ModelcarJR

hanks, Dan! And you're right, this one is done! The hardware and decals all went on well. The bumpers, grill, mirrors, lights, door handles, all had positive pins and receivers that were well done. Other than my confusion with the instructions for the chassis, everything went well. I did foil around the windshield so it looks like a double layer of chrome trim on top of the windshield but I wanted to surround the green triangle in each corner. Also I added foil around the bottom although there is no raised trim there. I thought about adding some plastic rod but I didn't. I just foiled the flat surface. Nice kit!

Nice work on all the modifications, Dan! Starting to look good! ??

Thanks, Dan! I appreciate your comment! I forgot to post photos of the interior so a couple are below. I finished the engine bay by adding heater hoses using on of the holes for the horns and drilling another. Thus, this build only includes 1 horn on the left side. I'll have to re-do the battery but there is nothing I can do about the brush-painted radiator support. I got the body on by sliding the front on first which worked very well. I had to use clamps to tighten up the cowl/firewall joint. It appears I will also have to use clamps to glue down the front of the frame to the front bumper area in order to get the body to sit more level. I also knocked out the right side window while mounting the body on the frame. The instructions would have you attach all the exterior hardware before mounting the body. I never do that as too many things can go wrong and parts can get knocked off or broken in the process of mounting the body. You can see my fix for the window using a long toothpick with some handy-tack through the left window to re-attach the window. Once the glue has dried I will pull the handy tack off and hope for a good glue joint. Mounting the body is always a chore that is full of trials and tribulations for me. But everything is pretty square now so mounting the hardware and decals is all that is left. Oh, I also need to add some foil around the windshield. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Thomas! I appreciate your comment! I finished the interior, engine, radiator and firewall installation. Next, I wanted to test-fit the body onto the frame before installing the windows in the body. I thought I could slip the rear end on first, expanding the body a bit with a toothpick and then slip the radiator support carefully over the radiator. WRONG! If I were the "Great Carnak" or a more prescient builder, I would have known to slip the front end over the radiator and engine until the inner fender liners hit the firewall and then push the back down and pry it over the frame with a toothpick. I managed to knock of one of the horns on the firewall and bend the other one down. There are plenty of warnings in these instructions but not a hint about how to mount the body on the frame. HINT: Slide the front of the body over the radiator and engine until the inner fender liners hit the firewall. Then push the back down and shoehorn the frame into the body. Here are the pics of the damage and the mock-up. I can re-install the horns once the body is on for good. I have since fixed the cannisters so that they sit level. Thanks for looking!

Thanks, Mike, Dan, Jay and Carl! I appreciate your comments! Ran into some minor issues so I thought I would pass them along as many of you have asked me to point out any trouble spots. These issues are concerning the chassis construction. The chassis is presented in the instructions right side up (see photo). Yes, after 300 builds I still use the instructions unless I find a better way of assembly or there are errors that I have to ignore. I normally assemble the chassis with the bottom side up as I'm sure most of you do as well. In these instructions, that means that left is right and right is left. Then since I am left-handed in a right-handed world I can get confused easily. The instructions have plenty of warnings about getting the exhaust pipe and driveshaft inside an oval in the middle of the frame so that the crossmember that glues on traps them inside. However, since the instructions are not clear about where the springs for the rear suspension are suppose to mount. First, the axle is mount right to the frame with pins and receivers. The pins and receivers are nice throughout and are well-positioned, but an axle pinned to the frame would ride pretty rough and not require shocks or a sway bar. Small point and I hope it was just manufactured this way for simplicity. I am used to the springs being square and mounted to the frame rails or beside them on the outside. This particular setup and I assume it is true on the 1:1, the rear spring end mounts on the outside of the frame rail and the front of the spring mounts inside in a little niche that is not readily apparent in the instructions. It took me a while to see it and figure this out but it is the only way that the spring will touch the pin on the axle to glue it down. It also have to go that way for the shocks to reach the pin on the spring. So that's the quirk in the rear suspension (see photo). That's it for the rear but the front suspension also poses some issues. I put the springs, spindles and a-arms in first with no glue. That's how I noticed that in order to get the tie rod to meet the socket in the spindles, I had reverse the wheel assemblies. Easy to fix, I just disassembled and switched wheel assemblies. However, what I didn't notice was that I needed reverse the A-arms too. The mount for the sway bar was on the back of the A-arm instead of the front. So I glue the assemblies together incorrectly of the A-arms. Since I didn't want to take these assemblies apart I simply cut off the tabs where the sway bar was suppose to mount and mount the sway bar a little bit closer to the A-arm and the connection for the sway bar disappears under the A-arms (see photos). Not sure you can see the socket for the tie rod but it is below the spot where the tie rod wants to mount. So now its on wheels and sits on all fours which is really all I care about. Thanks for looking!

