http://www.dieselbombers.com/blogs/ Diesel Bombers - Diesel Enthusiasts Community is a Discussion Forum for owners of Cummins , Duramax , Powerstroke and All Diesels Engines. Bombers are those who bomb diesels , Bombing a diesel is to modify a diesels stock form to increase power , durability , drive ability and longevity en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:45:10 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.dieselbombers.com/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.dieselbombers.com/blogs/ http://www.dieselbombers.com/blogs/dieselartist/66-blessing-disguise.html Sat, 21 Feb 2009 01:16:11 GMT I received my first layoff due to low volume sales company-wide in November 2007. To try and make ends meet, I've worked two jobs since then to almost match that year's income. My night job is now experiencing the same thing and has laid the night crew off. I've been attempting to get my artwork going the last year, but it has been decidedly difficult working 60-70 hours a week, being active in my church, as well as being active in the diesel crew out here.

However, I'm seeing this as a blessing because I still have my day job, and with my nights free now, I can put the time I want into developing my illustrations. Who knows? Maybe I'll be the next Camilo Pardo :w2: Hey, I can dream, can't I! lol

Everyone's giving me advice on night job openings (mostly gas stations...at night...um...no), and they're all asking when I'll be looking next, but I'm going to see how the artwork goes. I feel God's been pushing me in that direction since my first layoff, but I didn't have enough faith in my own abilities to pursue it. We'll see what happens :) ]]> dieselartist http://www.dieselbombers.com/blogs/dieselartist/66-blessing-disguise.html http://www.dieselbombers.com/blogs/dieselartist/63-best-christmas-present-evar.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:32:11 GMT So one of my friends sent me a package. Before it arrived, he tried to get guesses out of me about what it could possibly be. I'm not accustomed to people buying things for me that I actually want - it's usually gag gifts or something completely different (like coasters...or a purse...former went to my sister who had a place of her own, latter went to Goodwill). Anyroad, I never would have guessed! When I opened the package, it had an Amsoil air filter in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If he didn't live way out in Kentucky, his ears would've been busted from me squealing in joy and he probably would've been flattened to the ground if I'd hugged him haha!

Great way to start my week :c: I keep trying to tell my family that if they just get me vehicle-oriented goodies (heck, it could just be a calendar even), I'll be a happy little cowgirl, but they think I need "meaningful" gifts. I know they mean well, and I still love them, but they can do better ;)

I do have a K&N cold air intake, but the filter ended up pretty filthy after a couple runs on dirt roads, and I can't for the life of me get it clean. I've cleaned it three times in the last 20k miles and it's still blacker than used engine oil, even if I haven't been playing in the dirt for awhile.

Next on the list of upgrades is a 4" turbo back ending in dark gray miters mmmmm
And then I want the CFM+ intake manifold in bright red to match my exterior ]]> dieselartist http://www.dieselbombers.com/blogs/dieselartist/63-best-christmas-present-evar.html http://www.dieselbombers.com/blogs/dieselartist/61-diesel-art-whoda-thunk.html Mon, 22 Dec 2008 06:40:53 GMT My life as an artist started in first grade. A fourth grader was showing off her latest piece of art, a horse jumping from cliff to cliff at night... My life as an artist started in first grade. A fourth grader was showing off her latest piece of art, a horse jumping from cliff to cliff at night with the moon, and I somehow got it in my head that if she could draw that, so could I. So I started drawing horses. Lots of them. I had horses coming out of my ears, my parents ears, my extended family's ears...you get the idea! I also drew people and Star Wars vehicles (my favorite movies and books!).

I fell in love with Yoshitaka Amano's style:


A sorceress in black and white charcoal on matboard:


And then I discovered the world of four-wheeling and started rendering the photos I took of our trucks. Then one of my diesel friends was having a not-so-great day, so I drew his truck to cheer him up:


Next thing I know, TDR had me do the cover of Issue 61!!!!!

