f1ford48 Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Superb work on the engine and seats so far. the valve covers are just right-not too shiny! and nice work on the Ign. Wire boots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Thanks, guys. More pics soon as I work on the wheels, tires, suspension, and interior. Things are starting to get a little complicated... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Mind the gap between the rear clip and the chassis tub (where the fuel tanks are). Sand the upper inner edge of the clip and you still may have to shim the clip bottom edge to meet the tub.Cato, thanks for the tip about the engine cover. Once I got the engine mounted in the chassis I refitted the body and sure enough the rear clip developed that gap at the base. I shimmed it up with styrene and the fit is really good now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Cato, thanks for the tip about the engine cover. Once I got the engine mounted in the chassis I refitted the body and sure enough the rear clip developed that gap at the base. I shimmed it up with styrene and the fit is really good now. Glad to help. Another concern is the headers. It seems one pipe right near the collector wants to hit the rear deck when closed. Eric Cole had the same problem. I elongated the carb opening so the pipe just clears but does not stick out of the opening. It ain't OEM but you can't grind the header pipe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Glad to help. Another concern is the headers. It seems one pipe right near the collector wants to hit the rear deck when closed. Eric Cole had the same problem. I elongated the carb opening so the pipe just clears but does not stick out of the opening. It ain't OEM but you can't grind the header pipe... Believe it or not, my headers tuck up just fine under the engine cover. Go figure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 A beautiful looking build so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 Finally I've had some time to take, fix, and post some pics to Photobucket to add to this post. Work is progressing pretty well on the GT. The interior tub is just about done. I added a battery from a 1/12 scale '67 Corvette (after shaving off the Delco lettering) and modified the 'Vette's optional fire extinguisher to fit into the "passenger" footwell. The color for the dark blue areas of the monocoque is Tamiya TS15. The seats look right at home in here... This is a shot of the mocked-up body and chassis with the rear engine cover in place. The gap between the engine cover and chassis pan has been shimmed and sanded down on this side... but not yet on the driver's side. Somehow, the engine cover clears the headers too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Nice bodywork but please put a retainer strap across the battery so it doesn't short out on the extinguisher at 1.2g... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 (edited) Here's a shot of the engine located in the engine bay and the partially completed rear suspension. It is every bit as fiddly and complicated as it looks and you've heard. And finally here's a shot of the Icon resin tires mounted on the kit wheels. I painted the wheels in Tamiya Titanium Silver and used Alclad Airframe Aluminum on the knockoffs, the centers of which I drilled out and added aluminum tubing. The tires are amazing and really make the model. The outside of the chassis pan was also painted in the Scale Finishes Arcadian Blue, which looks dead-on to the factory color. The only downside is that it's an enamel... a week after painting it's still a bit soft and has a bit of a solvent smell. When I paint the body I'm going to have to let it sit for a few weeks just to be sure it's cured... by then I'll be up for a break! Nice bodywork but please put a retainer strap across the battery so it doesn't short out on the extinguisher at 1.2g... Live dangerously, man! Edited June 17, 2014 by jaymcminn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davewilly Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Looking Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakshow12 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Awesome! Are you going to wire the knock offs? How about all the visible suspension bolts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Awesome! Are you going to wire the knock offs? How about all the visible suspension bolts? They were not wired in an endurance race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 (edited) Awesome! Are you going to wire the knock offs? How about all the visible suspension bolts?Thanks, Fred!The suspension bolts are going to be replicated by Tichy Train plastic bolt heads a little larger than the ones I used on the engine. Probably won't wire the knock offs, but that might change. Another round of pics showing some more progress and a final body mockup coming soon! Edited June 22, 2014 by jaymcminn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cien1986 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 nice... will keep eye on this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric C Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Fantastic work on this build. Great job getting those headers to fit. I never could figure that out and it's probably my biggest disappointment in my build of the car. Your wheels and tires look awesome. Looking forward to more of your work on this beautiful car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 Thanks, everybody! Here are some pics of the bodywork and final mockup before paint... This is the door gap before adding styrene to the trailing edge of the bonnet... and after the material has been added and the