405 replies to this topic

[charlie8575]

Looking good, Mike. So...this one's getting finished, eh?

Charlie Larkin

[Rudy]

I am really enjoying this build! I had a van not to long ago, and have thought of recreating it in Plastic..... To Add to the fun it was a wheelchair -lift van, as I am a paraplegic. I have often thought of building a cool old 60's flat-front ford or dodge van and putting a wheelchair lift in it... And would like to do the same in 1:1! Thanks for the motivation, and good luck

Rudy

[Foxer]

Looking good, Mike. So...this one's getting finished, eh?

Charlie Larkin

eheh Charlie. And, if my daughter lets me borrow it back after, I might make MassCar this coming year!

[Foxer]

I am really enjoying this build! I had a van not to long ago, and have thought of recreating it in Plastic..... To Add to the fun it was a wheelchair -lift van, as I am a paraplegic. I have often thought of building a cool old 60's flat-front ford or dodge van and putting a wheelchair lift in it... And would like to do the same in 1:1! Thanks for the motivation, and good luck

Rudy

Thanks, Rudy. That's an awesome idea you have .. would really be different. If it was operational it would really be cool.

[charlie8575]

An operational wheelchair lift in 1/25 would be cool indeed.

Hmmm....

Charlie Larkin

[Foxer]

Yay! one part moves to primer! The dash hasn't been seen since I first made the gauge panel. That one had gauges too close and too small .. so this is the third one. I have much detailing to do once it's in body color, but body work on this is done!



I never added a photo of the real interior, so here goes ...

Edited by Foxer, 29 October 2010 - 03:57 PM.

[Foxer]

Keeping it moving, the interior panels are together and trimmed to fit. There's 8 strips of texture on each .. half-rounds, flats and V-groove.

The rear doors are coming along. They were taken from a spare body which I found was a Revell Chevy Van, so they needed to have material added top and bottom and sanded down in width to fit the AMT door openings. Plans for the hinges have been swimming in my head for weeks and should be in brass, aluminum and plastic soon!

In between all this, all the unmodified parts (there ARE some!) have been massaged to remove all the seams and ready for paint.

[crowe-t]

Mike,

This is all looking great so far! The work you've done on the dash and engine cover and now the interior panels looks spot on.

BTW, what paint are you using for the body?

Edited by crowe-t, 03 November 2010 - 11:21 AM.

[Foxer]

Mike,

This is all looking great so far! The work you've done on the dash and engine cover and now the interior panels looks spot on.

BTW, what paint are you using for the body?

I have some 1985 GMC Medium Blue Metallic from Paintscratch.com. Haven't had a chance to try it on anything yet. I also have a few lighter Krylon blue colors that match the interior.
That poor body paint will be dulled, scratched and rusted ...

Edited by Foxer, 25 December 2010 - 03:31 AM.

[Johnny]

.
That poor body paint will be dulled, scratched and rusted ...

and that will be the hardest part to replicate!

Gotta love this thread!

[John Teresi]

Mike.....look`s great.......WOW!!........alot of work.........very cool.

[Hattley]

Just gets better and better!

[Tumbler75]

Lookin' good! The interior panels look perfect! You also got all the body mods look stellar. Keep up the great work! I can't wait to see how you hinge the rear doors. Keep us posted I'm watchin' for sure.

[Foxer]

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

[Foxer]

Sorry there's no plastic for this update as I've been working on the hinges and there's no photos worth showing yet. I'm sure when I'm done, the 7 bits of tube that the carpet monster devoured will reappear. I've been trying to make these hinges as close to scale as I can and represent the look of the originals well. I think I have both even though the 1/16" tubes are a bit over sized. Anything smaller and I couldn't handle the pieces.

So, to check my method, I made a 3D model of the hinge. As I mentioned, the tubes are .0625" diameter. The end tubes are .06" long while the middle one is .09". The green center piece attached to the center tube will be rounded on the outside edge. (I used a new version of 3DS Max and they moved the radius tool!) The brown mounting plates are .015" thick. Everything is to scale in the rendering. There is a photo of the hinges back on page 2 of this thread. It seems a bit complex, but I think the pieces will actually help me assemble it all.



Hopefully, the next update will be a photo walkthru of the making of these hinges.

[Tumbler75]

Foxer gonna be interesting to see how you pull this off. I kinda had the same thoughts on how to make the hinges myself but didn't have the program to lay it out first to see how it would look. I do a lot of Eyeball Engineering. LOL Keep up the great work and can't wait to see more.

[RyanSilva]

Mike this build is looking wonderful! I love the details and accuracy.

I actually started on a 8 lug steel wheel.
Keep in mind this was a test piece, to see if the concept would work, and will be much cleaner on the new one.
Soon as I find my small drill bits I can make the floater hub with RB motion lug nuts. The one on it is a placeholder from a dirt track car (amt)

Edited by RyanSilva, 07 November 2010 - 12:01 PM.

[Foxer]

Mike this build is looking wonderful! I love the details and accuracy.

I actually started on a 8 lug steel wheel.
Keep in mind this was a test piece, to see if the concept would work, and will be much cleaner on the new one.
Soon as I find my small drill bits I can make the floater hub with RB motion lug nuts. The one on it is a placeholder from a dirt track car (amt)

Ryan, Ryan, Ryan !!! There's my wheels! They look really good ... what's the chances of finishing this one for casting before I finish this van? I know, I finish in my dreams! Seriously, I haven't started any work on the wheels as I'm waiting on some proposed tires From Ma's Resin. Are these rims close to 16.5" diameter? I'll defiantly get them from you if you put them on the block.

Edited by Foxer, 25 December 2010 - 03:34 AM.

[RyanSilva]

I actually wanted them to fit the old satco commercial truck tires (like the ones Ma's casts, and also those other ones from the snaptite duallys)


They measure around 16.05mm which is cutting it close. Its all in the steel wheel, the center I can machine away, its just a matter of finding the right diameter wheel to begin.
This one in the pic is a steel wheel from the front drag steelies in the revell fairlane kit.

[Foxer]

Was no slacking off over the weekend with much work on the hinges and other things. You are going to have to wait on the hinges still, but I got the exhaust modified and mostly done on the interior panels. The V8 GMC exhaust system was weird ... 2 pipes into 1 into 2. I include a GMC Parts drawing of it for reference. I used another exhaust from a junk donor to add the two rear pipes at the rear. The bends you see in the GMC drawing were straightened by Midis!





The interior panels have been seen here but I got some better lit ones that show all the strips I used to make them. They only need BMF at the top, some paint and handles at the front.