$9K!!! LOL!!

I bought a pull of the 4 foot hero in 2005. Only cost me $1200. So far, I have acquired the stuff for the mechanical fusion core and bubble. I've done the rough carving on a set of 4 figures, and planned and priced the parts for the working gear. I used the "Jupiter 2 Autopsy" DVD to see what was left inside the hero after al it went through. I decided on a Jackshaft system to power the landing gear as I can extend the gear and power off the system and the legs stay down. I plan to even add the internal wire support points so I can support the model.

Also in the works is a boom to 'fly' the model on when complete. I have made a single footpad and produced a mold of it to make the 3 copies. it has a brass part cast into it for attachment to the ram. The legs themselves are ALL aircraft aluminum, machined including the steps. The sliding footpad doors are next, and the easiest part of the project.

When complete, including the support boom, I'll drag myself to Wonderfest with it, and show it off. more than a few folks have 4 footers without the working gear. I don't wanna be one of them.

Hi Teslabe, Wow! I must say that the people at Custom Replicas never acted that way with me. Jim Key, owner of C R was very profesional when I had contacted him via email as well as on a 1 to 1 chat on the phone. When I had asked him about a 4 foot Jupiter 2 build-up that was to be exact to the more articulated filming miniature, he gave me a quote as to it`s cost, aprox. time it would take to finish it, what would be in the miniature(lighted scrim etc.). As he continued to build my miniature, he kept me posted EVERY week, either by phone or email. He even sent my a photo booklet showing the step by step building process. Later, he sent me a video of the finished Jupiter 2 showing it lowering it`s landing legs and going into a full 3 point landing as it did in The Derelict. Jim also sent me a wonderful set of copies of the original 20th. Century Fox blueprints of both 4 foot filming miniatures...one of them showing some detail about the 10 foot miniature. As for cost!...are you sitting down? ....$9000.00. Yep!...i know! As I had said, it took me 4 years to pay for this thing. By the way...I like your Polar Lights Jupiter 2. As for being simple...well it is as is but to make it into a great model, it does take a little work.

Rick N
Hi Rick,
Thank you for the nice words about my J-2.:wave: As far as C R, It may have been
between 2001-2003. Alot was happening back then. I can only think that they thought, hum, Gov. program = bottomless pockets.....:rolleyes: 9k is not too bad for a custom build and I'm glad you had a good experience. They did a great job, at least from the photos. I'm going to look in my files and see if it was Jim Key that I was dealing with.

Y3a,
Are your 4-footer footpad doors going to pull back, then rotate to the side- or simply ramp up to the side?

Hi Rick,
Thank you for the nice words about my J-2.:wave: As far as C R, It may have been
between 2001-2003. Alot was happening back then. I can only think that they thought, hum, Gov. program = bottomless pockets.....:rolleyes: 9k is not too bad for a custom build and I'm glad you had a good experience. They did a great job, at least from the photos. I'm going to look in my files and see if it was Jim Key that I was dealing with.

Hi again teslabe, You are welcome! I really think your Jupiter 2 looks great. One thing nice about that kit is that anyone building it up has the freedom to add or build it up as they see fit. It is the right size for most model builders, and most of all, it`s hull shape is quite accurate. As for the attitude you received from C R, I really find it to be very disturbing!I had contacted CR back in late Summer of 1999 because at that time, it was about the only place to offer a 4 foot Jupiter 2...molded from one of the original filming miniatures. Shortly after that, the hulls could be had from a few other sources. Jim Key was very nice to talk to and had a well of information about the studio miniatures as well as prop building in general. Jim was prop builder for Paramount Studios. I can also say that if anyone had treated me the way you had been, they would not have gotten my hard earned money. For those who know me, know that I can be very old school...old school enough to know that people talk and share information like we do on this site. Word of mouth from person to person can either make, or break a business. Having such an attitude towards a potential customer is not the way to conduct business. It`s not the way small business treated people years ago. If one has such an attitude in business, that business will someday fail. It would be interesting to find out who you had been dealing with, to say the least. Rick N :wave:

Hi Rick,
It's old news and I found a great shop near San Diego and have used them many times since.:thumbsup:
Best Regards,
Kent F.

Hi Kent, Thats great. LOL...it seems like all of you in Southern California have more options than we do here in Southern New England. Rick N

My footpad doors will work exactly like the ones on the Hero. the door itself is mounded to a bracket that allows the door to raise up about 1/4 " before being slid out of the way(never WAS ANY rotation of those doors). The cable that slides the door out of the way pulls the door up, and out of the hole. The door & Bracket is on a slide that is about 20 degrees. My Jackshaft system has 6 cables attached to the moving block. 3 for leg movement, and 3 for the footpad doors.

