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ApexSpeed

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Everything posted by ApexSpeed

  1. No, it's not a Chevette... in the US it was also called a Sunbird at some point. I think it was the direct descendent of the Vega. IT was also the Chevy Cavalier, Buick Skyhawk, Olds Firenza, and there may have been a Caddy version, too.
  2. After looking at this closely, it's interesting that the car was using snow chains without any snow on the ground (but wet streets) and no chains on the right front. Not hard to figure out why the accident happened.
  3. Although color photography was around at the turn of the century, something tells me that this photo has been digitally colorized.
  4. So, this project is finally getting back on the table. It seems to get interfered with by major life changes, but hopefully that slows down a bit and this can keep rolling. To that end, I started on the front wheels. I can't stand the way that kit front wire wheels look, because they aren't scale at all, and make the model look like a toy. It's one of the major week links in most dragster kits and the most difficult to fix. I found these very pretty, very detailed and very expensive dragster front wire wheels from Ted’s Modeling Marketplace. They are made by Machined Aluminum Specialists and consist of lathe-turned hoops and hub, photoetched wire centers and rubber tires. The center hub needs a touch of handwork to clean up. The wire centers get trimmed form their tree, then delicately bent to form the dish of the wheel. The trick is getting everything centered up and glued, without making a mess, and keeping it all lined up properly. It's a bit tricky, and would be nice if there was a fixture to assemble them with, but it can be done with patience. If they weren't so expensive, I would stock up on more of them for future builds. Sure are pretty, though.
  5. Here's the build of these beautiful wheels. They are not an easy thing to assemble, and the instructions are almost non-existent. Still an awesome option to the kit molded wire wheels.
  6. Chill out. How exactly did I state a source? And where are these unwritten rules for this "game?" I didn't post links or anything else... just said it was a real car, which it is. It says Nitro Thunder on the side of the car—that's not a secret. If the car is a model, nothing I said is false, either—lots of replicas on these boards. Find something else to get tweaked about.
  7. This. I'll post some photos of my wheel build tomorrow. They are beautiful.
  8. It's real—Jack Harris Racing VRA nostalgia Funny Car. He also campaigns a Nitro Thunder Top Fuel car, and recently a nostalgia Trans Am FC.
  9. So are those decals ready yet? Project is back on the table. More soon...
  10. No new progress on this build, guys. I'm after the brutal winter we had here in the Midwest, I'm taking every opportunity to be outdoors golfing, shooting, riding bikes or spending time with the kids. Hiding in the cold basement is for the cold season. I probably won't be pushing this one out again until the fall. It won't be shelved indefinitely, you can count on it.
  11. Hi guys, the build is still on my work surface, waiting to be picked back up again. Between working 60-80 hours a week since February and just recently fighting through pneumonia, there has been very little time to devote to things like this. Not to mention that with the spring finally treating us well, I haven't been inclined to lock myself in a cold, windowless basement. Things will pick up again eventually, but for now, the project is a bit mummified.
  12. Charlie, a common comment about your work is how CLEAN it is. I'm amazed at the lack of glue edges, paint scrapes or anything else we all usually suffer from somehow. Any tips on how to work so clean and excess free?
  13. No real progress to report on so far, as I wait for a boat load of 392 Hemi engine pieces, a late-arriving trade from the boards here and a general lack of "me" time to work on the car. But, I have been busy with the reference materials. Two big pieces that will prove to be absolutely priceless as I move forward with this car. One, I found through some searches that the current owner and restorer of the Old Master, Pete Eastwood is also an active member at the H.A.M.B. hot rod boards, so I contacted him through the forums. Renowned in his own right for his hot rods, he has already proven to be helpful in clarifying details of the car for me, and said he'd be willing to help with anything else I needed to know about the car. Two, I tracked down Wes Allison, the Hot Rod photographer that shot the car for the January 2013 article about the car. He was able to provide the proof sheets of the raw photos from the shoot, which include about 4x what I was already able to find from the article. A bunch of views of plumbing, pedals, steering and other things that I had not been able to see in other photos. Both of these contacts will make this build infinitely greater than I could have ever hoped to do when I started this hair-brained idea. I'm even more excited for this project now than I was when it began! More soon, hopefully. doug
  14. Storing upside down will also keep it from ever drying out (this works with latex house paints, too). I have Testor's and Model Master paint that is over 15 years old that is perfectly usable because there was no air allowed to enter the seam at the lid. Excellent tip and it makes your paint almost last indefinitely. doug
  15. Fantastic detail and cleanliness. I only hope to be able to work that clinical on my builds. Just awesome.
  16. Chuck is fantastic to work with on all levels. The pieces I have gotten from him are excellent and arrive in short order. I already have a long list of more things I want from him for upcoming projects. I get things from Altered States faster than most other places I have ordered resin parts from. He also goes by "olmandowntheroad" on eBay, too, so you can see his perfect feedback there if you need more support. No worries, order away.
