Here's another Mooneyes Dragster

[Bill Eh?]

I purchased this kit a couple of weeks ago. I have been in a non-building slump for too long. This is the kit that got me building again.

Work started with assembling the frame. I glued the attachment points, moving from rearmost to the front. All in all, the frame members lined up well on the two halves. Please excuse the putty, which is yet to be sanded.

After watching HPI Guy's build up on YouTube, I really wanted to do something about the seams/gaps between the panel components. So, I decided to assemble all of the pieces and putty the seems. Again, this needs sanding. There are two slots on either side of the firewall where vertical portions of the frame show through. Again, this did not appeal to me so I tried filling these slots in with strip styrene, to get a solid firewall appearance.  Looking at it now, I will more than likely remove this piece and create a solid new piece from sheet styrene.

 

[Bill Eh?]

By building up all the body panels, I had to think of a work around to installing the rear axle. My solution was to refabricate the rear axle into a component assembly. I started by installing a new styrene tube through the quick change differential. The width of this tube was cut to match the exact width of the frame when installed. This way, the one piece body can slide onto the frame from the front. The outer portions of the original axle were cut off, and refabricated with various sizes of Evergreen tube, rod, and strip. These new axle end, with wheels attached, will just slide into the axle/quick change already mounted in the body.

 

[Bill Eh?]

The engine mount, as indicated in the instructions, is far too wide for the frame. To make it fit required cutting off the "triangular" portions on both sides of the engine mount. This meant that the gluing surface on the engine mount was next to nothing. I made c-hannel style mounts, and glued them facing up on both sides of the inside of the frame.

With the firewall glued in place, there was interference with a vertical portion of the frame. To eliminate this, I moved the vertical portion of the frame, slightly rearward on both sides. This solved the interference issue. The joints need some work. LOL

 

[Bill Eh?]

I was not happy with the fit of the cross member, which glues in at the front of the frame. I made a new one. It still requires the rectangular pieces to be placed on the top for holding the moon tank, as well as the downward facing pin to attach the back of the wishbone. I learned that it takes a great deal of patience to fish-mouth 1/16" rod. The picture shows the new cross member glued in place, with the kit part right beside it. Please excuse the blue tac.

More to come....

[slusher]

Really nice start and I will be following along, Sir…

[CabDriver]

As will I!  When you're done, I'll race ya! 😁

[Bill Eh?]

7 hours ago, slusher said:

Really nice start and I will be following along, Sir…

Thanks Carl

 

30 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

As will I!  When you're done, I'll race ya! 😁

Jim, seeing your post motivated me to do the same! Thanks. Mooneyes vs. Mooneyes, wouldn't that be a sight! LOL

[mr68gts]

Looks good so far. I built an original parts pack mooneyes chassis many moons ago and it was not an easy feat! With some replacing of the cross members as you have done and patience welded a very nice model however! I did my body from brass though choosing to split the body at the cowl as it should be. This was a parts box model so you can only imagine the nightmare that was lol! 

I cant wait to get my hands on one or several of these kits to build up!

Paul

[Bill Eh?]

In a reference photo, I noticed the split in the body right at the level of the opening for the Pitman Arm. I will rescribe this as well as the opposite side. I hope this gives a better appearance than just gluing the top body panel in place with side panels already glued to the frame. Time will tell.

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

Good to see another one coming together.... -RRR

[Zippi]

Good looking Dragster so far.  Never built one but may have to take a look at them.

[Dennis Lacy]

Nice!

So the body can be installed as one unit?

[Bill Eh?]

On 12/9/2021 at 10:18 PM, Dennis Lacy said:

Nice!

So the body can be installed as one unit?

That's what I'm hoping for Dennis. The best laid plans and all that...  LOL

[Bill Eh?]