In my photo album are a BUNCH of photos and drawings as I tried to figure out what WAS used, and I tried to eliminate methods that couldn't have been used. As an example, looking at a landing gear leg, the control arm has a pulley wheel mounted at the end. The "A" frame inside the Hero also has a pulley wheel. This suggests the legs were set up to lower under power, and raise under the power of springs. The doors, since they work in concert with the lower and raising sequence must also use power to open , and springs to close.

in my photo album (page 5) is a link to a quicktime video of my 2 foot Looner Moddles Jupiter 2 with the 1/2 scale test lighting.


http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/509/thumbs/LM_Jupiter_2.mov (http://photos.hobbytalk.com/showphoto.php/photo/12860)

More stuff - A concept for the footpad door and leg operation

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/509/thumbs/LG1.jpg (http://photos.hobbytalk.com/showphoto.php/photo/32468)

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/509/thumbs/LG2.jpg (http://photos.hobbytalk.com/showphoto.php/photo/32468)

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/509/thumbs/LG3.jpg (http://photos.hobbytalk.com/showphoto.php/photo/32468)

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/509/thumbs/LG4.jpg (http://photos.hobbytalk.com/showphoto.php/photo/32468)

...never WAS ANY rotation of those doors...
Bad choice of words on my part. I was thinking of the doors sliding out of the way of the gear as if they were rotating about the vertical axis of the ship. They don't really do that, though. :o

At one time, I was contemplating a simplified pad door mechanism which did work that way. Not that anyone would give a dead horses ass about such matters. :rolleyes:

I'm glad your four-footer's gear will have the proper door motion...:thumbsup:

Hey guys,
Just wanted to say Howdy and share some things I learned when I built my Lunar Models J2 (16.5") back in 1990. I was 7 years old when Lost in Space aired that Wednesday nite back in September 1965.I was hooked ever since.When I got my model in 1990 I spent a lot a time trying to make the fusion core look as close to the TV show as possible.After many designs I discovered something important.When you have incandesent lamps spinning in a circular motion the naked eye sees a solid ring of light.But from THE CAMERAS POINT OF VIEW it is filming at 24 frames per second or faster.The shutter in the camera is opening and closing at a 24fps rate or faster.This produces the "strobe effect"from the fusion core.I built a core with 6 small light bulbs that spun around and placed a fan between me and the spinning lamps .Looking thru the spinning fan blades I saw the ring of light that was the rotating lamps become strobing dots of light that looked darn close to the shots seen on the J2 fusion core.Now....I didnt pursue it any further but kept it in the back of my mind.I ended up installing 32 LED's with walls between each LED to isolate and concentrate the light thru each window.I custom built a programmable chaser/sequencer so I could light up 6 LED's at a time and rotate clockwise within the 32 LED circle.....Here is my latest idea and it would probably make sense if I drew it out but here goes....A small spindle motor (rip one out of a junk cd or dvd player)mounted center bottom of Lower hull.Using sheet plastic make a round hollow disc that can rotate inside the fusion core and whos diameter will make it come as close to the inside edge of the fusion core as possible (bear with me please)Its sort of like a spinning disc within a fusion core,only that it will spin when you attach the spindle motor shaft to the inside bottom of hollow disc(I'll call the light ring)Cut out your 6 holes around the ring as well as 6 underneath.The top of the light ring that comes close to the bottom of the lower hull needs to be open round enough for 6 White LED's to be attached to the center bottom of the hull.You want the light to shine inside the light ring.Cover the 12 holes in the lite ring with clear sheet plastic and glaze it.I recommend spraying the lite ring flat black. Run the LED wires through tiny holes drilled in the lower hull to an LED flasher (set for 24flashes per second or faster.Connect the spindle motor to a motor speed controller (LM555 timer circuit or Pulse width modulator circuit)This is the first time I've ever posted so I hope this rough drawing makes its way to everyone.Please let me know what you think.
Thanks

power would coe from where? not wires. Brushes and such need to be devised. I know. Been there-Done that on my Looner Moddles Jupiter 2 two foot model. somewherein my photo alblum is a video of the lights and bubble stuff I did in '03. Before the dark times...before the fiance'....

