'm sure this progression is a very well trodden path. Graduation didn't help; entering the world of work meant I had the money to keep going and a smoke-break was a welcome few moments of calm away from my desk.

 

I never really considered myself a smoker, I was a person who smoked. In a similar vein, I don't consider myself a cyclist but I sometimes ride a bike. This mindset somehow allowed me to convince myself that I'd avoid the plethora of issues and addiction that smoking may lead to. I'd be fine; I could quit whenever I wanted. It was only around five years into smoking the penny dropped; as a 26 year old man I shouldn't be waking up with coughing fits, watching my teeth yellow or having chest pains. I should be in my peak; not my trough. Guilt crept in too - Dad smoked for all his adult life; I used to complain daily about how he should give it up before finally, and proudly, he did just that. And yet, just a few years later there I was doing the one thing my Dad fought for so long to stop. What a tool; absolute hypocritical tool. I never told Dad I smoked; it would have crushed him with disappointment and I had zero justification for my cause. As this realisation sunk in; I decided I needed to stop. It was a part of me that needed to go.

 

It's 5:30pm on Monday 29th June last year; it's a glorious warm evening and I've just fired up my post-work, pre-drive home smoke. A symbolic act that defines the transition from work-time to me-time; made all the better as I prepared for a jaunt to the Isle of Man. Slowly inhaling the first drag; I suddenly became aware that I received no pleasure from smoking anymore. This was an action of addiction. Without further thought I disposed of my newfound enemy, rapidly followed by the rest of the packet. This was my break; six days away from the office and my usual environs was enough break the cycle.

 

Fuelled by will power alone, I survived the first 24 hours. Just as temptation resurfaced I found myself in a Ramsay car park, ogling the Opel Manta seen several posts up. Then it struck me; could the money saved from smoking fund my Cavalier project? It seemed unlikely - fags were only a few quid a packet; an old car is thousands. But what a source of motivation it would be! I decided that even if the cost of a Cavalier outweighed the cost of cigarettes; giving up would at least be a contribution. This was 'Fags for Fuel', 'Smokes for Spares' or, as my French speaking friend eloquently advised, 'Cesse pour caisse'!

 

So, jumping forward to the present day, how to the numbers stack up? The Cavalier cost me £1500, which arguably is a reclaimable asset so let's put that aside for the moment. In terms of running costs; I pay £13 a week rent to house it, £124 a year to insure it, £235 to tax it (Roll on 2020 and its 'Historic' status!) and £54.85 to MOT. This means a yearly maintenance cost of £1,089.85, or £2.99 a day. That's no small sum of cash; it's a noticeable chunk of my take home salary. Especially when I should saving for a deposit.

 

When I smoked, I got through about 10 a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less but 10 is a reasonable average. When I last checked, a pack of 20 B&H Silver (my brand of choice) was £8.74 or, rather scarily, a whopping £1,595.05 a year. When I returned from the Isle of Man, there was a round-robin email recruiting First Aiders and Fire Warden at work. Given my newfound drive for self improvement; I also signed up for both and was pleasantly surprised to find a £42.02 supplement in my monthly pay packet - a welcome boost for the Cavalier fund. Combing the cigarette and first aid money, I was £2,099.29 better off a year. Or £5.75 a day! Now, it doesn't take a genius to work out £5.75 is more than £2.99 - maintaining a Cavalier was much cheaper than smoking... and it (probably) wouldn't kill me!

 

But, let's bring the purchase price back in. If day-by-day I was financially better off, there would come a point when not smoking would not only cover the running costs but also pay off the purchase of the car. A point of intersection, where savings (red) would overtake outlay (blue).

 

 

Time for some simultaneous equations. If the number of days of not smoking is (n), at a rate of £5.75 a day, the total saved (S) is...

 

S = n*5.75 = 5.75n

 

Total expenditure on the Cavalier (E) is the initial outlay of £1500 plus the daily running costs of £2.99 for each day owned (D)...

