jbwelda Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 thank you Chris. today I have been fiddling with the seat and head pad, here is everything held together with white glue and drying up. can see some more frame details too. thanks again for looking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatRod Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Love this project Bill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 (edited) a quick update as things are actually approaching closure, interior detailing and doohickey adding is done, cowl has been relieved to allow steering gear shaft to follow correct path, body panels are about ready to be fitted (that's why one of the disk brakes is pulled out away from the frame, clearance to fit the panel). meanwhile the wheels have been white glued to the front axle which is delicate enough to kind of worry me, but we will see how it goes...that's why I used white glue. heres some pics showing the cowl fitted to the frame, the polished firewall in place, and some other details...thanks again for looking! edit to add: oh forgot to mention, the AMT headers turned out to be too long! the interfered with the slicks big time! so I had a frustrating session thinking I could cut them down but that just turned into a dyslexic mess (in the process ruining one perfectly fine, delicately drilled, header...grrrr). instead I looked again at the headers on my display but not good enough buildup of the chevy motor, and sure enough they looked like they would work so I found a couple more parts packs 283s and built up a new set of revell headers. they are not without problems: one big old ejector pin mark on top of one pipe, but I am kinda tired of messing with them. but they fit and they look good, it was just one of those last minute things that I shoulda seen coming...gotcha. thanks again! jb Edited March 16, 2014 by jbwelda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasser59 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 This is progressing nicely. Very well done. Glad you had an extra Parts pack for the headers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 (edited) slowly rocking on: in other news, decided I could not live with the fit of the cowl to the lower body pieces, which was the straw that broke the camels back on redoing it because it could also use to be moved forward a smidgen (approx. 1/32" or so) and also I used the original "vintage" decals on the cowl and they are yellowed and not optimum and meanwhile I sourced some perfect repros I can use on the V2 cowl. another factor is evidently Dean Moon did not like the mooneyes logo reversed and insisted on only the left looking eyes were proper. and indeed in photos I have of the original the eyes on either side of the cowl are facing the same direction...that means on the left side they face forward but on the right side they face backward. Revell's original decal sheet is incorrect though most of us would prefer the look of symmetrical facing logo on each side. but the new decal sheet has 10 (!) sets of the decals so theres more than enuff for this. so a new cowl is currently being constructed from a junk/parted Attempt 1 kit I have which has the same frame and cowl panels. as you can see i have added about 1/32" to the width which fits both sides perfectly, should be a worthwhile project and actually the original doesnt fit that bad if you split the difference, but what with the other stuff its worth it to redo. anyhoo heres a couple pics of what I mean...poor fit and new vs old...oh yeah and that lip I added to both is to make a proper overhang over the instrument panel: the stock piece is too short to even span the space between the firewall and the inst panel. on this one though I am cutting it back a bit from previously, that combined with the planned forward movement ought to make the overhang appear about right on to the photos I have. thanks again for looking, comments criticisms suggestions always cheerfully considered! jb Edited March 29, 2014 by jbwelda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RancheroSteve Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 Man, this is looking great! Just a quick word on the cowl - when I built mine, I gave up trying to make the plastic one fit and made one from brass. I had little to no experience using brass in this way, but this was a good part to learn with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 thanks steve; on the cowl, if this one doesn't work out, I was thinking of forming it from aluminum or, now that you bring it up, brass. but looks to me like this cowl will fit and other than those nasty sink marks that I need to fill smooth, is coming along pretty nicely. my next big challenge is making the drag link as the one I had, from revell parts pack, is too short to reach the front axle and too short to hang down beneath the header on that side. its always something! jb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatRod Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 This is really looking great Bill!!! I like the way you reversed the rear wheels, I was looking at them awhile back thinking the same thing..... You should add some lug nut detail with Pro Tech's smallest AN fittings.....just sayin'. At any rate, a very beautiful build!!! I have all the stuff packed in a box here to do one for ME, someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 (edited) Reversed the rear wheels? Don't know what you mean...but yes they could use some lug nuts, though I think the original might have just had one big nut in the center. edit: just checked my ref pics and sure enough, 5 lugs per wheel. I have some resin lug nuts around, looks like they need to go deh. btw the wheels came from the tony nancy 22jr kit...they looked close to the pics I have so I used em. edit #2: now that I think about it I believe I sourced the wheels from a revell double car kit, the fumin fiat and thunder charger, so they quite might be exactly the same included in the similar mooneyes dragster double kit. jb Edited March 29, 2014 by jbwelda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 well this one (three) is about done except for me remaking the cowl which is underway so next stop is under glass, meanwhile heres some fuzztone fotos for fun: thanks for following along! jb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyno Davo Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Very nice build on all. Love the whole concept Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 jb, That really turned out nice, had my doubts when you included the Cube, it grew on me, sorta like it now. I really love the Dragster, looks like all your hard work paid off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted April 9, 2014 Author Share Posted April 9, 2014 the cube: it is out of scale being 1/24 vs 1/25 so I may well replace it at some point with...a 63 Ford pickup! thanks for the comments! jb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Wilson Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 I had been planning on using the front cycle wheels and tires from the tony nancy double kit, but then it was brought to my attention that Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland made a kool set of photoetched wheels for the front of