jbwelda

as klunky as they are, those wheels are ideal for the throwback look on the model, and look a darn sight better than the original clear plastic ones ever did. and those headers always looked dumb no matter which way they pointed. but again, to me at least, that was part of the charm of this re-do. (edit: oops sorry, I was referring to the original headers, not the new tool zoomies you are) almost unbelievable how they appear to have really re-captured the look of the original with just a few little modifications, mostly for the better, but in true scale instead of way too large. best release of the year, domestic market, for whatever year it actually comes out in. easily upgraded too, using probably wires from the tony nancy reissue for instance.

Since it is your first model I am going to guess your biggest challenge is going to be to get a decent paint job and finish on the body. do yourself a big favor: don't mess with non-hobby and/or cheap spray paint. I would really suggest picking a color from the Tamiya TS series...this is the most user friendly spray paint there is. be prepared to do the paint more than once...get some denatured alcohol to remove the first paint if necessary (and be prepared for a weird look from the pharmacist where you have to buy it at least in California...you might need your parents to buy it if you are a minor). a second (distant second for me) choice is the Model Masters Lacquer line of sprays. Also buy some matching paint in a bottle if possible for minor touch ups. As for the repainting of already properly colored pieces, its really not necessary but try to visualize what the real thing looks like and ask yourself if the piece unpainted really resembles the look of the real thing (in the case of plastic if it is meant to represent a plastic interior fabric like naugahide the bare plastic may pass muster). if the real thing varies in look from what you have in front of you, various toners and tones of a certain color might look better, for instance gloss, semi-gloss or dull coat variations on clear, or gloss versus flat paint finishes can more accurately "say" what you want them to say. on spraying small parts, it is preferable because of the nice even finish you can achieve but if you want detail painting it has to be done with a brush or you will be faced with eternal masking to only hit certain subparts. its amazing how easy it is to hit the high parts with a brush to get those details called out. look up a technique called "dry brushing" too, can really help. Most important though, realize that if it is your first model it may not come out like in your minds eye; live with it and learn what you can because you will do much better on the next and the next and the etc. most most important though: have fun! because if you aren't having fun I don't think you will like building models much. its tedious work sometimes especially when you start to get into more involved projects, but most of us love that tedium to bits!

that is SO nice, I don't think I have ever seen one built much less built like that! beautiful!

i am kicking myself daily for not buying more of his works before his accident. I picked up this broadspeed, a countryman or traveler, I forget which badge it is, a Porsche abarth and a couple others that I forget at the moment. I wish I had bought one of each he made but unfortunately I wasn't made of money (that part hasn't changed btw) and communication by written letter was kinda tedious. thanks for those pics martin, coincidence wasn't it!

thanks for the pics Tom, that looks like a nice job on the broadspeed, I wonder if the guy from scalekraft himself built those? I also have the traveler body, or maybe its the morris instead of the Austin (or vice versa). photo reminds me that I need to source some taillights too... meanwhile I dug out the stock valve cover and chopped off the filler cap and further lowered its profile so I am going to see if that fits a little better later on today after the interior touchup dries a bit more. I really like the look of the finned high-lift cover but in this case maybe the less flashy stock one will look appropriate (and more importantly, fit better). if not, I am thinking I am down to only a couple options: make the valve cover removable and only put it on with the hood open, just glue the hood shut and forget about the engine detail, or cut a hole in the hood and cover it with a scoop. that last one is pretty drastic though because it means the hood will have to be reshot with paint and I took pains to get a nice even color match between the body and the hood, which will be out the window if I reshoot the hood. also not sure a hood scoop will look good on the car. but at this point sectioning the motor is out of the question without destroying the chassis because its glued in there pretty well and surrounded with under hood stuff. perhaps if I need just a tiny bit more clearance with the stock valve cover I can grind down the block just a bit (cause there aint much there to grind on without getting down into motor detail) combined with relieving the underside of the hood a bit. at any rate later this evening I will fit the chassis under the body and see how it stands at that point. thanks again for all comment etc!

so martin, you have built this before? care to share some pics of in progress or completed? please post them to this thread if you can, I would like to see what you did. yeah section the engine block...if only I knew! I might have to bust the motor out of the chassis and get drastic because I am not sure if I can cut that valve cover down enough. if I have to do the motor over I might just start with a fresh one. hood scoop also crossed my mind, maybe maybe... vac formed windows? you bet your bippy I could use some! especially the windshield, I was unsure what I was going to do there aside from the kit one...PM sent and many thanks for offering! brit racing green yes the thought crossed my mind but all I seem to have been doing lately is BRG so I wanted something different and something more flash plus I had some Tamiya mica red and clear red on hand so there you have it. thanks for looking and all comments welcomed!

