Impalow

Yup that was me! look up "foil chocolate wrappers" on amazon, tons of options and different textures! (and a "lifetime" supply for cheap) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9JRGMLH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_5GN3D2MK7KE3BBJ9CDBV I used that one to make this parachute pack for my FED.

James is the man! Great modeler and all around good guy! Lucky to have him in our club.

I just finished up a 3 year project of trying to make those custom parts look "decent" Still need to take under glass photos, but here is the project log if you want to go for a wild ride.

Mission Accomplished! Underglass post still to come!

Thank you guys!! So I lied, these details came out too good not to share... but now it is officially done! I can not wait to unveil the pair at NNL East Saturday! Its been far-far too long..

Thanks Michael! The Offy covers were sourced from from the kit below! They are on a separate little tree with a nice set of 5 spoke mags, and sadly its not included in the drag releases of the same kit. Thank you! That was a challenge, but really turned out well... it was more luck than skill on that one.

Thanks everyone for following along this crazy train! I still have a few little minor details to do, but I'm going to call this one done! Ill do a nice under glass photo shoot after east!

More progress! NNL East or Bust!!!

Awesome stuff! I cant imagine even trying to do that fade with spray cans! Kudos for some awesome work!

Yeah! I still need to do a release cable and the little "remove before flight" tag! Decals done!!! Hopefully I get to shoot some clear on my lunch break tomorrow!

Thanks guys!!! Got some time this weekend to add some decals! A few more little ones to add and time for more urethane clear... Then I wanted to try and make my own shiny silver parachute pack... I know people have used cigarette wrappers but I don't smoke, so I had to get creative. I found these cool textured foil chocolate wrappers on Amazon, and they seemed to work nice. https://a.co/d/jjXbedQ you get a lifetime supply under 6.00 shipped. I just made a little square and covered it...It was a bit tricky to work with because it is very thin, however I didn't have any issues with tearing. I also think it would work fantastic for more modern heatshield material... lots of uses and 100 4" x 4" sheets will last me quite awhile. 🤣

Awesome stuff! Glad to see you are getting some bench time!

So trying to make a push to get this complete for NNL east... 3 years late but whatever.. 🤣 I got the W-Block built and detailed.. still some final touches to add, but I'll do that after its final installation into the dragster. The fuel lines on the injection were extra fun... I finished up the body work on the body, primed and used the same metalflake combo on it as the hauler... then a bunch of urethane clear to smooth it all out. Last night I was able to get it sanded down with 2000grit and spray the rainbow kandys on it... the Splash Paints Kandys go on so nice, and the color builds easy so its a pretty controlled process... The plan was to have it match the colors on the hauler and I think I pulled that off pretty decent. I did bugger up the overlap in the back between the blue and violet, but its mostly covered by a tire and should be fine. Ready for one more round of clear, and then final assembly!

Thanks guys!! Its fun to be back on it! Thanks Chris! I used epoxy to secure the spokes to the rims and it did create a bit of an issue with thickness when joining.. I plan on painting these with molotow so I feel like the gap should somewhat disappear... but it is there. I thought about using a saw to create and little notches/pockets in the aluminum for the spokes, but that seemed like a lot of work. I think the best option would be to 3D print the rim halves and put little notches in for the wires on the backsides... That would serve as a guide to keep the spokes more uniform, and also help the halves fit together better. Ill probably give that a go for a future project!

Some more progress! Starting to get “that” look!!

I personally struggle with this some myself, as someone who has "moderately decent" skills in both realms of the hobby. (3d modeling & printing/ traditional scratch-building) For my current vintage showrod projects I have purposely chosen to exclude any 3d printed stuff to keep the model true to the vintage... now this is something only I would notice. I still used cnc-cutting, photo-etch, LED lights... so in reality it doesn't even make sense, except to me in my head. Now simultaneously I have a more modern build on my bench, and I've modeled and 3d printed almost every part with the exception of the body and chassis. I do have a love/hate relationship with being able to make pretty much anything in my head, suddenly those kit seats that were 85% acceptable before are no longer acceptable when you can make exactly what you want and 3d print it... thus extending the projects completion for every little item like that. Much like what @CabDriver said above, The 3d process really excels when you have multiple items... model one firewall by hand? - no big deal. Scratch-build 8 coil packs or 4 wheels? just model it once and print a ton of them. I don't really have an answer, I am just here to say as someone who dabbles in both I am torn...

Thank you guys!!! Well, it looks like NNL East is a go! I booked our room.. now I need to finally finish this thing. I was actually going to do just that, until I saw this older tutorial on here and figured I had all the raw materials.. I should at least give it a go. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/150597-wire-wheel-lacing-tutorial-feds-simplified/ Surprisingly it was pretty "easy-ish"... I have only done the one so far, because I want to film the other as a "How-To" for my YouTube channel. I have also been fooling around getting the pose-able steering front axle built, located and the rest of the dragster body fabricated... Lots of experimenting with styrene shapes. I knocked out the headers and lowered the engine another 1/8" to make it look a bit more cohesive.... progress is happening!

Here is my recap from the show!

Thanks guys! The first show went very very well! A little issue did pop up... the battery life on the headlamp/tail lamp battery was not so great. While it somewhat stayed lit all day within a couple hours the color bar effect had dwindled to flashing off and on and only the red color working. (I assume this has something to do with each color frequency demanding more power to produce the color light, I think?... I'm not sure, its over my head) I still had room for one of the larger cells in the rear compartment, so when I got home from the show I swapped out the batteries and rewired. Now the larger cell operates the Head/Tail and the smaller is for the flickering interior screens. Initial tests seem better, we shall see how it holds up Sunday in Detroit! So last night I started playing with dragsters... I scoured the vendor side of the Columbus show looking for a Hemi-Sphere/Garlits dragster, or the Tommy Ivo FED with absolutely no luck. There was a nice build up of the Tommy Ivo kit there, and I realized the length of the rear body work is probably a bit long, as well as the overall length being way-way too long. So I returned home empty handed and started cutting up a "Young American" kit I had, figure I'll just fabricate the rear body work myself. First thing I realized is this is going to have to be pretty short... So I shortened the front body work, then pie cut it to narrow down the width, then angle cut the bottom off to make it a little more low profile, like my inspiration. (not going for any sort of replica, just trying to hit an era and look, gives me some freedom to be creative.) I did glue the windshield/cowl on too far back in this mock up, and that was resolved after the photos. And it actually fits! Lots more work to do.. but its a start!

This is so cool to watch! I built one of these 1/8 scale monsters when I was a kid since the f40 was one of my favorite cars! Yours is downright amazing, great design touches and truly unique! Great Work!

The ramps were easy compared to an entire body... 🤣... That's the plan for that old bronco leadsled build... which i should be back to soon. Well after I finish a manx and build a dragster... hahahaha

You betcha! No payload but that is the plan! Hope to see you there Tom!

Hey Andrew! Thank you! My tools are really super simple, a few Qtips and a couple flat toothpicks.. (using the big round end) the main thing with the Bare Metal Foil is that the base surface is smooth and shiny to get it to stick well. Speaking of bare metal foil… covering these ribbed ramps was quite a challenge. 😬 At some point I should probably do a YouTube video showing all the weird stuff I do with BMF.. haha the “Impala” is pretty much done with the exception of the bumpers!

Little more progress tonight! Exhaust and headlamp lens down!