Mach 5 with working lights - part 1

[wisdonm]

Several members recently asked me to post this project.

I bought this kit several years ago because it was a clearance sale and very inexpensive. I probably thought I would give it away. I don't really like the Mach 5, however this one does not seem correct (turns out it is the movie version) and therefore is much more appealing. For one thing, it does not have those weird Lamborghini style wheel openings.

Yes it started out as a snap kit, but I took all the snap out of it by drilling all mounting points. These points are originally hexagonal in shape so that there is an interference fit to hold the model together. I manually drilled them out so that I can take it apart in order to fit the electrical system. Once drilled I had to taper a few mounting posts for a true and complete fit. There would have been some body panel gaps if I had left it a snap kit.

I removed the over-sized rear view mirrors. I will not be installing the rear fins, so I used two-part Bondo to fill in the various holes.

Edited September 27, 2018 by wisdonm

[Terror]

I've always wanted this kit because of the comic book buff in me.I like the thicker more detailed bodies of a snap kit,also this kit is ripe for custom builds.Lets see more..

Edited December 19, 2010 by Terror

[MrObsessive]

I'll be watchin' this one too as I'm a HUGE Speed Racer and Mach 5 fan! Have been ever since the cartoon debuted here in Central PA in the fall of '68.

Whaaa.............no rear fins??

To me that's what makes the car! I have to admit though I kinda like the "modernized" version of the Mach 5 more than what the comic books and cartoon depicted. The movie version's fins were kinda of odd shaped come to think of it...........should have been more shark like just like the comic book and TV version.

[wisdonm]

What was I going to use for lighting? I had purchased some LED X-mas replacement lights last x-mas season, but hadn't looked at them since. That was the first time that I saw replacement Xmas LED bulbs for sale. I found them at Menards, a home improvement center owned by NASCAR driver Paul Menard's billionaire father. They come in 3-packs. All white, all red, all blue, and a green/orange/and yellow combo. They are about 5mm across. Best of all they are only $1.19 per 3-pack. They are rated 2V for red and 3.4 V for white. All the colors say "0.02 amps max".

If you are interested in using these lights for a project, I would suggest buying them this week. Menards, and I would assume others, do not stock x-mas lights all year long.

So I hauled out my bag of lights and 30 gauge wrapping wire (spark plug wire) and a 9 volt battery. LEDs need a minimum voltage to work, however too much and they will blow without using a resistor. I lucked out. I added up the voltages of the lights I wanted to use and found out I didn't need a resistor at all.

1 red bulb @ 2volts + 1 blue bulb @ 3.4 volts + 1 white bulb @ 3.4 volts = 8.8 total volts.

The bulbs do have a resistor already mounted to them. I just ignored them. LEDs are uni-directional. Electricity will only flow through them in one direction. I just made sure that they were mounted in series. Therefore the wire connected to the resistor on one light, goes to the wire without the resistor on the next light. If the lights do not work when you connect them to the battery, reverse the wires at the battery. If an individual light doesn't work, reverse the wires to that light. This is fun.

Just out of curiosity I tried three 3.4 bulbs = 10.2 volts. It shouldn't have worked. But it did. That's good. I can use that.

 

Edited September 27, 2018 by wisdonm

[EH225M]

Uh oh,

I just bought this kit for my Godson. He's 6yo and this will be his first kit.

The box art has the car facing in the opposite direction to what has been posted above, so it's a reissue.

It's the only snap kit they had in the shop at the time, and now it's wrapped up ready to give to him in the morning!.

I was hoping it was going to be 10 minutes of quality time with him, then 30 minutes of playing with his new model before it breaks

I guessed that all I'd need is to borrow his mothers nail file to smooth out the break from the sprue and help him build it.

Will it be that easy???, or will I have a crying child on my hands???

BTW, I've never ever heard of Mach 5 before untill I read this post.

Wish me luck!!!

