RodneyBad Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Van is coming along perty good. Your even getting all the rust and dents in all the same places? such a shame to dirty it up tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 Van is coming along perty good. Your even getting all the rust and dents in all the same places? such a shame to dirty it up tho. Good eye! I did start denting the body up and yes the damage will be modeled a close as I can get it. You should see the hood dots to locate where each salt chunk will go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbler75 Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Hey the hinges look and work great! I like it! I was gonna fair warn ya when you got to the "ride height" of the van, but you figured that out on your own. LoL Keep up the stunning work. I like where it's going and the bean bag is jus' out of this world! Sorry the pins were too small, but it was jus' a suggestion. Keep it comin'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie8575 Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Looks great, Mike. I hope you can make it to MassCar this year, even if it's on the primer table, we'd love to see it. If you can't and would like for it to be displayed, let me know, I'll work something out with you. Charlie Larkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Most Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Might have to steal that hinge technique for my Transit buildup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 (edited) Lookin' good! Actually the ride height for the front doesn't look bad per the 1:1 pic. You're right, though, the rear is a little jacked up (when you compare the centerline of the rear axle to the bottom of the rocker panel, there's a noticeable disparity), but I'm sure you'll be able to dial it in ... it doesn't really seem to be too far off. Good job. Edited January 28, 2011 by Danno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 WOW!! Unbelievable attention to detail there, I admire the dedication to the cause! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 (edited) The mirrors are all stuck together with location pins that will also give a handhold for polishing and chrome application. The plastic arms were replaced with aluminum tube of the same diameter. Looking at the 1:1 I probably should have used some smaller brass rod but these will have to do. I'm planning on trying out some Kosutte-Ginsan over a silver base to chrome them up. Talk about In Your Face .. ehhe larger than life picture. Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carchub Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 This is going so well! It's already got so much detail into it! Keep it goin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 (edited) Not too much to report after the weekend, but I'm totally excited because the body is moving to the paint shop! I did the last of grinding the rusted holes with the Dremel and final primer is on. There's only a few areas where the rust is poking through again so I just brushed some rust color in those areas for some table salt weathering. All the blackish areas in the 1:1 photos are primer from amateur body repairs. Those areas I have to brush some lightened flat black over ... maybe thinned. I'm going to have to paint an old body with the blue finish to experiment as I go. The doors are glued to some sprue handles for painting.  The dog is taunting me .., been avoiding getting the craft paints out to paint him.  Mr Tee is gonna bonk me.. I lost his beanbag chair! I know I put it somewhere "safe" when my daughter was over with her herd of dogs .. ehhe missing photo Look at those door hinges! They all stayed on through washing and priming! missing photo  This afternoon it's a trip to the fabric shop for some straight pins for hinge pins. A "standard" pin I grabbed from the pin cushion fit the hinges nice and tight with just the right amount of freedom. If I can find some with a nice head they will do. I also ordered some insect pins to use as an antenna. They sure do make those thin. They went from .25mm to .65mm in diameter with a ball on the that looks like it is smaller the smaller the pin. Replace mm with inches and that's what 1:1 size they are in 1/25 scale ... 1/4" to 5/8" ... nice. Edited April 15, 2016 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Nice work so far Mike! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hattley Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I have thoroughly enjoyed your thread thus far!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 Thanks, guys. and the bean bag chair was in my drawer right here, so everything is on track. I may need a vacation soon if this pace keeps up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lombardo Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Mike, this is sure coming along nicely. The hinge saga was interesting to follow...I love how you stuck with it. Really looking good....well, as good as rust and dents can look, that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Colmer Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I've been enjoying this one. Great to see you sweat the unique aspects of this van. Fun Stuff. