Tamiya Subaru Impreza (not WRC but Cannonball Ruse) with Hobby Design engine

[89AKurt]

9 hours ago, Cool Hand said:

Lots of impressive work going into this build, always enjoy looking through your build threads as there is lots to see.

Thank you for the comment!

7 hours ago, Pete75 said:

Great stuff. The camera component for the screen is inspired. I need to find a good mirror source - pity I can't get your brand of coffee!! ?

You ever see glitter, the bigger sizes that are usually stars?  I wish there is a source for a decent size sheet, instead of cut up tiny.  Any aftermarket detail company could make a killing selling that.

[89AKurt]

I know some of you think this is normal, not for me!  Had to shovel my way from the office/hobby room twice tonight.

Something I noticed in the few pictures of the Hobby Design engine, the accessory belts were not installed.  They give two options, side view is two layers, and your pulleys better be exactly in the same location, which of course is not the case.  Second option is straight lengths with teeth, which is something any photo-etch maker ought to provide as a stand alone part!  The tension part needed two pins, one at the top just to give something for support.  The photo-etch had a delicate ring, not shown in the instructions, figured it goes with the tensioner.   Added the lower radiator hose thingie.

The radiator still needed to be modified to fit.  Had to fabricate radiator hoses top and bottom.  Will be lucky to get the horns in place.

The exhaust is temporarily glued in with Tacky glue.  Cut a new tip from stainless tubing.

Next is to tackle the crappy paintjob.  When looking at these pictures, see lots of paint touchup required. 

[Belugawrx]

The toothed belts look great, ...did you say photo etched..? Cool

[89AKurt]

16 hours ago, Belugawrx said:

The toothed belts look great, ...did you say photo etched..? Cool

Yes, go a few posts back, top picture with the photo-etch fret, two straight parts are the belts.

Guitar string details, hood prop rod and antennas.  Figured out a way to use the cordless drill, steady on the bench, sure beats spinning by hand.

The side panels I added are thick enough for the wire to not wobble around.  Was going to hinge from the front, but it didn't reach, so faked in a catch hook.

Made an aluminum catch.

The wire is held in place by electrical wire insulation, will get a drop of superglue on the end during final assembly.  Also made blocks for gluing the fusee chain in.

The CB and scanner antennas are mounted to a larger wire that slop fits in the brass tube, wire was slightly bent in two places, so it moves easily but stays in place.  I have a collection of springs salvaged from anything electronic that has died on me, found two perfect size.  Stretched sprue, lucky to hit an air pocket so it was easy to drill the center that fits the larger wire.  Smaller stretched sprue went into the springs, screwed into place with a tiny drop of superglue.  Heated the end of that sprue to make what looks like a pinhead, which was glued to the larger sprue, and then dipped in baking soda.  One antenna is permanently glued onto the bigger wire, the other friction fits perfectly (for now).  I have no idea if the lengths are correct.  The intention is, the co-driver can raise/lower them according to conditions, such as high speed lower, raise in urban areas.  I just like making workable details. ?

The springs add realism, and lessen the chance of breaking off.

I need to drill a hole through the roof, to run the cable into the cabin.

 

[Spottedlaurel]

Engine looks great and some very inventive detailing here!

[Pete75]

? Guitar strings!! I've got tons of guitar strings. Talk about not seeing the blindingly obvious! That's another issue dealt with. Love those tiny springs - will have to keep my eyes peeled & start my own collection! ?

[89AKurt]

6 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Engine looks great and some very inventive detailing here!

Looks good from a distance.  Re-inventing the wheel.  ?  Thanks.

4 hours ago, Pete75 said:

? Guitar strings!! I've got tons of guitar strings. Talk about not seeing the blindingly obvious! That's another issue dealt with. Love those tiny springs - will have to keep my eyes peeled & start my own collection! ?

