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@Mike-Amos said in Hot Rod:
Are we going to see anything new from you sometime?
Been thinking about posting some of the many historic one-off vehicles I have done. Did the only two remaining active sea tractors, both with very interesting histories. Here's a couple shots of the South Sands Sea Tractor
@L-i-am Thanks for the kind words, Liam, much appreciated! And have a great New Year!
@jaime_s Sorry, but I made the decision early on to not sell any of my models. That would make it seem more like work rather than something I do because I enjoy it.
@Rich-O-Brien So, the day after tomorrow then? Much appreciated!
Really nice work, Mike. But it does need high-speed hubcaps. And flames. And some big Cadillac fins.
Anyhow, five years later....
First off, I need to apologize to JQL for providing some incorrect information in my response to his question 10 years ago.
In my arrogance (and ignorance) I told him that the robot never existed outside of the lab. Well, of course that was wrong. It did exist in the upper city towards the end of the movie. When the False Maria was being burned on the bonfire she briefly transforms back into the robot. My bad 
As far as my Maschinenmensch, every now and then I wake her up and make some tweeks here and there. Sometimes they work, sometimes not. But I feel that it is gradually improving, maybe not a whole lot but it's slowly getting there. She is my favorite project.
And now, speaking of that bonfire, during my extensive research for the making of my Metropolis robot I came across a number of theories as to what ultimately happened to Walter Schulze-Mittendorff's amazing creation, from being destroyed in the war (huh?) to being hidden away in someone's private collection somewhere, even suggestions that WSM had created two of the robots, with one being destroyed in the bonfire and the other still existing somewhere, and everything in between.
But I subscribe to my own theory, that it was indeed destroyed during the big bonfire scene at the end of the movie, but not because it was destroyed in the actual fire (there is no photographic proof of that happening), but that it was for all intents and purposes destroyed while it was being prepared for the bonfire scene (for which there is photographic proof).
The suit was never designed to stand on it's own, only to be worn by Brigitte Helm. The many individual parts were molded onto a full body cast of Ms. Helm (can you imagine what that cast would be worth if it was somehow found today?), with thin layers of a very early version of Plastic Wood being applied to Hessian, an early version of burlap. Without her to support it they apparently had great difficulty getting it's parts and pieces to stay in position and in their not-so-subtle attempts to get everything to stay where they needed to be they apparently tightened the straps to the point where they broke through the robot, causing extensive damage. Further major damage was caused to the shoulders and arms while trying to get the arms bent out and back (the shoulders of the robot were sculpted as part of the body, and could not be moved).
For me the real question is why Fritz Lang, who's demand for perfection in absolutely every detail to assure that his vision of Metropolis was was not compromised is well known and documented, would allow such an obviously tattered and broken and much-less-than-perfect, to say the least, version of the robot to become part of his masterpiece at all. It is totally out of character for him.
Some other observations, for what they're worth
Well, just thought I would see if I remembered how to post stuff here. Boy, has this forum changed, hardly recognized it!! If it's not too much trouble I'd appreciate it if you could change it back to the way it was back in the good old days.
Hope everyone's holidays are going well!
Dang, don't know I missed this one! So glad to see you're still at it, creating masterpieces beyond compare. Been doing any more stuff that I might have missed?
@Rich-O-Brien Yeah, I figured it was probably from some sort of military vehicle or aircraft, but unfortunately I only have a few shots of it and they aren't hi-res enuf to show the details I need. Push comes to shove I'll just have to do the best I can with what I can see but I was hoping to avoid that. Oh well, life goes on. Have a good one!
Working on a model, but I need help identifying this seat. Has anybody seen it before? Thanks in advance for any help.
Oh jeez, turns out I already have it installed. Now that's embarrassing 
Now all I gotta do is figure out how to use it. I'm not too hopeful, but I'm gonna give it my best shot. Thanks, happy holidays!
I guess the title says it all. Any help will be much appreciated.
Wow, actually something with wheels!! All too rare here. Very nicely done, I hate that I cannot render.
Beautiful photo, Bryan. So when are we gonna see the model
Very nicely done, I'm jealous of your talent.
@box said:
Segments. There is always a limit to the number of segments Sketchup can deal with. There is also an unfortunate lack of good error messages built into sketchup.
10000 segments of a single continuous 'curve' will tend to crash sketchup without a bugsplat.
Your question appears to show that 6000 segments is the limit on a follow me before it gives you an error that is somewhat meaningless.
Thanks for going to all the trouble, some very useful information for myself and probably others. Very much appreciated 
And you're right about the 'somewhat meaningless' error messages. It might as well have said 'This ain't gonna work, but we're not gonna tell you why'
@rich o brien said:
Do not pre-select curve and the ask the face to sweep.
Call the tool, pick the face and then curve...
Thanks, Rich!!
Took me a while to figure out just what you meant, but finally got it to work. I have never had to do this before, is there a particular reason why this model needs to be done this way?
Can't figure out why Follow-Me doesn't work with this. I Welded the coil, the weld worked so there is no break or stray lines to prevent the follow-me from working, but keeps giving me a 'This does not appear to be a valid path' error msg. I've attached the .skp file. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Many years ago I downloaded TSgt Theodore Petras's personal journal. About 450 pages, and typewritten so it's easy to read. Here's his entry for Aug 29, 1940, where he takes up the Beech (that's what he calls the Staggerwing). It's unbelievable how the extreme cold caused so many problems with this flight.
@hornoxx said:
@hellnbak said:
...Don't know how I missed this. Nice work on the Cruiser...
Thanks & Great Hellnbak
Despite search, these facts about this plane I did not know so far!
(Did I understood correctly - next to the motor
Sorry, been super busy. Yes, I did model both the plane and the engine. Such as they are.
