![]() ![]() Those printouts tended to fade out with time and exposure to light. They used a special kind of paper, like the one used on very early fax machines, that produced text by means of hot dots in a dot matrix head being pressed against the printing surface. Problem is, when you leave an alkaline battery inside an electronic device for long enough, they tend to spill and damage the battery holder tabs, and even the circuit boards.Īnd don't get me started on those thermal printing machines. ![]() ![]() Things like the tabular settings, margins, line spacing configuration etc., they used to store them in erasable-programable read only memory chips (E-PROM), which require a constant power supply in order to retain the information stored in them. Third, some of them, like the fantastic IBM Wheelwriters (big enough to fall out of the "wedge" category, but electronic-electromechanical nonetheless) use standard alkaline batteries to keep the internal memory running. Second, being in reality electronic-electromechanical devices, they need to be turned on and used periodically, or else they tend to develop more problems than a mechanic typewriter: the keyboard stucks, the carriage stucks, the daisywheel stucks. I must be one of the very few who actually has a few wedges in his collection, but they come with several inherent flaws.įirst and foremost, most of these machines use proprietary design cartridge ribbons, and once you use up the one that came with your machine, chances are you won't be able to locate new replacement cartridges, unless you scour the Internet looking for them, and then you'll have to pay dearly for "posting and handling". I simply skipped the electronic wedges era. During my career in journalism I never used one of these things - I went straight from a manual typewriter to an early NEC "laptop" in the mid-to-late 1980s. I admit to being curious about them as writing implements. Nonetheless I have kept a few, about a dozen in all. I can't find anyone interested in taking them off my hands. The majority of the electronic typewriters that have been "forced" upon me have subsequently been chucked out. But I also note they seem to stay on the shelves a lot longer. I've notice that in recycling centres, op shops and second-hand stores, once a rich source for me of manual portable typewriters, electronic typewriters are appearing more frequently. (Interestingly, most often would-be donors tell me the machines have hardly ever, if ever, been used.) I keep thinking that the time when these " crossover typewriters" become collectibles has not yet been reached - but maybe I'm wrong on that. The valve covers and injector from Revell are much closer to correct than what's in this kit.Īnyway, that's just my first impressions upon opening the box, so here are some reference photos so you can decide for yourself.I usually make a point, when asked to "give a good home" to such machines, that I do not collect electronic typewriters - and I have been quite surprised by just how many times I have been asked to do that in the past few years. The engine is typical for MPC and would probably best be replaced by one from the early Revell funny car and dragster series kits. It's very close in my initial inspection although the coming around the cockpit may be a little too high, but we'll see. The body, which on the 1:1 car was built by Nye Frank, appears to be an all new piece. It's different from the kit but that difference is easy enough to correct with some Evergreen rod. I don't see this as any problem however on a full body car like this because the only part of the frame that really shows is the roll cage. That makes the frame incorrect as Prodhomme's car was built by Lil' John Buttera and didn't use a Garlits' frame. The frame, engine, etc are all from the original MPC Garlits mid-engined Swamp Rat 1R. I got my hands on this kit yesterday and have been digging in to it. I did a search and didn't find anything on this new kit so I hope I'm not going over covered ground. ![]()
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