The LED's are stationary.For 6 white LED's connected in parallel you need approx.3.6 volts @ 300 milliamps. Power for the LED's could be 3 AA 2200ma penlite batteries. The stationary LED's lite up the inside of my lite ring.The ring is spun by a spindle motor. You can drive the motor,and the electronics with a 9 volt battery.I did the brush thing too back in 1990.Didnt last long.At the time I was using Blue LED's strobing from a 555 timer IC.The effect was great.But now I think stationary LED's shining in a spinning enclosure eliminates brushes .You will obviously have to run the LED wires thru the lower hull plastic to get them to the electronics.Check out my 2 additional rough drawings
Cheers

"Brushless" motors gave me the idea. The coil of wire in the motor is stationary and the magnet does the spinning.

Hey Ric,
I know this reply is a little late but check out my crude drawings for having a fusion core with 6 mechanically rotating lights.The light source is stationary but enclosed in a spinning lite disk (or lite ring if you want to call it).You can vary the speed of rotation and you can adjust the lites(white LED's) to strobe....(which is nessesary because motion picture film moves past a shutter in the camera at 24 frames per second or faster which produces the strobe effect on film (it's from the cameras point of view)
thanks for any input you guys can provide

What is the speed range of your spindle-motored light disk?

It can be anything from a slow creep rotation to very fast.It works on the concept of pulse width modulation.There are alot of simple motor control circuits that you build or purchase as a kit.They are very inexpensive.They work on the same principle as solid state light dimmers.

I've made a career of electronics repair since 1973 as well as R&D. I'm an industrial electronics technician for a company that maintains and services PLC's and motor control servos and drives.This comes in handy when your building models

Part of the reason I ask has to do with the motor noise. Of course, all-electronic chaser circuits are dead quite.

very quiet,never had an issue with noise

Here is a You Tube Video of My Polar Lights Model With VoodoFX'S Fusion Core Lighting and Top Bubble..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QguND6xXfA


The video itself is cheesy and for fun, but you should be able to see the Quality of the Lighting Kit:thumbsup:

THIS IS COOL I PUT MINE ON YOUTUBE RECENTLY CHECK IT OUT
JUST TYPE IN DAMONEWRIGHT AS ONE WORD ANYOU WILL SEE MY J-2 VIDEO ALSO MY POLAR LIGHT U.S.S ENTERPRISE
FROM STARTREK TMP

Here's where I am on mine. I have the Strange Stuff Studios (Simon Mercs) fusion core set. I just added a board/LED set from VoodooFx for a blue strobe affect in the cryo-tubes, and will add backlighting to my panels next with another kit from VoodoFx. There's a short quicky video of it working too...
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/Finktim/Jupiter%202/space011.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/Finktim/Jupiter%202/035.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/Finktim/Jupiter%202/031.jpg
This kit has a speed control, so you can have them pulsating wildly or lit solid if you wish! I like' em' pulsating like they are activating! Wish we had some figures to put in the tubes!
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/Finktim/Jupiter%202/th_027-1.jpg

I finally re-read this whole thread that I just accidentally found. Great info on the various lighting patterns for the various miniatures! I'd been wondering why the flashing lights looked different every time I watched a diifferent fx sequence and a couple weeks ago it I finally realized that the patterns really were different at various times and between specific miniatures. If I ever do get some models built, must use these various patterns between the builds.
The G12 pattern in No Place looks like it was using the lights on stalks method. The plane of the stalks doesn't appear to be level as the lights seem to dip up and down evenly as they spin. The stalks are also not evenly spaced. There is a regular pattern varying between 2 dark lights between the lit ones, then four dark, six dark, and even a pair of lit ones side by side.
In parts of Blast Off, I'm wondering if the way that one model bobbed as the fire balls blew if that wasn't the 12" that was used for the planet approach and other sequences. Where the 12" (which was actually seen very often throughout the series) fits into all of this is another complication. It does not appear that the 12" fly by wire version in No Place had any lights but it did by the time Jupiter 2 details were added to it for The Derelict. If that is the 12" entering the Derelict, then it seems to have the 6 lights on stalks, too. In Blast Off, the 12" appeared to have about 10 sets of lights on at any given time.
The 4' G12 had a frosted dome on top, unlike all the other miniatures. That is supposed to be the original dome in the photo below. You can just barely make out some of the details of the lighting unit inside. What's really frustrating is that there has to be more 20 year old photos of these miniatures floating around out there that would show these details much more clearly and comprehensively. They usually only surface after the completion of a major scratch build, however.
The strobe effect mentioned above (and you can see this too with the counter-rotation of wagon wheels in old western TV shows in particular) makes it appear that the lights are flashing very quickly and continuously but on slow mo you can see the individual stalks/lights much more clearly.
The 4' do seem to share the 6 lights on spinning stalks, at least through all the sfx footage on the LIS Forever DVD which was filmed in the summer of 1967. The lighting varied between being very closely spaced with 1, 2, or 3 lights on at a time to a grouping of unevely spaced lights lit on only one half of the ring, the other half unlit. As they were filmed, the lights flashed extremely quickly. The film was slowed down for broadcast. Then later at some point one miniature seen with landing gear seems to have gone to an evenly spaced pattern of one light on and many (was it an even 7 or was there a variation around the circumference?) off while the pod version went with a continuous one off one on chaser.

