ScaleDale

I have Winsor Newton Galeria acrylics in tubes left over from when I was a starving artist. Are these too high class? They do thin with water. Dale Edit: I see a Topic Moderation button. Is that normal for threads I start?

I have a motor finished in various tones of Alclad and I want to apply a wash to improve the depth. I've done this with enamel thinned oil paint over acrylic but not a lacquer. Should I shoot it with Future to seal the surface and use the oil wash? Inquiring modeler wants to know... Dale

Bondo works well and sands easy, but I would wear one of those light weight masks with it. I got some nose bleeds from getting the stuff in my nose. Tamiya white is good, too and sands down to a plastic like surface but is harder than Bondo. Mr. Surfacer is a liquid body putty that comes in 500, 1000 and 1200 grades like sandpaper, with the 1200 giving the smoothest finish. Being a liquid - lacquer - it has a mind of it's own but is good for filling small cracks and scratches. I use it with an old brush and keep a small jar of lacquer thinner on my bench for cleanup. I have cut it 2-1 and 1-1 with lacquer thinner and airbrushed it as a sandable primer. Saved a ruined hood for me. Dale

Thanks for the comments, Tubbs. I used wire from the craft store for the springs. I lost the package but I think it was 24 guage. For the spacing I held a piece of smaller wire next to it while I wrapped it around the tube and then unwrapped the little one. It worked great. The wheels are just temp to see if everything fit in the Fairlane. I have some resin Pro Stock wheels on order. They may even be in backwards. The tires have two sides, one for regular wheels and the other is for deep dish hubs. I primed the engine block last night and will be working on it for a few days. I have an idea going for a series of modern day Pro Stockers all with full tube chassis scratch built. I have a 2010 Mustang and Camero and need to find a Dodge Avenger and Pontiac GPX from that same year to match them all up. If they aren't 2010 or newer bodies they won't qualify for P/S by the time I finish them... Thanks for your time. Dale

For the visual folks, this is a vintage Altered: No way you ever street this dude... Out run the cops, maybe. Until the Moon tank runs dry. Moon tanks were so much cooler than fuel cells. Dale

Hi, again. Busy, busy, busy... I've just about finished my chassis and suspension. I rebuilt both the front and rear shocks using ideas from a tutorial I found here in the Tips and Tricks. It solved a fit issue that cropped up from having relocated the mounting holes for the rear springs by narrowing the Chevelle back half. Instead of trying to make stuff fit I just built my own and moved on. It turned out pretty good, I think. I did a first test fit with the tires I have for the back and kit wheels and tires for the front just to hold things up. This is my first go at this type of build and it's going pretty good. I like the look of the Fairlane with the big tires. I'm going to lock this up and work on the engine for a while. Literally. I have a box with a locking lid that I use to hold finished or nearly so systems like this while I work on something else. Keeps me from loosing stuff... pics: The rods on the back of the differential are to be cut off. Thanks for your time. See you in a week or so. Dale

I have a membership and current NHRA rulebook just as a reference for building better drag cars. What I remember as gassers and altered cars from the '60s still exist, but their classes have moved or been consolidated. Dragsters are split into Top Fuel, Top Alcohol and Top Dragster (gas supercharged or alcohol naturally aspirated) and Altereds run in T/D. Stone Woods and Cook would find themselves in either Super Street or Super Gas. SECTION 6B - TOP DRAGSTER Class is for dragster and open-bodied altered-type vehicles only. Altereds must have open front wheels. Full-fender and/or runningboard- equipped street roadsters or Funny Car bodies prohibited. Qualified fields with competition conducted in a dial-in E.T. format. Minimum 6.00-second dial-in; maximum 7.70-second dial-in (eighth-mile, 3.66 to 4.99 seconds). DESIGNATION TD followed by car number. Numbers must be at least 4 inches high. Minimum weight at the conclusion of run, including driver: Small-block dragster or altereds Naturally aspirated: 1,450 pounds Nitrous assisted: 1,550 pounds Supercharged or turbocharged: 1,650 pounds Big-block dragster or altereds Naturally aspirated: 1,500 pounds Nitrous assisted: 1,700 pounds Supercharged or turbocharged: 1,800 pounds Four- or six-cylinder dragsters or altereds Naturally aspirated: 1,400 pounds Nitrous assisted: 1,500 pounds Supercharged or turbocharged: 1,600 pounds SECTION 7 - SUPER STREET DESIGNATION S/ST, preceded by car number. Super Street cars run on a 10.90 standard (6.90 for eighth-mile tracks) using a heads-up start and .5-second Pro Tree. Reserved for full-bodied cars with full fenders, hood, grille, top, windshield, and functional doors. Sports cars, street roadsters, vans, and panel trucks permitted. Open-wheel altereds, dragsters, Funny Cars, or motorcycles prohibited. Minimum weight, including driver: 8-cylinder cars, 2,800 pounds; 6-cylinder cars, 2,000 pounds; 4-cylinder and rotary cars, 1,200 pounds. SECTION 8 - SUPER GAS Requirements and specifications for Super Gas are the same as those for Super Street - Section 7 - with the following exceptions: DESIGNATION S/G, preceded by car number. Super Gas cars race on a 9.90 standard (6.30 for eighth-mile tracks) using a heads-up, .4-second Pro Tree. Reserved for fullbody cars with full fenders, hood, grille, top, windshield, and functional doors. Bumpers optional. Grille may be replaced by flat panel. Left-hand-steering street roadsters permitted. Open-wheel altereds, dragsters, Funny Cars, and motorcycles prohibited. Minimum weight, including driver: 2,100 pounds, except 4-cylinder cars, 1,200 pounds. Dale