as with many of my projects, I find myself in a situation where I wish I could have forseen the issues that would be facing me later in the build and for all the test fitting in the world I always seem to face some unexpected challenges late in the build. here we have a classic: body finally mated to chassis and all is looking possible in this world when I notice something I had not before: kind of looks like the valve cover is going to interfere with the hood. that actually stands to reason when I think about it as the profile of this hood is way lower in the front than the stock one and the valve cover sticks way up and probably determined the height of the front of the hood on the original body. lets look: hmmm not looking good at all. a test fitting of the hood (bonnet) confirms my fears: the question is, what to do about it? maybe I can compromise with how deep the chassis fits up into the body, and let the floorboards be a little more visible? hood fits like this: but chassis fits like this: not a good look. ah the challenges of resin body conversions! what I think I will do is pry that valve cover off and do a little sectioning to it and I may still have to compromise on how the floorboards look from outside the body... and I also notice no way are these side panels going to fit in the body with the floorboards tucked up inside there, so I need to trim maybe 2 - 3mm from the bottom: I don't know if I will stay on task on this one or at least not in the next couple weeks as I am going to Bonneville salt flats for a week here soon, but will update again when some more material progress is made. thanks again for looking!

well its been awhile, but the paint was laid on, Tamiya mica red with Tamiya clear red overcoat, then a couple coats of clear. needs a coat or two more clear and then a good polishing session, but I knew from trial fitting there were going to be some fitting issues between the chassis/interior and the body. So I faced it like a man, and set it on a shelf to ponder and get on with life. Then the other day, a good 3 months from last notice, I got tired of looking at it sit there and got serious about fitting the thing together. turns out there were a litany of problems, beginning with the rear seat being too wide at its widest point, so that had to be addressed, along with a corresponding ridge on the inside of the body (on one side only) that needed to be ground down a bit. after that was clearanced the dashboard was the next thing to cause interference. Actually it was more like the inside contour of the body on the left (passenger) side, up under the windshield. so again got the dremel going and a bit of therapy in that area started to allieviate the situation. Just a little more...hey whats with this dark stuff in the light colored resin? ah that is the paint job...from the underside! arrrggggghhhhh: ok so as you can see above, I stuffed a little red putty in it and will worry about it later because the way its going this body shell is liable to see more paint sessions. to gain a little more clearance in that passenger side dash area I also thinned the side of the dashboard as much as I could without totally obliterating it. I would rather have not touched the dashboard at this point but all that mess you see will be hidden and the contour of the dashboard still looks good tucked up under the windscreen opening. with these mods it fits in nicely now, level and even across the windscreen bottom, although fitting glass is going to be tricky... meanwhile I managed to get the chassis in where I wanted it, or at least if I held it in place with pretty-firm-for-a-resin-body grip I could get the chassis up in the body to where the floorboards were just barely visible from the side. excuse my photos at this stage, I was taking them with one hand, no flash, while holding the model together with the other hand! here it is with the wheels set in place just to get some idea of ride height, I had lowered the rear at least an eighth inch and the front suspension arms have been cut off for final positioning when the chassis and body are together. but you can see the floorboards barely poke out from under the body which is how I want it. by the way don't mind the color of the body, it is way deeper red than these photos show, not at all this pink shade that is coming out in them. continued

I detail so that when the model meets the floor or the wall, it will be all real like looking inside there where you cant normally see. I got that from building those planes as a kid where they are all detailed inside and you can check out the magnificent view through all those little 1/8" square windows running along the sides of the plane.

despite the title of this thread, its not a "rat rod" sort of treatment...the real name is rasty not ratsy...that had me going for a minute there.

just got my notification that HLJ has these in stock and I have one in my personal warehouse (great idea by the way). I also found that I have the other version with the engine detail so I might do something kool with this one, I like the look of the box art.

