1/16 Scale Army Vega Funny Car - Finished 10/14/2018

[Mooneyzs]

Alright Fellas... got a few little updates done to this. It's very minor but it means the build is moving forward. I had to make a parachute mount bracket so that I could tie the parachute lines too. Then I worked on getting a few items repainted. Here is what was done....

 

Here is the Parachute Mount Bracket. It is made up of a Photo Etch Bracket from Dirt Modeler to which I bent and then soldered a 1.0 mm Scale Hardware nut to it that way I can pin the line with a 1.0mm screw and take the parachute on and off:

 

 

 

I got my body tin work fixed from where It broke on me when I was painting it last time. I had put it aside for a while and got the piece glued and repainted:

 

 

 

I also repainted the Body Head Shields that attach to the rockers on the side of the body. As well as repainted the Spoiler and the parachute mount bracket:

 

 

Then I have been sanding and priming the K-Style Barrel Valve that I drew and had 3D printed, Still little more work to go on this:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Mooneyzs/Plastic%20Models/1974%20Vega%20Army%20Funny%20Car/DP-Army-Vega%207899-1_zpsxhnrjejs.jpg[/URL]

[Mooneyzs]

Then I got a package in the mail that I have been waiting for. I had a few parts that I had drawn for the funny car, New injector had and some updated linkages. As well as a Donovan Manifold (for another Project down the road) and for Giggles I decided to have the FED Chassis printed to see how it would turn out that I drew up not to long ago.:

 

 

Upclose shot of the manifold, blower and injector had. Sorry its hard to see the detail of it with the natural color of the media its printed in. It will be easier to see once I get some primer on them:

 

 

So I was so excited to get this Chassis and see how it looked 3D printed. I did it for giggles to see how it would turn out. It passed all of their initial design tests that it went thru:

 

 

 

Well when I opened the package up, along with the other items I had. Well that Chassis got damaged in the shipping process which made me super bummed. You can see thru the various pictures here that the front end of the chassis is all tweaked. So I have written Shapeways and they are looking into it as we speak. Now the front end didn't have a lot structure to it so I don't know for sure if it was my design or just from being bounced around after it was packed up. Shapeways will be letting me know soon on what they come up with for a refund or if I am basically out of the money. Although I am going to go back and add some more supports to the front area to stiffen it up so It can't get damaged during shipping. Anyway here is what it and the damage looks like:

 

 

[Nytrozilla]

Throwing out an idea. How about an X brace for a fuel tank?

Kill 2 birds......ya' know?

Maybe Shapeways will split the difference. I haven't heard of any customer service issues. Only that they are good people.

I did try to use them once when I needed 4 pairs of headers for my QuarterMaster Charger, but they were too busy.

[Codi]

Your shots Chris reflect your super sanitary work. You've gotta get excited when you see it at this point.  Really like the parts too that you got from Shapeways.  It is amazing the quality of the manifold and blower.  Are you doing your FED chassis in brass after all?   Cheers, tim

[Mooneyzs]

Joe.... I was planning on adding some structure to the front end for support along with adding the fuel tank straps off the drawing I drew this up from. I got good news Shapeways has already gotten back to me with an email saying they have credited my account. I will be updating the model and having it reprinted. they have done me good with the years I have been using them.

Tim... Thank you very much. I am getting very excited and looking forward to working on it this weekend. I was stoked on the parts and was very excited to get my updated Injector hat for the funny car. My intentions  the whole time was to make this FED Chassis out of Brass but for giggles I wanted to print the chassis just to see how it would turn out. cheers!

[mr68gts]

Chris, I believe this has been a problem with chassis prints in the past. I braced up a pro stock front clip to see if it will cure the problem that someone had. Havent gotten a report on it yet though so we will see if that works when they receive it. Part of the reason I haven't printed the 1/16 Logghe F/C chassis, and I think I am going to add some support to it. Shipping could be an issue too along with probably not cooled from curing completely when boxed up I am willing to bet. (If I understand the process right) should see the box I received from them for a part I had printed for Sandy's uncle! It was destroyed but the part was intact at least. (Nut for his spa that is no longer available, printed in white strong.)