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Most Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 This project is prompting me to model my old '83 Dodge van. Trouble is, where do I find scale leopard print shag upholstery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crowe-t Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Mike, What paint are you using on the body? Is it a factory color from MCW or something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 (edited) What paint are you using on the body? Is it a factory color from MCW or something else? The exterior paint is from Paintscratch.com. Dark Blue Metallic for a 1985 G3500 GMC Van. I tried it earlier on the interior floor and wheel wells and it looks just right. Edited February 1, 2011 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 Thanks for the comments everyone ... and especially all the encouragement that has kept me going on this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 This project is prompting me to model my old '83 Dodge van. Trouble is, where do I find scale leopard print shag upholstery? oh my .... everyone hide their doll houses!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 (edited) Outside is the first of two big snowstorms and I have the 4-wheel drive ... my wife needs a ride from work so I'm going to wait until tomorrow to put the finish coats on. I did salt the underside well and tried for a more subtle approach on the body. It looks good and probably will just take a few grains off in a few body areas to more closely match the 1:1. Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 (edited) Well, the paint went on well, but my "easy to maintain" Iwata airbrush clogged as usual and in the end It won't even spray pure thinner! There is no other way they show to clean besides what I have done. A small brush in the hole for the paint cup comes out full of blue paint! The cheapo Testors airbrush I had before this didn't cause these troubles. Â But anyway, PAINT IS ON! I also cast the GMC logo and some door handles using Acrylic fingernail filler per Custom Mike's post It's all at the link if you're interested. The jury is still out as to the smoothness of this material out of the mold. It sure is easy though. These are the pieces right out of the mold before any cleanup. There's two door handles in that big mass . eheh Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Custom Mike Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) Mike, I just went through all 11 pages of this thread, and all I can say is....wow! The amount of frustration on those hinges would have made me give up, you're a better man than me! I'm about to try making my own "piano" hinges for a '32 Ford hood/side panels, so now I'm gonna have to rethink what I had planned. Aluminum tubing is probably not a good idea seeing the problems you had, so it's back to the drawing board. I'm waiting for this one to get finished, it's looking great so far! Edited February 3, 2011 by Custom Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 I'm about to try making my own "piano" hinges for a '32 Ford hood/side panels, so now I'm gonna have to rethink what I had planned. Aluminum tubing is probably not a good idea seeing the problems you had, so it's back to the drawing board. I'd hate to discourage anyone from trying something. The gluing trouble I had with these hinges was related to the small pieces I had to attach the tubes to. With piano hinges I don't see any problems. You'd in effect be gluing long tubes directly to the hood. Many people have made these hinges before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted February 5, 2011 Author Share Posted February 5, 2011 (edited) Here's a pic of the frame in the weathering process just to keep the update legal. I intended some salt weathering but the Krylon black I used over it was too heavy as it would not cover areas between the salt. I scraped it some but all those bumps are salt buried in the paint. Since this will be heavy rust, it will look ok when everything else is added. So far just some roof brown dry brushed dabbled on. Now, the hinge pin search has given me quite an education .. and still leaves me wanting to figure out how straight pins are sized. I found some excellent straight pins in my Mother-in-Laws sewing cabinet. They fit snug into the plastic hinges being .034" diameter. The heads were a bit larger than I wanted so I went out looking for the same diameter but with smaller heads. I was confronted at Joann's Fabric with pin sizes given as Tam 17. This was the most common size with others being larger numbers. They seemed to follow gauge sizes with smaller numbers being larger sizes. I tried some tam 17 with small heads and these were considerably smaller than the ones the fit well being only .02" diameter. I had no idea what Tam size would be the .034 pins I had. At home I searched the net for info on straight pin sizes and found no useful information. I got some indication they follow wire gauge sizes but the Tam numbers follow no used gauge standard. My Mother-in-Law worked in the coat factories in Patterson, NJ for many years and these pins were not ordinary. I found nothing on line that would have come to matching the diameter of these monsters. I ended up just smoothing the edges of the heads in the Dremel with a file. They still look good and give the door hinges a nice friction fit. a lot of unique pins: and, a pin in place before cutting to length: Edited August 9, 2017 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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