 

E = 1500 + 2.99D

 

I'm at break even when the above two are equal, therefore...

 

S = E

or

5.75n = 1500 + 2.99D

 

I bought the Cavalier 29 days after quitting smoking, so D = (n - 29). Subbing in gives...

 

5.75n = 1500 + 2.99(n - 29

= 1500 + 2.99n - 86.71

= 1413.29 + 2.99n

 

Therefore n = 1413.29/2.76 = 512.06 days.

 

So, 512 days after giving up I'll be at break even point. Having quit at 5:30 on 29/06/15, 512.06 days later takes us to 6:54 on 22/11/16.

 

In other words; at five-to-seven last night, by giving up something that was slowly killing me, I can say that I'm not one penny down and yet I'm a car and 18 months of adventures up!

 

 

But, best of all, I can point to the Cavalier and say that something that would have driven my old man and I apart has funded something which has brought us together. I'm not quite sure what the moral of the story is here - telling people to fund things by taking up smoking and giving it up doesn't sit too well. I'll have to mull this one over a bit.

Edited November 23, 2016 by Pixie

[queensquare]

Another cracking post, simultaneous equations - not seen them used for a while!

 

I gave up smoking about nine years ago, mainly because I could hear my throat rattling when I went to bed at night and coughed like an old hack every morning until I had my first roll up and got the lungs bump started!

 

I've never calculated how much I have saved - it would just depress me by emphasising how much I waste over the best part of thirty years hooked on the weed. The big down side for me was piling on over two and a half stone in weight. I've lost over a stone of that but would like to loose another stone - trouble is I'm very fond of good food and a glass or three of red!!

 

Jerry

[Pixie]

Right, enough about Cavaliers for a moment. Modelling seasons is upon us! BcnPete, Bryn and I met up for an fry up at Kings Cross on Sunday before heading down to the MRC Club Room for a good look at the S scale show and Copenhagen Fields. Whilst we were there we gave some stock a good outing around their test track. This was very much appreciated; most of my stock only ever shuffles a few feet up and down the layout.

 

 

 

 

We headed over the St. Pancras afterwards for a pint. I wonder when one of these was last there?

 

 

Work continues on Parkend - mostly tidying up areas or correcting bodges that were made a while ago. I'm very pleased to say that I've now finished fitting DGs to all my stock; it's nice to be able to play trains in the evening.

 

 

Cheers,

Pix

Edited November 23, 2016 by Pixie

[nick_bastable]

nice to see you back from your sojourn  having spent X ^x y Xz on fags booze and trains who am i to argue  still life is not a dress rehearsal

 

Cheers,

Pix

 

NIck

 

Edited November 24, 2016 by nick_bastable

[Donw]

Good for you Pix. We only earn money to buy stuff buying something we are going to burn straight away for little benefit and a lot of harm is senseless. I know because I used to do it. We stopped because Marion had a bad throat and couldn't smoke when it was better neither wanted to be the first to start again that was over 30 years ago.

When young I used to see drug addicts hanging about outside a particular rough pub to smoke their odd 'tobacco'. In my last years of working I used to see little groups of smokers huddled outside offices. There was no difference between the two.

 

Perhaps some would say you should be saving for the deposit but to me it looks like the challenge of the car and getting there has been a good thing for you to have done. Regard it as Project management training.

 

Don

[Caley Jim]

To put my (former) professional hat on, you have also considerably increased you lifespan - and therefore time to build models.  Half of all smokers will die from a smoking related disease - and that doesn't only mean lung cancer.

 

Jim W (BDS)

[Chris Higgs]

Cavalier Chronicles - Part 5 - A Financial Intersection.

