Romell R Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Romell, be warned, 1/8th scale is very addictive. I'm finally done fussing with the master for the body and starting on the mold, unlike resin casting the mold will be laid up by hand in fiberglass. It will be a 5 piece bolt together affair to ease removal of the body from the mold. The body has lots of compound curves and undercut areas.....rather than fudge or alter these areas with a "close enough" approach, I'm putting extra time into the multi piece mold. By the way,I got your email and will drop you a line later today. The first run of bodies will go to the original investors, at that point I'll cast some for the members of the forum before they go in the catalog or on ebay........in other words, you forum guys will get a "go to the head of the line" pass. I'll talk with the guys at TDR and see if we can come up with a "special" price for members only. Great I'll be saving my pennies untill its ready! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Romell, be warned, 1/8th scale is very addictive. I'm finally done fussing with the master for the body and starting on the mold, unlike resin casting the mold will be laid up by hand in fiberglass. It will be a 5 piece bolt together affair to ease removal of the body from the mold. The body has lots of compound curves and undercut areas.....rather than fudge or alter these areas with a "close enough" approach, I'm putting extra time into the multi piece mold. By the way,I got your email and will drop you a line later today. The first run of bodies will go to the original investors, at that point I'll cast some for the members of the forum before they go in the catalog or on ebay........in other words, you forum guys will get a "go to the head of the line" pass. I'll talk with the guys at TDR and see if we can come up with a "special" price for members only. Sounds like fun. I always enjoy the mold building process. It's kind of like scratch building a model, well I guess it's exactly like scratch building a model when you're working in fiberglass. It will be fun to work on the fiberglass body. I've never tried that before, but it doesn't sound too different from regular resin, just without all the inherent problems resin has. Plus it will keep the finished project from being a 100lb lead weight! Even though I've got miles of "to-do" list stuff ahead of this, I'm sure I will find a way to bump it to the front of the line when it comes. -Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arick Posted July 1, 2010 Author Share Posted July 1, 2010 After working on several MF glass bodies, I'm hooked on glass over resin. Its stronger, dosen't warp and there are no thickness issues. A word of caution though, use good eye protection, gloves and a respirator when working with glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandpaMcGurk Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Steve....when the mold is complete I'll post a few pics of it just for giggles, you're right, the mold is a project in it's own right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MADD FABRICATOR Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Steve....when the mold is complete I'll post a few pics of it just for giggles, you're right, the mold is a project in it's own right. Grandpa, glad to see you're about to start slinging some 'glass. Please keep us informed as to the mold making progress. And yes Rick, glass is the only way to go when doing a body of any size. I just finished experimenting with using a two part epoxy process to make a body of my dry lakes/ Bonneville style belly tanker in 1/8th scale. The body before doing the final trimming came out at just under 7 ounces. That same body cast in resin would have weighed just about a full pound, plus the cast resin tends to be very brittle, and going thinner on the cast resin would have created even more stress problems. So, be it polyester resin or two part epoxy resin with some 'glass cloth is by far the best method. Looking forward to seeing the Cuda in 'glass. CHEERZZZZZ !!!!!!! MADD FABRICATOR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insaneMB Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Romell, be warned, 1/8th scale is very addictive. I'm finally done fussing with the master for the body and starting on the mold, unlike resin casting the mold will be laid up by hand in fiberglass. It will be a 5 piece bolt together affair to ease removal of the body from the mold. The body has lots of compound curves and undercut areas.....rather than fudge or alter these areas with a "close enough" approach, I'm putting extra time into the multi piece mold. By the way,I got your email and will drop you a line later today. The first run of bodies will go to the original investors, at that point I'll cast some for the members of the forum before they go in the catalog or on ebay........in other words, you forum guys will get a "go to the head of the line" pass. I'll talk with the guys at TDR and see if we can come up with a "special" price for members only. I'm curious what the cost might be??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 This is going to be so cool... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandpaMcGurk Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 This is going to be so cool... Yeah Harry, the cool factor is there for sure........not quite a "Super Bird" but hey....there's always tomorrow, right? Mike...I can't put a price on the Cuda just yet, if I were to figure in out of pocket cost for our hands on time at prevailing rates, factor in materials etc......you guessed it...way too expensive for most of us hobby budget guys. That's not the case...TDR figures in material costs, any outside labor and a small mark-up to put back into new product development & advertising. We are not in biz to get rich quick.....we are modelers just like you. The price will be as low as possible and not based solely on $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ profit. I know it sounds a bit sappy but we are here for you modelers and the promotion large scale in general. I'll post an "estimated" cost as the dust settles. What we are looking at is offering the body only at "X" dollars and a couple of bundled starter kits including the glass body, engine, trans, etc. These bundled kits will more than likely be "multi-media" kits...glass body, resin parts, RP parts and perhaps even some metal parts...we'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Rogers Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 i would love one!!! put me down for one!