Goggles, gloves, 3M professional paint respirator, vented and filtered spray booth in a vented garage, No kids, but they wouldn't be allowed around this stuff if I had any. Toxic Toxic Toxic This goes for Acrylic, too. Italian Red snot isn't normal. Dale

I built this little bugger. It's very well detailed and the fit is good for most of the parts but watch out for the front end if you want it to have that mean low stance. Mine came out a bit high and I had to tweak the front end after I had glued it up. All of the little parts that fit into those vents behind the doors are low tolerance deals. Use as little glue as possible for them. each vent/intake thing id three parts if I remember right. It includes a square of carbon fiber looking fabric that you are suppose to cut according to included stencils but I found it hard to make them stick. This was before I got into CA. Mine looks like this. Rattle can paint. Dale

Nice links. I did this free hand with styrene rod and tube using a pin vise to anchor the wire. This is better. I've seen it done using a screw to guide the wire for the even spacing. Dale

Hi and welcome from yet another Ohio refuge. Born and raised in Toledo, Schooled at Detroit and Milan dragways. (Yes, I'm old enough to remember Detroit Dragway before it became a warehouse strip and Milan before bankruptcy.) Dale

I’m not really sure I know what I’m doing, but I’m willing to stick my head out and try new things. [ The Fairlane is the Special Edition 2008 kit and the Chevelle is the 2012 release of the 67 Pro Street build with the tubbed chassis. The only other ones I have are both Thunderbolts and the kits are the same. Revell says they are all discontinued and I think they just rounded up all their Thunderbolts and boxed them for sale. I just narrowed the tub part of the Chevelle after cutting it off and kept the tread width the same, but made it fit the Ford better. I still needed to shave it a bit with my Dremel. It moved the mounting holes for the Chevy rear end, but my pin vise fixed that. One thing cutting and gluing the two chassis in a straight line did was weaken the frame a lot. I used styrene rod to build a tube frame as a superstructure that added strength to it and that helped a lot. Took all day, too. Like you said, the shock towers had to go and I just cut the buggers out all together and scratch built a tube front chassis extension with shock mounts on the outside rather than on the inside. I’ll add sheet metal to wall off the engine later. This is a real mongrel. The back seat is from the Chevy as is the roll cage, but I added scratch rod to build it out in to a full cage. This is what it looks like in primer. More to do tomorrow. Dr. Cranky has Eyegore, I have Ratburt, my shop assistant. Dale

A straight cut is easy but generates a weak final chassis. That's an issue for me and the way I build. A notched or keystone cut would give a stronger platform but be more difficult to pull off. My current build is cut like Dr, Cranky's and I have to handle it carefully. The important parts are preserving the wheelbase and centerline of the vehicle. Dale

I found this at Fred Meyer in the paint or auto department. Some auto parts stores have it too. I use it to lightly touch up paint between coats http://3mcollision.com/3m-trizact-performance-sandpaper-3000-grit-03064.html Dale

There's a build thread for Pro Street over in the Community Build section of this forum if you want to watch less skilled folks than Dr. Cranky do this stuff. There is something to be learned from the foibles of charlatans such as myself... Dale

I can't believe I'm 25 years older than this dude... Happy BD. Dale

According to some people, the whole entire WORLD has come to an end several times over and it's still here. At least the last time I looked... Dale edit: excuse me for yelling.

