Scale-Master

Just be gentle with them. They don't want to release from the paper as quickly as some decals. Give a good 90 seconds to two minutes for them to slide easily.

Straight out of the box build.

Once the clear had cured I was surprised how much die back it had on the white panel decals. Since they had to be sanded/polished out the whole car needed to be as well. Made for a much nicer overall finish. I used Hasegawa Flat Black Finish for the windshield frame. It works a lot like BMF but is a vinyl material. A hair dryer is helpful getting it to conform. The glass, headlights grille door panels etc. were installed too.

The dull sheen of the decals absorbed the clear more than I expected so a little more clear was put down than originally planned. Sure does wake up the color. Plus being in direct sunlight…

With that issue brought to light, and a little extra caution, the rest of the decals went on pretty well. They are matte finish so clear coat (already planned) needs to be used. I knocked down the blue paint with 1500 before decaling it.

The side window trim was done with Warbird Decals Chrome Stripes. The windshield banner decal was the first one I applied to the exterior of the car, looks like they are on the brittle side. A small piece chipped out during application. I filled it with a drop of acrylic black and sanded it smooth.

I milled the 7/16 bolts and washers for the headers. And wrapped them with heat insulation…

I machined the fuel filters. The primary is like what I run on my real cars and all aluminum. (It even has the three spot welds on one end.) The secondary is one of those glass types (that I don't use on my cars…), but I thought it would look cool on this one. I machined the glass tube from some slightly tinted acrylic rod to give the look of it being filled with fuel. The ends and filter element are aluminum and it has gaskets between the glass and metal.

The chassis/underside is no more detailed than the interior, but a little detail painting and mild weathering serves it well.

I also machined the fittings and mounting hardware for the fuel pump. The pump is a mix of cast and grown parts; the motor is machined brass. The bolt on the clamp for the pump is threaded. I made the decals for it too.

It was easier to install Harald around the steering wheel, then slide the seat under him. The interior is not overly detailed, but then it was a motorized model/toy. The gauges on the console received the same treatment as the dash.

This time it went useless at about 16-18 months. Same product (BJB Enterprises TC-892) used to last me 3-5 years without a problem, but right off the bat I could tell this batch was problematic. It started to turn at 4 months. I think they say it's good for a year. Their RTV for molds I bought at the same time had a lot of issues too. Basically it yields 2-3 parts before it sticks to the resin like epoxy. And that is with the mold release they sold. Usually I'd get 20-30 parts before I even needed to use mold release. The customer service on this was pretty much nonexistent even though I've been a customer for decades. I can't recommend BJB anymore. Plus the people I used to deal with no longer work there. I'm sure there is a connection.

The instrument cluster has some detail molded into the gauges. Keeping with the theme of building it straight out of the box, I hand painted them; mostly dry-brushing silver over black. And a drop of clear for the gauge lenses.

Looks like my resin has aged out, so I used the 3D printed master. I still have the mold for these parts, in case I want to make some for other projects. I machined the fittings and mounting hardware for the regulator. The adjusting knob on the regulator is knurled. A small Holley decal was made too, and then it was all lightly dirtied up.

This is Harald Ertl.