Pete J.

Ok, here is a little advise that most people(machinist included) don't know. Starrett has a repair facility in Massachusetts. They will repair any of their tools for a reasonable price to like new condition and re-certify the accuracy to a new standard. I have a lot of broken Starrett tools that I have picked up off the internet really cheap and had them repaired. With shipping and repair cost you will almost always be less that half the cost of new and I have always been very satisfied. I use my 8" dial calipers all the time and love them. There is a difference in Starrett or Mitutoyo tools that is worth paying the price for. Yes, you can get a cheap pair from the swap meet or Harbor Freight but it you have that and a Starrett pair in you hand, you will immediately know the difference. The good ones are very smooth and easy to adjust. Since you now need accuracy, spend the money.

Hmmmm, interesting question. I've done some pretty expensive builds by the standards of the prior comments, but I know a lot several people who share my approach. First off, I get the greatest thrill out of new skills that I develop along the way and sometimes that requires buying and learning to use a new tool. Do you include the cost of tools in a build? Having said that I have built two Tamiya 1:12 scale Porsche 935's with the Scale Motorsport super detail sets. Gross cost for both of the the kits new, is in excess of $700. Midway through the first one, my old Badger 175 gave up the ghost and I dropped another couple of hundred on a new Iwata HVLP mini gun. Into the second one, I also picked up a Sherline lathe to add some parts that were needed. A lot of money spent on a hobby, but then I have all the tools and by buying good ones, I don't ever need to replace them. The metal working skills I developed along the way, bring me a lot of pleasure and pride. It took me years to build those two models and I got a huge amount of pleasure out of it along the way. My net cost per hour of fun was pretty low if you want to look at it that way. What I have learned along the way is that it it is all about having a passion for what you are building. There are a lot of models out there that i just have no interest in building. No offense to these classes but I would not waste my money on a NASCAR, rat rod or a tuner. No personal interest and building one would be drudgery for me. When I build I want to learn about the 1:1 and then replicate it as close as possible. That is my style.

As someone who is two years your senior, I appreciate your problem. The solution is not a method but a glue. There are a number of water soluble glues out there that work very well for holding small parts. Zap Formula 560, Microscale Kristal Klear are just a couple. These are white glues(PVA) that dry clear but clean up with water. Just a quick swipe with a wet Qtip and you are done. They are not as quick or as strong as super glues(CA) but will do just fine on bumpers or mirrors. I like the Formula 560 because it gets tacky very quickly and will hold the part without you having to hold it in place for a long time. By the way, Formula 560 is often referred to as "canopy glue" as it was formulated for holding R/C aircraft canopies without getting all messy. Because of this you will have to venture into the R/C section of your hobby store to find it. My other favorite glue is also in the R/C section. That is Polyzap. A nonfogging CA that seems to last a long time without kicking off. Good luck and I hope this helps.

John and Terry, thanks for looking in. This is kind of a long term project and the work doesn't seem to progress very fast.

Mark, thank you. It means a lot comming from a friend who has done far more machining and scratch building than I have.

Hi guys! Sorry for the update, if you were expecting to see new work. I have been restoring the original photos to the post. THANKS PHOTOBUCKET!! It is really tedious when you have multiple photos with narative between! I will be right back with more work!

Tim- Sometimes life gets in the way of modeling. June was a busy month. Two weeks on the east coast for nephews birthday, Fathers day, daughter and son in laws birthday and 40th wedding anniversary. Then the wife decided we needed to have 20 people over for a 4th of July BBQ so the back yard needed to be refreshed. Phew! Glad that is done. I went out in the shop last night and blew the dust off the machines and cleaned up a little. I needed to replace my sensitive drilling attachment(I actually wore my old one out) and so I stopped by Sherline yesterday and picked up a new one. Will be back making chips soon.

Tim, that is just a stunning piece of work. I am glad you shared it with us. You gave me a lot inspiration to get back to the bench and get on with some projects. Let me know when you will be entering this in any contests. I will just be coming as a spectator on those occasions. Again, great work from a true master machinist!

I don't know how many times I have posted warnings about this stuff. It is a caustic engine degreaser, not some kid friendly modeling stuff. If anyone ever recommends using it for modeling, you really need to include the warnings. And just an FYI plastic isn't always the best choice. I use a brake fluid for some paints and learned the hard way that it reacts with some plastics(not all) Glass is always the safest way to go!

That is what made this one so easy for me. Those pulls were only used on AMC cars in that era, as far as I know. I'm sure someone will correct me but that's the give away feature for me.