Thanks, All! I appreciate your comments! ?

Thanks, All! I appreciate your comments! ?

Thanks, All for the comments that I forgot to mention in my last post. I appreciate all your comments! I worked on the engine most of yesterday. I wired the coil and spark plugs by drilling out the distributor, coil and cylinder head. The distributor was pretty flat so I just scraped off the 7 tits on it and that provided white dots to locate the plug and coil wire drilling locations. I used a #74 drill bit as I have broken the rest of my small bits. I removed the tits from the cylinder head as well, aned drilled holes there as well. Next I used Pro Tech spark plug wire and wire looms. I glued two three-hole wire looks to the edge of the head in order to keep the wires tight on the head and avoid any interference throttle linkage and air filter cannisters. I also added fuel lines with a fuel filter. The fuel filter is a piece of Jewelry Shoppe gummy cylinder that I threaded onto the fuel line and painted the round top. i also shortened it a bit as you will see in the last photos. Engine went together well and I just have to straighten up the front cannister and unkink the fuel line a bit and it will be done. Thanks for looking! ?

Yes, I foiled the letters after white fine surface primer and removed the paint with a small Tamiya cotton swab sold at Hobby Lobby (I think they are carrying another brand now) after the color coat of paint and before I applied the clear coats. When I applied the foil I first cut in strips, and used a cotton swab and a round toothpick to press down the foil and crimp it into every niche of each letter so that it would stay in place. The I trimmed the foil on top, bottom and sides of the script. For the hood, I cut a strip, crimped down the foil on the letters and then removed the piece in between each letter and cut around each letter. You can actually read the letters even though they are very small. I thought about using a chrome pen but they would turn silver every time I touched them. Even a clear coat over the chrome pen will dull the finish. So I think foil is the best approach. Once I had rubbed out the paint, I added some paint in a few areas (the cowl area and the lower rear left side) where I had rubbed out too much paint. Once that was done, I added another coat of clear to the entire body and rubbed it out with some Scratch-X and added some wax. It has better color now in photos. I am in the process of foiling and would like an opinion from any of you. Does the lower chrome trim look better on the left side or the right side? I used some blackwash on the left to give it a little more depth in this thin trim. Let me know what you think. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Gary, Dirk, and Carl! I appreciate your comments! Gary, I learned how to drive in a car similar to this one, a 50 Ford. A six cylinder with three on the tree. I drove it forward and backward in the short driveway at our house. Just about the time I got it in gear it was time to stop. In reverse, I often killed it by abruptly letting off the clutch before I went into the street! My actual driver for High School shortly after that was a 58 Chevy which was a tank. I am a Grandpa so you are right! I got paint on it and am in the process of rubbing it out. Also painting other parts. The pictures are a bit washed out in the light. I foiled the body scripts before paint and revealed them with some lacquer thinner and a small Tamiya cotton swab. Hoping to touch it up a bit once the humidity permits. Thanks for looking! ?

I started this one yesterday and hope to get more paint on it today. I have primered with Tamiya white fine surface primer and painted the roof Krylon Ivory to substitute for the cream color. I'll be painting the body Tamiya Pearl Light Green today to substitute for Spring Green. The interior will be two-tone with Ivory and Hunter Green. Interior parts any d all the black parts are sorted and ready for paint. Should be done with painting by the end of the day. Thanks for looking! ?

Looks good, Dan! I'll look for it in Under Glass! ? ?

This old AMT re-pop is done. Painted with black and white Dupli-Color. Steak and Shake Sponsor logos are stickers from one of the toys they handed out to kids some year ago. Steak and Shake motto "In sight it must be right" was printed on white decal paper and faded and flaked a bit. Added other race decals. The top of the cab is painted black and white to replicate the look of their window awnings on all their restaurants. The hood hinge was make from brass and plastic rod as the kit method did not work properly. Box stock except for hood hinge and M&H Racemaster slicks because the red line hollow kit tires didn't fit the wheels well. Taillights were also left off. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Bob, Ricky, Mike and Carl! I appreciate your comments! I got the hood closure about as tight as I could on the hinge but it still needed something to line it up better on both sides. So I added some strip plastic to the edge of the fender bulge on the body. That way I could make sure it lines up on both sides. Then I glued the hinge uprights to the body so that it won't move and I won't be able to take it off either. To finish, I added the Steak and Shake stickers and made a decal for the hood with their motto "In sight it must be right". Their grill in visible to the counter at each restaurant , thus the motto. The decal is on white decal paper and the black ink rubbed or flaked off a bit but it will have to do. I left the taillights off as I didn't like them and don't think they are necessary. I added some other racing sponsor decals and its done! Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Bill and Cary! I appreciate your comments! That's a nice looking Chevelle in your thread, Bill! ? As a side note, in April this build placed first in Street Stock which Houston IPMS split into two categories, Muscle Car and Non-Muscle car. In July at another contest, this one didn't even place in Factory Stock.

