Area 52 "Special" Weekender PtII - 12th>14th Nov.

[Mystery Machine]

PLEASE POST ANY RESPONSES IN THE OTHER THREAD - this thread was supposed to be in the general section to encourage others to come along who don't look in this section. Since it's been moved here, it serves no purpose and has no meaning. Please read here for more info: retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=rrgs&thread=90883&page=1#1176281










Firstly, if any of you don't know what Area 52 is, or what it is about then please take a looky here: retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=rrgs&action=display&thread=75682

We are holding our second "Special Weekender" in three weeks as a much requested, much anticipated follow up to the very successful, fun filled weekend back in late June. Full details of that weekend can be seen here (jsut to bring you up to speed on what this weekend is all about): retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=82018&page=1

The aim is to paint two cars in one weekend. On the first one we painted three cars in a weekend. It would have been four if I hadn't changed my mind on colour!

This time we are reducing the number of cars in order to concentrate on painting more thoroughly I.e. inside of door shuts, inside bootlid, under bonnet etc...It's a chance to build on what we learnt last time.

On the first 'Sprayday' virtually no one (apart from Robin & Sarah) had ever done any kind of full prep or painting before beyond using rattle cans and this is exaclty what we were setting out to achieve. Not only to get some RR cars painted a different colour, but also to give people the chance to help prep & paint a car when they don't have the confidence or facility to practice this themselves. Learn by doing.

At least one other car has gained a repaint as a direct result of the last weekend. Craig1010cc painted his brothers Volvo Amazon a few weeks back and this is exactly the kind of thing that comes out of a weekend of sharing skills and learning skills (and drinking copious amounts of beer ;D)

Just to get the juices flowing, here are some pics of the last Sprayday:























PLEASE NOTE: The finish on all three cars flatted off a LOT more since this photo was taken and all cars now sport a lovely smooth satin/matt finish.

If you are interested in getting involved in the weekend, please leave a message here - this is a great opportunity to really get stuck into a challenge and see two cars transform in 48hrs. If you read the other threads (linked above) you'll see how much fun it all is.

Roll on the 12th November ;D

[Dom]

Sorry, not a message to put my name down for this (though I'd LOVE to come to a playday!)
But the 3 cars look AMAZING together in that last pic! Great work, really interesting colours.

[dbizzle]

I'm afraid I can't come and play, but I'm glad the Mystery Momentum Machine is still churning at maximum capacity and very much look forward to seeing the subsequent report. ;D ;D ;D

This is what I love about R-R. Nice people helping each other. It warms the cockles.

[Keefy]

MM - thats the weekend of Alfie's first birthday, so i'm going to be in High Wycombe instead. One day I promise to make it across though dude!

Just a thought mate, with the amount of man power you have why don't you concentrate on doing one car but do it REALLY well?
If there's 10 of you, and 12 hours a day for 2 days .... thats 240 man hours.
I reckon you could completely strip out a car (engine, windows etc as well), and have time to paint and finish it to a high standard, as well as get it all back together again.

Personally, I think that would be more impressive, and also help raise the image of Area52 to the 'next level'. You'd probably find more people coming along in future too, knowing the quality was as important as the turnaround.

Just my 2pence, apologies for going off on a tangent lol.

[Mystery Machine]

Keefy, that is exactly what is planned for the next one (PtIII)

It's a gradual process and also we have two cars already lined up.

Another reason for this is the time of year. For PtIII I want to introduce a proper finish and step away from the military satin moving into gloss. Luckily I want my car in satin, so does Dr Sexy (black Midget) and this paint goes off fine in all temps and environments.

If we were to attempt a gloss/decent finish in the unit in November we would run into all the issues the cold brings. We don't have the facility to heat the unit that well yet, so saving the full car & gloss paint for June/July next year. I think we'll also be more ready for it then too.

I'm certainly with you on the idea though and this has already been discussed with some of the regulars and is already verbally planned.

Thanks Dude.

[Lawsy]

i migth try and pop down on the saturday night again..

[Keefy]

PIII sounds fantastic mate!
As soon as you get a date let me know and I will do everything I can to come along!


In the meantime, all you folks enjoy the forthcoming edition!

[RobinJI]

Looking forward to this Bruce. I'll only be able to make the Friday night/Saturday this time though, as I doubt work will give me the time off to stay the full weekend. I can bring a mask or 2 as I did last time.

