DoctorLarry

Almost done. Engine wired/plumbed. I need to do exhaust, fuel line to the tank, install the seat and make the harness and window net.

Great-I will find a car to test it on.

It says to clean the floor and let it dry then spread this out with a clean sponge mop or cloth and let it dry. I'll try to find a test dummy.

Anybody use Future as a clear coat? I can't seem to find it. This is the closest I have found but don't know if it is the right stuff everyone uses. Any help?

Send me a message.

Where do you get your supplies?

You going to make the molds and do it all? That will be cool.

More work done. Mounted the radiator, finished the front shocks and framing for them, plumbed the rear end and oil cooler and plumbed the puke tank. Put some roll bar padding on and mounted the shifter. Mocked the seat up and mounted the headrest, which came from a later NASCAR kit. Put the valve stems in the wheels and painted them the correct color.

You going to cast them? Looks good!

Preliminary wiring/plumbing check list: plug wires, fuel line pump to carb, fuel line tank to pump, all brake lines, battery cables, 2 scavenge lines oil pan to dry sump pump, two lines dry sump pump to oil tank, feed line oil tank to cooler, cooler line to remote oil filter, remote oil filter to dry sump pump, dry sump pump to oil filter plate inlet. Whew! Did I miss anything?

Got some more work done on the chassis. Got a cage fitted and finished the dash/firewall. Did some painting on various parts. From the limited pictures of the car, the interior was a light color. I used Tamiya Insignia White, which was a light gray matte color virtually identical to the color of the molded plastic on the TBird kits. I am detailing out the chassis parts and getting ready to plumb and wire everything. A few more cage pieces to fit as well as the trunk and package tray fillers.

The proverbial chop saw came out on this one...

Chassis in the body and rear suspension mock-up on a spare unpainted body: (workspace as usual is a disaster area)

More progress. Started on a chassis based on photos I have of Cale Yarborough' Busch Olds. It was for sale a couple of years back and they had about 20 or so high resolution pictures of all aspects of the car so I figure it is a fairly good representation of a typical "Holman Moody front/back half" stock car chassis. I use a representative floor pan and chassis from that area. In this case it was a 72 Cutlass. It has the same wheelbase as the Century and tucks up in the body nicely. I cut the front frame horns off and measure the front of a Bill Elliott T Bird chassis and glue the front frame stub on, then reinforce it with plates. I cut out the floor pans in the back to mount the T Bird truck arm. I move the springs forward so I can mount a second shock in front of the rear end. Then I fill in the floors like they did with new plastic sheet. I cut out the gas tank and put the tank and floor tub for the tank in from the T Bird. For the cage, I start with the T Bird tunnel and firewall and trim the cage down to fit in the car. Then I make a new main hoop, top hoop, front bars and fill it in. The seat is from a later model NASCAR Olds as is the engine. Using Tim's advice, I use the oil pan from the T Bird to locate the engine in the chassis. It is closer to the real thing but obviously more work than using the T Bird chassis.

I guess it is accurate, then!

I did not know how many people knew it but I saw the inventory shrinking so I just put out a heads up.

Examples to look for?

Dave, my hobby guy said not just MM but all small bottles as well. Rust Oleum is killing it all, he said.

Hobby Town has 125 locations nation wide. According to their web site 100 are franchise-owned, which makes them a little more "local".

Did not ask them. My hobby shop person said they were looking at Revell and another European line as replacements. This is Hobby Town, which I think is a national chain.

Just for info to all my buds here: after noticing supplies dwindling I asked my hobby shop friend and he confirmed. Rust Oleum has bought the Testor's line and is phasing them out. Evidently they were a money loser so stock up while you can. Model Master as well as the small enamel bottles. Gone.

After noticing dwindling selection at Hobby Lobby and my favorite hobby store, I asked the store person about Testor's paints. They are no more. Rust-Oleum bought the line and determined that hobby paint was an expensive money loser so they are ending the line. You will still be able to get military and aircraft colors from other vendors but the automotive line that was a Testor's market will be gone shortly. Stock up while you can. This is Model Master as well as the small bottles of enamels. Bummer.

I talked t my guy at the hobby shop I g to. He said the old Squadron, which was pasty and kind of grainy, had issues with it drying up in the tubes and becoming hard to get out before the tube was empty and they had a lot of complaints. So the new stuff is rather runny and like was said, does dry pretty hard. I like it because it is the same color as amber resin bodies so I use it to fill pinholes and it disappears. For larger fills on resin bodies, I mix my own by using thick super glue mixed with talcum powder. It sticks great to resin and sands surprisingly easy. I use Tamiya white after that because it sands smooth followed by auto spot putty to fix the small imperfections.

If it were a real car it would be a "20 footer". The pictures make it look better than it is!

Shot some paint and started on decals. Some guess work as the pictures on the net are not very clear. I used Tamiya Yellow and Tamiya light blue. I have used Tamiya paint before and had no issues but this was a challenge. The yellow was thin and did not want to cover and I kept getting fish eyes in the paint even after cleaning it multiple times with wax and grease remover. Then my masking tape bled through in spots so I had to sand and gently rub to get the paint lines clean. Not my best effort by a long shot. Still needs more decals, clear coat and trim paint. Oh, and a chassis!