microwheel

Got a little more done on the Mini today. It takes my mind off my wife's health issues. But I still don't concentrate on it like I should. Today I started tying some of the things I been doing together. I got the engine bay assembled and the engine installed in the chassis. I also got the interior test fitted in place. And I got the gas tank and battery in the trunk area. Thats pretty much it for today.

Sorry if this is a little long winded read. Well I don't know about unicorn and rainbow points of views. And I usually don't get into model car hobby politics. But to be honest, in most of the hobby message boards I've been on, and seen these kinds of conversations going on, it's usually the "this kit has a ton of issue crowds" that do most of the attacking when anyone with a different point of view objects to their opinions. I usually stay away from commenting on them. But knowing Fred as I do, I felt I had to give my two cents worth. Now I don't know most of you here, and I don't know this guy Mark, It sounds like he's a good modeler. As for touting credentials, be it his or anyone's, believe me when I say, there are a lot of us older modelers out there that have been doing this for decades and a lot of us that have first had dealings with the model industry. You don't hear from some of us, very much, because we spend our time on the work bench doing what we love, instead of reviewing and posting about kits. I myself, did test shot builds for a few companies back in the 70's and 80's and did my share of commissioned projects for a few state and national museums in my day, and not just auto theme related either. I also got to know Boyd Coddington (god rest his soul) personally. Boyd had a love of the model car scene, and even judged a few contests. He came here often to the one in Saint Ignace, Michigan when that hobby show was going strong. I got away from the hobby, in the mid 90's, for quite a few years for personal reasons, and when I recently came back, I found myself impressed with how much better most of the model companies have improved their kit offerings. Sure there are issues with most kits produced, But if you think that today's kit offerings have issues, well take a step back in time to when I got into the hobby, I can tell you plenty of horror stories about loads of flash and visible push pins on almost every part in a kit, or incorrect body proportions, or the lack of detail in almost all kits. But us modelers back then didn't do alot of complaining, because we were just happy that the model companies were at least trying to give us the subjects we asked for. Could they have worked harder to get every kit right? Yes they could. World the modelers of my day liked that? Yes we would have. So why didn't we complain. Well some did, but most of us just went about doing what we do, and corrected the problems during the build. There is always going to be someone who can pick any new kit release apart and find something wrong with it. I say there is nothing wrong with helping out other builders of a kit by letting them know what they should look for or might need to correct to make a replica stock build look correct, but to just pick a kit apart for the sake of finding something to complain about gets old to some of us. Now as I said, I've been around this hobby a long time, and I also worked for Chrysler for a number of years, and I have seen a lot of Kit companies get things wrong with scale or incorrect body lines, or just plan mix and matching years. But I have also seen these same kits offer detail that they sure didn't offer when i started in this hobby. And also when I started there wasn't much, if any, aftermarket industry, so we had to do alot of scratch building our own stuff, just to get some of the detail that is common in alot of kit releases these days. I, like most of you, would love to see the model companies offer perfect kits. But I'll take what they are doing with kits, these days, over what was offered when I first started out, anytime. I can correct most issues I find, because most of them aren't hard corrections to make, such as lightly sanding down the over flared wheel wells of the new Cuda kit or straitening out a slight wave in the body line. Even warming up and straightening out a bumper in a kit that should have been straight to begin with. So as far as I'm concerned, today's kit releases are a far cry from sub-par compared to what was around when I started out modeling. How would those of you who complain about today's kits, like to go back to working with molded on chassis detail on every new release, or even screwing the chassis on with big metal screws, or metal front axles that run through a oil pan. You've seen some of these kits in the re-releases of Round2's Kits. But that was the standard back then for almost all kits. And don't get my started on Johan back in those days, they farmed alot of their production out to local injection mold companies here in Michigan and those companies didn't care less about flash. I know, I worked for one in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the time. A lot of flash and warpage happened because the injection mold machine was either too hot or had debris between the mold plates that the operator was to lazy to clean off. I've even seen them package bodies in kits, where, only part of the body got molded. Which happened if the injection mold machine was too cold or was running low on plastic. Quality control was not very common in those days. Some of you who complain about kit issues, make good points, if it helps a fellow modeler know what to correct. But be helpful and explain the means to them to do the correction. But don't just pick a kit apart, this discourages other less knowledgeable modelers from trying a otherwise good kit. And for those of you who get tired of people pointing out the flaws in kits, just remember, they help you find what you may need to fix or correct, if they explain it that way. Good sales from a model kit producer is what brings us new subjects. If people wont buy them, the companies wont make them. And it new subjects helps bring in new modelers. And we need this because our hobby has shrunk enough over the past twenty years. Yes the model companies could do more to correct kit issues before they release them, but if they don't or wont, it isn't the end of the world, most of those things can be corrected with a little modeling patience on the hobbyists work bench in my opinion. I would like to see a little more balance in people's personal reviews of a kits. Giving equal time to what is good and bad about a kit. This give those reading it the balanced info to make a more informed decision when it comes to buying a kit. And what they may need to do to correct the issues and build the kit. I feel that would do more to help a fellow modeler than to just point out all the flaws in a kit and then state that a fellow modeler should stay away from buying and building a kit.

Thanks Guys for the comments and the well wishes. Fred I should be around all weekend.

