jbwelda

since there seems to be some interest in this gokart, here are some updated photos. all that really needs to be done is for the vac-formed canopy to be epoxied in and some panel lines and fastener details picked out but i feel like im coming down with the flu so im going to hold off for now...still probably get this done by the weekend. any comments welcome! kart sitting in lower shell, note expansion chambers in place and assymetrical to fit openings in upper shell: kart inside lower shell with upper body shell in background: shot of shell with kart inside...note the fit of the body shell halves could be better but still pretty acceptable for my purposes: another of shell in place and canopy (trimmed to fit) in foreground: hope it meets your collective expectations!

it might have been a PITA but you sure did a great job of it! all the body panels look to fit well and thats the big problem i had with this kit. i think i gave up and its half built in the box somewhere. sure wish i could say yours was my outcome!

personally i think they take the "PMS" thing too seriously!

the big island, specifically the hilo side, is where the locals actually LIKE people! especially if they are playing reggae on their decks. i was in honolulu once, not at the airport i mean, and im afraid my first reaction was to figure out how long until i could go somewhere else. i do hear the other side of the island is nice though. honolulu struck me as tweaker central not to mention hustler central and "kill the haole" central. maybe i didnt go to the right places. i have some acreage on kauai but its kinda isolated, not to mention wet, there. and god help any cars over there.

all right got the body down on the frame, really fits sweet! needs a bit of fine tuning still and i need to patch up some cutting i didnt need to do, but essentially this is the stance i was looking for:

a bit of progress to report...kart is all done except mounting the expansion chambers, those need to have the body on to line up with the holes they exit through. heres some shots of the kart, note the large wheels for the bonneville version, the kit also came with "kart" size wheels that i am building and can interchange. and here is the bonneville shell getting its final clear coat...decals next then maybe another coat of clear, or might just brush some future on them: really cool kit and pretty easy to build although getting the two motors mounted with any kind of symmetry was tough and the frame is tweaked just a little bit so one wheel rides off the ground just a little...im figuring i can convince it to sit straight with a bit of hot water.

thanks for the comments folks. yesterday i managed to get the body down on the chassis and tonite i hope to finalize its stance, then i will post some pics on all four wheels. i doubt i will have this for nnl 08 but maybe 09, theres stuff i still need to figure out like exact body configuration and interior...i want the body shell to tilt backwards so i have to engineer a bit still. it sure looks cool down on the frame and the engine fits under the narrow nose just perfect. i planned this car out so long ago now that i forget the details but i do remember considerable fussing about whether it was going to clear the motor/radiator etc i was trying to use. gokart: i will post a couple photos of the gokart in some other thread i started, something about distractions or something.

evidently "purple pond" means castrol super clean or as its known in some markets (i believe) purple power. its a pretty effective paint remover for most paints. hes right too, might work without hurting or fogging the glass itself.

yeah like raul implies, a wash is a pretty subtle thing, or can be. i use the detailer stuff...the last detail maybe its called. comes in a number of colors. reason i use this is again as raul says it wont attack paint like thinner will. i usually slop it on or even dip a part in it. then i set it aside to dry for a couple hours, then come back with a damp (as in stick in my mouth) q-tip and wipe off the highlights. sometimes wipe it down almost back to where it was except there will still be wash in the cracks and crevices. if you wipe off too much just reapply and wipe again, this time more lightly. if you use the black on light metal simulating paints like metalizer or even chrome silver, it will dull it down and will look like alloy. if there are little dimples in the paint, or slight orange peel, it will accentuate that...good on bare metal because it gives it texture. you can also make a nice wash with india ink diluted with water, or paint even as long as you dont use the same type of wash as it will tend to soften and/or remove the paint it is applied on. again a wash is a subtle thing but can be very convincing when worked around. the best part is it can be removed and reapplied without damage and each application will build it up a little more.

tonite i looked over at its resting place and got a bug to pull out the T Ford lakester i started years ago and piddle around on now and then. the current task is to fit the rough, primered body over the frame rails and running gear, in the front...the rear has been fitted already. so basically that means marking and cutting some notches or something to clear the radius rods and the exhaust header on the right hand side. i started slow and it immediately became obvious the back of the body was off center, what i mean is the casting on the left side was very thick and the other side very thin, where the rear axle crossmember crosses the body line. this was preventing the body from sitting straight on the chassis. so i took out the dremel and ground down the heavy side (and believe me im talking *heavy*...like at least 3/16" thick where the other side is more like 1/16") until it matched and allowed the body to sit correct. heres a photo of the ground out area after i had cut notches but you can see the area im talking about. also you can see the inside of the body is still pretty rough due to me expecting to do some fairly major body work still. heres some shots of the body with the notches necessary to clear equipment on the frame. note this is only the beginning of the notches, youll get a better perspective in later photos, but the notches are going to have to extend pretty far up the side of the body: then some detail shots showing just how much more the body needs to go down. note here that the chassis is being held off the ground by a block under the motor oil pan and when it is on its front tyres on it sits very low in the front...these photos make the car look far off the ground but its not. so since its gonna be raining tomorrow and the go-kart is almost done, i think i will concentrate on the lakester and see if i can get the body down snug, see what it takes, and then plan out a final design that may have to include a removable panel as i want to be able to remove the body from the chassis. we shall see...