[gasser59]

Would it be possible to anticipate the 3D printing process issues with frames such as this by adding additional support as in cross pieces and / or brackets that would be removed once the part is printed? There has to be a solution to this issue.

[Davewilly]

Bummer about the chassis....It looks pretty cool though if the problem can be solved for shipping.

 

The tins looks nice and the chute bracket is pretty cool being a functional piece and all.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Bummer on the chassis.  Could always do a crashed dragster with that chassis. Hopefully shapeways will make it right. Put the whip back on those minions for the funny car.

[Mooneyzs]

Paul... You are correct that It probably need some extra support for shipping. I am working on the Chassis as we speak to add some extra support for the shipping purposes. I do have to say that Shapeways was great with me. I got an email the day after I emailed them about the problem they told me that they were submitting my claim and then the day after that I got another email saying that they have Credited my account. Great group to work with. They respond in a quick matter and I can't wait to get the chassis updates done so I can get it ordered again. The way I look at this is that is is a learning lesson for me since I have never had a chassis printed before.

Brad... That is the exact solution for things like this. When I got the Chassis that was the first thing I though of was that I needed to add additional supports which could be removed once I get the chassis in hand to prevent any damage during the shipping process.

Dave.... Yeah it was a bummer but Shapeways took care of it and going forward I will have those bugs worked out. Thank you on the Tins and Chute bracket. After seeing how nice the Mr Hobby Semi Gloss black laid down on the bottom of the tins, I am going to scuff up the top side of the tins and repaint them too.

Bob... Yep it was a bummer and trust me I thought of the Crashed dragster diorama with this chassis.... lol. Shapeways took care of things and I should have the Chassis resubmitted sometime this weekend But for now the chassis will wait because I am off to the bench to work on the Funny Car.

[Mooneyzs]

Alright Fellas... I got some good news... I worked more on the Manifold fuel lines today and got them completed. Although I have to admit I don't know if I am 100% happy with them. So my options right now is to just leave them as they are or I may actually try to Nickle Plate the brass ones I did. I will admit I am a little more happy with the way the brass ones turned but I haven't had any success with my Plating kit as of yet. So I will give them a whirl at plating and see if I have any luck. but just may say screw it and use the aluminum rod ones. I fell that they could be better than they are.

Here are the updated lines:

 

 

[Jimmy Wilson]

Hello Chris,

I have admired your work and skills since I joined the forum. Watching the builds of yourself  and others such as John T. and "Codi's" are true inspirations. This is my first post in reference to any of your posts, and because I haven't done so,  I hope you understand that it's not indifference, just not sure what I could add to the kudos showered upon you guys.

Anyway, I was wondering about the front engine dragster frame if some bracing for rigidity during shipping might be added, then removed for the build? I appreciate your time, and the effort of keeping us informed on your incredible work.

Regards, and hoping you have a good holiday season.

Jimmy

Edited November 20, 2016 by Jimmy Wilson

[Mooneyzs]

Jimmy...  thanks for the kind comments and checking this build out. There are so many great builders to learn from on  this forum. I have looked up to John's and Tim's work for sometime now as well as many others on here. Your are correct about the FED chassis, I have already  started to update the 3D model to have additional.supports so that  it won't get damaged during shipping. The supports wil then get removed  once it is delivered. I hope you have a great holiday season as well.

[gtx6970]

Alright Fellas... got a few little updates done to this. It's very minor but it means the build is moving forward. I had to make a parachute mount bracket so that I could tie the parachute lines too. Then I worked on getting a few items repainted. Here is what was done....

 

 

Here is the Parachute Mount Bracket. It is made up of a Photo Etch Bracket from Dirt Modeler to which I bent and then soldered a 1.0 mm Scale Hardware nut to it that way I can pin the line with a 1.0mm screw and take the parachute on and off:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You do know pirating pictures of the actual car and calling them your model isn't nice.