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baddgass Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Lots of cool work HERE> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 What's the latest Don? How's the mold coming along? Not trying to rush you, I'm just really excited about this project! -Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandpaMcGurk Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 No worries about rushing me Steve, the old bones have slowed down considerably but I'm (do I dare say) seeing the finish line on the horizon. The Cuda is looking a bit clunky at the moment.... clay dams, and glass matt for the nose make it look like it's being attacked by a 1/8th resin monster. Tomorrow, time allowing, I'll lay up the rear section of the mold. That will be 2 of the five chunks I'll need for the complete mold. I can only do one section at time, remove the clay leaving a flange to bolt the next section to, and sling some more glass matt. I'll post some W.I.P. pics when I have the sides of the mold in place.........hang in there, it's on the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 I'll post some W.I.P. pics when I have the sides of the mold in place.........hang in there, it's on the way. Hey Don, I know you've got your hands full with SMC lately, but any updates on the Cuda? -Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandpaMcGurk Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 Hey Don, I know you've got your hands full with SMC lately, but any updates on the Cuda? -Steve Yeah Steve....my plate has been pretty full lately, but the Cuda is getting closer by the day. The last big hurdle (at least for me) after getting the master to a point where I was happy with it,was to construct a fiberglass bolt together multi piece finished mold that would have plenty of longevity to it.....many thanks go to the Madd Fabricator for keeping me out of trouble with that one. As you know the mold has to be as close to perfect as I can get it. Close enough just doesn't fly if it's to wear the TDR name. I probably have a few more weeks tweaking the mold and if all goes well I'll lay-up a prototype for pics that will be used as a shop mule to allow the construction of other goodies for the car. I'll start laying up the bodies for you original investors immediately after I get an acceptable prototype. So hang in there.....it hasn't been side lined. Something you might want to keep in mind is that you investors will get the only bodies available from that first run. I won't be putting them up for sale until I have some inventory on hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Hey Don, Just wondering how it's going with the Cuda? Any photos of the progress on the mold? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandpaMcGurk Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Hey Steve, I haven't been taking many pics of the mold in progress.....not much to look at really, just big chunks of fiberglass that bolt together (to form a one piece mold) when separated from the master. I will however post a few pics of the mold when I start laying up the bodies. I've this mentioned before.....the plan is this: I'll cast the bodies needed for the investors and get them shipped. At that point the Cuda goes back on the TDR table for development of additional support parts depending on what you guys want. We already have the 426 engine in the catalog. I have masters (other than final fitting) done for a number of other 'Cuda specific parts.......when it gets a little closer to releasing it for sale to the public we'll sort out what will or will not be offered for sale. As soon as I get a chance I'll post a few pics of some of the "support" parts in this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandpaMcGurk Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Here's a couple pics of the yet to be finalized Cuda 4-speed trans. The parts in white and gray primer are currently available through TDR. The red primer parts are the bell housing, trans and tail-shaft with both shifter locations. Shift linkage, mounting pad and speed-o cable locations are provided on the master. I have more work to do on the bell housing but these parts will be cast in resin and available through TDR as options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baddgass Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 NICE work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Custom Hearse Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 'nuff said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 I hate to nit pick, as the A-833 4-speed looks great so far, but the tailhousing on the A-727 looks too long in the pic above. The A-833 has the correct tailhousing with the dual shifter bosses, so the A-727 trans assembly should be the same overall length as the A-833 trans, tailshaft, and bellhousing, ~34.5" IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratnasty Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Is there anyway to have this Cuda printed off in 1/16th scale . I would love to make a 1/16th scale prostock thanks Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDO Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Is there anyway to have this Cuda printed off in 1/16th scale . I would love to make a 1/16th scale prostock thanks Chuck It's not a Rapid Prototype model. The project started out as an industrial model, built the old-fashioned way. The client backed out so the builder put up an auction for what he already had built. Several people chipped in, bid on it, and won. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Hey Don, just pokin' ya about the 'Cuda project. Any updates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandpaMcGurk Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Hey Don, just pokin' ya about the 'Cuda project. Any updates? Still pluggin' away Steve......when I started casting the glass multi piece mold I had some problems with the resin setting up properly. It turned out that there must have been some sort of compatibility issue in the materials I was using but M.F. set me straight. I also found a few ghost lines (not visible) in the master that showed up when I did a test section, I'm dealing with them on the master as I don't want to have to try to repair them in the mold. The last fly in the ointment is that I need to scribe the door lines etc. a little deeper on the master as the were too weak in the test section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eviltwincustoms Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Man this is an awesome project, I wouldn't even mind having one of these 1/8 bodies. Never built anything this big, but would love to try, since I am a detail freak. I would be doing some major glass work changing it up to look like a Pro Mod body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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