Spex84
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Everything posted by Spex84
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Thanks for the useful info, Horsepower!
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Lookin' smooth so far!
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1935 LaSalle convertible coupe - 3d printed at home Aug. 30
Spex84 replied to my66s55's topic in WIP: Model Cars
Very impressive. My mind is working furiously right now, trying to figure out how I can do something like this. I can already 3D model. I just can't see a way to make it anything other than a hobby...resin casting takes a whole other skill set and large investment in materials, and then anyone with some rubber and resin can make knock-off parts. Maybe the solution is to charge people for 3D printed parts, or offer custom modeling and printing services. But that will slow down as more people build their own printers. So much potential, though! -
Made up a driveshaft using some aluminum tube...
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Could have sworn I already posted this...weird. Anyway, Jantrix--I wanted a graphical element on the side of the body, so that's why the filler door is there. The seat had tipped back in that shot; now it sits forward and is notched in the side for the filler neck. Should just barely fit together. Putting the filler in the deck would almost be too logical!
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I've been trying to figure out what to do for headlights and taillights. I'm hoping to make something thatlooks like LED clusters or projector headlamps. I have a few options: -stock-style rounded buckets with quad chrome "lights" made from carb intake pieces from a MPC '32 (looks kind of bug-eyed) -small diameter bullets made from 60s mustang mirrors (these look like the motorcycle-style projector headlights offered by 1:1 company 'Headwinds') -Square LED cluster headlights made from cheap costume jewelry. For taillights, I have the round units from the Phantom Vicky, or possibly a long horizontal flush-mounted strip would be good, like a lot of 90s and 2000s high tech street rods. I think I'd use a strip of CD jewel case painted with transparent red to form the taillight lens. The body is quite square, so the rectangular headlights/taillight might work well. On the other hand, the filler door and intake bells create a circular theme, so the bullet headlights and taillights would work too. Hmmm...
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Rip the foil? Whaaaat?...I'll take your word for it, and maybe I'll give it a try. Because that is such a cool and convincing finish.
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Cool! I actually really like the headlights. Combined with the "nostril" sculpting on the hood, it looks like a dinosaur skull or something. Also enjoying all the molded body mods on this build, they add a lot to the Baja look.
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Thanks guys! Dave--I totally forgot about the Buttera T. I have not built it before but I'd like to someday; I hear it's really fiddly. Here is some work on the floor. Because I hate building transmission tunnels, I tried something different this time: Milliput. The resulting 'blanket' was trimmed to fit the floor. It's a bit crude but I think it's working. *edit: yeah, no foot room in this thing. That's the price you pay for horsepower, haha.
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That's awesome. I don't see any seams in the BMF. Did you use a single piece for each major body panel? How did you avoid wrinkles??
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So here's what I did to the intake. I don't know if it would ever work in real life, but it has the look, so it'll do. Because I'm undecided on color, I tried out a few things in Photoshop: And... here's how the gas cap was done. It's two aluminum standoffs used in electronics (salvaged from some junk circuit boards), chopped up and screwed back together:
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Another on the bench. A lot of bench space. Lol
Spex84 replied to Jstfrnds's topic in WIP: Model Cars
Clearly the long wheelbase is for extra stability in long-distance jumps. Great for wedding parties...everyone can relax in the shade of the undercarriage! Anyway, that's nuts. It's going to be one of a kind! -
Michael-- the suspension in the Phantom Vicky is somewhat simplified, but it does an OK job of representing something like what you see on the various builds of the Rat's Glass 'Speedstar' bodies: I remember there were a few years where it seemed like every other car featured in Street Rodder Magazine was a Speedstar (part of the reason I lost interest, even though I like the design of the body)...so the Phantom Vicky kit is actually fairly useful for depicting that era of hot rodding. But yeah, IFS choices are pretty limited. There's the Revell '37 (not chromed), the AMT '34 street rod (chunky and not very convincing) and Testors' Smoothster (1/24 scale). Maybe there are more, but I can't think of them right now.
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custom cars of today...
Spex84 replied to tubbs's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
I think the main reason modern cars are tougher to do "traditional" custom mods on, is because they're all unibody, whereas older vehicles were body-on-frame. Also, 1940s-50s vehicles tended to have headlights, taillights, and trim that was applied to the suface of the car, so it could be taken off and re-purposed on another, whereas today the those parts are blended into the unibody. If you're looking for traditional custom tricks like roof chops, channeling (body drops), taillight and headlight swaps, extreme lowering, shaved door handles, etc...then look to the truck customizing scene. Pro-touring, drifting, and "stance" might be hot right now, but the truck crowd is still doing a lot of stuff that the 50s customizers would recognize instantly. Up to this point, trucks have basically been built like the vehicles of the 1950s, albeit with some refinements. Convenient! There are still vehicles today that look like a blank canvas to me...the Chrysler 300... 2008-era Ford Fusion...Dodge Challenger...Toyota FJ... Creativity is still possible, and so is atrociously bad taste! *I love the two 60s show rods that were posted. Winfield's Reactor is an undeniable piece of history, and in my opinion looks great too. -
Thanks all! I've been trying to decide on the paint scheme...the intial plan was to do an unconventional hi-tech theme with silver/matte black and black chrome, but I'm not sure how to achieve a black chrome effect. So it might end up silver/gunmetal/chrome with red accents.
