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Six Blade Knife
16 years ago
General
- I got a new computer screen. Now I can see things how everyone else can see them. I think. All the artwork I did which looked great on my old screen looks badly scanned on this one, and it doesn't help that I'm limping with a broken scanner too.
- I upset some people at Jaguar Cars by suggesting in an article that, unlike buying something like a loaf of bread where you pay for exactly what you're getting, when you buy one of Jaguar's cars you're paying a considerable extra in comparison to the likes of BMW or Ferrari, for their research and development on new cars, which basically means you're paying for a car that you're not getting.
- My car project is going to get going again. Jasper inspired me back into cars after a long period of computers, and helped me figure out a few things too. I told myself I was not going to get too geeky with this build, since my last one got pretty intense. But within a few days, I had the idea to use a thin polymer membrane filled with helium, inside the front wings, to reduce the weight on the front by no more than a few ounces. Then I had another thought, I wondered what effect this would have, to lift the outer edges of the car, and move the weight balance more towards the centre of the machine. Out came the calculator, and I spent the next four hours working through calculations; just for the sake of a few ounces of weight. Formula One technicians do not go to the lengths I go to.
- Art commissions. Open as always. I'm seriously suffering time-drain at the moment. Every week, I've told myself and everyone else, "I've had a busy few weeks, but it should be over soon" and it never is. I think the only way I can break this is to load myself up with masses of pressure, and let the weight of urgency be my driving force. Also, I coloured a picture the other day, on the computer, I'm still using a mouse, and it was so good that I said to myself "no-one's going to believe I did that" so I didn't bother saving it.
- Still alone. I'm going to do a series of bitter and miserable pieces for St Valentine's Day, because it's weeks away and already I'm sick of people shoving it in my face how single I am. Also, I'm holding a St Valentine's Day Singles Furmeet for all the single furs, so even if there's no love, there can still be friendship and good times. My last one, the Christmas Singles Furmeet, was a great success.
- New icon. Yay.
If this is TL;DR for anyone, you can just read the first few words of each bit to give you the idea. I wrote it like that because I'm a good writer, or maybe because I'm generous and understand you don't all have loads of time, or maybe it's just because I know I'm boring.
And, if yer reffing the song by Dire Straits, goood track.
I do love a bit of Knopfler.
It was too good.
I'll use the knowledge I discovered on new and better pieces in future. Maybe.
Especially since all my heterosexual siblings have blown their chances into nothingness, and it's left to me, the asexual one, to continue the family genome and come up with another generation to give the furniture to. Aaaarggggggggghhh
...wait, maybe I'm irritated about something completely different...
Hmm...The Porn Library of Congress...
Historical Archives of the State of Arousal...
etc.
I'd take it, but the chances are I'll die before you do.
It's going to be based on my original project with the same shell, same interior, etc. I'd originally just wanted something a little bit special to punish the idiots in Citroen Saxo VTRs and Peugeot 205 GTIs. But I went a bit mad and ended up making it faster than a Ferrari 360 CS - mostly by chucking great wads of cash at it.
This new stage of tuning will see that 360-killer taken down to the bare frame, and have strategically and extremely over-calculated bits of the body structure cut out and replaced with aluminium, magnesium, or carbon fibre, depending on what material best suits each particular piece of the structure, and how well the materials will work together as a whole. It'll be lighter, and stiffer, and still an E30.
That's the key point of the project; just about anyone can make a fast E30 by swapping the rear subframe for one from an E36, and giving it a turbocharged M5 engine. Many have. But is it really still an E30 after that? Or is it a mongrel? I want to make things as good as they can be, but not change them.
Much like my recent computer build, this is going to be low-budget, hand home-made. In the first stage of tuning, I used the best materials, the best technicians, and the most expensive of everything. In this new stage, I'm going to be doing a lot of it myself, and have a lot of it done by general mechanics rather than specialist technicians, even for things like the carbon fibre inserts. I'm giving the interior a complete refit, using cashmere and alcantara, and upholstering it myself. I'm even going to do my own engine strip-down, clean-up, and re-build.
I will however end up with less power than before. The supercharger I'd used previously was a Rotrex type, like a belt-driven turbo, which was fantastic for maximum smooth power, while only taking a tiny amount of power from the engine to run it. The one I'm planning to use for my new engine is an Eaton type, which is much bigger, way heavier, takes a lot more power to run, uses more fuel, and produces less supercharging force. For all the geekiness and microscopic details I'm analysing and over-analysing, this is an absolutely idiotic compromise to make. There is no performance upside at all.
But I fucking love the sound.
I got a carbon fibre engine bay lid for it, which saves around 16lbs of front-end weight. These things are always bought as a show-off item, especially in the German scene. When I got mine, I asked the maker if it would be okay to have it sprayed white. They first said they didn't know because they didn't know of anyone that had done it, then the penny dropped and they realised what I was implying, and were actually a little angry that I was planning to hide their fibre weave under paint.
Cheers.
I actually have to do it again, with a completely new carbon fibre lid.
The old one got a bit cooked. New one will have gold plating underneath to reflect and disperse heat.
Helium, eh? Urgh...no enough volume in a car body to contain enough to make a difference?
4chan.org/sci suggested
Cheers!
The problem is that I don't know what everyone else's screen makes my art look like. I'd assumed my old screen was fine, because everything seemed to look really rich and clear on it. But this newer one makes everything much brighter, which seems fine for most digital art, but makes my sketches appear far too pale. I don't know if there's a universal setting, benchmark, yardstick, whatever you call it, for monitors. Miss Carter commented about a week ago that my sketches seem too pale, so I'm slightly inclined towards my old screen being too rich and deep, rather than this new one being too bright and pale.
Yeah, I had to back away from the calculator before I finished working out the effects of adding helium to the outer edges of the car. I can see myself getting not just obsessed, but over-obsessed. It's not difficult to tear myself away, but it's also easy to think about it too much.
In a way I was relieved that I didn't have anyone asking for commissions when I signed in today. I'd still gladly take one, but I have no idea how to get my feet unstuck from this weird place I'm in, where nothing seems to ever get done no matter how early I get up.
I'm glad you're gonna work on your car more! And i am glad you're being so geeky about it, it's just a part of why we love you. <3
I always seem to notice my mistakes after i've scanned the drawing, maybe it's just the monitor's fault.
I replied to your lines backwards, because i thought you might like that. Next time i'll do them sideways.
havent had a date in almost a year....February sucks ass. reminds me of how much i suck for not being able to ask out this girl i like.
wanna write emo poetry with me?
Actually, I've found something that makes me happy. It's very odd, and I'm terrified I'll go off it, like I do with everything else that seems great at first then becomes normal.
I hope it'll affect it. I want it to be light.
The transformation is not unlike the SL to SLR transformation done by McLaren to Mercedes-Benz units.
No.
Were you not aware that pressed steel wheels are lighter than alloys of comparable rigidity? Plus, it'd be hard to find an alloy that could accommodate the big brakes, without getting into larger sizes, thus upsetting the handling and acceleration, creating the need for the arches to be rolled wider, spoiling the aero a little, and making it look far too dub. I'm sticking with steel.
Now you are. Yay.
Some alloys are lighter, usually the seriously expensive ones with magnesium in, such as used on the Koenigsegg CCX. But I don't want to be too flash.