you live in alameda, right by Oakland, right by Berkeley. on university avenue in Berkeley, right near where it dead ends into the university itself, on the north side of the street, is university ace hardware, and the basement is basically a hobby area with a large selection of normal and unusual auto, armor, aircraft, etc but particularly slot cars and 1/24 static cars. used to be more active around there but still a great place to visit, and a complete line of supplies both in the hobby area but also upstairs in the hardware area. I think that DJ hobbies is still open in the south bay, that used to be well worthwhile too. hobby lobby etc are fine for discounts but I still prefer the more or less mom and pop operations.

wow that's excellent. I am a big fan of that quad cam (grenade) motor. having built a few myself one thing I would suggest is you seek out and buy the photoetch set that replaces the cylinder fins. that horizontal crack through them is gonna kill ya. looks great so far, I love the chassis work youre doing

>I don't know why but I thought this stuff wasn't available anymore. just checked their site cited above, looks like all their cars are still there, 1/24 in two lines and 1/43 in one, but I don't see the engine kits or any other stuff (just occurred to me, there is a wheels category that I didn't look in and there might at least be their very excellent photo etch wire wheel/tires in there and just possibly that's where the engine is hiding). could well be they are out of production now. well you know where you might be able to get one at least! at any rate they are only still half a foot dipped into the internet pond, because all ordering must be done by phone or mail. no telling what might happen when you try to call or mail...may or may not get an answer. I saw that Austin seven there, no detail to the explanation but the photo looked kool. you do know you can get a kit of a bmw 3/15 I think it is, the Dixi, which was the Austin seven licensed to bmw in Germany? its a revell of Germany kit and is much more detailed than that SEF one could be. I have the MGTF and its pretty rough though by no means terrible or anything, and to its credit it looks after the flash is removed that they really captured the swept back lines of that car perfectly.

>Might even look cool in a Thames panel street rod or an Anglia! which if I recall correctly, was exactly the context it came up in originally! to fumi: I don't recall exactly where I got them, but I do think I ordered them direct from the factory. This was in the days before the general public used the internet so much and I believe I wrote away for a catalog and then ordered from that, by mail. probably a whole lot easier nowadays!

ok glad someone appreciates it, this post sort of sunk like a stone and I had a feeling no one noticed it, because this kit offers a great deal to one wanting to build aluminum buick V8 as well as the british cousins.

in California at least a car must have windshield wipers. that doesn't mean they have to be mounted, they can be in the trunk unless it is raining then they must be in place. same with headlamps. the VC says you have to have them but doesn't say they have to be mounted unless it is dark out.

Oscar: that 7 looks very nice but you are right, you killed the paint. not to be too presumptuous, but I think you did not clear coat the paint before polishing it with abrasive pads. the problem is when you do that (polish directly on the paint) to a metallic or pearl paint job, it burns down into all the metallic particles, making them dull and non reflective. so now your paint is really smooth but it has no pizazz like a metallic should. you might be able to save it with a coat of clear, especially testors clear which seems to have a good "wet" look, but the only sure way to get the color back is to give it another coat of the metallic. it should go on very nicely and a thin coat will do because you already have a smooth, color surface to apply it to. then clear coat that and polish the clear, being careful not to burn down to the paint through the clear. see if that works and if you already knew all that, no worries.

that's pretty sweet, got a couple questions though: open hood, but no engine? is there another issue of this car with engine detail that could be swapped under this body? do you think eventually there might be? and what is that plate kinda thing in the area the hood will fit into? is it just scrap plastic or is it some sort of body panel or maybe engine cover? kool wheels that's for sure and that box art is great. oh one more thing: looks like there are 2 steering wheels next to each other in that one photo...whats with that? but then there is a special steering wheel for this particular issue, on the last sprue? alright thanks for the pics and that's another one in the basket at hlj if they got em!

ranchero steve, great work on that mooneyes, I could tell a lot of interest and work went into it. very inspiring, obviously! might be something to consider, using the AMT engine but the Revell blower because as it is I am pretty much stuck with 2 port injection unless I find a shorter four port one. that would be the third engine build for this, so maybe the third time will be the charm! nice work on that Thompson car too, I keep forgetting it has the same origins as the mooneyes. don't get too many expectations up on this build actually, right now I am being reverent but soon will swerve off into the blasphemous with the modern Japanese tow vehicle!

