31 replies to this topic

[jbwelda]

i thought about bobbing the rear fenders, but then thought about how those peaks are really part of the identifying characteristics of all the T series cars, so i left them as is. my first inclination was to bob them though so we are thinking on the same wavelength!

[vintagedragfan]

thats a great start jb

[vintagercr]

That is turning out very nice!

[jbwelda]

ok so one problem from the beginning has been that while its not too apparent with the big fenders in the front obscuring the view, with those gone its apparent that the hood slopes up way too much on its way to the radiator shell, because the shell is too tall and upright in comparison to the hood line on the body proper. that was the way TC's looked but i dont want it to be the way this TC looks. heres what i mean:

 

 

 

 

oh noooooooo....

 

 

so i messed around a bit and decided it might look better with the radiator shell shortened and the bonnet pointing down toward the front a bit more:

 

 

 

 

yeah a bit better, so grab the razor saw, some masking tape, a shot of anesthetic to steady the hands, and something like this happens:

 

 

 

 

looking much better, heres a view of the other side:

 

 

 

unfortunately i kinda hacked up the sides getting it to fit into the area it needs to go into since the shell itself had a decreasing width as it went down to its bottom and i had to relieve the sides and did so too much before i really figured out what had to be done. so i am currently rebuilding the lower sides of the shell to fill in gaps i cut and ended up not needing. i figured i lowered the shell some 6 scale inches and tilted it rearward at the top about 10 degrees making it look much racier but not so much the lines of the bonnet look funny next to it.

 

also unfortunately it has occurred to me i will not be able to use the bonnet sides as i had hoped...for one thing this opening the louvers is really turning out to be a pain (though one side is about done and looking very kool) but the biggest problem is the Weber carbs and air cleaners hanging out one side. i think the car looked much better with the side panels on and i was going to glue them to the body section to leave the top part to be removable to access the motor (ala MGTF) but i am now thinking better of that idea.

 

bunch more has been done and the body is ready for a touch up shot of paint on the bad spot right rear fender. heres a shot of a pose session the other night...motor is now mounted in place, fuel hose routed and secured and a lot of fitting and checking clearances done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

as always comments or criticism cheerfully accepted and thanks for looking!

Edited by jbwelda, 18 February 2013 - 09:37 PM.

[John Goschke]

Excellent work on the new hood line! It takes more modeling nerve than I've got to do as much cutting and fitting as your doing with the parts in paint! Hat's off to you!

[jbwelda]

thanks john, yeah i try to avoid messing around after painting but in this case my impatience got the better of me and i am where i am to paraphrase a common expression. i did actually scrape a bit of paint off the front rails fitting that radiator shell but they will touch up with a brush before i spray the clear and i had to do some touch up in the back anyhow so its no big loss.

 

 

meanwhile, interior bucket is about done, pretty much out of box with some added goodies for interest:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

aluminum dash, aluminum steering column and super 7 steering wheel, moon pedal:

 

 

 

 

that red dot is covering a mess up...have to further complete it by doing a little touch up around it to make it appear to be a ignition lamp. also going to make a little reading lamp for nighttime rallys and put it on the passenger side...other than that i think i am calling it done.

 

again thanks for looking!

[crazyrichard]

awsome , love the hood and grille adjustment , looks so much better

[John Goschke]

Nice details, jb! Hope you don't mind if I suggest tossing that old AMT molded seat belt and scratch up something a bit more realistic. Seems like that'd be more in keeping with the level of detail you've got going everywhere else.

[jbwelda]

i hear you john but i like those belts and i looked all over to find one...probably should have used a photoetch buckle and a tape belt but its glued in there now (or at least i think it is...i tend to stick stuff like that down with blue-tac putty so i can remove it if i think better...maybe i should check). i think that piece makes for a bit of "vintage" look.

 

and that stupid restraining strap i put over the fire extinguisher keeps coming up...have to glue that sucker down good!

[jbwelda]

some progress to report: pretty much all the pieces are ready for final assembly as you can see from the following photos. i think i will epoxy in the dashboard and paint in the lines on the front panel tonite, then proceed to mount the interior bucket then the front subframe and see how that goes!

 

a look at most of the pieces:

 

 

 

 

i decided to use the front fenders from the stacy whatevers rat roaster and they look pretty nice...a little yellow pinstripe from the decal bin looked good too...got a yellow subcolor thing going on if you hadnt already noticed:

 

 

 

 

speaking of yellow we got the classic yellow grille work going on:

 

 

 

 

and also some yellow on the polished bare metal fuel tank:

 

 

 

 

alright many thanks for looking and of course comments appreciated!

[GTMust]

I just gotta tell you..... this is looking great!!! Can't wait to see it all come together....

Tony

Edited by GTMust, 16 March 2013 - 12:54 PM.

[lanesteele240]

Looks great