So I finished the interior and installed it. I didn't spend any time on it as it is a real piece of art. Then I mocked it up again with the hood and couldn't get everything to line up. Normally happens in the middle of getting the build together. So, I'm no engineer, but I've built a few hinges before and I thought there must be an easier way to hinge the hood than what the model manufacturer dreamed up. I taped the hood to the cab and held it together with the frame and bed. turned it upside down and marked where I thought hinge arms should go. Then I scratched on the frame through the grill opening where the hinge keeper should go. Then I cut three pieces of 3/32" plastic tube and one piece of .032" brass rod. The brass rod was about 1 3/4" long. The plastic tube keeper is about 3/4" long that mounts on the frame and the other two tubes were about 1/2" long each, hence the 1/3/4" length of brass rod. I superglued the 1/2" tubes where I had marked on the inner fenders. Inserted the brass rod in the other piece of tube, bent it at equal lengths on each side and glued the tube to the front of the frame. Here are the photos. Hopefully it will go together better once the chassis is complete and everything is glued together. I may not have room for the moon tank but I'll just have to live with it. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Brad! I appreciate your comment! i built the bed box and that turned out pretty well considering that there were no pins or slots. But I wanted to add one more paint detail to help with the Steak and Shake theme. Now I can finish building the truck since everything is painted. If you are familiar with Steak and Shake restaurants what does the top remind you of?

I'm going to try this one, although I have heard that getting the front end to open and close properly may be problematic. Next years' contest here in Houston will have a theme of "Anything you can eat or drink". So I found some Steak and Shake stickers that my grandchildren had for one of the little cars that they were giving away with a meal one year. They weren't interested in the stickers so I kept them. I think they might make a good sponsor for this truck and the round stickers should work on the doors. I'll add some other race sponsor decals and it should all work. I'm going with black and white which are the Steak and Shake colors. I started by mocking up the hinging for the cab and front hood/fender unit. Looks like it should work to me but lets see after paint. Today, I got everything painted except I might add some black once I figure out where. Everything else will be box stock, no wiring, etc. Just a quick build, I hope. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Dave, Carl and Dan! I appreciate your comments! ?

This one is done. I'm disappointed with my ability to put this one together well. Paint issues, issues with the body not sitting well, bumper issues, etc. But another one is on the shelf and maybe I'll do better on the next one. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Dan! I wish I had figured out how to attach the front bumper and grill before I tried to attach it about 3 times. I also had to re-touch the left front fender. I also had to remove the left rear window as it must have gotten some clear on it. I could sand it out but I probably wouldn't be able to re-attach it. So now its almost done. I'll rub it out and wax it in the morning. Attach the mirror, the side stripe and license plates and it will be done! Thanks for looking! ?

The paint looks really nice! The only reason I use a clear coat is to get a really smooth finish for BMF and to protect the paint from scuffs and scratches that usually happen during the assembly process. Of course, it won't completely protect it but it helps. I'm not sure what wax you used and am unfamiliar with Novus. I always use Meguiars Scratch -X for rubbing out and their waxes all of which are paintable and sandable. Metallic paint by its nature will have an uneven surface and your foil my have a crinkled look even after rubbing it out. I would apply a clear coat and rub it out to help avoid that and protect the paint.

The engine bay looks great, Dan! The seat belts are a nice touch as well. Coming together nicely! ??

Thanks, Joe, Mike and Carl! I appreciate your comments! the thing I wish Round One would do when they re-pop these old AMT kits is add mirrors. They have added pad-printed tires and expanded the decal sheet except for dash gauges. You can't drive a car without a mirror (or it would be difficult to do so) so why not add mirrors. I searched the parts box instead of robbing another kit for an interior mirror and finally found one. It was molded in black plastic, maybe from a truck kit. I painted it aluminum and also added some mirror foil and installed it. Looks OK. I have a small round Mopar mirror for the outside although it doesn't have the longer Ford neck. The windows installed well, even the side windows. So now its on wheels! It may be a little high in front but I like it and there's nothing I can do about it anyway. Maybe I can raise the back a bit. Thanks for looking! ?

The 49 looks great as well as the Camaro! Nice paint on the 49 and I agree that the pipes really add to it! Nice work! ??