gap corrected. Here's a shot of the fuel pumps mounted on a scratched aluminum plate rather than buried behind the firewall as the kit would have you do. Apparently many of the actual cars used the same arrangement. I am going to use all six pumps ( I think it looks cool) and they do clear the engine cover with the internal structure in place. Cato, you will be glad to notice that I did scratch up a battery hold-down strap as well! and finally, a couple of mockup shots, including one with a similarly-sized car in 1/24 just to show how big this thing actually is... I got the body into paint today, and the results are promising. Pics soon, and then I'll probably take a break for a few weeks to work on something else while the Scale Finishes Arcadian Blue enamel dries, which takes quite a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Yes, I like the battery holder-and the attention to detail. You'll have to get creative plumbing the extra three pumps and sadly, the 1:1's had that big door gap. But I did mine 'my way' and you should too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 (edited) Yes, I like the battery holder-and the attention to detail. You'll have to get creative plumbing the extra three pumps and sadly, the 1:1's had that big door gap. But I did mine 'my way' and you should too. (goes to Google, looks at pictures of GT40 door gaps) Oh (expletive deleted). Oh well, looks better my way. If I were to just do the left three pumps, would I just fill in the holes on the plate on the right side fuel sponson and leave that blank? Edited June 26, 2014 by jaymcminn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 You could get creative with some gizmology. I made hoses with the AN fittings run into the bulkhead corner. You could make AN cap fittings and put them in the holes. I think it would look like an unfinished area if it was filled and blanked. Here's my pumps, correctly plumbed. BTW, I made an external plate from .005" ally just as you did but wasn't happy. George Stauffer's resto (which Trump used for this model-hence the rollbar) mounted them on a plate like yours. But he did that for ease when vintage racing, not LeMans accuracy. I got them behind the bulkhead correctly but it was a b*#)!. Get good pics of the Stewart Warner 240A pumps for detailing-they're very visible: Here's the empty side: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davewilly Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Coming along Nicely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted June 30, 2014 Author Share Posted June 30, 2014 So I decided to tackle the dashboard of the GT40 while waiting for the paint to cure. Rather than my usual 1/24 practice of applying instrument decals and using Micro Krystal Klear to simulate glass, I decided to try something a little more realistic in the larger scale. Using my Dremel and files, I hogged out the gauges in the panel and decided to mount clear acetate behind the dash, and then the gauge decals behind that. The result looks much more like proper gauges, with depth and smooth glass. I also removed the molded-in bumps that were supposed to represent toggle switches- I had plans for those! I used thin aluminum printer's plate to represent the switch panel. On most GT40s this panel is black, but #1015's panel is natural aluminum. I was contemplating removing the kit's fuse panel and scratchbuilding fuses from stretched clear sprue, but decided against it. Here's a picture of the panel in progress. For the very visible toggle switches, I tried something a little different. I took some of the plastic bolt heads I was using for engine detailing and drilled the ends out. I then inserted a short length of soft silver wire and flattened the wire with a pair of pliers. The result? Realistic toggle switches! They're a little big for the scale (about 1 1/2 inches) but I think they look pretty good. Here are a couple of pics of the switches in progress. The fuel cutoff switch was scratchbuilt from styrene as was the black knob on the switch panel. THe rest of the dash detail was just careful detail painting. I might cut some black decal film yet to represent Dymo tape labels for the switches. Here's the finished dash. Finally, I got everything together for a couple of mockup pictures with the paint on. It's still too soft to work with, so I'm not going to continue with the build until it's cured for another week or so. I might go ahead with assembling the fuel lines and the bolt detail on the suspension while I wait. But the blue looks amazing, and the gaps seem okay. I'm going to try to avoid polishing cloths as much as possible here- I want to leave a little orange peel in the finish to try to represent a "quick and dirty" race car finish. I'm already not looking forward to the decals- especially getting them over those louvers on the roof! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Masking and painting your own stripes is actually easier than the decals. I used 3/32 " Chartpac tape for the separation between the main stripes and 1/16" for the rockers. Your rear clip sits very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Looks Great! Real Nice Work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Very impressive work on this. I really like the way you "sagged" the seats and added the grommets. Very nicely done. Also nice work on the toggle switches. I've done them the same way on a 1/8 scale Jaguar, but I used lengths of solder... soft and very easy to flatten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fitforbattle Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Wow... Just wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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