Pro Wrench

After watching your builds I think I'm gonna try doing something completely scratched myself as soon as I can come up with some .040 plastic. Don't know if it will be THIS car but definitely something.

Wow, don't know where you got that 316" Plastruct tubing but they were sure proud of it with that price.

I've been following this build since before I was even a registered member and have been very impressed with everything I have seen you do but those wire wheels are something to behold. You should consider a tutorial on how to do that. As it is, I am going to have to study those particular posts in great detail to completely understand how to do it and get those kind of results.

All that custom body work done (and to perfection I might add) on a 1/25 scale car and the one thing that gets noticed the most is that a set of KIT STOCK valve covers are on upside down. Actually pretty funny when you think about it. As far as the "beauty" of the 1:1 subject matter, sure, it might not be some peoples cup of tea including mine. Then again, scalemaster's Super 7 and kennb's MG aren't either but one cannot deny the pure skill in the amount of customizing and scratchbuilding that has to be done to reproduce them in scale. Stuff like that is EXACTLY why I joined this forum in the first place. My hat's off to ALL of you as I strive to perfect my skill to at least some fraction of yours.

I agree. For what it's worth, I am an ASE Certified Master Technician and I didn't notice. Not that I would have cared if I had. Also for what it's worth, the Mona Lisa doesn't have eyebrows and I could care less about that also.

Wanna borrow my dogs? They're small but they'd make short work of that cat. We USED to have a LOT of feral cats in our neighborhood that would hang out in our yard. We don't have very many feral cats anymore.

If I had the kind of money that I could spend $4M on a car that would spend 99.9% of it's time in a climate controlled garage, you bet your bippy I would buy it.

I don't have any kind of budget that I am set on but it's pretty likely I would never spend the kind of money it takes to invest in a Pocher kit and the almost neccessary associated detail kit that it would take to build it the way it should be built. ALTHOUGH, I would easily spend the money it takes to purchase things like the Sherline mills and lathes if I could afford it because I could use them for a lot of other things than model building. I'm a Master Automotive Technician for a living so I am kind of a tool junky and have no problem spending a LOT of money for quality tools. Read that as "the Snap-On dealer owns me".

Been at least 30 for me. As far as I'm concerned that stuff is only for kids under about 10 years old that are just to young not to make glue bombs. I use Zap, Flexi-I-File plastic weld (same stuff as Tenax), epoxy, and whatever clear drying I have on had for windows. I don't use the thin Zap to much because it's to hard to control but when I do I apply it with a Flex-I-File CA applicator or a toothpick. For the thicker Zap I use gluing tips from Model Master that I modify to fit the bottle. For the plastic weld, I use a touch and flow applicator or a brush depending on how big the piece is that I am trying to weld.

How much of that big sheet of styrene have you used on this so far?

Time to kill that cat.

Stuff like this is exactly why I LOATH NASCAR. Bunch of whining crybaby poor sportsman. They go out there in what amounts to little more than a high speed demolition derby running litteraly INCHES from each other at upwards of 200 mph or better then get all butthurt when someone bumps them, intentional or not, then when someone gets more press or does better than them on a regular basis they have to start stuff like this. I have been involved in drag racing and have been an NHRA member for over 25 years and you rarely EVER encounter this sort of thing in that motorsport. Besides that, the races last so long they get boring.

I LOVE the concept on that boat. Gives me some ideas for some junker bodies I have laying around.

This is probably one of the best posts on this entire forum. It's a rare thing these days to see a parent that actually takes the time to do something like this with their child. Let alone a child of the opposite sex. Kids that get this kind of attention are the ones a whole lot less likely to go into a school and start shooting. My hat is off to you.

I was ready to call b.s. on these being scale size and not 1:1 until that pic with the ruler for reference. Absolutely unbelievable skill here.

Just found this on youtube. Thought some might find it useful for things like cutting off tops to chop. I did a quick search and couldn't find where anyone else had posted it.

Because a big part of this hobby for a lot of people is the feeling of accomplishment from scratchbuilding realistic looking stuff using stuff that has been scrounged for free. Not to mention the fact that 2 bucks in my pocket is still better for me than that same 2 bucks in someone elses pocket.

Ive never used this method on a model but I have used this numerous times on 1:1 cars and it works FAR better than any glue. In fact, there is a BMW 525i running around town that I welded the busted gas tank on that no glue on the market would hold. I definitely plan on using this method as much as possible on my models now. As far as the tutorial, it was full of great information and very well done. I dont undrstand why people have to be rude and basically infer that the original poster is an idiot when its obvious they likely havent tried it so have no idea if it works. What ever happened to just saying thanks for the effort of putting the tutorial together or holding your tongue if you dont plan to ever use the posted method?

Well, not exactly. Tenax, Ambroids, Plastruct Plastic Weld, Flex-I-File, MEK, etc. are all chemicals that actually melt the plastic at the joint and litteraly "weld" the two pieces together. Epoxy, CA glue (as in Super Glue, Zap, Etc.) are actual glues that not only melt the plastic but actually also become a part of the bond. The nice thing about using the chemical welding type of stuff is that if you get it on you it doesn't glue your skin to whatever else you are touching.

What do you use to apply the heat for your soldering? Is it a soldering iron or torch or do you have a resistance setup?

The stuff that Flex-I- File sells to use with their touch and flow applicator is the exact same stuff as Tenax.

I've broken my back twice and my neck once so I know EXACTLY what you are going through. The absolute BEST advice I can give you is to listen to what the doctors tell you about allowing yourself to fully heal. The worst thing you can do is to try to push yourself too soon and screw up what they just fixed. You are going to have a bit of pain at first of course and probably eventually be a little achey when the barometric pressure drops right before a storm but it will be NOTHING compared to what I'm quite sure you have now.

A yellow Sharpie works great for coloring white wrapping wire to make yellow plug wires. I keep a whole bunch of different colored Sharpies at hand to make custom colored wires that way.

Really enjoyed watching this build. It reminds me of the way that those of us that build 1:1 cars and don't have all the fancy equipment such as lathes and mills would do it. One thing that I really liked was that, even though you are working with a plastic model, the building style would have been period correct for a 1:1 car. This is what true hot rodding is all about. Very nice. I have to add that I find it ironic that, even though you live in another country, your english is STILL better and easier to understand than about 40% of our population. LOL!

You can also get the white wrapping wire from there and use a Sharpie to make it any color you want.