decals, they came with the original parts pack and the kit, I have them from the parts pack. still look usable after 50 years pretty unbelievable actually. I will be using some preservative on them beforehand just in case. I believe I read somewhere the mooneyes logo as it appears on this dragster is the original, designed by Ed Roth. as I left the thread a couple days ago, I was looking around for a replacement motor of suitable proportions, and I believe it was right here in some prior thread that I pulled up in a search, that someone mentioned the AMT parts pack had a similar motor with a front mounted blower. That had totally escaped me but initially I thought it was kind of a dumb idea, why not just use the Revell one? After finding out some reasons why not, the thought started sounding a lot better by the minute. So I dug into my stash, I have a couple of the blueprinter issues of the parts packs, and also stevens intl issued them with roadster body a few years ago and I had that on the shelf as well. Dug out the Stevens one and sure enough here was a 283 Chevy motor with front blower, and most coincidentally, the exact same exhaust system setup as the Mooneyes which I thought were totally custom made to the dragster. Started pulling out parts and comparing them to the Revell and the block is slightly narrower in the critical places, the transmission is much more a dragster sort of set up and was a good 3/8" shorter than the Revell, the blower looks way more relaxed and to scale, the overall detail level of the block and manifolds is way superior, things actually fit together. Pretty much perfect. One problem is there is just a 2 port intake for the blower, but the ME dragster has a four port intake. As you can see in the photos I have put the two port one on with white glue so I can change it out, but the two port one fits so well. I wonder what AMT was thinking when they engineered this engine setup? The parts pack offers alternative builds, but this motor just seems tailored to the Mooneyes dragster, and all the box art and instruction art feature the front mount supercharger prominently (though perhaps that's only on the modern issues, I don't really remember seeing box of with amt part packs back in the day, just printed red and white boxes). a few photos, and you can see the fit is much better: I really do find it strange that AMT issued this engine in this configuration and dimensions. fits WAY better than the offering from the parent company which one would presume was engineered to fit in the first place. Strange. Oh did I mention that the intake tubes fit beautifully the first time with a minimum of fussing. pretty amazing.

i'm serious, anyone know of 1/24 buckles I can make some leather hold down straps with? I swear I have seen some somewhere but searched around and no luck. any tips would be appreciated because the more I look at it the more I think it needs some belts.

that's gonna look really really sharp. great interior too, some excellent detailing. kool breeze!

just to add, see that little laid back radiator shell and housing labeled 1 in the parts blowup? remember this is white metal. that thing totally polishes up like chrome and makes a super nice low cut down radiator for street rod projects or track noses or something, in fact I used it in one streamliner and it looks killer. that's it here behind the moon tank:

some people in a thread in another subforum expressed an interest in a UK spec Buick aluminum block motor that was licensed to Morgan/Rover/MG and put into some production cars over there. here is the thread it was referred to in, which is actually about a Buick nailhead motor which was a distant predecessor for the lightweight motor licensed to the british. (anyone who knows way more than me on the subject please feel free to hold forth). http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=78886 it so happens that a company in England, Southeastern Finecast, makes a white metal model of this motor and it is pretty impressive. There are multiple intake setups depending on the model you are recreating, and the white metal is well cast with minimal cleanup, and is great to polish to a very high tone finish. Delicate details everywhere including a dipstick and dual SU carburetors . Very nice piece and just the thing to put into one of those Revell Simple Simon Thames panel vans to re-britishize it. so here is a look at the parts. I have an unopened on still which I show but the details are of one I have open and I think I may have robbed a couple parts from it, so what you are seeing isn't really 100% all there is. for instance I think I spy a missing piece of exhaust header and I believe I remember using it on something else! unassuming packaging: basically two bags of parts, one is still stapled here so I wont show it out of the bag, but you can see its the transmission and a lot more little parts, all very sturdy for white metal and take a nice polish.: here are the major motor parts spread out to see better. as I mentioned very nice castings with not much prep needed at all and the metal takes paint really well too. a close up of the other bag of parts, lots of little stuff in there too complete blow up drawing showing the build options etc: pretty impressive parts list: hows it look all together? well here is one I built and I consider it about medium effort and looks pretty nice especially if it were stuffed under the hood of an MGBGT! others will probably be able to a lot better. its not a hard material to work with and was surprisingly accurate as far as locating tabs etc went. I am not even sure if Southeastern Finecast is still an operating concern but you can see their address on the instructions there or probably locate them on the web if they are still up for it. Everything I have bought from them has been first rate quality, and that ranges from parts like this up to complete white metal kits of cars, many otherwise unavailable MGs in particular.