That's a tip learned decades ago.  Went to a music store and told them what I wanted some for, they literally gave me a stash of different sizes.  You have a Dremel with a cut-off disk, and pliers?  Then you're set.

[Belugawrx]

The minutae of detail is astounding !!!

[Mattilacken]

Great details! Engine is looking great! 
 

you will make this thing ready for cannonball ages before I get mine in to paint! I still got 10 months ? 

[89AKurt]

10 hours ago, Belugawrx said:

The minutae of detail is astounding !!!

Appreciate that.  I need to stop it.....

9 hours ago, Mattilacken said:

Great details! Engine is looking great! 
 

you will make this thing ready for cannonball ages before I get mine in to paint! I still got 10 months ? 

Thanks!  I want it done, have three WIP to get back to.

If there was one device every Cannonballer needs, it would be a ________________.

I have a cooler, but think a vintage Coke cooler from the 50s would look out of place. ? Thought a rack to bungee cord in back was needed, for all the Monster (or Red Bull) drinks.

The black body paint is cured enough to wet-sand and try another coat.

[Tortuga Kustomz]

WAW i miss a lot but amazing work man, love all the little details around this project

[89AKurt]

Thanks Fernandez.  😎

Hopefully the last time to paint the gloss black on the body.  Still not glass smooth, but it's going to get weathered so not a huge deal.  Decided the cargo box should be a more "normal" grey.

Did this detail sdrawkcab, rack was determined by the width of photo-etch mesh, and length that fit between the roll cage.  Had to look at dozens of coolers to find a size that works, an Igloo was picked.  Drew to scale, cut from Corian scraps, two pieces were glued together which worked out to be the lid thickness.  Rough shaped using the disk sander.

[89AKurt]

Tonight the cargo box got finished.  This is a classic example of how I fumble my way through engineering working details.
Made clamps from aluminum plate to connect to the roof rack.  Glued the light assembly together.

The issue became the clearance of the light with the bottom, at this stage of rotation.  In retrospect, should have cut the bottom and included with the light pod.

The solution, cut a hole in the bottom so the light clears.

I'm happy with how the camera lens shows up as real optical parts.

This would probably howl like a bass flute at speed.  😬

[Cool Hand]

You sir are a creative genius.

 

[89AKurt]

On 1/29/2021 at 1:37 AM, Cool Hand said:

You sir are a creative genius.

I am?  😬  Once in a great while perhaps.

Figured out the license plate.  Wanted something hard to read and relay.

Time for the windows.  First off, wanted the windows rolled down, cut apart with the hot-wire.

I never like the Tamiya smoke, am out of Testors gloss clear, so really thinned out gloss black for the tint.

Jumped to the cooler, started on shaping it.

Back to the windows, sprayed more tint.  Since the window unit was cut apart, didn't trust glue keeping it in.  Used coffee can lid for keepers, bent some before supergluing on.  Also put a wire in for the cargo box electrics.

The detail of the decal for the seatbelts is really good, couldn't waste it.  Also didn't wish to use up photo-etch buckles.  So I carefully cut out the belts, painted the edges and back.  I think the 3Dness looks better. 

Added red paper belts in back that go down to the cross bar of the roll cage, didn't bother with detailing the ends.

Have started working on the lights, a least favorite task is painting the lenses red and orange.  Glue on the doors panels, radar detector, finish the cooler, then fingers crossed on last insertion of chassis into the body!

[Tortuga Kustomz]

beautiful work man, like the idea for the windows

[89AKurt]

On the home stretch........ The cooler has some of the Subie plastic.

The handles are temporary glued in the up position for painting.  Will need to make some bungee cords.

Tamiya surface primer dries really fast, ideal for adding texture.

Sprayed lots of gloss white, will paint red.  I have the wheels painted boring silver, would have looked sick in gold, but that's not the purpose of this project.  Lights are glued on.  Hood hinges are glued in.   Have some more interior details to make.