[MrObsessive]

BTW, I've never ever heard of Mach 5 before untill I read this post.

Well you just don't know what your missing! Speed Racer was one of the "Japanimation" cartoons that flooded the U.S. airwaves in the late '60's along with Marine Boy, Eighth Man, Kimba, Astro Boy, among others.

It ran on quite a few cable stations from 1967 till about '78 then disappeared until MTV brought it back sometime in the early '90's. Then of course, there was the live action movie that came out a couple years ago.............that's what the model he's working on is from.

Here's a link to Speed Racer on You Tube. BTW, this guy has all 52 episodes of Speed Racer in which I saved all of 'em! Always loved this show as a kid back then, and I can remember getting into arguments with my sister as Speed Racer came on the same time as "Dark Shadows". (Remember that one??)

Here's the first episode of Speed Racer for ya James from You Tube!

Hey Don! If you can somehow incorporate those red lights to come on when pushing the letter "E" on the steering wheel.............that would be too much!

[wisdonm]

EH225M, is your's made by Jada or Polar Lights? I'm guessing Polar Lights, which would be this cartoon model.

MrO, sorry, I didn't know about the E button.

[KingSix]

Always loved this show as a kid back then, and I can remember getting into arguments with my sister as Speed Racer came on the same time as "Dark Shadows". (Remember that one??)

Sounds like we lived in the same house ... my sister and I still laugh about that to this day ....

[EH225M]

EH225M, is your's made by Jada or Polar Lights? I'm guessing Polar Lights, which would be this cartoon model.

MrO, sorry, I didn't know about the E button.

Definately the Polar Lights kit!

Just a few hours to go now....

[wisdonm]

I'm not sure where the tail lights are supposed to be on this car, so I thought I'd make my own. I started out by polishing up a piece of 7/32 OD aluminum tubing with steel wool. Then I cut a piece off with my X-acto miter box. Next I squared and deburred the ends. The LED is slightly tapered. It is larger at the wire end. So I had to use the rat tail file to enlarge one end so that the light will totally fit inside. That seemed easy enough.

While trying to make holes in the rear deck for the new lights, I discovered it was going to be a more radical surgery than originally thought. The holes had to be much larger and I have to remake longer tail light housings. Worst of all, my Bondo was destroyed.

Now comes the time in most of my builds where everything comes to a grinding halt. Puttying. After realizing what needed to be done, I made a jig to hold the tubing in place so I could Bondo around it. Then I put a light coat of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) on the tube, placed it in position, and Bondoed around it. Gratefully the tube pulled out with no problems, when the Bondo was dry. Unfortunately I needed to do some touch up putty work. I am on my fourth try.

When my wife saw the tubing in the fixture when the Bondo was drying she asked, "Why did you make the hole so big, if you're just going to fill it in again?"

Being a real glutton for punishment, I slicked up the tube again and mixed up some more Bondo. Here are the results.

Next I drilled holes for the headlights and gauges on the dash. It was blank originally and no decals were provided.

Edited September 27, 2018 by wisdonm

[Foxer]

I like what's going on here and plan on pulling up a seat!

[wisdonm]

It's in the high 20s F, so painting is a problem. I put some primer on it. I used my cardboard box in the basement, while the wife was away.

While the body primer was drying I moved on to the interior. I wanted to try something new for me. I used self sticking medical tape to add some texture to the interior.

After adding medical tape to the seats and interior, I painted them with Folk Art 2225 Ocean Cruise acrylic paint that I bought at WallyWorld for under a dollar. I had previously drilled holes in the dash for instruments. I now filled the holes with Model Master Clear Parts Cement & Window Maker. I then shortened the shift lever, added some stick pins for buttons and a turn signal lever. Finally I modified the dash and mounted one of the original fender mirrors for a rear view mirror.

This is a mock up of the rolling chassis. The battery is in the rear. There is more room in the front, but the battery will not fit between the body mounts. Even the rear body mounts had to be modified to make the battery fit.

