CabDriver

My 32 roadster kit arrived. I still haven’t built my 32 roadster from the FIRST issue that I bought a few of when it first was released (the red streetrod version), but I was still excited for this to arrive today 🤪

Thanks fellas! Got some good bench time on this one this weekend…mostly finished up the engine: 3D printed some headlight buckets and chromed them…I needed to install these before I could think about mounting the body so this was kinda holding up progress… Whilst they were drying, got the engine mounted to the frame - I love how those stripes look under there! And once that was done, I could attach the interior tub to the frame…I’ve been using a thin foam double sided tape lately for this kind of job and I like how it works - a little squish to help everything fit nice and snug, and no mess: And once that was done, I could finally get the body on there: Now, all the little doodads…bumper, and chrome grill surround on the front: And then, same on the rear; used Createx red clear for the taillights, and added that 3D printed license plate I made before: And then I could start adding some detail to the engine bay - battery wires and terminals, some photoetch and so on… Not done - but it’s getting closer! A decent couple of days at the bench…more soon!

Not sure, but it was definitely cheaper 🤪

As the owner (or at least, husband of the owner) of a tiny kitten that will fit in my pocket, I have discovered that the amount of chaos and disruption to one's life that a cat can bring is NOT proportionate to it's size. I suspect we could own a pet sabre-tooth tiger instead and it would barely be any extra inconvenience. Reminds me of a news story I read in NYC a few years back about a guy who lived across the street from a retirement community, who had a pet tiger. The folk in the old folks home had reported seeing a tiger in the apartment window across the street but no-one believed them; and then one day the tiger bit the guy, and he went to hospital and tried to claim a dog bit him. A particularly large dog, presumably. The hospital staff got suspicious, alerted the police, cops went to his apartment in the Bronx and yep, there's a tiger in there 🙄 Said tiger got moved to Ohio, for some reason, and lived out the rest of his life peacefully, and presumably with a lot more room than he had in his Bronx apartment

I printed up some pairs of narrow rings on my machine, in 0.5mm increments, that I’ve been using to mock up to determine tire sizes for mock-ups They don’t need to be super wide - but having a bunch of ‘tires’ to do mock-ups with to work out stance has been invaluable and a big time saver I found.

That's the larger version of the one I have, which I love...same wash/cure tank as I have too - looks like a decent setup to me!

Awesome, I'm going to try that - I've seen your builds and the finish has always impressed me, so it's gotta be worth a few bucks to try out!

Which do you like - these? https://www.amazon.com/TAMIYA-Polishing-Compound-Fine-Finish/dp/B00XDRKEGC They make a coarse compound too - I should maybe experiment with these! I don't mind putting in the extra work if it's worth it, but I'm not anti finding a better way either!

I really hope all this clearing out of kits means that we're going to get some exciting new stuff! I came across a photo that I took in 2017 of the first time I visited a Hobby Lobby (they're not a thing in NYC) when we went on vacation out of state, and probably 80% of the selection is the same stuff as in my local store today. Wish I'd bought more of the Vending Machine kits that they used to carry, whilst they had them...

Mostly the Rustoleum stuff with the black chair on the can, but the same process works for me with the old Testors lacquer clear too, plus whatever clear enamel I can actually source that week. That said, @RSchnell's process looks simpler and his results speak for themselves so maybe I should pick up the materials to try that!

I like to start at 3200, unless it's REALLY rough, for some reason (or has a bunch of graphics underneath causing stepped edges, etc), get the whole thing to a consistent sheen with no high or low spots or visible orange peel and then work through 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000 before polishing with Meguiar's Scratch X, then Novus #1 polish followed by Meguiar's Ultimate compound before wax. I like to use a dehydrator to bake my lacquer for 24 hours after the final couple of coats, and then let it sit for another 24 before polishing. If I'm not using the dehydrator, I'd normally allow at LEAST 7 days, or more if I can still smell the paint gassing out. Some examples below, because who knows if people's advice is good on the internet or not without seeing their work 😆

Here you go, brother Carl: (Apologies for the somewhat hijacked thread - back to regular geegaws!)

Is that for your Deuce project? Or are you going Chebby with that?

I’ve been thinking for a couple of years that I’d like to do an annual tradition where I do exactly that - build something only from all the junk I have laying around, and specifically not buy anything or rob any whole kits to do it. Oh, and not design and print a bunch of stuff either, because if I didn’t have that rule I’d probably wanna do that too and it would end up like every other project 🤪 I was gonna call it Dumpster-Dive December or Junkyard January or something, but I didn’t quite ever get around to doing - but if everyone else is, I probably would want to too!

My word, what a mess. I know Ford knows what they're doing, but was there no better way to route those hundreds of pipes and cables and wires? Looks like a NIGHTMARE to work on