Hi Guys, sorry about the lack of updates, I have been dealing with a lot of personal issues the past few weeks. My wife went to the doctors and they found a mass in her upper abdomen. They sent her for a CT scan and the results were a extremely enlarged spleen. Now they are running more scans and blood work on her to see if she has some form of lymphoma. I'm asking everyone to keep us in their prayers. We have a adopted 15 year old son at home and I am disabled, so our only source of income at the moment is what my wife brings in. We were lucky to get on the national health care site and get insurance or we would really be in trouble. I'm really worried at the moment because I don't want to loose the love of my life. At some point I plan to try to set up a site where people can make donations to help out with her medical expenses, as soon as we know more, if anyone wants to. Anyways just wanted to let you all know. I did do a little work on the mini to try and take my mind off of things, it doesn't really help all that much but it's something anyways. Here is what I have done so far. Basically, just got the engine painted, assembled and detailed. Replaced the kit supplied coil with a aftermarket one. Replaced the kit supplied plug wires with better scratch made ones. added fuel lines to the twin carbs. Added throttle cable, bracket and linkage to the carbs. Also added starter cables and a dipstick. Sorry if the pic quality on a few of the pics aren't the greatest.

Here is my 70 Cuda kit. I decided to detail out everything I could. IMO this is one of the best Kits Revell has ever done. I dont understand all the complaints that people have had with this kit. If you want a perfect kit, that you dont have to do a lot to, get a die-cast. No kit is perfect and the idea of modeling is to understand that and correct what you can. When I started modeling, mold lines and flash were found on almost every kit, and most modelers understood it would be part of the build to clean it up. As for correcting inaccuracies, it was also part of the build. This kit has very little that needs to be done, and the fit and assembly is the closest thing to perfect for a Revell kit you'll find. And it lends itself to detailing rather nicely.

Hi Luis, from looking through your thread, it looks like you've had your hands full with this one, but you have the right spirit, NEVER GIVE UP lol. I like the progress you've made. I think your choice of a matt black finish gives it a nice modern restomod feel.

Ok guys, here is a few pics of what I got done today. I got the seats installed. Made a set of front floor mats. started on making a set of static front seat belts (the inner ones are done), and though the kit comes with the side sholder belts, I plan to make a more realistic set to go with the inner lap belts, especially since the doors on the mini will be able to open. Got the gear shift, emergency brake handle, and peddles installed. The car is gonna be a LH drive car as would have been shipped to the US. Started work on the chassis, well got some detail color on the front anyways. And finally assembled and detailed the dash. More to come as I get it done..............

This is really looking good Fred. I used that same engine and a few other drive train parts from the 07 in a 60 ford starliner restomod I did awhile back. I posted it in the under glass section back in the early summer. The 07 engine should really make your build stand out.

Thanks everyone. Sorry I haven't had any updates in a few days, the wife and I went camping for labor day weekend, so I didn't get time to work on the mini until today. I did get a few more things done with the interior and hope to post a few pics sometime either tonight or tomorrow morning. Now that the body has gassed out for a week or so, I hope to color sand and polish it out tomorrow.

Continued from above.... I masked off the side panels and sprayed the side panel inserts light grey, as well as spraying the base coats of light grey on the seats. The seats centers will still need to be masked off and a few coats of Danube Blue added. More to come in a few days.

Well I started on the interior today, since I have to wait on the body paint job to gas out and dry. I picked up a few supplies at Hobby Lobby to work on it with. I was going for a powder blue for the seats and carpet. GeeBee sent me a link to a site for the colors, but it would just take to long for everything I wanted to come in by snail mail, so I went to hobby lobby and found something I think will be fairly close to powder blue. It's Ceramcoat's Blue Danube Acrylic. It's pretty thick and needed to be thinned down with testors acrylic thinner. I tested it out on a piece of evergreen sheet plastic to make sure the mix was right and that it would dry out quickly. Also while I was there I picked up some plain white embossing powder for the carpet. I first sprayed a coat of testors flat light grey over the main floor tub as well as masked off the interior side panels and spayed the same color on the rear side panel inserts and the seats. Then I mixed up some of the blue danube acrylic and then masked off the areas of the floor pan I didn't want coated, and shot a heavy wet coat of the acrylic on it. I allowed that coat to dry completely and then hit it with another medium coat, and while that was still wet, coated it with the white embossing powder. Once that had dried I repeated the step and gave it another coat of embossing powder to get the consistency of the carpet I wanted. Once that dried I sprayed a few more light mist coats of the Danube Blue over that. Once every thing dried I pulled the making tape off and set the parts aside to dry out completely. I still have to mask off the areas of the seats I want to keep light grey and spay the seats with the Danube Blue, but it working out pretty good so far. I'll have more updates in a few days. First heavy coat of Danube Blue applied and almost dry. Another wet coat of Danube Blue applied ready for the first coat of white embossing powder White embossing powder applied and waiting to dry. A few mist coats of Danube Blue applied over the embossing powder The end result after everything was unmasked Continued...............

It's looking good Fred, I know what ya mean about masking off to paint trim on a freshly polished body. It's scary when you've screwed up a few that way lol.

looking good so far

interesting build. I like how you stretched it out.

Cool kit. I'll be following you on this build.

I like what your doing with this. Great color choice.

Great work on the headlights.

Nice Build. I really like what your doing with it.

This is looking really good.

This is looking good. I was always a fan of the 40 ford. Nice choice of wheels, and the interior detail look great.

Howdy, your 32 is looking pretty good. I like the color choice.

You did a great job on the paint and the chrome work. Cant wait to see more.

This is really coming along great. Starting to look like a car for sure.

Hi Fred, thanks buddy, no the roof isnt painted yet, but it will be Old English White. Which is almost a Ivory color. And then the drip rails along the edge of the roof will be body color. The Body color is called Surf Blue, which is almost a turquoise blue.

Finally had time this morning to get some color on the Mini. A special thanks to GeeBee here on the forums for sending me the paint all the way from the UK. Once the paint dries out a few days, I'll color sand it and polish it out, then I can finally begin assembly and detail. More to come as I work on it.............