It's amazing what I notice after I post pixs. I noticed the tread pattern was wrong when I saw the mock up pix. They have been changed.

Edited September 27, 2018 by wisdonm

[crazyjim]

Interesting build going on here, Don. Why didn't you use Evergreen tubing instead of the aluminum? The Evergreen could have remained in place.

Edited December 29, 2010 by crazyjim

[wisdonm]

The aluminum tube is my tail light housing.

I sprayed some rattle can paint on it the other day. I let it sit for 36 hours baked it on my improvised dehydrator, a floor heating vent.

As you can see, I used a trusty coat hanger to hold the body for painting. The front and rear lower panels are also in approximate position. See above pix of body in primer. This is so the paint will match when it is assembled.

I tried Testors One Coat Lacquer for the first time. I must admit I was impressed. It did cover in one coat and shined rather well. Since it covered so well, one of those little 3 once cans could do two or three bodies. First I used Dupli-Color gray primer sealer, because of some body mods. Then I sprayed one coat of Lime Ice #1835M. It has a lot of gold flecks in it. Then I sprayed it with a couple of coats of Dupli-Color clear. I am pleased to report there were no bad reactions between the paints.

The pix shows just one coat of paint. No clear. It was done in a cardboard box in a chilly basement. It's about 20 F outside.

After finishing the paint, I started working on the lights. I made new longer tail light housings. I then inserted a red LED into each one. Next I painted the backs of the tail light LEDs and most of the head light LEDs, with silver enamel paint, to prevent unwanted light scatter.

Next is a pix of the first complete lighting system test. Surprisingly, it was successful. I just have to figure out how to cram it all into the body shell. There are twelve lights in total. I used four parallel sets of three lights in series. I'm sure the secret of these LEDs working so good for modeling is those little resistors. Get some x-mas lights while you can. They will eliminate a lot of problems and headaches.

Once again, I'm amazed at what I don't notice until I post pixs. I forgot to paint the rear of the head light closest to the bottom of the pix. Notice the unwanted light scatter.

Racing teaches you that nothing is lighter nor cheaper than nothing. I just have two bare wires sticking out the bottom of the floor pan covered with a piece of electrical tape. I just cross the wires to turn the lights on and uncross them to turn them off.

Here is a pix of the lights test, just before final assembly. It has an artsy-fartsy look to it. I like it.

You can see how the lights under the base of the windshield light up the outer edge of the windshield. A very kool effect, related to how fiber optics work. Yes, this was done on purpose. There are also ambient mood lights on the floor.

 

Edited September 27, 2018 by wisdonm

[parki]

Cool thread Jim, Thanks for shearing it with us. Great build too

[wisdonm]

Jim???

[Tony T]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing, Don!

[gunner]

Very cool, it gives me ideas for some of mine. I like the color also, well done.

[71datsun1200]

[samdiego]

Great technique. LEDs are a good replacement for the old Grain o' Wheat bulbs we used to use. Way more efficient and much lower in temp. Fiber optics can be combined with LEDs to carry light to hard to reach places. One more tip: Sign shops use a translucent white film made to diffuse the light and help keep it from hot spotting like underneath the Mach 5 shown here, where you can see the signature of the actual light source. If you ask nicely at a sign shop that does lit signage, you might be able to get a scrap, freebies. It doesn't recycle and one sign's trash would supply most modelers for years. It's self adhesive and about 2 mils thick.

You might also be able to purchase some of the really small LEDs that the sign industry is using now.

Edited February 25, 2011 by samdiego

[wisdonm]

Thanks for the info on the diffuser. That is not light scatter underneath. It is intentional ground effects lighting.

[samdiego]

Diffuser won't contain light scatter, but under the car where you can see the reflection of the actual bulb and the circular halos. Those would be a more even wash of light

Edited February 25, 2011 by samdiego

[wisdonm]

Pictures have been replaced.