Foxer Posted December 31, 2010 Author Share Posted December 31, 2010 (edited) Craft stores have bags of really tiny little beads for next to nothing. Almost scale-sized bean bag beans! Ah, that's an idea, Dano. Come to think of it, I spilled a container of those small beads on the basement floor from my daughter's stash and haven't cleaned the mess up yet! Maybe my wife has an excuse to badger me to pick it up now. Edited December 31, 2010 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 (edited) The first day of the new year and I'm ... SEWING! The bean bag chair is in the bag, so to speak I first used some 3M Spray Mount on the paper patterns and stuck them to the suede (inside) surface of the leather. A light coat worked well and the paper came right off with no residue on the suede after cutting the pieces out. I just used a regular (in my sewing terms) stitch to sew the length of each side to one another from the inside. It was thin leather but still offered resistance to the needle so I pushed the needle through against a pile of paper with a thimble to get penetration ... and I didn't stick my finger once! Yes, I was in the Army and I CAN sew. Five of the six sides are together in these photos. More when It's done.. Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie8575 Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Cool idea to make the bean-bags, Mike. Usually, it's vinyl simulating leather, not the other way around! This is a remarkable build. I've enjoyed watching it come along. Charlie Larkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 (edited) Usually, it's vinyl simulating leather, not the other way around! Charlie Larkin eheh Charlie, I like that! and here's a quick shot of the sides done but no top and bottom yet. Got to figure how I'm gonna attach those two circles. Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Just sew it together... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crowe-t Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 WOW, this is coming out great! You are really taking this to a whole new level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David G. Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 eheh Charlie, I like that! and here's a quick shot of the sides done but no top and bottom yet. Got to figure how I'm gonna attach those two circles. It looks like a gearshift boot! Great work on the van, what you've done so far is nothing short of amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share Posted January 6, 2011 (edited) I didn't wast my time while the board was done and the bean bag chair is done. I had two choices to fill it with ... some small stones and a bag of beads ... the beads won out. The ends were sewn on as they should have been. Mr. T volunteered to test it out .. this IS an A-Team Van after all! Meanwhile, I may have progress to report on the hinges very soon! Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie8575 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Nice work on the bean-bags, Mike. The whole project is coming out very nicely. Charlie Larkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudpit602 Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Fantastic a bean bag chair who would have thought Fantastic a bean bag chair who would have thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 (edited) Hopefully you all aren't getting sick of this continuing hinge sage .. I sure am! The pieces are all made and on the alignment rod. Now I need 3 more hands with thin fingers to hold as I glue ... nothing new here. I tried using silly putty to hold the rod as I aligned everything to add glue but it didn't want to keep things planted ... a combination of not sticking and softness I think. I may try again. If anyone has ideas on how I can hold this all in place I'd love to hear. I do want to use regular liquid cement. The end rings with the flat shim pieces need to be glued to the plates you see on the door. Meantime, I started building up the interior door panels to match the interior panels shown previously. And, I got afraid of the delicate arms on the correct GMC rear view mirrors I got from Nick, so I replaced the arms with bent aluminum tubes that will all be epoxied together and chromed with Alclad or a chrome powder. Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyBad Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Nice looking hinges, they look like a whole lot of fun too. Bean bag looks good, Would a Hacky Sack work too or too big? Nice weathering on the engine. What a shame to dirty up all that hard work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 (edited) Bean bag looks good, Would a Hacky Sack work too or too big? I had to look up Hacky Sack, eheh. Not sure how big they are but probably filled too much anyway. Might have been a possibility if I had known of them sooner. Edited January 8, 2011 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Winter Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Wouldn't of ever thought of doing that with those old mirrors, I'll have to post the truck I'm using the mirrors you sent me on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Rogers Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) HINGES ARE GLUED ON DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!! I went back to the old tried and true ... taped the hinges in place and glued on piece at a time with Ambroid. And it worked .... eheh After looking at the closeup photo it looks like one of the bottom hinges may need adjustment, but I feel good! I'm going to let these dry over night and apply some epoxy "welding". I could use some suggestions as to how I lock the hinge pins in place. I did try crimping an end but the pins are too loose for this to work well. I've never used this type of hinge before. Maybe I should just put a drop of epoxy or superglue on the ends. Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie8575 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Mike, in place of brass rod for the hinge-pins, perhaps you could use what I think are called leg-levelers, if you can get one small enough. These are two screw-headed fasteners. One has female threads, one has male threads. If you can find one small enough, that would work. Beyond that, probably the next best thing would be four microscopic machine screws with nuts. If you fill the slots in and round off the nuts, they'll even look like the factory hinge pins. Charlie Larkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 Mike, in place of brass rod for the hinge-pins, perhaps you could use what I think are called leg-levelers, if you can get one small enough. These are two screw-headed fasteners. One has female threads, one has male threads. If you can find one small enough, that would work. Beyond that, probably the next best thing would be four microscopic machine screws with nuts. If you fill the slots in and round off the nuts, they'll even look like the factory hinge pins. Charlie Larkin I think all those might be too big and noticeable. The 1:1 pins just stop at the ends like a typical door hinge pin. They are barely noticeable so I'll probably just hit one end with some superglue to secure it. Thanks for the suggestions, Charlie .. was interesting considering it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 (edited) Things have been progressing slowly, somewhat due to the fact the hinges bit me again as two of the hinge pieces came loose and hit the carpet. One was found and the other remade. So, the hinges on the doors are ALL glued and have some epoxy "welding" added for security. After all the troubles I had with the hinges, I'm happy with how they look. They are a bit oversize, but I think are good. BTW, the doors are off a Revell Chevy van .. ie, all the pieces you can see added top and bottom to fit the AMT door openings. I need a GMC logo for the rear and squish molded the front grill logo, as it's the same size. Also did some interior door handles and cranks. I creatively fabricated a hitch for the rear to look like the 1:1 ... at least what you'll see. I had no photos of the underside so I modeled it somewhat as hitch assemblies you can buy. It fits around the rear of the frame and clears the rear bumpers nicely. Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbler75 Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Lookin' good Foxer! Those hinges are killer. As for holding them in place. I think maybe some Alteration/Sewing Pins with the heads might work. Dunno. That's what I'm attempting. Keep up the stellar work! 8-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 (edited) I know most of you are getting almost as sick of this hinge subject as I am, but I swore I would put every trial and tribulation associated with this build in this very long thread! Well, fear not .. the hinges are BACK! All the hinge sockets on the doors were glued finally and received a small dab of epoxy for some extra strength. I was ready to put a primer coat on the doors and gave them a soap and water scrub. As I was drying them, I noticed ... ONE OF THE HINGE TUBES WAS MISSING! Obviously it went down the drain during the cleaning. The only good part of this is it would have come off the first time my daughter opened the door, so I guess I should be thankful for the quality check. So it's back to making and gluing a new socket. (I can get a bit closer, but depth=of-field is dropping off pretty fast as you can see in the range of focus in this photo. ) I also picked up some pins as suggested by Jason for the hings pins to see how they work. The small heads look good and might stay. The packages had only the gage sizes of the pins so I got the smallest. As you can see in the photo below they are smaller than I guessed.. smaller even that the brass rods. These are 17 gauge, .024" diameter. I'll try a larger one with the same head size if I decide to use them. I also got the door interior panels done to match the interior pattern. A .04 square piece was added to the back of each edge and sanded to fit the door curve. They are just laying on the door for this photo and won't be glued until painted. Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share Posted January 27, 2011 (edited) This almost feels like a completion! ... the DOORS ARE HUNG! I still had a few battles with the carpet monster, but got the last bit of glue of hinges to the body this morning and it FEELS GOOD! Now I wonder how long before the glue breaks loose ... I'm going to weld the body hinges with epoxy for security. All the epoxy I've added will look ok as welding or rust in the end and at least it will make ME feel better. I've been working on many other little pieces between hinge moments, but nothing ready for photos yet. YAY! Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crowe-t Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Hey Mike, I'm glad to hear the hinges are working out for you. You must be very patient. I would have glued the doors shut long ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share Posted January 27, 2011 (edited) a quick update ... I've been worrying about the tires and stance as my order from Ma's Resin for the correct tires has been in for about 5 months and I have no idea when they are coming. I expected at least 3 months but five is getting to be a bit long. Hopefully whatever is slowing this up clears up soon. I managed to find some tires that are close to the same diameter so I hacked something together to see how it would sit ... at least on it's side. gonna need some suspension adjustments. I'm surprised the A-Team van is jacked up so much. Here's the model and a good shot of the 1:1 for stance. There's an awful lot of the undercarriage showing and I was careful to get all the stops in place. I don't think it will go up any more in the back, but gonna have to check carefully. Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 Hey Mike, I wouldn't worry about getting your stuff from Ma's Resin. I know Al & he is a good guy but a bit overwhelemed with work right now. They are running him ragged not leaving much time for anything else. I will tell you one thing, you will be VERY pleased when you get your items. I loaned him some items as masters & when he sent them back I couldn't tell which were the kit tires I supplied & which were his product, they are THAT good. BTW GREAT work on the van! Yeah .. I know the quality will be tops and I know they'll come eventually. I hope my comments aren't taken wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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