What Did You Accomplish Today? (Model Car Work)

[NOBLNG]

On 6/13/2020 at 8:53 PM, Tom Geiger said:

Never leave we’ll enough alone! For the Jeepster pickup, the bed is flat with no detail but the real vehicle has ribs like this one. Then discovered the bed was too short, the way the kit was done. 

Take two was creating the bed liner the proper length from Evergreen ribbed sheet. I had done the beds in my Trabant and Dodge Caravan vans with this. Then I just wasn’t feeling it.. 

So I separated the bed from the cab and decided to add the length and do the proper ribs. The kit bed just doesn’t look right and has gaps so I’m pretty much building a box insert.  So much for a quick easy project!

 

Here is a pic of the original floor in my ‘71. It's of the underside, but you can see that there are six raised ribs, and the outer two are slightly wider than the rest.

[Tom Geiger]

15 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

Here is a pic of the original floor in my ‘71. It's of the underside, but you can see that there are six raised ribs, and the outer two are slightly wider than the rest.

Thanks! 

[cobraman]

I managed to get BMF on the side trim on the resin 62 Ford I am working on. ( BMF is NOT one of my favorite things to do ) !

[Modlbldr]

4 hours ago, cobraman said:

I managed to get BMF on the side trim on the resin 62 Ford I am working on. ( BMF is NOT one of my favorite things to do ) !

That was my chore for today too. Got the BMF done. I'll do the side window trim with Molotow.

Later-

Edited June 15, 2020 by Modlbldr

[Straightliner59]

I whacked these wheels and tires from a Maisto (?) diecast, and mounted them to this 1/32 AMT Ranchero. They don't look too bad, to me. I washed them with some Testors' black enamel wash.

[Snake45]

Started on the frame for my '66 Mustang street freak. I'm using the frame from the AWB Comet, but the interior tub from the Mustang. This is a problem because the forward rear axle spring mounts are on the underside of the Comet's interior--there's nowhere to mount the springs on the frame itself. So I had to find some suitably sized sprue, trim it, fit it, and glue it into the frame. They're the two pieces that run to the mid-frame crossmember. Another job I've been dreading/putting off for a few weeks now, so with that done, the rest of the frame assembly should proceed smoothly. SHOULD. 

[Modlbldr]

Shot another coat of clear on the body and hood of the flamed 49 Ford....and then promptly dropped the wet hood face down on the floor. I let it dry and tried to sand out the dust and grit. Ended up sanding through the white of the flames on the very front point of the hood. Spent the rest of the morning taping off the flames and trying to repaint to match the pearl white with just the right mist of pearl green. Aaargg!

I think it ended up coming out alright, but nothing near as nice as it was.....

Later-

[Snake45]

7 hours ago, Modlbldr said:

Shot another coat of clear on the body and hood of the flamed 49 Ford....and then promptly dropped the wet hood face down on the floor.

Been there, done that. 

Got the T-shirt, got the hat. 

[Modlbldr]

2 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Been there, done that. 

Got the T-shirt, got the hat. 

Lol. And yet, we still keep going back.

Later-

Edited June 17, 2020 by Modlbldr

[Tom Geiger]

 

With Noblng’s assistance regarding the number of ribs in the Jeepster bed, I added them today. Thanks again!

One issue with this kit is a thin single side wall and poorly defined and poorly fitting bed.  I have separated the bed from the interior floor so I can mold the bed into the body. That will allow me to seal all the gaps and then paint the body / bed as a unit, like a lot of pickup kits.

Photo is mock up one of many..

 

[64Comet404]

Decided to lay down some light coats on a dragster body this morning, so I taped the body halves to the stands and went outside. Just as I was laying down the colour on the bottom half of the body, the tape decided to let go! I managed to pick it up and spray the scrapes (hoping for some self-levelling), but I know I will be in for some sanding in a few days.

[Tom Geiger]

Hey! The past two days have been fitting the bed into the Jeepster. I’ve done several takes on the bed sides, the beauty of sheet plastic, you aren’t ruining your one set of kit parts. The above photo are the losers, the final well fitting pieces are now glued to the body.

As mentioned, I cut the bed and interior apart. The bed is now part of the body.

The bed sides and bed itself, with the added ribs, are now glued into the body. Since this photo I have puttied in the edges and today will sand. Note that the interior is just mocked up with tape, including the bed front wall. It keys into the bed well.

Another important fit is the cab roof to the cab back wall / bed front wall. I’m fiddling with that fit now.

The bed was the thing that shelved this model some dozen years ago so I’m happy to have figured it out! And I realize in the time it’s taken me to fit this bed, there are folks who have built entire models!

Edited June 19, 2020 by Tom Geiger

[Snake45]

Just spent about an hour and a half color-sanding the clear lacquer on the Mustang body with #2000, wet. In my experience, every minute color sanding is equal to five to six minutes of polishing. The body now looks to be ready for polishing, which I'll start tomorrow. 

[Snake45]

Saturday I polished the hood, fender tops, cowl area, roof, and trunk area of the Mustang--all the hard, fiddly parts, basically. Had planned to polish the sides yesterday but my kid dropped by for a couple hour visit during Prime Model Time--a too-rare event I enjoyed. I did get the recessed "coves" polished but that's all. Planned to do the rest of the sides today and then decided to get the chassis ready for paint and start painting it, and then could polish the body while the paint dried. Sorting out the chassis took MUCH longer than I expected--got most of the hard work done but it won't be ready for paint until tomorrow. Ah shucks oh well, with a little luck tomorrow I can have the body sitting on its own chassis (a Mustang/Comet mashup) for the first time, a milestone. 