[Pete75]

Great stuff. IMO the silver wheels look really great against black (the world won't miss yet another set of gold rims on a Subaru!) and the cargo box is exactly the right colour choice too.

I'm taking the same approach to the glasswork - this time I have documentary evidence that it was my own idea!😁 But I certainly don't have a hot cheese cutter!😄 I'm debating whether to use a cut off disk and/or razor saw, but am looking for more advice before proceeding. Also, very interested in this idea of using brackets on to attach the glass - I always seem to make a right mess of gluing in in.

The 3D belts look great and I look forward to seeing the finish on the cooler as I've not used Tamiya paint-on primer before. Lots here to stash in my ideas bag!!

 

 

[89AKurt]

7 hours ago, Pete75 said:

Great stuff. IMO the silver wheels look really great against black (the world won't miss yet another set of gold rims on a Subaru!) and the cargo box is exactly the right colour choice too.

I'm taking the same approach to the glasswork - this time I have documentary evidence that it was my own idea!😁 But I certainly don't have a hot cheese cutter!😄 I'm debating whether to use a cut off disk and/or razor saw, but am looking for more advice before proceeding. Also, very interested in this idea of using brackets on to attach the glass - I always seem to make a right mess of gluing in in.

The 3D belts look great and I look forward to seeing the finish on the cooler as I've not used Tamiya paint-on primer before. Lots here to stash in my ideas bag!!

Got my fix on gold wheels with this project, now sitting at the back of the shop under a tarp.

Cutting clear plastic with a saw, problem is, if you slip and then scratch what you're keeping. 🤬  Also creating a crack is a risk.  If you have a Dremel with a spiral bit, you could hog out the cut and then clean up the edge.

[89AKurt]

Yea yea, now we are PC.  🙄  Used the drill press, radial arm saw, and disk sander to make a mondo cup holder from a Corian scrap.

I usually only get these Monster drinks while on road trips.  First one down this morning. 😋  Was amazed how fast the cutoff disk wore out while cutting around the bottom.  Saved part of the pop top for a part.

Made the door glass from a package that is more clear than Evergreen.  Glued on the aluminum plate for bottom support that can be adjusted.

Back to the drink holder, I'm amazed they take so much effort to laser cut the logo into the pull tab, had to use it.

Made bungee cords from Detail Master wire, and tiny wire from my wire stash.

A good case for Tacky glue.

Getting the drink holder in was like doing a ship in a bottle.

Thought it might be a good idea to tape down the cans on stiff cardboard, to get scanned.

The Scale Motorsport fret has mirrors, which needed to get polished to be convincing.  Thought I might as well do the console panel too.

The panel fit perfect, no glue required.  I could have slop painted the buttons more.  🤔

Mirrors, and wing glued on, body is ready.

So close!!! 😬  Want to do the cans, make water bottles, and some trash for the interior, and license plate.  Will scan the kit boxes and make them to scale too.  Then the big final assembly!  🥁

[Russell C]

I'm inspired to drop by the crafts store to get the faux rock spray cans system so I can paint my 1:1 cooler to look like it was carved out of solid granite. 😃

[Venom]

You really do some great work Kurt....Very inventive!

[Mattilacken]

Great work there! Your detailed decal belts look beautiful! 

[89AKurt]

12 hours ago, Russell C said:

I'm inspired to drop by the crafts store to get the faux rock spray cans system so I can paint my 1:1 cooler to look like it was carved out of solid granite. 😃

😅  Thanks for the screen it sits on.

12 hours ago, Venom said:

You really do some great work Kurt....Very inventive!

Thank you!

11 hours ago, Mattilacken said:

Great work there! Your detailed decal belts look beautiful! 

Thanks, appreciate that.

I made water bottles, and glued on hose clamps last night, will post pictures later.  Drinking the other Monster this morning. 🤤

[Russell C]

10 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

😅  Thanks for the screen it sits on ... 

Senility on my part strikes again. I remember some of the aerospace photo etch stuff, but not the screen.