Great observation starseeker. It makes plenty of sense. the bottom line is just build it to your satisfaction.The problem is ...."so many good ideas,so many to choose from".Man, decisions,decisions,decisions.Anyway here is another observation I remembered from "Blast off".Check out the shots of the J2 getting hit by flames from pyro explosions.On one shot ,just as the J2 approaches the left side of the frame ,if you look real closely at the fusion core it looks like it "POPPED LOOSE" just before the J2 moves out of the frame.Looks like it just flops a little bit

Dear Friends,
Can anybody inform to me where I can buy available fusion core and dome lighthing to Jupiter 2 model Polar Lights. I´m live in Brazil and the seller will have to available international shipping.

Thanks

Jose Carlos

The 3rd season J2 used the chaser fusion core built for the Pod Dropper. Before that the 6 light core with attached "V" shape in the bubble rotating on a single shaft. The lights burned out and they just didn't replace them. It was down to 3 lights on the famous Jupiter 2 through the mushroom of fire scene. I've exported al the flying SPFX clips from the "Lost In Space Forever" DVD into Quicktime/Final Cut , and sharpened the clips, and sped them back up to the as filmed speed. Most Pyro shots were filmed at 180 frames per second, as noted on the clappers. Also note the increase in light when the cameras are flipped back to normal speed before and after the shots.

...here is another observation I remembered from "Blast off".Check out the shots of the J2 getting hit by flames from pyro explosions.On one shot ,just as the J2 approaches the left side of the frame ,if you look real closely at the fusion core it looks like it "POPPED LOOSE" just before the J2 moves out of the frame.Looks like it just flops a little bit
That's right. Only one core "window" is lit, and the spinner has stopped. The core is hanging by a thread, so to speak.

That always made me laugh. It's a obvious blooper, and they used that same shot in two different episodes!

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/509/thumbs/lis0003_1.jpg (http://photos.hobbytalk.com/showphoto.php/photo/24075)

So, That is where Lunar Models got THEIR design.

That's right. Only one core "window" is lit, and the spinner has stopped. The core is hanging by a thread, so to speak.

Ya Know.....

I have used that incident as part of 'my proof' that the core and bubble were powered by a single shaft system. as the core mounting screw slipped out of its slot, the core dropped on one side and the rotating shaft pulled away from a slot in the core. It also gives you an idea of how powerful the pyrotechnics needed to be to appear correct in the slow version WE saw on TV. Most of the pyro scenes were 180 FPS.(!!!!!!!) I hear Fox/L.B.Abbott flipped the Posiden at 1200 FPS (!!!!!!!) The Jupiter 2 was normally filmed at between 96 and 116 FPS for the gear sequences.

The gear shots are great, be it the Derelict, or the "Yellow Circle" landing, or the 3rd season up , out of the sand and retract clips as seen in the Lost in Space Forever DVD SPFX clips.

Cool Y3a.

For no particular reason other than being bored I put together some shots from that LIS Forever SFX reel and added sound effects if anyone is interested. After complete I noticed that someone else had also done this (on YouTube I think).

My link:
http://martl.tripod.com/J2/J2.html

Check out "Wish upon a Star".Note the sound Effect of the creature. (the growl if you will) Speed up the sound effect by twice the normal speed.He is saying "CAPTAIN ZOOMMMMM". The growl is also used as an engine sound effect and other creatures growl\moan.

Captain Zoom - ha ha - I never noticed that before. I once reversed the alien dialog from the beginning of "Deadliest of the Species". I noticed that it was just a line from later in the episode.