Onward! 

[ChrisBcritter]

Poured a second mold yesterday, made a tiny trim on the first and cast four '62 Chrysler wheelcovers (two in the pot right now). Also took the junk body and very very very carefully removed both front fender spears as practice for doing it on the two good bodies. Started with the tip of a #11 blade and finished with a Tamiya 0.1mm photoetched saw. One lost a small chunk; second came off OK.

Why? The trim curves upward on the Revell body and I can't let that go, right Mr. Guthmiller and Mr. Obsessive? 

Edited June 24, 2020 by ChrisBcritter

[cobraman]

I got primer on the body and parts for that crummy Entex Mustang ll Mach 1 kit I bought.

[Spottedlaurel]

More BMF on the Chevelle, and finished spraying Tamiya Smoke on its side and rear windows.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Proudly, I've finished the dashboard and steering wheel for my '64 Pontiac Grand Prix project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[mchook]

19 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Proudly, I've finished the dashboard and steering wheel for my '64 Pontiac Grand Prix project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

WOW, that looks great!

[Spottedlaurel]

A pretty good day yesterday. Finished the '66 Chevelle, started the next project and my son spent some time with me out in the shed starting his next project:

1:24 Tamiya Nissan 350Z Track kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

I've painted this 350Z for him, used Duplicolor as it seems to go down really well without much/any need for a clear coat or polishing. He can do everything else from now on.

While we were were out there he started rummaging through my various parts boxes and between us we ended up assembling parts for several restoration projects, and he enthused me to look again at a couple of very long-term WIPs.

1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon + Wolf F1 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Built this 1:20 Tamiya kit around 1985/86, in non-standard colours and with alternative, minimal decals. The rear engine and suspension needed reattaching to the front half, the spoiler was in several different places and various bits need refixing, but it's good to see it complete again.

1:24 Monogram 1937 Ford kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Built about 1991-92, this was the wheel donor for the Chevelle. I was going to use the chassis and rear wings for another project, but now I see how complete it is and the paint is still shiny I think it deserves resurrection. Just need to find the missing headlight glass.

1:24 Humbrol Fiat 131 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

This one dates back to 1983-84 I think, probably my earliest survivor. Thankfully the bodyshell is unpainted, but it seems to have been used for some paint practice! If I can clean the glass up a bit then it could be smoked and I have everything needed to get it back 'on the road'. Funny story with this one, I broke a couple of the small pins that hold the wheels on, so I wrote to Humbrol asking for spares. A while later I got an unexpectedly large package in the post (from Italy?) with five sets of the sprue containg those parts! Ths mean I also ended up with five engines, suspension pieces, wheel sets etc.

1:24 Italieri Porsche 944 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Built this one for my stepdad. It ended up back with me after it took a tumble off the shelf. I think I sold the wheels off to a VW kit builder, but it looks intact enough to be resurrected with an alternative set.

Cadillac Hearse and '55 Chevy WIP kits by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Ex-Ghostbusters Cadillac and replica-ish Two Lane Blacktop '55, both have been on the go since the early '90s. The Cadillac got painfully close to completion, then I cracked the front screen. It's still complete however, and following some tips I was reading on here the other day about heating and curving thin sheet using the old piece as a template I should give this a go and get it out of the box after so long. The alternative is I turn it into a banger racer (demo derby car), but that seems a shame after all my BMF work. The '55 has suffered a bit of body damage and lost the central pillar I made up on the left side, then I've got to work out how to fix the flip front.

I have a couple of weeks off work next month, when we should have been going away on holiday, so I'll try to use that bonus time to get some of the above on the move.

Edited June 28, 2020 by Spottedlaurel

[Snake45]

Spottedlaurel, it looks like you'd be a good candidate for the next round of the Bring Out Your Dead Completion Build, which will be starting next week if there's enough interest. 

[Spottedlaurel]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

Spottedlaurel, it looks like you'd be a good candidate for the next round of the Bring Out Your Dead Completion Build, which will be starting next week if there's enough interest. 

I'll keep an eye out for it - the hearse might be a particularly appropriate candidate for that one.....

I have to admit that seeing your restos, and others on here, has got me thinking about the ones I already have. And it was cool that my son seems to be interested in them as well, he was the one going through the boxes and matching things up.

[Tom Geiger]

Argh! The other evening I was painting the Jeepster and it popped off the paint stand and fell into the muck in the bottom of my spray booth!

I waited a day for it to dry, and sanded out the crud and gave the back end a new primer coat. I’ll check later on to see if it’s okay to paint again

[Straightliner59]

I milled this holder for all these cool 1/8" lathe bits. I can tighten the last set screw to keep the  holder in place, and serve as a stop for the bits. I used aluminum, because I didn't have any 1/4" steel, on hand.  The aluminum should be fine, since you don't want to put too much pressure on a 1/8" bit, anyhoo...

[ChrisBcritter]

A shot of the finished product, or nearly so (Molotow and sealer next):