Odd request, not for the faint of heart!

Thanks for the kind words again John.<br><br>No, I've been wrapped up in a dozen different things. Getting the property cleaned up for the first time in the spring... doing some plumbing in a rental house... working on another board member's HW custom project ... letting the paint dry rock hard on Ed's Hearse and The Groggerbug Smoothster... drawing decal flames for both of those... cranking out tech proposals at work to grab defense end-of-year money when it comes up.....<br><br>But mostly the last couple weeks I got distracted because I was out in the garage working on Neverbird...<br><br>( <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.ericpeterson.info/images/NeverBird/">www.ericpeterson.info/images/NeverBird/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> )<br><br>... and I came across some other hardware I'd always meant to use for a project. My first Six was based on a VW pan, but out in the garage I've got two TH425 "Integrated Power Packages", one a heavy duty 7-clutch GMC unit and the other an early Toronado version with lighter duty bands and clutch packs but a more desireable final drive ratio. I've been trying to come up with something that will wrap around a 500 Cad attached to the 7-clutch core and the early Toronado final drive.... all I've got so far is this.<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.ericpeterson.info/images/The%20Six/SixFront%20050507.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.ericpeterson.info/images/The%20Six/SixRear%20050507.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>This is how I go... from project to project to project to project as bits dry or go out to shops. The hearse is front center of my model workbench. Won't get forgotten.<br><br>Oh, and for serious redline eyes, yes, the nose of Six-Two, above, owes an awful lot to one of my favorite childhood toys, a Sizzlers Double Boiler, I believe.<br><br>- E

<!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v308/bronzesnake/1bronzesnake.gif" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END-->

<!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v308/bronzesnake/1bronzesnake.gif" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END-->

OK...here's the next candidate for someone else who wants to try this project. It's a Zylmex LTD Wagon, in pretty good shape. Whoever wants it can have it, just let me know where to ship it.<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/ocsmitty/MVC-004F.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/ocsmitty/MVC-006F.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s274/ocsmitty/MVC-007F-1.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br><br><br>Denny

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v692/beauzoe/beauzoe.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

Update coming! I laid out the flames last night.<br><br>- E

How I make flame decals...<br><br>Step 1 - photograph the car. The blue painter's tape is to provide a reference between images.<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://eric-peterson.org/images/MercuryHearse/041.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://eric-peterson.org/images/MercuryHearse/042.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Step 2 - square 'em up, grayscale 'em, wash 'em out, and resize the imported images in Word to align the tape.<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://eric-peterson.org/images/MercuryHearse/043.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Step 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 -- Draw Flames on printouts.<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://eric-peterson.org/images/MercuryHearse/044.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>I had wanted them to wrap around the whole nose. Couldn't get it work. Kept needing to resize proofs, and then the decals wouldn't reach around all the way... or they'd be too big. Thus, I'm going with the sixth version -- separate flames top and sides.<br><br>Next .... scan and digitize...<br><br>- E<br><br>

Flames are done. OF COURSE my image server is down tonight!!! Updates as soon as it's back up!<br><br>- E

Woo hoo! My server's back up! Glad that didn't happen while I had auctions running!<br><br>Next step: Scan in the drawing and get it digital again:<br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://eric-peterson.org/images/MercuryHearse/045.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Then.... outline the flames and make the splines renderable for a fit check in each panel, using the original photographs as backdrops:<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://eric-peterson.org/images/MercuryHearse/046.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://eric-peterson.org/images/MercuryHearse/047.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Scale to match after taking tons of measurements within the artwork and over the actual miniature. Make sure both images are to scale and that the two photos match scale.<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://eric-peterson.org/images/MercuryHearse/048.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Once the scale was correct, I created inside offsets to the splines so that I had an outer edge and another edge just inside. I created one shape from the two edges and another from just the inside edge. For the hood, texture coordinates are applied to each half ramping from center front to aft outside corners, and for the sides, from front to back. A simple gradient from green to yellow was applied to the edges, and a gradient masked Perlin turbulent noise texture fading from full noise with a darker green to a slightly darker yellow was applied to the inside.<br><br>And THAT gets me FLAMES:<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://eric-peterson.org/images/MercuryHearse/049.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>- E

I should have made this clear. It's always been my intention to print these without the white underlay coat that makes the decals opaque. In which case they will really look like THIS:<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://eric-peterson.org/images/MercuryHearse/050.jpg" style="border:0;"><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Opinions?<br><br>- E