jbwelda

a little update: even with my efforts so far, the way the rear axle sits forward (*way* forward!) of the crossmember, the body was still being pushed too far forward and covering the motor which might be fine except i didnt want it that way. then some advice from another contributor here made me think i should slice off some of the cowl of the body. the more i thought about it the better it sounded. so one night in a drunken rage (not really, i wasnt angry or anything) i decided to get out the tape and razor saw. so there you have it, fits excellent now and the rear slicks sit perfectly in the wheel wells. just a couple photos now but will update tomorrow with some better ones. note the rear axle has been narrowed probably close to 18 scale inches! and you can see the torsion bars on the towel behind the car.

doesnt really change much, im afraid: close up of current interest, look for update in workbench forum soon:

yeah thats looking good and the interior especially nice. im going to write that evergreen plastic on my shopping list!

i think if you lower this thing into the weeds, all those quibbles go away.

like a bad nickel, it just keeps coming back. at least they dont have the stars and bars on the front of this one. oh well someone must be buying them for them to remain in constant reissue.

if youre pretty artistic or at least patient you might be able to fabricate from the exhaust ports on the motor out to where the four pipes merge into one, using appropriate gauge solder. from there back i would use aluminum tubing that i polished to resemble chrome. it wont be easy but it can be done. if you dont want to have the hood open, then you dont have to worry about hooking them to the motor. and im almost sure you can find a cobra kit and start with those pipes and adapt them to the mustang. you might also try looking at replicas and miniatures of maryland resin aftermarket company and see if they have something there you can either use or at least use for a starting point. now see if you want more of a traditional side pipe, commonly known as lake pipes, those are a lot easier to scratch build especially depending on the level of detail you want on the undercarriage.

wow john that is one great looking paint job! one thing to remember with this mica paint, just like with metallics and pearls, is never sand directly on the color coat. it will dull the metallic/pearl particles and make them look like a poor cheap metallic. spray clear over the color and sand/polish on that. or if you have to sand the color plan on putting on another coat or two because you want the surface to have undisturbed metallic particles.

just wanted to let you know i followed your advice given at stockton this weekend. that advice could best be summed up as: and the result: that ought to fit a lot better now. next up is redoing the firewall. i might even get this done for the NNL! thanks again!

perhaps if they sold more Little Ts i would have an easier time of finding parts to complete the restoration of a partial kit: my memory of the "good old days" is that model t's, and particularly bucket t's were well represented, perhaps overrepresented. they were available in all shapes forms and styles from bone stock model t, to mild customs like the tweedy pie, to wild customs like wild dream to experimental visions like XR-6 and all shades in between. not to mention the "big" series of big t, big rod, big drag, big tub etc and then there are the lindberg 1/8 Ts. you couldnt visit a hobby shop without having to move the model t kits to get to the rest.

i dont believe i have ever had any problems at all with tamiya spray cans. best nozzle i have ever used. i agree: i think if youre getting bubbles youre too close and dumping on too much paint. try backing off and applying a few more coats, then make your final coat a close up "flow" coat that will smooth out all the orange peel. i guess its possible that temp and humidity might affect it, ive never had a problem here in california central valley. (ps: i did have a problem with a certain karmann ghia but turns out i was using the wrong type of tamiya paint, that for clear RC bodies. so it wasnt the paint it was user error).

thats an excellent build and the paint and the trim work especially is spectacular! so i dont want to take anything away from that. but is it just the photo or is it kind of leaning low on the right rear corner? the funny part is, it seems to me every Galaxie of that era that ive seen driving down the road had that same lean! so maybe its on purpose? excellent job by the way, and your dad must have really loved the 1:1 to have it rebuilt after a wreck.

yeah thats pretty trick how you did those women. looks great and excellent detailing!

that is a beautiful model of a beautiful car, i think my all time favorite car ever. i am going to have to seek out this kit. it will look nice next to the CMC birdcages i have.

you might try laying down two or three more colors and let them dry good, then sand down through them. thats looking kool, top chop looks great, classic mail slot style!

that was my one negatory thought: didnt like the fenders like that. i would rotate them back until the first brace was horizontal and the lip of the fender at about 4 oclock. but i think the rear looks a lot better now. the fairlane front end for a rear is a cool idea but like youve concluded, it needs some work to really flow and look great. might keep it in your mind though and build another because it is a unique idea!

a friend of mine built one of those many years ago, but made some, uh, improvements: lowered about 4" all around, fitted with wider tires on slightly bigger wheels, BMW 2002 running gear including motor, trans, rear end, near as i can remember. also converted it to a convertable just like they did at the factory (or it may have been a farmed out operation): essentially cut off the top at the small rear corners and at the windshield upper frame (i forget the details there, whether he built a bulkhead or maybe the top separated easily from the windshield frame, but it was done like they did the factory convertible conversions) and finished the areas, then fitted a factory convertible top. that little thing scooted and really surprised a lot of people in their hot european sedans.

personally i wouldnt bother with this vigilante sounding business, i would just consider it a cheap education. you can sell the overs easy enough i would bet. next time you know who is good for their word. could you post a photo of the body here? i might want to buy one. better to just move on...

i just got the nuts and bolts sheet, a few of them. excellent quality with minimum or no cleanup aside from sanding them off the base sheet. these are gonna look great on my 1/8 offy motor.

those are some pretty wild cars. check the shark nose, hood fins and the high zig zag exhaust pipes!

those look cool and that website is pretty wild. for the wheels yeah they look kinda wrinkly, i thought maybe it was just the lighting and photo, but if they really look like that, i think i would strip the foil, sand them completely smooth on the outer surface and then shoot a thin coat of model master chrome, then handle it as little as possible. maybe mask off the wheel centers and spokes with silly putty or something. car looks too kool, i wasnt aware of the subculture.

and thats an impressive chassis jig there too!

man you really brought that chassis to life! too kool!

wow thats some pretty strange stuff! never seen kit parts used like that...

the photo etch bender is indeed a miniature brake, you can see it to the left in this photo, next to the real subject of the photo. basically you put your photoetch under the appropriate part of the bender, and tighten it down, then slip a razor blade or similar between the pe piece and the platform, and bring it up creating a 90 degree or whatever bend with a sharp edge. its the only way to do complicated constructions i think.

shaping up nice and looks like you did a great job on that photo etch construction. i notice it looks like your photo etch bender has gotten a lot of use!