dragsters, so I ordered some. they turned out to be pretty challenging for me, in fact I basically botched them during assembly, but they still don't look too bad, need some touch up and a not-too-close vantage point, but overall they look ok. I might end up ordering some more and trying again but the problem will remain getting glue down into the areas that need it as you sandwich the wheel together (made up of outer rim, outer PE spokes, hub, inner PE spokes and inner rim, with brass rod going through a kool building jig to align the whole thing) without gluing the whole mess to the jig itself. I found that rather easier to say than to do, so as I say just this side of usable...beside the chrome moosh of the Nancy ones though they look positively delicate: heres the basic stance I want out of the front axle and wheels: got a big storm or two moving in so maybe I will get some real quality time with this and get closer to getting it on the trailer! jb Which wheel/tires combo did you use on this from Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland ? You did an excellent job ! Jimmy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 (edited) >Which wheel/tires combo did you use on this from Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland ? the 19" ones if that's what you mean. come complete with resin tires as well as the photoetch spokes and resin hub and rims. unfortunately I had some problems with them so those wheels are only white glued on...will try to do better with a second set soon. the ones there presently look ok but if you look really close you can see air between the tire and the rim. I think i need to cut down the photoetch spokes about 1/32" before assembling to allow the tire to sit square on the rim. jb Edited April 11, 2014 by jbwelda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Wilson Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Thanks for the information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Jessee Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 That's beautiful. Thanks for that, and for all that information and the in-progress shots. When I did "Hot Rod Model Kits," we used a Mooneyes dragster on the cover shot. It was put together from original parts but we never could find a set of exhaust. I just left it as-is. I found some headers that are closer, but it's been like it is for some long, I may never change it. This was a great topic, and really well done. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 thanks terry...if you got any photos of that build you are talking about please post them. not sure what you mean about the exhausts...they came in the parts pack chevy motor and I believe they were in the mooneyes dragster double kit since it seemed to use exactly the same chrome engine trees as the parts packs did. sometimes I get tired of posting in progress updates because it seems no one bothers to look at them but they do add a certain documentation to the build which I like...good to hear you liked it too. jb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 (edited) Hi jbwelda, I just found this thread and thoroughly enjoyed reading every post. I feel - your pain - I too decided to try and build a "perfect" Mooneyes dragster about 5 years ago and I reckon I struck every single speedbump that you hit! I was stubborn and ignorant and bullied my way through fitting the PartsPack engine but it is insanely tight and you can see the injectors slightly bending the left hand frame rail. I wish I had attempted the dash treatment the way you did, it looks great! I used the Attempt One frame as I found the Mooneyes Parts Pack frame to be lacking in a lot of areas, as you so accurately described. I made a new cowl and firewall from printer's aluminium and I'm very happy with those parts at least. My references were the Hot Rod Magazine article and the Mooneyes book. I noticed that very few period shots of Mooneyes vehicles actually wore Moon discs where as most contemporary Moon cars do. I decide to cheat a little and do the left side as contemporary and the right side as period correct. The book showed a 64-64 Chevelle shop truck but a Revell '66 was as close as I could get at the time. The trailer is the one from the AMT Fireball 500. Not trying to hijack your post or anything, I just thought this info might help others who check out your thread. Congratulations on a fantastic build and I for one, "get" the cube van - the connection to Mooneyes Japan is perfectly appropriate. Cheers Alan Edited April 17, 2014 by alan barton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted April 18, 2014 Author Share Posted April 18, 2014 hey alan thanks for posting those pics and confirming many of the obstacles I ran into, yours is looking very nice too and love the trailer. during research for this project somewhere I read that those full moon disks don't really work well on the street as they stop the flow of air to brakes creating a problem in stopping. maybe with better ventilated wheels like you might assume we use today they work acceptably well but I read they were a real menace back in the day, so maybe that's why so few cars ran them on the street. jb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Alan, that Fireball 500 trailer really fits the Mooneyes dragster, at first glance I thought it was scratch built. I got the Cube as well. As jb and others have pointed out the variations on the Mooneyes dragster changed almost every time they ran it! My Cube comment above more so refers to the fact I'm not a fan of the Cube in the first place. Looks too cutesy, cartoonish. Like the designer tried too hard to make it look like it came from a Manga comic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 >My Cube comment above more so refers to the fact I'm not a fan of the Cube in the first place. Looks too cutesy, >cartoonish. Like the designer tried too hard to make it look like it came from a Manga comic. Aha! Gotcha! The precise point of using it. My work here is done. jb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hondo Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Great job, JB. A fine idea & you mated the two just fine. Cool, cool, cool............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 ok well I haven't been exactly idle though I "finished" this project some time ago, I've been working on some refinements and additions, but will be posting up finished version within the week. meanwhile here is just one of those "additions"...a Trek 8000 mountain bike that sits on a bicycle rack at the front of the trailer. I also added a top luggage carrier to the Cube and did some detailing under and around the trailer. for now here is a picture of the bicycle, you can't see the Mooneyes logo on the head stem in this view but its there. by the way the luggage carrier and bicycle, photoetch spokes and all, come with a Honda Odyssey van from Fujimi. came complete with a patch of astroturf to rest it upon! thanks again for looking! jb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Whole project looks great. I for one really appreciate the progress shots, and all the information on the real car and how you achieved your results. Nice work, sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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