 

For a brief moment, I'd like to put aside my Englishman's etiquette and talk about money. A faux pas, I know, but bear with me. When I tell people about owning a 'classic' car, the topic of expense usually arises; toned with the sincere belief that the GDP of a small country is required to support such an interest. And, to be honest, before starting this adventure I thought the same. As alluded to in the first Cavalier Chronicles; I'm from a fairly humble background. I work an averagely paid job, have a whopping student loan and really should be saving for a house deposit. I'd usually cling onto the money issue when the 'Why haven't you bought your Cavalier yet?!' topic came up down the pub, there was no way I could afford it on top of my current out goings. I'd then conveniently slipping out for a smoke to kill the conversation dead.

 

But, therein lied the solution.

 

For reasons only known to the 20 year old me, I started smoking when I was in my final year of university. I'm not sure if it was the stress of finals, the people I lived with at the time or a weak form of rebellion but I did. It started with an occasional fag and a pint in the evening; slowly morphing into an almost daily afternoon smoke and a cuppa and, before I knew it, my morning routine focuses around a strong coffee and a ciggie. I'm sure this progression is a very well trodden path. Graduation didn't help; entering the world of work meant I had the money to keep going and a smoke-break was a welcome few moments of calm away from my desk.

 

I never really considered myself a smoker, I was a person who smoked. In a similar vein, I don't consider myself a cyclist but I sometimes ride a bike. This mindset somehow allowed me to convince myself that I'd avoid the plethora of issues and addiction that smoking may lead to. I'd be fine; I could quit whenever I wanted. It was only around five years into smoking the penny dropped; as a 26 year old man I shouldn't be waking up with coughing fits, watching my teeth yellow or having chest pains. I should be in my peak; not my trough. Guilt crept in too - Dad smoked for all his adult life; I used to complain daily about how he should give it up before finally, and proudly, he did just that. And yet, just a few years later there I was doing the one thing my Dad fought for so long to stop. What a tool; absolute hypocritical tool. I never told Dad I smoked; it would have crushed him with disappointment and I had zero justification for my cause. As this realisation sunk in; I decided I needed to stop. It was a part of me that needed to go.

 

It's 5:30pm on Monday 29th June last year; it's a glorious warm evening and I've just fired up my post-work, pre-drive home smoke. A symbolic act that defines the transition from work-time to me-time; made all the better as I prepared for a jaunt to the Isle of Man. Slowly inhaling the first drag; I suddenly became aware that I received no pleasure from smoking anymore. This was an action of addiction. Without further thought I disposed of my newfound enemy, rapidly followed by the rest of the packet. This was my break; six days away from the office and my usual environs was enough break the cycle.

 

Fuelled by will power alone, I survived the first 24 hours. Just as temptation resurfaced I found myself in a Ramsay car park, ogling the Opel Manta seen several posts up. Then it struck me; could the money saved from smoking fund my Cavalier project? It seemed unlikely - fags were only a few quid a packet; an old car is thousands. But what a source of motivation it would be! I decided that even if the cost of a Cavalier outweighed the cost of cigarettes; giving up would at least be a contribution. This was 'Fags for Fuel', 'Smokes for Spares' or, as my French speaking friend eloquently advised, 'Cesse pour caisse'!

 

So, jumping forward to the present day, how to the numbers stack up? The Cavalier cost me £1500, which arguably is a reclaimable asset so let's put that aside for the moment. In terms of running costs; I pay £13 a week rent to house it, £124 a year to insure it, £235 to tax it (Roll on 2020 and its 'Historic' status!) and £54.85 to MOT. This means a yearly maintenance cost of £1,089.85, or £2.99 a day. That's no small sum of cash; it's a noticeable chunk of my take home salary. Especially when I should saving for a deposit.

 

When I smoked, I got through about 10 a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less but 10 is a reasonable average. When I last checked, a pack of 20 B&H Silver (my brand of choice) was £8.74 or, rather scarily, a whopping £1,595.05 a year. When I returned from the Isle of Man, there was a round-robin email recruiting First Aiders and Fire Warden at work. Given my newfound drive for self improvement; I also signed up for both and was pleasantly surprised to find a £42.02 supplement in my monthly pay packet - a welcome boost for the Cavalier fund. Combing the cigarette and first aid money, I was £2,099.29 better off a year. Or £5.75 a day! Now, it doesn't take a genius to work out £5.75 is more than £2.99 - maintaining a Cavalier was much cheaper than smoking... and it (probably) wouldn't kill me!