Thanks. I first looked at trimming the tubbs but was concerned the aftermarket slicks I have wouldn't fit the body. I assembled the Chevy rear and took a measurement before cutting. It moved the mounting holes but the assembly still fit. The shock towers up front are the main sticking points so far. The kit is designed to fit the 427 wedge head (it can be built as a Thunderbolt Super/Stock even though the box doesn't admit it} but the OHC heads on the BOSS 429 make it too wide. Since this is a model and I therefore have very deep pockets, the motor is going out to John Kasse in exchange for a 500 cid BOSS 9. I'm going to sketch a tube frame today and go through my parts box for spare front end components. I'm not concerned over the board being slow. Summer is near and people need to be outside. My wife broke her leg and I need to stick close to home for a while, so I have more time to build. Dale

The front ends on these cars are simple and generic. Here is Roland Leongs Hawiian kit.

I'm fairly new here. I guess I missed something. I'm happy about that. dale

Hi. I’m fairly new to this forum and this will be my first build here. I thought the Community would be a good place to start and this is right up my alley. I’m going to be combining a Revelle 64 Ford Fairlane 500 with their 67 Chevelle Pro Street kit to produce a Super Street build I call a FairVelle. The motor will be a Ross Gibson Boss 429. I got started yesterday and combined the two chassis by marking out the wheelbase of the Fairlane on a work board and cutting both of the frames in what seemed like good spots. If there is such a thing. The Chevelle is wider so I had to cut a channel out of the center and the result is in the first photo below. It’s a bit on the weak side but I may add a tube frame that should strengthen things up. I modified the Fairlane interior tub to accommodate the tubbed rear and replaced the Ford back seat with the one from the Chevy. It fit the wheel wells better. It’s a bit messy inside but I’ll work on that. The second photo shows the state of affairs as of now. I didn’t like the idea of the upper part of the suspension being cast into the body of the Ford. It’s too easy for problems to hide there, so I cut it free and tested the fit with a Boss 429 from a 70 Mustang I have that’s half built and the shock towers crowd the motor out. Looks like hack time again. I have a good stand alone front end from a NASCAR kit that would give more room if I do the tube frame thing. I’m leaning toward a sheet metal look for the undercarriage and may take my Dremel to the raised ribs in the unibody style underpan to flatten it out. I’ll keep you posted on this and let me know if you have any suggestions on how to better handle anything. Dale

Competition Resins makes a stand alone teardrop bubble and a couple of falcon and Galaxy hoods. Click on New and scroll down on the left side. It's in one of the body sections of the catalogue, I think. There is a link to them in the Resin and Aftermarket directory here. Dale

Have a look here. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=bob+glidden+thunderbird&FORM=HDRSC2 Dale

I have several local shops within driving distance and I prefer them to the Net for the hands on aspect of browsing the physical world. But then I'm 65. One of my shops is a Hobby Town that pre dates the chain and uses the name with the "big guys" permission. They have models and RC planes and ships. Another has a lot of scratch stuff and RC and slot racers along with the kits. A third shop sells a lot of train stuff and is in an interesting part of town. All this makes going model hunting fun and interesting. Beyond all this, there's a social responsibility thing in buying at small businesses. You pay local taxes that support the community you live in and provide income for owners and employees who you can look in the eye. My parents told me all this stuff is good, and they were always right. I cut my modeling teeth at Brown's Fun House in Toledo, Ohio in the '60s. My next door neighbor quit his job to open it and here I am scratch building Thunderbolts and Mustangs 50 years later. Will anyone ever say they learned to model on Amazon? And don't give me that "Back in the day is gone for good" garbage. That experience helped form my life. Dale

This is about sheet styrene, but given the link to Plastruct above, I want to add that they have an excellent solution for scale tube chassis. It's called "traditional butyl-something coated tubing" and is really coated wire down to 3/64 and 1/16 inch. That scales to 1.2 and 1.5 inch at 1:25 and is perfect for tube chassis. It's easy to bend, holds it's shape and you will never swear at a heat gun again. PLS 90101 and PLS 90102 are part numbers. Dale