That's my name signed in print!!!!!! That will probably always be the most exciting thing that I have ever done in my life! There really is nothing cooler, especially when I called up my dad:

Me: Dad! Guess what?! I'm doing the cover of a magazine!
Dad: ...what kind of magazine? There better be clothes involved!
Me: Daaaaaad, not me on the cover. I'm drawing a truck for the cover!
Dad: Drawing a truck? There's a market for that kind of thing?

My dad was rather confused, but glad that I was doing something I enjoyed. He's still confused, especially since I'm really the only country girl/truck-lover in the family. I'm working on my first nephew and a couple of my cousins, and succeeding! My nephew told his mom that he wants "a big truck like Aunt Kelly, not a yucky car!" Ummm...I trained him too well, apparently. I need to let him know that vintage and American muscle aren't yucky cars. That slot is reserved for the '88 Nova, Pintos, and Festivas.

I wish there wasn't a 4-pic limit - I have a '70 Nova, '36 and '37 Fords, and a plethora of others I want to show off, but those can be viewed in my DeviantArt gallery. If it's shiny, I fall in love. Chrome was a wonderful invention, if you ask me! I honestly don't care if I'm drawing a Chevy, Dodge, Ford, Toyota...although I am rather biased toward the CTDs! Just a bit! ]]> dieselartist http://www.dieselbombers.com/blogs/dieselartist/61-diesel-art-whoda-thunk.html http://www.dieselbombers.com/blogs/dieselartist/60-how-i-ended-up-here.html Mon, 22 Dec 2008 06:00:24 GMT Not how I ended up on DB, but how did a little thing like me end up with a big diesel. I used to think diesels were an elite group that I could never... Not how I ended up on DB, but how did a little thing like me end up with a big diesel. I used to think diesels were an elite group that I could never belong to. I had the elite part right :c:

I've been a big fan of trucks since I was a kid. My parents said that when I was 8 or 9, I informed them that my first truck was going to be a Ranger XLT, although I know I had no idea what the XLT was for, but it probably sounded good at the time. Sure enough, when it came time to ditch the parental units' hand-me-down Subaru station wagon, this is what I bought:


'94 Ranger XLT 2wd 2.3L. Mud spots optional. Oh, I called him "Sandrock" - I was a HUGE Gundam Wing fan at the time I bought him. Then I fell out of the fandom, but the name stuck. And, no, I don't watch anime - that was a very brief stint.

Five years of running around in that tiny 4 cylinder pickup, I started dreaming of an upgrade. Which led to Lucy, an '06 1500 with the V8 Magnum:

(I really don't spend much time on the pavement)

Then I moved from "sunny" California to Arizona, where I walked out the door at work one day, and Lucy had been liberated from her parking space. This had not been the first break-in - the Ranger has that one topped (that's another story), so I didn't panic, but I was heart-broken. I had Lucy for 8 months, 25k miles. Uh, yeah...I did 1k the first two days I owned that truck, and it didn't really stop from there.

I sold Lucy to the insurance company after waiting the prerequisite 30 days, then started looking for the next truck. An ad from a used dealer touting a 2000 QCSB Ram 2500 came up, so I checked it out. They got the bed size wrong and sold it to me for the price of a gasser, not a diesel. Nice to know the dealer knew what they had...


This one's Delilah, my current ride. I also had an '82 Bronco (no good pics of her, unfortunately) who I sold in January to pay for major front end repairs on this truck. My vehicles are notorious for things going wrong (except Lucy), and this truck has been no exception.

Current things on my fix-it list:
interior lights
license plate lights
back-up lights (sometimes they work)
fog lamp (just one)
breather tube extension
heater core
clutch (dreaming of SBC)
CD player (wiring issues with the new one)
CB radio mount

Current goodies:
K&N
Commander
XZT+
Walbro

And, of course, I have a shopping list of upgrades, but those'll wait til I get the above taken care of first. Some of the goodies are 6" miter stacks, air horn, maybe re-gear her rear, injectors, etc...my goal is 400 hp...for now... ]]> dieselartist http://www.dieselbombers.com/blogs/dieselartist/60-how-i-ended-up-here.html