 

But, let's bring the purchase price back in. If day-by-day I was financially better off, there would come a point when not smoking would not only cover the running costs but also pay off the purchase of the car. A point of intersection, where savings (red) would overtake outlay (blue).

 

 

Time for some simultaneous equations. If the number of days of not smoking is (n), at a rate of £5.75 a day, the total saved (S) is...

 

S = n*5.75 = 5.75n

 

Total expenditure on the Cavalier (E) is the initial outlay of £1500 plus the daily running costs of £2.99 for each day owned (D)...

 

E = 1500 + 2.99D

 

I'm at break even when the above two are equal, therefore...

 

S = E

or

5.75n = 1500 + 2.99D

 

I bought the Cavalier 29 days after quitting smoking, so D = (n - 29). Subbing in gives...

 

5.75n = 1500 + 2.99(n - 29

= 1500 + 2.99n - 86.71

= 1413.29 + 2.99n

 

Therefore n = 1413.29/2.76 = 512.06 days.

 

So, 512 days after giving up I'll be at break even point. Having quit at 5:30 on 29/06/15, 512.06 days later takes us to 6:54 on 22/11/16.

 

In other words; at five-to-seven last night, by giving up something that was slowly killing me, I can say that I'm not one penny down and yet I'm a car and 18 months of adventures up!

 

 

But, best of all, I can point to the Cavalier and say that something that would have driven my old man and I apart has funded something which has brought us together. I'm not quite sure what the moral of the story is here - telling people to fund things by taking up smoking and giving it up doesn't sit too well. I'll have to mull this one over a bit.

 

You have too much time on your hands. :-)

 

Chris

[Kylestrome]

Is there a story behind the missing white stripe on the drivers side front wing?

[Dtwo]

Hi Pix,

 

That Pullman is looking great! Is it wrong to like that livery more than the original one?!! Like others, I'm loving your Cavalier Chronicles. But I'm afraid I have some bad new for you. You'll still be paying road tax on the Cavalier in 2020. When it was first introduced it was a rolling 25 years old, but when labour were elected in 1997 they stopped the rolling aspect of it. Consequently, your car is only tax free if it was bulit upto sometime in 1972, which I think is an L suffix registration.

 

David

 

P.S. Did you get my email regarding the CEP shoebeams?

[garethashenden]

Hi Pix,

 

That Pullman is looking great! Is it wrong to like that livery more than the original one?!! Like others, I'm loving your Cavalier Chronicles. But I'm afraid I have some bad new for you. You'll still be paying road tax on the Cavalier in 2020. When it was first introduced it was a rolling 25 years old, but when labour were elected in 1997 they stopped the rolling aspect of it. Consequently, your car is only tax free if it was bulit upto sometime in 1972, which I think is an L suffix registration.

 

David

 

P.S. Did you get my email regarding the CEP shoebeams?

That used to be the case, but the rolling exeption was reintroduced a few years ago, under Cameron I believe. Currently any car built before 1976 is tax free.

[The Fatadder]

That used to be the case, but the rolling exeption was reintroduced a few years ago, under Cameron I believe. Currently any car built before 1976 is tax free.

Happened just after I sold the Spitfire(which would now be tax free)...

[Dtwo]

That used to be the case, but the rolling exeption was reintroduced a few years ago, under Cameron I believe. Currently any car built before 1976 is tax free.

 

I stand corrected, I hadn't heard about the change. However, it's still not as good as when first introduced when the tax exemption was 25 years! Did the 40 year tax exemption come in at the same time as pre 1960 cars became exempt from requiring an MOT test?