[joethefish]

Count me in Bruce it can be my re-patriation to the playdays ;-) That said I might have to take Tim up on his kind offer of a life but one way or another I'll be there if you'll still have me.

Joe

[ruishy1]

count me in

[ben711200]

The photos of the last sprayday make me smile. It was an awesome weekend

[Fennec]

Do you need someone to do the dishes?

[nutter81]

I'm in missed the last one

[bm0p700f]

I would love to come down a learn and help. I have never sparyed before. If I could learn the basics.....

I will have to see if I can make it. The unit is Sommerset way isn't it?

Count Pandamonium. If you are going maybe we can share the ride? I am in Suffolk and halfving the petrol costs make going more doable.

[Mystery Machine]

Apologies to everyone for the double post about the spray weekend in this section.

This particular thread was originally posted in the General Section (just like the original "Special" weekender thread that proved to be a massive success) for the sole purpose of offering this unique opportunity to many of the RR members who don't even know that Area 52 exists. A chance for new people to experience what this is all about and probably even learn new skills. After all, Area 52 is there for people who want to expand their skills or learn new things in a fun and easy going environment. Getting people who aren't confident about working on their cars to step out from behind their computers and gain new skills.

It seems that many will not get this opportunity because now that it has been moved into the 'Garage' section, the chances of people seeing this chance to get involved will be absolutely minimal. Sure, the regulars that know where to look will be there, but that wasn't the purpose of this post at all. Not in the slightest.

I'll just leave this hear as a perfect visual explanation of my reasons for posting this thread in the General Section in order to encourage new people to come along and join in:



While the 'forum' is questioning why there aren't many Street Machine cars flooding the Readers Rides section......and the majority response being that there is a general lack of skill or experience out there these days combined with a lack of confidence - even originality.....I would have thought it a good thing that there is the chance to expand new skills in this way, even if just the basics to begin with. After all, how many people have learnt the basics of how to weld, paint, fabricate and even fibreglass thanks to Area 52 that wouldn't have learnt before? Quite a few I will bet.

It does make me wonder why I even bother bloody trying.

I guess I'll just have to keep plugging away in the Garage section amongst all the 'wanted' and 'to let' posts tyring to make a difference while the majority of the rest of the RR world carries on unknowing of Area 52 yet being questioned why they aren't out there making interesting cars.

I'm not saying A52 is the be-all and end-all by any means, but at least it is out there trying to encourage more & more people in the real world to expand their skills and trying to bring this ethos to more new people who wouldn't even consider lifting a welder, paint gun or grinder.

I apologise to all those people who will now miss this thread that would have otherwise seen it in the General section and wanted to come along and learn something new. It wasn't for the want of trying I can tell you that.

[WillCarter]

I'd be interested in one of these in the spring for my new ride and the paintjob I mentioned on the phone the other day.

[JustFran]

I agree with what MysteryMachine is saying, the only reason i know that Area52 exists is because i accidentally clicked on the wrong section. But I'm happy i did now ;D. The garage communities section is flooded with wanted ads and even though there is nothing wrong with that; Area52 is alot more than just a garage and due to MysteryMachines generosity people are learning new skills but as its in a section which is not often checked by the majority of users on here it is going unoticed.

I know what I'm saying is just repeating what MysteryMachine has said but i thought it might be of a little help people seeing it from another forum users perspective, but I'm a newbie so feel free to ignore me ;D lol

Keep up the GREAT work MysteryMachine, hopefully some day ill be able to get down to Area52 and learn some new skills.

Fran

[Mark]

Got to agree - this post should be in the general section! I have learnt quite a bit from Area 52 and made some great mates! I wouldn't have made 3 different trips there at great expense otherwise.
I sometimes get the feeling that people think that Area 52 is some kind of competition to Retro Rides. It's not. it keeps us interested in our cars and thus the Retro Rides commuity.

[HoTWire]

Oct 26, 2010 20:25:29 GMT Mystery Machine said:

(just like the original "Special" weekender thread that proved to be a massive success)

Which you asked me about doing before hand last time, but didn't this time. Also last time it magically manged to be bounced back to the front page for at least a month after the event. We also don't let people advertise their cars for sale in the general board (even hough they would get more traffic), or their Readers Rides,...

Maybe use the Events and Meetups section for your bigger weekend events? It gets more traffic than the Garage Communities board.


Also Typing out a four hundred and eighty word rant because you don't agree with a policy isn't in any way a good thing.

[Brat-Man]

Well at least this post proves two things:
1 Bruce can type
2 Hotwire can count!