jbwelda

oohhh...is that a master for an upcoming release?

and isnt it funny how an innocent word like c*r*a*p gets replaced with something that looks a whole lot worse? people who live in glass houses...

why do you clutter up this place with this ######? and the age of consent is 14 in illinois and a couple other states.

ok since i now know some hate endless pictures about nothing, i have some more to add! been spending a little time this labor day weekend doing some labor on the austin as you can see: firewall in and more or less trimmed, body fitted to extended frame making it look much more like what i had visioned, and the motor looking very nice sitting slightly up on its front mount (otherwise i think it will drag on the ground). rough and ready. i still need to narrow the rear track and do some more trimming on the body but otherwise im starting on the hemi detail so more on that later. for now, some photos: cool profile: a view of the motor to firewall clearance...just about right but i might move the motor back closer: heres an inside look at the firewall and bellhousing etc: and finally, a look at the slicks on their unfinished wheels up against about where i want the body to sit, maybe have the body sit just a smidgen closer to the tire: alright, thanks again for looking and stay tuned for way more photos, im sure!

yeah i kinda dug those photos of the tuner shop. that skyline was killer. some of those others were pretty neat. the "bad cop no donut" bumper sticker might be a bit much though! i have a 96 nissan 240sx i bought new and lowered etc. i cant believe how many people compliment me on it when i drive it.

that is super kool! i want to know where the body came from too!

unless youve got a caterham appropriate motor i would suggest sticking to a type 2 lotus seven for this. the kit comes with the ohv motor appropriate for earlier cars but you can upgrade to a twin cam resin motor from reps and min of maryland i think or a bdr motor from an old escort race car kit from esci. the twin cam mentioned actually came from the gunze lotus elan w/motor kit. very nice motor and fits in real well. the stock cosworth that comes with the kit is nice too. you should note that most of these cars came as a kit and many put in a ford (cortina i think?) four here in the states anyway but there were many motors possible. many of these cars were converted to race use so hopping this one up would be appropriate. the caterham actually has many significant differences from a lotus seven even though they might not be real apparent at first glance, as mentioned the fenders are much wider and just about everything was different in the later cars. i had a 1958 series one with polished aluminum body until i sold it a few years ago. never should have done that but thats life. very rudimentary but very fun car. edit: here are a couple of pics of the twin cam motor i was talking about, in a thames truck i converted to a lotus parts delivery van. well turns out this was a white metal version available from southeast finecast at one point but the resin one from R&MofM is just as nice and probably easier to build. but all that aside your lotus looks great so far! this is an excellent kit with few fit problems from my experience...ive built a couple of them. im always surprised how tamiya offered a kit like this with as much detail as it has for so reasonable a price.

thanks james...if you mean the buick/mg/rover/morgan V8 i included above, im afraid that will not be going into this car, i posted it just to show there was a nice version available (white metal). this car will run the small hemi from the ala kart. hopefully more pics later today thanks again for looking!

alright a little update, have extended the frame and will refit the motor and body tomorrow for some new and improved pics but for right now a comparison of the frame vs stock tweedy pie frame (from that revell "amigo pack" rat rod reissue of the tweedy pie). note the extension on the red frame, almost ready for repaint, as most of the irregularities wont show under the floorboard i have planned for it. also note that i squeezed the midsection quite a bit, its now much more "coke bottle" shape. i will try to get some more meaningful pics taken and up tomorrow... this frame extension was necessary to get the body rearward to let the motor breathe a bit instead of being under the body cowl. if my measurements are anywhere near correct (never a given, believe me), the body motor and radiator shell ought to look balanced though still very stubby and brutish. i also picked up a halibrand QC rear axle from reps and min of maryland, and i will possibly use that instead of the axle pictured, just depends on how it fits. out of box frame in front, modified in rear: side by side from the rear: and from the front: thanks again for your interest!

i for one think it would be a real shame if some back and forth drama resulted in resin manufacturers not being able to make product announcements here. i wouldnt love that idea at all. now back to your regularly scheduled back and forth.

hey that looks killer! be sure to post it in the big boys section too!

no offense, but this mustang looks particularly toy-like in this photo. panels dont fit well, grille way too shiny, tires way too shiney and sitting kind of funny, sits too high off the ground, etc so for this one i would have to vote for calling it diecast. again no offense but it just hit me with this one photo.

thats looking extra nice especially for a first build! got photos of under the hood as well?

that is so nice; i love that old kit. simple but detailed enough and you really made it much better with the plug wires etc. that photoetch grille really stands out too.

thanks eric! there is a build thread in the workbench section somewhere (probably many many pages back...search for "offy" and youll probably find it) and i also posted finished photos in the under glass section (ditto on finding it). it was a fun, multi year build, as so many of them turn out to be for me!

i could have sworn i saw somewhere someone was repoping the lil coffin skeleton with the jaunty pose perfect for leaning on a tall car. rep and min of maryland maybe?

a bmw? really? i would have sworn it was an austin body. this body looks like the revell of germany bmw? i will have to look into that! doesnt sound right but then again the body was unidentified when i bought it so i guess its possible. can you post a pic of the body you think it resembles please? thanks for the views and the comments folks. those lexan blocks are real handy for a lot of things...my buddy jerry amaral gave them to me when he worked at a plastic shop. i suspect you could get some custom cut from any plastic craft shop like tandy or maybe even michaels. grille shell: to tell the truth havent visioned it that far yet, but was thinking about the cut down 32 ford (?) from the tweedy pie. a track nose would be cool but the last similar car i built like this had a track nose and there are already too many similarities so i want something different this time. i was even fitting this "austin" (in quotes because of the bmw possibility) body to the frame for that car at one time: txrat: dont worry about being a "hack", i am a total hack and close inspection usually reveals it! i just hack and rehack until it looks decent! thats why i dont often post close up pics! thanks again folks, hopefully i will make some more progress and post more pics later in the weekend...

wow these things really move back fast when no one comments! anyway the mock up session has been very instructive...one thing ive learned is that the body will never fit that chassis the way it was. the rear axle is just too far forward to have the body far back enough to give the motor room to be out in the breeze. now i know a lot of cars like this indeed have the motor set back into the firewall but in this case it was getting ridiculous. so...i thought about moving the axle back but then it would either interfere with the rear cross member holding the transvers spring, or it would push the rear end way up in the air. i decided the thing to do was to lengthen the frame right in front of the rear cross member by about a scale 6" inches + some...thats about 5/16ths to us in 1:1. i have done so but it still looks a mess. will post a pic when i get it sanded down a bit more. right now it looks alright but i can see (as usual) i have it just a bit, like maybe a 1/32", cocked to one side. i should be able to make that up by mounting the rear spring/axle parallel to the front. its really only a little bit and i tried to be careful and assemble it in a jig with some graph paper under it to aid in alignment, so im hoping for the best (my typical fallback position it seems). oh yeah the body sprouted a firewall too, still needs to be fitted on the bottom around the frame but first i have to get the wheelbase corrected so for now it remains rough. i will include a pic of that later as well. i also ordered some cool stuff from rep and min of maryland including a halibrand rear axle i may use instead of the (looks like a generic) ford axle i current am using. one question: anyone know where i can some very short hemi head valve covers for the small hemi from the ala kart? i will use the AK ones if i need to but they have spark plug wire covers and i would prefer some with holes/indents to drill out to run wires directly to the plugs unstead of under a cover. cover makes it easier though! just prefer the look of individual wires going down into the cover. alright then many thanks again for looking...comments criticisms compliments cheerfully considered! thanks again for looking!

thanks george, that would be way too easy to just take apart a die cast and stick the body on it. plus i really dont do diecast unless its something i really like. but i will keep the suggestion in the back of my mind and fall back on it if nothing else. thanks again

thanks for the tip jon, exactly the kind of stuff i like to hear. i just got a c5-r lemans off ebay for a reasonable price and it looks very nice, very detailed. havent gotten the flintstone order yet and dont know what his lead time is...i ordered a few other bodies while i was at it to take advantage of the free shipping on minimum order.

seems to me i remember a japanese manufacturer making a 1/24 "rock band" set? sort of an aside but AMT had those muy kool bongo drums for the rear greenhouse. i forget which kit those kame in!

>Campus friends had a Vespa and three Japanese scooters in the set. there were three japanese scoooters in the campus friends set? i think i must be reading that wrong... ok tim that clears up the grease thing, ive never seen the second of the pair then. heres the bikes i mentioned, the minibike i got somewhere and the campus friends vespa: close up of the minibike, some detail added: and of the vespa, note the extractor exhaust system: and the honda parts pack: finally the bsa parts pack: picked these up at a NNL some years ago for about 10$ each...i would have bought more if the vendor had em!

i am pretty sure that "grease" reissue of the two bikes didnt have the harley in it. i believe it had the triumph and maybe the bsa. i have it around somewhere but havent found it yet to verify. i really dig these 1/25 bikes and especially your buildups tim. i have a number of original parts pack bikes (but not the harley), plus ive built the vespa out of the tamiya campus friends set, and at least one mini bike from one of those van kits (bought the kit cheap just for the bike...maybe it was that vw bus that was all chopped and hot rodded up?). i was really looking forward to revell reissuing their bikes and really disappointed they ended up not. maybe that will change.

yeah youre right about that buick/rover/mg/morgan motor...ive built one for another project:

>I think the Z06 'Vette would be closest to the actual package. thanks...do you have a link to the specific kit you mean?