I was playing around with my LIS SFX collection and sampled the creature sound in my keyboard.I played the sound back at 2 octaves up and hear "CAPTAINNNNN.......ZOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM"....of course the analog tape feedback produced a very powerful repeating delay.....cool!!!!! I also think (if Im not mistaken)....from the episode where they go back in time to earth (1947) if you watch Smith walk down the landing leg of the J2,when his foot touches the landing leg pad you can see the whole pad move.Must be a wheel under foot pad so the mockup can be rolled away (just a guess)

Hey Y3A,
from a technical standpoint ,are the 32 fins on the fusion core suppose to be retractable.I recall the 16" lunar models J2 instructions gave you a choice of fin lengths (fully extended or half extended) Is that based on LM'S idea or was that a tech spec?

...are the 32 fins on the fusion core suppose to be retractable...
Pardon my interjection, but it was recently pointed out that the retractable fins were specified on a studio drawing of the full-scale mock up.

Yeah...What he said.

thanks for the input....

Has anyone heard any recent news regarding the Moebius J-2? Still a December release?

Sorry, but the Jupiter 2 Hero DID have 6 lights which are IN BACK of the scrimCould you provide visual evidence that there are six lights behind the scrim?Info in LB Abbott's book discusses some of the shots and several articles have discussed the processes, studio records, and a bunch of stuff out there. The Lydeckers mentioned the control box used with the Gear Jupiter 2 in an old 70's fan mag.Could you cite the specific book, articles and magazines with dates that document these things?

Chris

Could you provide visual evidence that there are six lights behind the scrim?
Chris

Yes. The evidence is from LIS Forever. The clip at the end where the Jupiter 2 is pitching back n forth and you can SEE the lights about 2 inches under the spining "V" in the bubble. The lights that light up the bubble also light the back of the scrim.

Could you provide visual evidence that there are six lights behind the scrim?Could you cite the specific book, articles and magazines with dates that document these things?

Chris -

Oh my god.....I thought that you focused on the original BSG to the tiniest minutae.

Now you're asking for people to show proof in regards to a filming model that hasn't been whole for nearly 40 years. Come on, it's not like there's articles in print examining the original J2 in the kind of detail you're demanding.

Sometimes, you just have to be content to take people at their word, it's not a court of law, eh?

Bryan

Yes. The evidence is from LIS Forever. The clip at the end where the Jupiter 2 is pitching back n forth and you can SEE the lights about 2 inches under the spining "V" in the bubble. The lights that light up the bubble also light the back of the scrim.I'm familiar with that clip and I agree that there are stationary lights below the rotating V-disk, but I disagree that there's evidence there to support a definitive statement of six lights.Now you're asking for people to show proof in regards to a filming model that hasn't been whole for nearly 40 years. Come on, it's not like there's articles in print examining the original J2 in the kind of detail you're demanding.

Sometimes, you just have to be content to take people at their word, it's not a court of law, eh?Bryan, it sure sounds like I've overwhelmed you with logic or evidence in the past. If that's the case, feel free to contact me and remind me of the incident.

But in any event, if someone cites phantom material as a source for their definitive statements, although not a court of law, it is not unusual to ask for specific sources, in fact, it's customary to provide them up front, regardless of whether or not the articles or books in question are in current publication. "I read it somewhere" does not suffice.

I've done my own research on the J2 miniatures and although some of the statements made by Y3a are absolutely true, some would appear to be incorrect opinion.

Don't get me wrong and think that this is some kind of baseless attack of Y3a's statements. In fact, I've read through most of the posts here and I think that some of the work that Y3a is planning offers some very good solutions.

I strive for answers and concrete evidence. Opinion is fine if it is stated as such and is not masqueraded as fact.

So again, I would like to ask for citations of specific books and articles that provide enlightenment to the inner workings and history of the four J2/G12 filming miniatures. I'm sure that there are others aside from me that would enjoy reading the facts for themselves and filling in any missing information with their own conjecture rather than getting someone else's conjecture presented as fact.

And if somehow everything that Y3a has said turns out to be fact, well then, I'll be happy because that will mean that I increased my knowledge, which is my goal.

Chris

Let's everyone take a deep breath before we post again. I didn't take Chris' "challenge" of Y3a's post as a personal attack so much as a "where'd you get that information from". While it could have been worded in a less aggressive manner, you can't always automatically assume the tone of the post - something I have to admit to having been guilty of myself in the past.

Remember that this is a hobby and that there are those of us who like to have "proof" instead of just taking someone at their word. I've seen it done too many times where someone says "This is how it is" and people take them at their word - and disinformation on a subject is spread far and wide because of this. I've even been guilty of this two or three times in the past, as well.