is there a color chart somewhere to match up these colors? its a coincidence i was just wondering about a color for a hemi motor, but an older one, for instance from the AMT double dragster kit...i had assumed orange.

wow. (cough)

too bad on the future...it would do the same thing that spraying gloss coat would have but would have been easier to control due to brushing vs masking and spraying. at this point it sounds like its down to polishing...strip the future with ammonia and polish the dull coat off and polish. or take the kind gentleman up on his offer of a new windshield, thats the best solution.

to borrow from another thread: go down to the grocery store and buy some future floor polish. then take the windshield and dip it into a little tub of it, lift it out by a corner and let the excess drain off one corner onto a paper towel, and then either lay it on something in a manner it doesnt smear it or hold it until it dries (probably 5 mins or so) you might be surprised at how the windshield looks. if you cant dip the glass because its glued to the body, just apply the future with a wide-ish brush and let it self level. hope that helps.

i have to admit i will have to reevaluate my philosophy regarding prancing horses when that testa rossa happens!

yeah! very very nice! i know it will be a pain but if you can get a good detail shot of your floorboard and trans tunnel i would like to see them. the big tub i recently finished was the first of the "big" series ive ever built from the start. ive restored a few various 1/8 scale but never a complete build. they really are fun to build but yeah where to put them. actually at my age they are the perfect size for my eyes!

i dont want to be rude, but... (and now of course you know im going to be rude) dont you guys have a model to build or something?

bonneville go kart originally kitted with some AMT pickup truck from the sixties (i hear *a* similar truck is scheduled for reissue by model king or someone but unfortunately i would be willing to bet the farm it wont have a kart in it!), but this example is the miniatures and replicas of maryland resin issue. not a bad kit, kind of a lot of cleanup of the frame necessary. the good news is the frame is sturdy enough to take the handling without disintegrating. the body halves fit together reasonably well which is necessary because i dont want to glue them together and lose the detail of the kart itself. i have a friend with the original issue kit and to tell the truth the body fits PERFECTLY on that one and the frame is stronger in styrene than in resin. i will probably display the kart in the body shell bottom with the body shell top next to it on jackstands. all in all, this is a very cool, very fun mini-kit! frame is tamiya lavender with black and red details, body shell is tamiya chrome yellow. needs another coat of yellow (more on?) and then decal with some 1/32 scale roundels and numbers. will probably detail the motors a bit more and run some fuel lines, also there is no accelerator pedal here so i may find a moon pedal to use and call it done. i suspect it will be completed by the end of the weekend assuming i can get some decent weather to spray the final coats.

and if it accidently spills on the floor...

i never really think lug nuts made from plastruct rod look right. its probably because i can never slice it consistently enough to look convincing to my eyes anyway. micro hardware is the way to go if you must insist on realistic add-on lug nuts but seems to me most open wheel castings i encounter look great just as they are with a bit of detail painting and/or a wash.

i am interested in this thread as well even though i told myself long ago to never buy ferrari stuff because its a long expensive slippery slope from there! maserati is my marque. actually more realistically, lotus is my marque. regardless im very interested in seeing how this comes out and as interested in seeing how a hiro kit goes together. ive never had the pleasure of inspecting one in person. so, carry on.

wow that hood looks great...the old one i mean. did you add plastic to tighten up the gap between louvers on that one? thats what im going to be doing to my offy T when the good lords willin...

thanks for the compliments and i really like that big t rat there...looks like you built a seat and seat back for it? do you have a good photo of the interior? anyway... >where did you get the offy engine, looks like the one from an old AMT Watson Roadster kit its the etzel resin and white metal kit, sadly no longer available. i wish i had bought at least a couple of them but thats the way that one goes.

heres a couple: sadly, this has not progressed much in the past year, though its far further along than these old photos. its number one on my must do list, the primary task being to fit the body to the chassis (cut out reliefs for radius rods etc) then do some other fairly serious work on the body and make a tonneau etc, otherwise its a rolling chassis right now: and a recently finished big tub: these are the only Ts ive done in the past decade except a stock green hornet and a ratted rod green hornet but those werent serious builds,

i didnt even realize a kit of that existed! that is a super job, i especially like the way the exhaust pipes look and how they exit the bodywork.