 

At least it sure looks real

 

 

[bobthehobbyguy]

The injector lines look great to me. Nice work.

[Mooneyzs]

Bill.... I wish I had actual pics of the real car of the rear end so I could of made it more actuate but I had to go with what I though I may of looked like.

Bob.... Thank you.  Feels good to have them done and now I can move on t something else.

[Randy D]

Hi Chris,

   The lines look great !!!   You do such precise work buddy.  Keep building,  only about 4 months left

 

Randy 

[Mooneyzs]

Randy... Thanks my Friend... I am making head way little by little...lol I am so ready to move onto something else on this build. April is getting here closer by the minute...lol I really need to put things into gear. I am looking forward to you coming out here again and can't wait to see you awesome builds in person.

[gtx6970]

WOW,  I would be so happy with how those lines turned out ,,,I would be beside myself and all giddy if mine looked that good.

Im seriously toying with the idea  of coming out to AZ for the show next spring. ( I have family in Tuscon AZ )

 

[Mooneyzs]

Bill.... Thank you very much. I will admit I am happy with the lines, I just wish the aluminum lines turned out as good as the brass templates. you really need to consider coming out to the Desert Scale Classic. it's one of the best shows here in AZ in my opinion.

[peteski]

As-shown in the above photos is that the final finish on the 3-D printed injector hat, blower-housing and the manifold? The striation or layering created by the printing process are still very prominent.

[Mooneyzs]

Pete... The finish you see on the blower, injector hat and the manifold is how it came right off the 3D printer. Othe than spring a light coat of peimer on them.. they will get prepped prior to paint.  I will sand and primer them and you will never know they were printed. if you go back a few pages you will see the blower that is painted with Alclad. I am just using a spare blower I had for mock up purposes while I was making the manifold lines so I wouldn't be touching the alclad paint and messing it up.

As an fyi... the Frosted Ultra Detail and Frosted Extreme detail material from Shapewas sands really easy. you will never get a finish from 3D printing right off the machine to be exactly as you get it from an injection mold. I don't mind having to prep the parts by any means because of the parts I am desiging aren't avaliable anywhere and I have had a lot of fun drawing the parts up.

[Muncie]

incredible work - this is amazing and keeps getting better

is it possible to go all out on the FED chassis and print a box around it - something that ties into the chassis and can be trimmed away?  

[Mooneyzs]

Steve... than you for the kinds words.  That was my plan to put extra supports up front that will be trimmed away. 

[Mooneyzs]

Hello Fellas.... Well it's time for long over due update. well actually I have been trying to get to the bench to get more work done on this project but with life being a little busy at the moment due to work, company Christmas party, finding out some family health issues as well as an unexpected Expensive trip to the vet for my Dog this week. But for the past 2 weeks I have been trying get to the bench and I had decided that it was time to work on cutting all of the rivets down on the Body Tin's. Now this task is something that I have been dreading for quite some time but I know that it was something that was going to have to be done regardless of how long it was going to take. I had to figure out a plan because cutting each of them one by one and sanding each individually wasn't going to fly. So I decided to make a make shift cutting and sanding jig. It's nothing fancy by any means but It worked out pretty good I think. I now feel good about them and I can proceed to the next part of this build that I need to work on. Anyway let me show you the process that I used and what the body tins look like mocked up with the rivets in

I started out with figuring out the length that the rivets were going to have to be and I came up with actually 3 different sizes. So I drilled .016" dia holes in .040" thick, .060" thick and .080" thick styrene strips. That way I had a way to make them a consistent size. Here is what the the jig looks like with the rivets installed prior to cutting to length:

 

Next I used a cutter to cut the shank down to the size required:

 

Here is what they looked like after cutting the lengths down:

 

Next, I had to sand the edges to get them flat and to size:

 

Here is how they look after sanding them: