#i also have a reference of an unpainted and painted figure and none of the layer modes properly color the grayscale one either

[dexaroth]

if the world was any better id have learnt blender by now and made a vinyl designer toy for all my ocs. imagine

[unsettlingshortstories]

Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby

Donald Barthelme (1972)

Some of us had been threatening our friend Colby for a long time, because of the way he had been behaving. And now he'd gone too far, so we decided to hang him. Colby argued that just because he had gone too far (he did not deny that he had gone too far) did not mean that he should be subjected to hanging. Going too far, he said, was something everybody did sometimes. We didn't pay much attention to this argument. We asked him what sort of music he would like played at the hanging. He said he'd think about it but it would take him a while to decide. I pointed out that we'd have to know soon, because Howard, who is a conductor, would have to hire and rehearse the musicians and he couldn't begin until he knew what the music was going to be. Colby said he'd always been fond of Ives's Fourth Symphony. Howard said that this was a "delaying tactic" and that everybody knew that the Ives was almost impossible to perform and would involve weeks of rehearsal, and that the size of the orchestra and chorus would put us way over the music budget. "Be reasonable," he said to Colby. Colby said he'd try to think of something a little less exacting.

Hugh was worried about the wording of the invitations. What if one of them fell into the hands of the authorities? Hanging Colby was doubtless against the law, and if the authorities learned in advance what the plan was they would very likely come in and try to mess everything up. I said that although hanging Colby was almost certainly against the law, we had a perfect moral right to do so because he was our friend, belonged to us in various important senses, and he had after all gone too far. We agreed that the invitations would be worded in such a way that the person invited could not know for sure what he was being invited to. We decided to refer to the event as "An Event Involving Mr. Colby Williams." A handsome script was selected from a catalogue and we picked a cream-colored paper. Magnus said he'd see to having the invitations printed, and wondered whether we should serve drinks. Colby said he thought drinks would be nice but was worried about the expense. We told him kindly that the expense didn't matter, that we were after all his dear friends and if a group of his dear friends couldn't get together and do the thing with a little bit of eclat, why, what was the world coming to? Colbv asked if he would be able to have drinks, too, before the event. We said,"Certainly."

The next item of business was the gibbet. None of us knew too much about gibbet design, but Tomas, who is an architect, said he'd look it up in old books and draw the plans. The important thing, as far as he recollected, was that the trapdoor function perfectly. He said that just roughly, counting labor and materials, it shouldn't run us more than four hundred dollars. "Good God !" Howard said. He said what was Tomas figuring on, rosewood? No, just a good grade of pine, Tomas said. Victor asked if unpainted pine wouldn't look kind of "raw," and Tomas replied that he thought it could be stained a dark walnut without too much trouble.

I said that although I thought the whole thing ought to be done really well and all, I also thought four hundred dollars for a gibbet, on top of the expense for the drinks, invitations, musicians, and everything, was a bit steep, and why didn't we just use a tree -- a nice-looking oak, or something? I pointed out that since it was going to be a June hanging the trees would be in glorious leaf and that not only would a tree add a kind of "natural" feeling but it was also strictly traditional, especially in the West. Tomas, who had been sketching gibbets on the backs of envelopes, reminded us that an outdoor hanging always had to contend with the threat of rain. Victor said he liked the idea of doing it outdoors, possibly on the bank of a river but noted that we would have to hold it some distance from the city, which presented the problem of getting the guests, musicians, etc., to the site and then back to town.

At this point everybody looked at Harry, who runs a car-and-truck-rental business. Harry said he thought he could round up enough limousines to take care of that end but that the drivers would have to be paid. The drivers, he pointed out, wouldn't be friends of Colby's and couldn't be expected to donate their services, any more than the bartender or the musicians. He said that he had about ten limousines, which he used mostly for funerals, and that he could probably obtain another dozen by calling around to friends of his in the trade. He said also that if we did it outside, in the open air, we'd better figure on a tent or awning of some kind to cover at least the principals and the orchestra, because if the hanging was being rained on he thought it would look kind of dismal. As between gibbet and tree, he said, he had no particular preferences and he really thought that the choice ought to be left up to Colby, since it was his hanging. Colby said that everybody went too far, sometimes, and weren't we being a little Draconian? Howard said rather sharply that all that had already been discussed, and which did he want, gibbet or tree? Colby asked if he could have a firing squad. No, Howard said, he could not. Howard said a firing squad would just be an ego trip for Colby, the blindfold and last-cigarette bit, and that Colby was in enough hot water already without trying to "upstage" everyone with unnecessary theatrics. Colby said he was sorry, he hadn't meant it that way, he'd take the tree. Tomas crumpled up the gibbet sketches he'd been making, in disgust.