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After test-fitting the body and suspension, I found the back end needed a step-up and the stock crossmember removed. In order to get the grille in-line with the front wheel centerline, I couldn't use the complete '32 vicky IFS unit...it had to be split and the A-arm towers mounted separately to the T frame. Then the frame needed to be opened up to clear the steering rack. The rack has been split in 3 and shaved down in a couple places to clear the radiator. And a mockup of what it looked like at this point. Coming together!:
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Bernard--I'll post what I did with the intake soon. It's pretty simple and maybe not all that realistic--I just pitched the kit intake, filled the top of the manifold to make it flat, and have plunked the intake bells right down on the manifold. I figure it's an electronic direct-injection setup, or something. Lol. It has the look, and that's what counts!
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The '32 vicky bench seat needed some narrowing in order to fit the '25 body. In retrospect, I probably should have narrowed it another 3mm or so. Getting it up and into the body will be a bit of a trick. For the dash, I want to use the kit part on another build, so it was replaced with some flat stock and will receive a photoetched gauge panel.
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Dude, that is nuts. I loved Transformers as a kid, and this car looks about ready to get up and walk away! Are all the folding parts and the suspension static, or do they articulate? Either way, very cool build.
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Wild! Over the top! Like, rolled over Very cool, that supercharger grabs my attention. Mcculloch? Frenzel? That's original...can't say I've ever seen one in a 49 Merc!
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The Boyd's '32 wheels are kind of ridiculous. They're huge, and while I think they'll look good on the back, the fronts needed fixing. The front tires are taken from the Revell '41 Chevy pickup, and I sawed a ring off of the backs of the '41 wheels to form the new front rims, which sandwich the cut-down center from the Boyd's '32 wheels to form a complete wheel. The C4 brakes will sit between the two halves of the rear wheels, so sort of inside of the wheel rather than attached o the wheel back. Not very realistic, but it'll do, and gives more or less the correct spacing/offset. The wheel backs had to be opened up a bit to accept the center hub on the brakes. I also made an aluminum sleeve to make the C4 brakes fit the axle stubs on the AMT '34 rear suspension.
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Thought I'd make this AMT '25 T my first build on MCM. Started it about a month ago....it's been progressing slowly, so I think I'll update with a couple photos every couple days until it's caught up to the present day. I wanted a quick project with less scratchbuilding and finicky detailing than some of the other projects I've started over the last couple years. It's turned out to be more involved than initially planned, but will still be a relatively simple build with a minimal interior and not much in the way of wiring. It combines parts from the double T (body, frame), the AMT '34 ford street rod (rear suspension), and the AMT Phantom Vicky (front suspension, engine, bench seat). Wheels and tires are cut down from the AMT "Boyd's" '32 Ford 5-window. Brakes are corvette C4 from the junk pile. Intake bells are craft grommets. Exhaust is from the Revell 427 Ford parts pack.
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I would prefer a '40 to a '41 coupe, but either would be welcome! They look pretty cool as customs, bombs, gassers, or hot rods. I like this chopped and sectioned '40...kind of squat, but it looks tough!
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Most of my car knowledge is still 'cosmetic', as in, I know what parts are and where they go, but I'd be hard pressed to diagnose a sick engine or do much mechanical work without extensive viewing of online how-tos and instructional videos. But what I DO know...came from building model kits as a kid, and then reading a lot of magazines. I love those old instructions with the big blocks of instructional text, photos combined with illustrations, and a can-do gee-whiz attitude. I really enjoyed the double-dragster reissue when it was released, because at that point I hadn't experienced original 60s kit instructions, and the reproduced instructions in that kit are a lot of fun. From a visual communication standpoint, if the instructions work perfectly without text of any kind, that means they're effective and universal, which is generally accepted to be a good thing. They sure are antiseptic and boring, though.
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I think Revell has been smart to hit the '32 and the model A...because the '30/31 is the new '32, haha. But I'd love to see (like some others on this thread): -'34 ford 3-window coupe with correct proportions -'27 T coupe. Just the body would be great, for hot rods, drag cars, show rods. It would fit pretty well on the Revell '29 pickup frame I think. -'40 Chevy coupe. These are great-looking cars, and not as fat/bloated as the '41. They work well in a variety of build styles--custom, hot rod, bomb, gasser, etc. The '36 Chevy sedan is really good-looking. Some of the mopars are too...and oldsmobile, buick... We don't have a good late 40s or early-mid 50s Cadillac either. Except the old 1/32 scale one.