Many years ago, when Tamiya/con was still around, I was talking to, S. Tamiya and he mentioned that to research the model, he chased the original all over Europe photographing it. He said that the photos were stored at the world HQ in Japan. Wouldn't we all like to see that archive open up? Oh, and he had the photos of all the other room large scale models also.

Hording them? Not me! I do have 4 of them all paired with the basic Tamiya kit. I also have three of the 956's. Problem is i am not willing to part with them for what people are will to pay. I had one member of this board who showed some interest but when I said it was going to take 4 figures to get me to give a set up he lost interest in a hurry. The 956's are just a no go for almost anything. As you know I am one of the few who has built one and I built two of them. I use up three kits on those. It literally took me over 6 years to build them both.

Two searches and done.

Zap formula 560 canopy glue. Get it at the R/C counter. It is a water based white glue formulated for holding clear canopy's on R/C aircraft. It tacks up pretty quickly an drys clear. Because it is water based it cleans up very nicely with either a little water or alcohol on a Q-tip. Great stuff!

I've done it but have little bit more complex method. First Bare Metal foil the emblem. Then put a large glob of white glue on top and let it harden completely. I then use some epoxy body filler to add a "handle" over the white glue, but not enough to cover the edge of the white glue(this is important later). Once this is hard I pull it off the model. The BMF should come off intact. I then fill the back side of the BMF with super glue and let that harden. Once hard I sand the back flat with a sanding stick. Then you put the whole thing in water. This will dissolve the white glue layer and separate the emblem from the body filler and just like that you have your emblem. Not really a project for the impatient but it works well.

Seeing your build on this makes me which I could have afforded a mill and lathe earlier. There is a lot on this kit that would have been easier (not to mention better looking) to make from scratch than to try an clean up and paint. Things like half shafts, swing arm attachment points, etc.

Wow, that looks familiar! Nice work!

Tim, it looks like the same problem I am trying to conquer. That shape doesn't make it easy. The fact that it looks like two half circles on the edge of a rectangle has me a bit baffled. I think mine is shorter with a tighter radius. Humm, perhaps three parts?

Tim, I look forward to your next item. I have two superchargers to do and some ideas on how to approach it, but am most interested in seeing how you pull it off. It will be great I am sure!

Every thing! Just woke up grumpy this morning! At my age, it is about a 60/40 chance on any given morning and I never know myself until after the first cup of Joe!

Tim, this is getting serious(not that it wasn't before)! Each of the individual parts are great, but this is such a synergistic project. Seeing them come together really shows how the whole project is much greater than the sum of the parts. A real revelation to see the mockup! By the way, on the step jaws, I hate to admit it but I bought a separate vice just for them. Although the indexing of the jaws, if I ever take them out is probably pretty accurate, I just feel that milled in place is probably the best way to keep them parallel. Sherline vices are not stupid expensive. When you mentioned machinist vises, I looked on line for one and I am not sure I want to drop $500 on a good one. What type are you using?

FYI in the future you can down load them directly from Tamiya USA's web site for the most part. Go to Tamiya America then Scale models and break it down from there(1/24 scale sports cars then 300SL in this case), you will get to the product page. Under the tabs you will see "manual". If you click on that it will send you a PDF of the instructions just like this. https://www.tamiyausa.com/pdf/manuals/24338ml.pdf I believe they have almost all of the manuals available in this fashion.

Tamiya extra thin is a solvent glue in the same family as Tenex and Weldon. It fastens plastic together by melting it an then letting it reharden. It is the same thing that happens when you weld steel. I would never recommend using it on clear parts. Much too aggressive. CA's or superglues are another family. The glue by adhering to both surfaces. They are only as good as the strength of that bond. It is very much like peanut butter gluing two pieces of bread together. They work well but the fogging is a result of their interaction with moisture or body oils interacting with the fumes from the glue. Police use the fumes to enhance finger prints. Some super glues have a greater tendency to fog than others and the thinner the glue, the higher the likelihood of fogging. There are some that are formulated for clear plastics. The only one I am familiar with personally is Zap Polizap. It is for RC car bodies made of lexan. I have used it successfully on clear plastic for years. PVAs or white glues will also hold clear plastics and work just like CA's in that they create an adhesive layer between the parts. A lot of PVA's also have some serious flexibility. I believe that your RC canopy glue may be an early version of what i use which is Zap formula 560. I like it because it gets tacky quite quickly and dries dead clear. That is my two cents worth. Hope it helps.

Ok, so I was working in my garage and I hear this rumble and I look up and .............NANANANANANAN BATMAN. Kind of unusual to see this cruisin the neighborhood even in SoCal!