microwheel

Just a thought that you might could try and see if it helps. What if you waite to attach the headers to the engine block till your ready to install the engine to the chassis.. and the blower and intake till after the engine is installed to the chassis. You would have to handle the attachment process for the headers with a pair of needle nose tweezers being carefull not to squeeze to tightly as you glue and attach them. then make absolutly sure you dont touch the headers at all as you set the engine into the chassis.. And then set your manifold and blower using the same handling process. This way you can handle the chassis with the engine installed to finish up any top half engine detail. As long as you dont touch the alclad painted parts it wont rub off.. And I mean dont touch, not even with a rag or gloves. This might be a option to resolve the rubbing off issue.

I wish I could tell you yes, but alclad turns dull silver with any type of clearcoat or sealer on it. If you do a search on google for "alclad chrome rubbing off", you'll see some of the issues people have had with it rubbing off when used over Tamiya black spray paints. Most have had to revert back to testors gloss black enamel. Though there may be some out there that have found other black base coats that it bites into good. I can tell you when I use it with testors enamel black I make sure to get as smooth a base coat of black as I can get, and I let the black enamel dry out really good.

Nice looking pro street. Love the color. Just a tip for you. Hope you dont mind. But be careful using alclad chrome over tamiya paint, especially their spray can paints, as they are laquer based. It tends to ware off really easily. Most others would recommend using alclad over testors black enamel, not quite as pretty, but it holds better. I used it over Tamiya's gloss black and it looked really great on the paint stand, but even the slightest touch would cause it rub off.

Thanks Paul, Yup I see what you mean. I will see what I can do to address that issue when I get that far. Im thinking it shouldnt be too hard to scratch make that section of the interior door panel on the body, sorta like the Tamiya version, and then remove that section from the kit supplied interior door panel and thin it down from the back side and then narrow down the door pocket a little. It should work out. Well in theory anyways lol.

Looking forward to more

This is gonna be really cool looking

Great start. Looking forward to seeing more.

Wow great paint job and color choice. and nice detail.

Nice work so far. This is a great Kit, I got one of these waiting in the closet to build as well. I look forward to watching your progress on this one.

Really looking good so far

Im a big fan of the ford galaxies and starliners. Nice build so far and great color choice.

Im with everyone else so far. I really love the color.

wow this is really looking cool. great scratch building skills

Way to go Fred, cant wait to see the updated pics. I finally got around to pulling the mini copper out of the closet and am seeing what I can do with it.

Hi Guys, well after completing the New Revell Cuda Kit, I took a day or two to go through my stache and desided I may try to work on Revell's original mini cooper kit. It's been really hot and humid out here in northern Michigan the past few days so the start on this is gonna be drawn out and slow. My plan for this kit is to see where I can take it as far as detailing goes. I want to maybe open the doors and trunk area as well as detailing the engine and interior. But being as small as the kit is, it's gonna depend on how well my ole' eye site holds up and just how much the smaller detail needs to be. I havent decided on a color for it yet (got a long way to go before that needs to be decided), but I do know I will be going for more of a replica stock look and not the rally look. I know, I know, but its just my thing with replica stocks. Besides, the reason I choose this kit in the first place, (besides it being a christmas gift from the wife) is because owning a classic british sportscar (1976 MG-Midget), I belong to a local british sportscar club and a few of the guys in the club have these Mini coopers, which makes access to reference for it pretty easy. First up, before I even attempt to start the body work, Im atempting to make working door hinges to replace the molded on ones that are on the body now. I have made one as a test to see if I can. And you can see it in the few starting pics below. Later as I make the others, I will post pics of the process on how Im making them and what Im using. I plan to make 4 more hinges so I have a extra one to test on some basic sheet plastic to see if they will be strong enough to hold up. the basic material I am trying this experiment out with is, (and dont hold it against me for not remembering sizes cuz I tend to loose the packages that stuff come in): A peice of evergreen round rod (not sure of the exact size), sanded and shaped and flattened on one side, with a emery board to match the molded on hinges. Once shaped it was cut at the door line into two peices a strip cut off of a sheet of brass sheeting, (not sure of the thickness, buts its thin enough to bend with my tweezers) but it was split in two again once I had it the right with by comparing it to the molded on hinges A really thin pice of piano wire to wrap the thin brass strips around And finally Some Medium grade Extreme power CA glue to bond the shaped plastic rod to the brass strips that were bent around the piano wire. Once all the hinges are made, the molded on hinges will be gently removed from the body leaving just a shadow of them, so I will have a guide mark on the body for the new working door hinges. Then the doors will be cut open and gaps taken care of,(as well as other work that will be need for the window frames), then reattached with the working hinges. This is all depending on how the test hinge holds up when I try it out on scrap sheet plastic. (Thats why no plastic bodys will be harmed by exacto knifes, in the start of this project before then LOL) Im gonna average a hinge a day to make sure I give the glue plenty of harding time. So bare with me on the slow thread updates. Once I have all the hinges made I will post more detailed pics of the hinge making pocess. That;s if they work strength wise. If the test fails and they turn out to not be stong enough, well Then the kit will be built without opening panels. But right now the test hinge so far seems to be strong enough. A pic of the hinges in two peices The hinge halves slid together You can see here how the molded on hinges that will need to be removed look And this is how the working hinge looks when sitting on the body to compare to the molded on hinges. The piano wire will be cut off at each hinge halfs pivot loop with the loop for the body side of the hinge being cemented and the door side will get a tiny peice of round evergreen tubeing to hold it on the piano wire. More coming as I get further along with the hinge process.

This is starting to shape up really nice. Looking forward to more of your progress.

Thanks alot guys

Wow very nice Javelin

Very nice looking 32 Lee. Great colors and very cleanly built.

Sent you a PM on here buddy, check it.

Way to go Fred, ya did one fantastic job on it.

And Last Two Pics Forgot to add a completed chassis shot sorry.

I finally got the Cuda done this morning and just got time to take a few pics.. Sorry about some of the pic quality. I GOTS TO GET ME A BETTER CAMERA SOON!!!! LOL here is a link to the workbench topic for anyone that didnt get the chance to go through the build with me. I've only been back into the hobby for just about a year now, after being away from it since the early 90's. each build nocks off a little more rust. At least I hope. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=90241

Looks Outstanding Fred. I finally got mine done this morning too.. And just got done taking a few pics for it.. So will be posting in a few..

Finally Finished the Cuda Moving it to under glass.