Then the question of the hangman came up. Pete said did we really need a hangman? Because if we used a tree, the noose could be adjusted to the appropriate level and Colby could just jump off something -- a chair or stool or something. Besides, Pete said, he very much doubted if there were any free-lance hangmen wandering around the country, now that capital punishment has been done away with absolutely, temporarily, and that we'd probably have to fly one in from England or Spain or one of the South American countries, and even if we did that how could we know in advance that the man was a professional, a real hangman, and not just some money-hungry amateur who might bungle the job and shame us all, in front of every body? We all agreed then that Colby should just jump off something and that a chair was not what he should jump off of, because that would look, we felt, extremely tacky -- some old kitchen chair sitting out there under our beautiful tree. Tomas, who is quite modern in outlook and not afraid of innovation, proposed that Colby be standing on a large round rubber ball ten feet in diameter. This, he said, would afford a sufficient "drop" and would also roll out of the way if Colby suddenly changed his mind after jumping off. He reminded us that by not using a regular hangman we were placing an awful lot of the responsibility for the success of the affair on Colby himself, and that although he was sure Colby would perform creditably and not disgrace his friends at the last minute, still, men have been known to get a little irresolute at times like that, and the ten-foot-round rubber ball, which could probably be fabricated rather cheaply, would insure a "bang-up" pro duction right down to the wire.

At the mention of "wire," Hank, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up and said he wondered if it wouldn't be better if we used wire instead of rope -- more efficient and in the end kinder to Colby, he suggested. Colby began looking a little green, and I didn't blame him, because there is something extremely distasteful in think ing about being hanged with wire instead of rope -- it gives you sort of a revulsion, when you think about it. I thought it was really quite unpleasant of Hank to be sitting there talking about wire, just when we had solved the problem of what Colby was going to jump off of so neatly, with Tomas's idea about the rubber ball, so I hastily said that wire was out of the question, because it would injure the tree -- cut into the branch it was tied to when Colby's full weight hit it -- and that in these days of increased respect for the environment, we didn't want that, did we? Colby gave me a grateful look, and the meeting broke up. Everything went off very smoothly on the day of the event (the music Colby finally picked was standard stuff, Elgar, and it was played very well by Howard and his boys). It didn't rain, the event was well attended, and we didn't run out of Scotch, or anything. The ten-foot rubber ball had been painted a deep green and blended in well with the bucolic setting. The two things I remember best about the whole episode are the grateful look Colby gave me when I said what I said about the wire, and the fact that nobody has ever gone too far again.

[redlinermagazine]

The Wildomar Redline Proto Find

This article originally appeared in Redliner Magazine • Issue 15 • Winter 2015 

The Wildomar Redline Proto Find

 By Matt Delbaugh

 In 2009, 64 redlines were found at a garage sale by a gentleman named Mike in Wildomar, CA.  In September of that year, they were separated into 12 groups and listed on Ebay.  I won one group, seven cars including what I thought to be a green with black interior Olds 442.  Upon receiving the lot, I was able to scrape a bit of black paint off the side of the interior seat of the Olds, so I figured it was a fake and put the 7 cars away for about a week.  Five of the original lots had sold to a man named Weldon, also from CA, and he had been re-listing some cars individually.  After looking at these re-listed cars, I decided to take a closer look at the ones I set aside a week before, and realized I had something very special.  I started really watching the listings that Weldon had running, and one of the cars he had listed was the red 442 with black interior and Black Stripes (A).  The stripes were configured just like the production 442, but in solid black with no stars.  As the auction progressed, there was a lot of doubt to the originality of the cars, and Weldon had several problems with potential buyers.  He ended up listing it twice, then having to cancel the second listing.  This is when I was able to purchase the two cars I sought most out of the whole collection, the magenta and red black interior 442s. 

     Now that I had all three of the Olds together it was time to really take a close look.  The magenta and red cars both had black molded interiors that looked pretty much exactly like the production 442 interior.  The green car, however, had a different interior and was molded in white but painted black, and painted before assembly of the car.  You could see tiny seatbelts laying on the front seats, and after examining many different interiors it was determined that the green Olds had a Custom AMX interior.  The other features of this car include red painted taillights, poor fitting-glass probably from a different model, and dome-shaped post spins.  All three of the 442s and several other cars in the collection also feature these domed spins indicating they were probably assembled with different equipment than normal production models.  Another noteworthy feature of all three 442s is that the holes in the trunk for the wing are shallow, and do not pass through the body like on the production version (A & D).

