ibj40

However, duct tape will remove Clearance stickers.

Once again, working in 1/18 scale, trying to create models that never existed in this scale, and probably never will. Here are the donors: Body from Highway 61, chassis from Winged Warriors. Chassis To create this: Lots of fabrication that I am not going to bore you with, but had a breakthrough moment over the past couple of days that I wanted to share. Among the issues, was that the original front cage hoop interfered with the front radiator bulkhead of the Belvedere, so I cut some of the diecast to get it to fit. But as I got deeper into the build, it was clear that I needed to replace the pieces of the bulkhead in order to have a "complete" chassis, so I used styrene angle to fabricate and top and bottom for the radiator opening. Still had to cut the roll cage pieces, and will need to meld them eventually as I get closer to completion. Plus, with the differences, I had to insert a piece of brass channel to fill the gap for the front roll cage supports. One other element that I didn't find on 1/24 scale plastic versions of this model was the vestigial rear spoiler. As you can see in the second, black and white photo, there was clearly a piece of aluminum (from my experience) angle riveted to the trunk. I duplicated that with brass angle. Clearly it was painted body color, so I did some primer testing tonight, to see what it looked like. I think I have the rake of the body and the chassis pretty close. Still to go: firewall and dash, rear package tray, fuel cell mounted into trunk, and detailing.

As someone who works exclusively in 1/18 scale diecast, I have to admit that this is the most amazing build I have ever witnessed. Simply outstanding.

Nicely done. Not too many of us here working in 1/18 scale. I really liked back-dating the plumbing to delete the Aeroquip look. Thanks for the pictures!

All great ideas. Wish me luck, we may launch the assault any day now. Thanks!

Assuming we have similar microwaves, what settings do you use? Such as, do you take them up to a boil? I was hoping someone else had done this before I ruined some of my wife's dishes. Thanks!

I had a 1/18 scale custom of the Marty Robbins car built by my late friend Jesse Pyron.

Bought a 1:1 of this for my ex-wife. She ended up wrapping it around a tree when she was drunk. God I miss that car!

I am working on an 1/18 scale Nascar model, and have been able to remove the tires from the plastic rims (which are still attached to the rear axle), and now I need to return the tires to the wheels. The tires are way too stiff to work on over the wheels (easier to remove than to replace), and I am looking for advice on methods to soften up the rubber. I have tried hot tap water (my water heater is set to 150 F) but that didn't soften them up enough. Anyone know how hot you can heat scale rubber tires? Thanks!

Yup, that looks like enough parts.

I had a busted up Classic Carlectables Lola T332, and was playing around with it and painted the body gray and left the chassis the original aluminum color. Someone on another Board suggested I turn it into a diorama, so I inserted Lolas in place of a Trans Am Camaro I had in this pit scene.

Quick photo essay, put the Firebird body onto a GMP Trans Am Camaro chassis. Sounds simple, right, as GMP is now ACME; plus, Firebirds and Camaros shared a common chassis, but . . . Photos won't tell all the story, but close enough.

1/18 Biante James Courtney 2016 ANZAC Appeal Tribute V8 Supercars Holden VF Commodore. After being introduced in the 2013 season, Holden Racing Team’s ANZAC tribute has become an annual initiative by Holden and HRT. It is supported by the Returned & Services League (RSL), with the livery raising awareness and funds for the RSL’s annual ANZAC Appeal. The 2016 version has Holden’s famous HRT lion and driver logo replaced by the RSL’s ANZAC Appeal Rising Sun logo, with a silhouette of ANZAC diggers from the original Gallipoli landing featuring on each side of the car and bonnet. Part proceeds of the sale of this model will be donated to the RSL’s ANZAC Appeal.

I use a product called Klean Strip. It is an aerosol, and comes in a couple of different strengths, including one intended for airplanes. My experience is that they all work the same. Spray it on, the paint will bubble up, and you wash it off with high pressure water. Make sure you get all the plastic pieces off before your strip diecast, most solvent will turn plastic into unrecognizable goo. One caution on repainting diecast is that the tolerances between pieces is a lot closer than on real vehicles, and paint doesn't understand that. If a paint supplier tells you two coats of primer and two coats of paint, for example, that is for a real vehicle. On pieces such as doors and hoods/trunks, on diecast (I work in 1/18 scale, for example), that will use up all the factory room between these pieces. Good luck on your first one, and keep us up to date.

I was pretty sure that the new package tray I had fabricated fit better than the picture showed, and I was right (this picture is taken without the rear window in place, the two notches are to clear its attaching points).And, of course, now the rear wheel wells match up much better.Had to take a bunch of material off the inside of the lower part of the body under the A pillar, plus still had to provide a little clearance on the fender well itself. Took about an hour to grind down all the diecast metal.Now, on with the show!

So, an update on a little bit of forward progress, and as usual, a little bit of rearward regress.So, you fit some parts together, and for simplicity and ease of working, you leave other components off, assuming that it will all come together eventually.Well . . .Got quite a bit of work done on the new rear package tray, which will separate the fuel cell from the passenger compartment (per SCCA rules).I will not disclose how many pieces of cardstock were sacrificed to get to this point. However, before I took this picture, I thought the fit was much closer.I had not replaced the front inner fender panels onto the frame, but thought that was a logical next step.Looks pretty good.But wait, if you look above (in my February 5, 2019 post), you will see a very close fit between rear inner fender well and wheel opening, but alas, when the front panels are in place, we're off close to 1/4 inch!Turns out that there is some interference between the later model inner panels, and the diecast metal of the early model body. Now, which do we trim, and how much?Might be hard to see, but the pencil line on the black paint is where the interference is. Time to take Dremel in hand!I'll be back.

Progress shots.Closing the gap between the fastback early model and the slant back of the '70 model will prove to be an origamic challenge.Had to sand both sides of the chassis, and at an angle at that, in order to get the late model chassis to fit into the early model body.

Unfortunate, I am sure you would have had a field day with engine detailing.

You have an engine detail shot? Chassis looks great!

Really nicely done, and to have your 1:1 in 1/18 is amazing. Great work!

Yes, got your reply. Thanks!

In the Sports Car Club of America, back in the day, I think these were allowed to run with the bonnet propped open for help in cooling the engine. Have you considered displaying it that way?

Nice!

Again, another superior transition. Bravo!

Keep it coming, Mike! By the way, body shipped yesterday, should be there by Friday.