[2mmMark]

I think it did.  There's a consultation going on about whether the MOT exemption should also be a rolling 40 years. I'm in two minds about this. It would good to be rid of one more burden of bureaucracy but an MOT is a good second pair of eyes and despite people's dread of it, it's only a basic safety test. Most classic vehicle owners take the roadworthiness of their pride and joy very seriously but it would only take a newsworthy accident and tabloid headlines to provoke demands from a rentaquote backbencher that "something must be done".

 

The problem comes in finding a test centre that has some knowledge of older cars and can approach the test with some sympathy.

 

Mark

[Donw]

I think it did.  There's a consultation going on about whether the MOT exemption should also be a rolling 40 years. I'm in two minds about this. It would good to be rid of one more burden of bureaucracy but an MOT is a good second pair of eyes and despite people's dread of it, it's only a basic safety test. Most classic vehicle owners take the roadworthiness of their pride and joy very seriously but it would only take a newsworthy accident and tabloid headlines to provoke demands from a rentaquote backbencher that "something must be done".

 

The problem comes in finding a test centre that has some knowledge of older cars and can approach the test with some sympathy.

 

Mark

 

I suspect the MOT exemption may be because some of the newer items added to the tests may be difficult to apply to older vehicles. Easier to make an exemption than to start qualifying which parts apply to different vehicles.

 

Don

[2mmMark]

I was delighted to find this while out and about on Saturday. As mentioned previously, I passed my test in a G reg HB Viva. This is the GT model! It's a very elegant little car I think. 

Obviously competing with the Ford Escort at the time.

 

Mark

 

 

[Izzy]

G was 1968 wasn't it? Interesting the wide wheels. Anyone else remember the fad for fitting wider 5 1/2 J wheels to many popular cars in the later 60's? Mainly minis and anglias. IIRC you could get 'cheap' sets where they sliced them and welded strips in to increase the width. Those were the days.........

 

Izzy

[2mmMark]

G was 1968 wasn't it? Interesting the wide wheels. Anyone else remember the fad for fitting wider 5 1/2 J wheels to many popular cars in the later 60's? Mainly minis and anglias. IIRC you could get 'cheap' sets where they sliced them and welded strips in to increase the width. Those were the days.........

 

Izzy

1968 to 1969.  I think our Viva was registered in 1968. It was my Grandad's car originally and replaced his much loved Austin A40.  My grandad had a terrible sense of direction so it probably did more miles getting lost than getting to a destination.

 

The registration year ran from 1st August to 31st July.  The first year ran from January to July, which is why there were always relatively few A reg vehicles around.

 

Remember the midnight rush to collect new cars on 00:01 on 1st August?

 

I also remember pop-riveted wheel arch extensions to cover the wider wheels.  Flared cars & flared trousers. What fun we had!

Edited December 8, 2016 by 2mmMark

[Yorkshire Square]

I nearly bought an L registered Viva as my first car, but having almost written it off on the test drive due to non-existent brakes, I ducked out.

 

Went for an R reg MkII Escort 1.6 Ghia in silver with orange trim. Would a teenager get insurance for such a beast these days?

[Pixie]

The big down side for me was piling on over two and a half stone in weight. I've lost over a stone of that but would like to loose another stone - trouble is I'm very fond of good food and a glass or three of red!!

 

You and me both, Jerry. Sorry to have missed you at Warley by the way; I passed by your stand a couple of times but I think you must of been on your lunch break. Bath Queen Square is looking seriously impressive; that backscene with the viaduct just looks so right. We'll have to dieselise it sometime...

 

Is there a story behind the missing white stripe on the drivers side front wing?

 

Yes, you could say that. 

 

All in good time.

 

That Pullman is looking great! Is it wrong to like that livery more than the original one?!! 

 

They have a certain charm David - I think it's fair to say they're of their time!

 

I was delighted to find this while out and about on Saturday. As mentioned previously, I passed my test in a G reg HB Viva. This is the GT model! It's a very elegant little car I think. 