So, for someone - Chris Pappas or anyone else - to ask for proof on an issue isn't at all uncommon in The Hobby. Especially where scarcity of good studio model references come in to play. This is especially an issue for those who do buildups for clients who want a Studio Accurate model.

I now return you to your search for modeling minutiae, already in progress (said totally tongue in cheek). :D

I'm familiar with that clip and I agree that there are stationary lights below the rotating V-disk, but I disagree that there's evidence there to support a definitive statement of six lights.Bryan, it sure sounds like I've overwhelmed you with logic or evidence in the past. If that's the case, feel free to contact me and remind me of the incident.
The lights you can see are in a specific arrangement. I just followed the logical order of what I saw. after all would they have mounted the lights in a random order? NO! 6 lights, and then the 6 lights on the fusion core makes a total of 12 lights. Those lights were powered by an onboard motorcycle battery.

But in any event, if someone cites phantom material as a source for their definitive statements, although not a court of law, it is not unusual to ask for specific sources, in fact, it's customary to provide them up front, regardless of whether or not the articles or books in question are in current publication. "I read it somewhere" does not suffice.
So lets use THAT as a standard then. YOU provide what you know with those same set of standards.

I've done my own research on the J2 miniatures and although some of the statements made by Y3a are absolutely true, some would appear to be incorrect opinion.

Don't get me wrong and think that this is some kind of baseless attack of Y3a's statements. In fact, I've read through most of the posts here and I think that some of the work that Y3a is planning offers some very good solutions. Well, OK Chris. I respect your system of logic.

I strive for answers and concrete evidence. Opinion is fine if it is stated as such and is not masqueraded as fact.[/QUOTE]

So again, I would like to ask for citations of specific books and articles that provide enlightenment to the inner workings and history of the four J2/G12 filming miniatures. I'm sure that there are others aside from me that would enjoy reading the facts for themselves and filling in any missing information with their own conjecture rather than getting someone else's conjecture presented as fact.
Don't got them. too many years in between these events. I can't find the stuff i read decades ago. Wasn't important at the time.

And if somehow everything that Y3a has said turns out to be fact, well then, I'll be happy because that will mean that I increased my knowledge, which is my goal.

Chris

That's the problem w/not having notes for your citations - we mis-remember things all the time. It's why I now have notes I update fairly regularly with regards to the Rag Tag Fugitive Fleet. I was mis-remembering things that I had read or seen, so started keeping notes w/citations and links wherever possible, as well as pics to support my comments. Whenever I make a new observation, get info from a source with one of the shows or read a new article, I attach it to the Word file I started about four or five years ago.

That's the problem w/not having notes for your citations - we mis-remember things all the time. It's why I now have notes I update fairly regularly with regards to the Rag Tag Fugitive Fleet. I was mis-remembering things that I had read or seen, so started keeping notes w/citations and links wherever possible, as well as pics to support my comments. Whenever I make a new observation, get info from a source with one of the shows or read a new article, I attach it to the Word file I started about four or five years ago.

Related to the above in terms of documenting the source(s) of photographs off the web or otherwise:

Most of y'all may already be aware of it, but I have recently begun to make fuller use of the "properties" feature when saving newly acquired pics or making notes on old ones.

1. Right click on a pic and select "properties."

2. Click the "summary" tab and you can insert ([Ctrl] V) relevant text you've already copied (left click and drag over text and then hit [Ctrl] C) or enter new text.

Just so you'll remember that you have information there, you can change the name of the pic and put in something like "info" at the end of the pic file name just before the .jpg.

It saves a lot of trouble sometimes and can be very helpful, for just one example, if you copy and insert the text with techniques in step-by-step how-to photos.

Kewel! I didn't know that! I mean, I knew you could alter the properties to read who had initiated a file, but didn't know you could add more than just 20 or 30 characters.

Good to know. Thanks, Lee. :thumbsup:

Kewel! I didn't know that! I mean, I knew you could alter the properties to read who had initiated a file, but didn't know you could add more than just 20 or 30 characters.

Good to know. Thanks, Lee. :thumbsup:

Glad to point out something handy.

There's a lot these computers do and I think most of us barely scratch the surface--I am definitely guilty of learning only as much as I need to in order to get by. Something like this, even as lazy as I am on documentation, makes it a whole heck of a lot easier and I like being able to provide information on the photograph to anyone who is curious or just to give credit where credit is due.