You know I do. I really do. With the news a constant bombardment of negative and gloom and doom I hope you find this place an escape from it. Because as an old friend of mine once said, “there’s nothing wrong with escape. It’s moving forward”. And that friend was Timothy Leary.

Our kitchen is being remodeled and this has caused quite a disruption in our daily routine. We cook food in the backyard with a Coloman stove, wash dishes in a tub and so on. The bright side to all this is we get a new kitchen and for that this is all worth it. The old one was getting pretty bad.

Scott Sheldon a friend is doing the work and he got wind of my interests through the weekly newsletter. He brought this box with him yesterday he said was old train stuff he’s had he’s been meaning to get rid of. He said it was really old and probably did work and that I could throw it away if I wanted too.

When I got home I went through the box to find some old Lionel track switchers and other bits. Then I found the mystery boxes inside the box and opened them up. I was blown away because the engine I once had in the 50’s as a child was there. It was the exact same one down to it’s number. 2065 made in 1954.

Today I’m taking it to work where I have some Lionel track and find out if she still runs. but from what I can tell it will or can be fixed to do so. This train is huge and most weight 10 pounds or more. All made of thick metal. thank you so much Scott for making a dream come true!

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 I also started on another car. This one is a Offenhauser Sprint car from the late 50’s.  The frame and motor are from the 60’s and the body is a more recent vacuum form body I got from Ebay. I was lucky it fit what I believe to be an old Eldon frame.

I have much detailing to do still to it but I got pretty far in a couple of hours and it runs great! I ran it around the oval track and took a video I’ll post later.

I hope you enjoyed the happy news. Go out and make some of your own by creating joy and a better reality for yourself.  

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I have just been working on personal projects although I will be getting back to Laser Blast next week because today I go into town in LA for a visit to Burmans INC. I’ll be picking up Silicon to mold the Laser Blast figure, resin to cast figures, rockets and parts for masks. Also some rubber to pour masks.

But much of this week I have spent working on the UFO model, getting the submarine ready for a sub run, and working on my oval dirt track for slot cars.

The track is coming along well and still needs a back drop with a grand stand, lights, a pit crew in the pits and other decorations. But the basic track is down, leveled, painted and landscaped with guardrails, railroad dirt, grass and scrubs. got to have scrubs!

I’m also building a new midget racer on an old Eldon frame and motor from the 60’s which is fitting being that the actual track used is a 55 year old Revell track. More on that later and pictures.

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I have always loved auto racing, sports cars and Formula 1 in particular. I used to race sports cars when I was a kid. Everything from TR-3 to Lotus. My very favorite is the Lotus.

I have been enjoying Virtual Reality racing for a while now but since I got the newer headsets(HP Reverb. thanks Tracy!) with high resolution it has evolved to a pretty exciting level. Coupled that with force feedback steering wheel, shifter and pedals and it gets very realistic.

Recently I got this new Sim and it’s pretty amazing. I recorded while I was doing my first race. I did OK  but I didn’t know the track well enough or the car.

But I had a great time. This weekend I’ll be in a race with real people in multiplayer. This sim even has 60’s Formula One and the Lotus 49!

Enjoy this short video. It was my first time shooting and driving this track.

A good mix for the day. I’m Getting ready for a Sub run in September. This will be the first one I will attend since Covid, the very real non-fake pandemic started. I only have 3 working subs these days as I sold off many of the big subs and even some of the small ones awhile back. After selling them I used the money to buy and build that big RC J Class sailing boat which I get a great deal more use out of.

I got this smaller Type 7 U-boat and a smaller Disney Nautilus I could handle better. Both those boats were huge and they were getting difficult to manage.

This type 7 U-boat from WW2 has always been a favorite and this model is just the right size and very scale to the actual boat. I placed the cylinder inside the hull yesterday and hooked it all up. She’s ready to dive in Sept. BTW I still have my Seaview! Never will I part with that one.

I also started the flying saucer area 51 Bob Lazar sport model yesterday and got it in primer and started the silver paint.