 

That's an absolute beauty Mark - well spotted! Given your location, I wonder if it's owned by the same guy with this one - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1969-VAUXHALL-VIVA-HB-SL-2-DOOR-SILVER-GENUINE-42-460-Miles-AMAZING-CONDITION-/191849269965?nma=true&si=P5lKRyK81B5KeNmIVkCPZG3NlSE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557? If I wasn't tinkering around with Cavaliers then I'd be very tempted by an HB Viva. I really like the styling; especially that subtle unsweep over the rear wheels. I have got a couple of Busch Opel Rekords that I may try to carve into an Viva at some point but I still live in the hope that someone will do a range of 'porridge' 1960s/70s/80s cars. 

 

Readers of Cavalier Chronicles may recall that I mentioned a vision I had for my future; a point where I would consider I'd 'made it'. My little place in the country - where I can tinker with the Cav, have a little veg patch, let the greyhounds roam free, a corner for a couple of hens, the kids can play on the lawn and Akiko and I have a spot of lunch in good weather. It'll be a rustic place, rather than utterly pristine. In reality, this vision is many, many years off. However, in my little 2mm kingdom I'm almost there...

 

 

However, I'd like to throw down a gauntlet. The one thing I'm missing is a model of a greyhound - Presier and the like don't list them, I'm not sure I could get one to stand still for long enough to be 3D scanned and my carving abilities are pants. So; I offer a bottle of the finest Argentian Malbec to anyone who can provide me with an 2mm greyhound in a decent, natural pose.

 

Pix

Edited December 11, 2016 by Pixie

[Scottish Modeller]

You and me both, Jerry. Sorry to have missed you at Warley by the way; I passed by your stand a couple of times but I think you must of been on your lunch break. Bath Queen Square is looking seriously impressive; that backscene with the viaduct just looks so right. We'll have to dieselise it sometime...

 

 

Yes, you could say that. 

 

All in good time.

 

 

They have a certain charm David - I think it's fair to say they're of their time!

 

 

That's an absolute beauty Mark - well spotted! Given your location, I wonder if it's owned by the same guy with this one - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1969-VAUXHALL-VIVA-HB-SL-2-DOOR-SILVER-GENUINE-42-460-Miles-AMAZING-CONDITION-/191849269965?nma=true&si=P5lKRyK81B5KeNmIVkCPZG3NlSE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557? If I wasn't tinkering around with Cavaliers then I'd be very tempted by an HB Viva. I really like the styling; especially that subtle unsweep over the rear wheels. I have got a couple of Busch Opel Rekords that I may try to carve into an Viva at some point but I still live in the hope that someone will do a range of 'porridge' 1960s/70s/80s cars. 

 

Readers of Cavalier Chronicles may recall that I mentioned a vision I had for my future; a point where I would consider I'd 'made it'. My little place in the country - where I can tinker with the Cav, have a little veg patch, let the greyhounds roam free, a corner for a couple of hens, the kids can play on the lawn and Akiko and I have a spot of lunch in good weather. It'll be a rustic place, rather than utterly pristine. In reality, this vision is many, many years off. However, in my little 2mm kingdom I'm almost there...

 

 

However, I'd like to throw down a gauntlet. The one thing I'm missing is a model of a greyhound - Presier and the like don't list them, I'm not sure I could get one to stand still for long enough to be 3D scanned and my carving abilities are pants. So; I offer a bottle of the finest Argentian Malbec to anyone who can provide me with an 2mm greyhound in a decent, natural pose.

 

Pix

Hi Pix,

 

Not much help, but....

 

The solution to problem of scanning a live greyhound is - don't.

 

Find a stuffed on and scan it instead!

 

Thanks

[Kylestrome]

However, I'd like to throw down a gauntlet. The one thing I'm missing is a model of a greyhound - Presier and the like don't list them, I'm not sure I could get one to stand still for long enough to be 3D scanned....................

 

Pix

 

If you search on eBay for "greyhound", under "Collectables", you'll find quite a few realistic figurines that could be 3D scanned.

 

David

Edited December 11, 2016 by Kylestrome