When I last left off, I was stumped as to how I was going to handle a portion of the build. As previously indicated, I decided to replace the cross member which sits in the lower front portion of the frame. I went ahead and made and installed the replacement cross member. However, I did not give much thought as to how I was going to add the rectangular supports (sit on top of cross member), nor the wishbone attachment brace (sits on bottom of cross member). When predicaments like this come up, my progress tends to shut down. My main concern was how to attach both supports so that they were both parallel to each other and also level. I came up with what I hope will be a workable solution. From my measurements of the original piece, I made the two rectangular supports from styrene strip (0.75 mm x 2.5 mm x 9mm). I then glued them together with thin piece of styrene rod (10 mm long). However, when I looked at the spacing compared to the legs on the moon tank, I was not happy. So I remade them and reduced the space between them to 9mm. The wishbone attachment was far more straightforward to recreate. I'm really slow at this sort of thing, and it has taken me over 3 hours just to get this done.

On another note, I was trying Vallejo Plastic Putty to fill/smooth the joints of the body panels. Never again. It would not sand well, nor leave a feathered edge. It just flaked off. This was after letting it cure for over five days! Back to tried and true Tamiya Putty.

[Bill Eh?]

This picture shows the distance between the legs of the moontank compared to the original part rectangular supports they are supposed to rest on. The legs would overhang on both sides. This was one of the reasons I decided to make a replacement cross member.

[peter31a]

Looking mighty fine so far, Bill. Jumping back into building by doing this much scratchbuilding is truly inspirational.

[Bill Eh?]

15 minutes ago, peter31a said:

Looking mighty fine so far, Bill. Jumping back into building by doing this much scratchbuilding is truly inspirational.

Thanks Peter. After sanding down all of the body seams, I was disappointed with the results of the Vallejo putty. I redid all of them with Tamiya putty along with the moon tank. Both halves of the moon tank slightly taper from the outer portion to the centre where they join. This gives a valley-like appearance around the centre of the tank. LOL

[CabDriver]

It's funny, I've been using Vallejo putty on my build too...but for weld seams on the frame, and for replicating the look of fabric on the seats.  For little pieces of detail work, that stuff works GREAT for me...but yeah, as a filler, not so much. 

Looking good so far Bill!

[Bill Eh?]

12 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

It's funny, I've been using Vallejo putty on my build too...but for weld seams on the frame, and for replicating the look of fabric on the seats.  For little pieces of detail work, that stuff works GREAT for me...but yeah, as a filler, not so much. 

Looking good so far Bill!

Thanks Jim. I won't throw away the Vallejo putty, as you said it has its uses. Hopefully I will be a little wiser in my choice of putty use.

[Bill Eh?]

I jump around a lot on this build. I looked at the engine components and decided to open up the air intakes on the fuel injection unit. I used a drill bit to find the size of the molded opening, which was about 1.1 mm. I then increased the size up to just under 2.2 mm. At that point, I decided not to press my luck by going any larger. That would normally have been what I would do, and result in another kit going to the shelf of doom. Although not a true scale wall thickness, I think it looks a lot better. The best non-styrene option would have been to use either brass or aluminum tube. Engineering that would have been way beyond my skill set!

[Bill Eh?]

I glued the rectangular moon tank supports onto the frame cross member. Since the gluing surface was not large, I will let these set up for a while, before I attempt to cut off the joining rod. I used regular Tamiya cement applied with a toothpick. The second shot is just a comparison with the kit part. Question for you guys. Am I doing too many updates with too little progress? I'm new to this WIP thread process.

 

Edited December 13, 2021 by Bill Eh?

[Bill Eh?]

Replacement Wishbone attachment brace glued to the bottom of the crossmember.

[slusher]

Nice work Bill..

[CabDriver]

16 hours ago, Bill Eh? said:

Am I doing too many updates with too little progress? I'm new to this WIP thread process.

No - it’s interesting!  Keep ‘em coming!!!

[Bill Eh?]

15 hours ago, slusher said:

Nice work Bill..

Thanks Carl

9 hours ago, CabDriver said:

No - it’s interesting!  Keep ‘em coming!!!

Thanks, and will do Jim.

I finally completed, what I have been putting off, cleaning up all of the parts. I also drilled out the magneto. The largest hole I could manage was 1.25 mm. Sadly this is not quite large enough to hold a bundle of 8 ignition wires. I might have a work around though.

The major issue I discovered involved my frame modification. In my third post, I showed where I moved a vertical tube of the frame, rearward on both sides. Guess what now lines up perfectly with the opening for the Pitman Arm? This will now take a serious rethink.