And a little more work on the oval dirt track. A slow process but a fun one.

Friday we go to town to Burmans to pick up silicone to mold the Laser Blast figure and the new rocket. We also ran out of resin to cast parts of rockets and resin cast figures, teeth and more for our orders.

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This is hope. If you have kids let them watch this trailer. This isn’t taught in schools although it should be. If we ever hope to understand who we are and our deep connection to the universe we need to be in space and embrace it. It is the greater reality.

I feel like taking this class myself. What Chris is doing is a tremendous effort to engage all ages in the importance of space exploration.

Show people this trailer because he speaks the truth and the trailer alone is an inspiration.

My late wife gave me this boat for my birthday in 2006. Fiber glass hull and nice details I have always loved this fishing boat. It was upstairs nearly forgotten. The riggings rotted. The line they used on this boat was very poor and didn’t last. I replaced it with good line and tuned it up.

The speed control no longer functioned so I replace it with a new marine ESC.

Got the lights working again and added a receiver. Everything works again and next week she goes out to the Marina. It will be useful in helping stalled sailboats back to shore should something goes wrong. She’s also very fun to just run. Sails are non functional and it runs on motor power.

I also plan to weather it to appear more like a fishing boat that has had some use.

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I finally got back to the Marina yesterday only 5 minutes from the studio. As close as it is it’s hard at times to just get there. But things have gotten quiet again at the studio and it was time.

Spending time with my hobbies more these days is very important to me. These hobbies keep you healthy upstairs and inspired. When you are inspired and passionate about a hobby it contributes to your well being and health.

I have too many hobbies. Or do I? All the things the human race has done on land, on sea, under the sea, and in the air and now space. It’s just so amazing. And all of us can participate in these amazing things through hobbies that emulate these great feats of engineering and imagination. In some cases models have contributed many times to new inventions and contributions to the successes of full sized planes to space craft.

Yesterday I met with the local sailing group at the Marina. They race sail boats every Thursday there. Although I didn’t race I just sailed with them for a while and we had a special visitor.

It was a wonderful cool day and sunny. Winds were just right and everyone had a great time. Almost everyone there was a retired engineer with the exception of myself.

I shot a bit of video with my cell phone when our special visitor arrived. Great time and I look forward to more ahead.

Yes I was born in San Francisco in 1952. What a different world it was then. Or was it? I still see the same stupidity going on now as there was back then. Maybe even worse. But in all of that there was a light that burned bright and has remained doing so. Maybe even more.

This book launched a thousand astronauts, space craft, and dreams. It changed my life. Your life. I remember literally sleeping with this book as a small child. It was my bible and hope for the future we so desperately need.

It was a time of great vision and imagination that put us on the moon 17 years later. that’s what inspiration and true passion can do. Thank the stars above for Elon, Branson, Bezos and the others that continue to keep this torch lit!

Felix I will turn this into a PDF. This book was given to me a Chris present. My original book was long lost to time. This was one of the best presents I ever received. Thank You J Paul Moore!

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I know I have been doing a lot of slot car stuff lately but it’s my summer vacation of sorts. It brings a lot of joy and fun to ones soul in these dreadful times we have been going through the last 4 years or more. Just watching the news or hearing it is enough to trouble anyone. We all need a break from it and hobbies really fill that need.

So I tested the little dirt track with a true dirt car yesterday. It worked great. Now to get on with detailing the track to look like a real oval dirt track.

The car I have is the wrong scale for this 1/32 track but I’m planning to build the correct scale once I find them. The track is about the right shape and size too.

Back in 1990 I had a company called Dreamland Effects. I sold my art as resin cast busts, even full figures of my greys and more. These were the early resin cast busts I made back then. I scanned this old photo today. I always like it.

It had got on the net more than once and some people as usual claimed it was real. It was. My “real resin busts”.

This was a day when I had a large order for them and I lined them all up and took a 35mm camera and shot this picture.