  17. Didn't do a whole lot today, but I used tonight as a bit of a "do-over" night so that I could fix a couple of things that I wasn't happy with so far. One, the stock top rollbar section that gets tacked in later in the chassis build was a mess of molding flash, part lines and warping. I didn't lie the way it fit after getting cleaned up, and it didn't match the real car lines or angles very well. After reading a few of the chassis building threads, I decided to see how hard it would be to bend styrene rods over a flame. It's a lot harder than you'd think. After experimenting with a few waste rod lengths and getting globs of melted styrene, I found a ball point pen that had the same radius as the inside of the cage top. It took a few attempts, but I finally figured out how to do it right. I would think that with practice, I could get a lot better at bending deep radiuses. The rear hoop was a bit tougher, but a little freehanding of curves and then cutting out the one that matched what I needed got the right angles and bends. The top cage looks a LOT better than the kit piece. Not perfect by any means, but very happy with the results. The other piece I wanted to re-do was the 3 gallon fuel tank. The original has a curved bottom and a bit of a "chin" on the rear base side for catching more fuel pressure on launch. Well above my skillset to create a shape like that, but I wasn't happy with the original proportions. Too short, too tall and too not quite right. I used another FED kit fuel tank base that had the right height and then created a new top for it out of .020" sheet styrene, with a more accurate vent tube setup. It's a minor detail that most won't notice, but it bugged me so I re-did it. The flip-type gas caps are ProTech pieces and a perfect match to the original. Kinda need to figure out how to polish something that is smaller than a baby aspirin, though. New one in front, old one in rear... More soon... doug
  18. Hot Rod featured a story on Pink, Long and the restored car recently, as well as the original 2-issue article on the build in 1964. It's also been featured in Rodder's Journal, on the Cacklefest website, as well as the website www.wediditforlove.com. There is a ton of documentation out there about this car, in it's original form and since it has been restored for Cacklefest. This car also eventually wound up becoming Bruce Wheeler's bodywork-covered Wheeler Dealer FED. I have been spending a lot of time doing my homework on the car, and was pleased to see there so much out there about it. The large photos from Hot Rod were the convincing factor in jumping head-first into this one that might be a touch over my skis. doug
  19. Good, I thought it was something I did. Must have been a base layer for the chrome. I have tried denatured alcohol, Super Clean, Simple Green and even Testors airbrush thinner and not one of them touched that stuff. Gak,
  20. Thanks Charlie, bought it last week. Nice little piece. So Speed City Resins provided not only the 392 Hemi kit, Hilborn 4-butterfly injector, but they have the correct 11.0 x 16 Goodyear Bluestreaks for the rear. To round out the rest of the missing engine pieces, I also grabbed their Funny Car parts pack. In for a dime, in for a dollar, right?
  21. Ok, you guys talked me into it... an order from Speed City Resins went in last night. 392 Hemi build for a later date.
  22. Right, so outside of relocating a Cirello magneto to the back of the engine, I see that the manifolds are slightly different, too. The galley cover on the 392 gives a bit of a riser look to the blower. I have been tempted to order the 392 Miss Deal motor kit from Speed City or the RGE302 Top Fuel 392 Ross Gibson kit for a while now anyway. I have just been trying to justify another expense over a manipulated and costumed 426 kit motor made to look like a 392. How many people could really tell if it was hidden well? Trust me, I have had these parts in different shopping carts now for weeks—I'm not opposed to picking up either one. I just want to know if I missed legit reason for the differences in the way the different engines look. dc
  23. Airbrush only, from what I have seen and used. Rattle cans can't atomize paint that thin into tiny enough particles for it to work properly. I wouldn't brush it on, either. It looks like dark water with a film on it when you see it in a container and gets sprayed very lightly at an angle over a base color like gloss black (recommended). I strip kit chrome and rechrome the pieces I need to have chromed and they always look much more realistic than the plastic tree chrome out of the box.
  24. Ok, so what are the differences? Visually, I'm having a tough time seeing them, even in those photos.
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