     Shortly after that, I was able to acquire another of the cars Weldon had re-listed, an incredible AMX/2 (F) prototype.  The car is magenta with black insets on the hood area much like the real AMC concept car, but the really wild features of the car are closer to the back.  The taillight panel has a raised triple taillight as opposed to the smooth flat lights on the production version, and the sides of the plastic engine covers do not have the tabs that help hold them shut.  The collection held three of these beauties, including a rose model that went to a collector in Canada, and a White Enamel model that went to a collector named Milovan.  I was so happy to have these redlines and wanted to share the story, but the cars were met with great opposition and skepticism from some collectors at first. I still believed in the cars and just knew they were genuine Mattel-made pieces.  Soon after that point I developed a goal to get as many of the cars together from the original collection as possible. 

     One of the groups of cars featured five Chaparral 2Gs (G).  I was not sure if they were unique or not but thought that the colors looked wild in the photos I had seen.  I was able to acquire these through a purchase and partial trade in October of 2009, and upon receiving the cars almost had to pick myself up off the floor.  Three of the five were double painted, and two of those had the domed post spins.  There is a chapparal in hot pink over white enamel, light green over white enamel, and a yellow over hot pink.  These color combos give a stunning almost psychedelic effect to the look of the paint.  The overlap of the two colors can be seen clearly where the hatch meets the body and at the hinge area on the base. 

     Another very noteworthy pair of cars followed soon after, the Snake and Mongoose (C), both in an eerie reddish salmon color.  I had gotten two Yellow Snakes in the first group, one of which appears normal and the other being very special.  Out of the three unique dragsters, two had the redlines on the wheels blacked out, looking much like the production S&M rail drag cars.  None of the three have the word Snake or Mongoose cast into the underside of the body.  Perhaps the most unique of the three is the red-salmon Snake since the casting was only released in Yellow and the car has some really cool stickers too. I have had more offers made on this car than any other in the collection. The yellow Snake, however, is no slouch either, featuring unpainted headlights, a chalky Yellow color, blacked out redlines, no Snake cast underhood, and an extremely shiny finish under where the paint is chipped.

     There were four Indy Eagles in the group, three of which were very special.  One I got in a large group of 18 remaining cars from Weldon’s lots, but it only has possible reference numbers and no other noticeable features.  Two of the prototype Indy Eagles were sold to Bruce Pascal and one to Don Rowe.  These cars feature clear glass which was never on production models, and wild paint colors as well as reference numbers.  Don and Bruce also own some other very unique cars from the find.  Don has the blue Enamel J-Car, rare in any form, but this one is a true prototype.  It features a black painted interior, blacked out redlines, and reference numbers.  He also owns two very unique Ferrari 312p’s from Wildomar, a red with unpainted headlights and black painted white interior and a black Enamel with the Hong Kong base stamping at a different location.  Bruce owns the Peepin Bomb (E) from the group which is very unique.  It features a white interior, pink light lever, and strange orange paint that has been blacked out.  Another wild prototype from the find is a red Carabo owned by collector Rick Wilson. This car has no orange nosecone paint, no black louver paint, and heavyweights rear wheels.

     The black painted interior feature was seen on several cars of the group and may have been a way for the designers to test different color combos for visual appeal.  One of the cars from my first group from the find is a very unique Torero.  It is red Enamel over hot pink, has domed post spins, and a black painted white interior.

I continue to learn about these cars even to this day, as was evidenced in August of 2013 when I met with some collectors to examine Bruce Pascal’s incredible Hot Wheels collection.  Bruce and I had been discussing the Olds 442 when we decided to have a look at his original Mattel blueprints of the 442 casting.  Upon getting out the prints, we discovered that there was an original GM advertisement for the 1970 Olds 442 in with the prints.  The car shown in the ad was Red with Black stripes, and we then made the connection that this most likely explained the original inspiration for the design of the red with black stripes 442 prototype.

     Cars from this prototype find have been added to my collection as recently as December 2014. I went on to eventually acquire 42 (B) of the original 64 cars through purchases and trades.  I am very lucky to have the cars and I feel there is still more to be learned about them.  These cars have become a very important part of my collection and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share them with the readers of Redliner magazine.