I don't know if it affects the kit shown in the original post, but Adam Savage had a recent video touched on a model engine kit he bought and then he subsequently found out it was being knocked off by Chinese companies (that were also using his image without his permission.) As the advice always goes, buyer beware.
Tom Suddard said:I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole last night and now have a new item for my Christmas wishlist: Instructions to build your very own real, running engine from scratch:
https://www.hemingwaykits.com/category-84
Has anybody ever seen these before? I feel like I've been missing out on an even crazier little corner of the world than our
Hah, Hemingway kits... I just ordered a tail stock die holder from them this week. Their kits consist of plans and raw stock cut to rough outside dimensions. I think they have a pretty cool business plan, though they just transferred to new ownership, so hopefully they'll keep going. The only issue I have with them is shipping. It's just plain crazy to ship a box of steel halfway around the world. The kit is ~$45, but shipping to the US is ~$60. They really need to set up a domestic rep/reseller - or sell plans by themselves - because I'm sure that shipping is limiting sales here.
Regarding building model engines, there are some absolutely crazy/insane builds. One guy build a 1/8-scale Ferrari (I think) and the crazy thing is the engine runs, the transmission has all gears - shifts with the gear lever(!), and the suspension and steering work. I can't imagine spending 1000s of hours building something like this, only to start it once, then park it... where, under a glass dining room table? Not for me but still extremely impressive.
kb58 said:Regarding building model engines, there are some absolutely crazy/insane builds. One guy build a 1/8-scale Ferrari (I think) and the crazy thing is the engine runs, the transmission has all gears - shifts with the gear lever(!), and the suspension and steering work. I can't imagine spending 1000s of hours building something like this, only to start it once, then park it... where, under a glass dining room table? Not for me but still extremely impressive.
1/3 scale
https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasberkeley/comments/c7ncoe/this_man_has_spend_20000_hours_building_this/
OK, these guys didn't technically "build an engine from scratch", but what they DID do is build a 4 valve per cylinder V10, (which involved cutting, and welding, then line boring - they made the tool to do that, too - several V8 heads into two V10 heads), THEN proceeded to stuff it, and a manual trans, into a (formerly) front wheel drive Lincoln chassis, and a threw Mustang IFS and IRS under it as well.
It sounds wicked.
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