R. Thorne

Air cleaner base installed with some 6000 glue, just in case I decide to remove it later on with a better built one. Also, installed the firewall and, as a homage to Harry P., (gosh, I miss his up front honesty) put a crude alternator bracket on to keep it from “floating”.

Got the windows installed, headers painted with GSW and they fit pretty good.

Keep plugging away.

Thank you for all you do (and have done) to help this hobby grow. Much obliged.

Thanks, guys. Next is the tedious job of letters and numbers individual decals. They are not perfect replicas to his car, but sometimes we have to compromise. Used the gs hypo for the first time and really like the pin point applicator, but is a bit difficult to replace the cap. I apply the decals first as it is a lot easier, but sometimes errors are made. In this case I installed the windshield and, then noticed, the decals were upside down. Threw some micro set on and removed them and installed the decals (again) with the windshield installed.

Thanks. Your quality parts make it easier. Made some side windows out of .005” clear styrene to put the class numbers on. Seems like I have to do this on every drag race car I build. The headers i’m using come in the Camaro and Nova kits. I have tried making 2 part molds for them with very little success. Real race car tuned equal length headers are difficult to find except in NASCAR kits which rarely fit standard chassis cars. Temporarily installed the engine with some e6000 to check for header fit and made some header collectors from aluminum tubing. Put some “welds” on with thick ca glue.

One more. Installed wheels, first trial fit of chassis on body, has posable front wheels.

Still another update. Modified the alternator bracketing as the only bracket is for the alternator. Also trimmed off the stock water pump in preparation for installation of the electric water pump from Iceman Collections, then some Hoosier tire decals for the slicks only. Tried out some E6000 glue on the air cleaner base (boy, that mold casting came out pretty rough), and the water pump. Pictures don’t lie, do they? Wheels and tires are ready to go on.

Trying to catch up on the updates. Some semi gloss clear on the slicks, Mr. Metal aluminum on the trans, alternator, and air cleaner base. Glued the trans and carb on after some Chevrolet type orange paint on the engine.

Thanks for your kind words of encouragement and of course I will post the finished build (I am getting close). I cut the stick shift trans off daubed some GSW ( not the airbrush type) on the wheels with a microbrush. Also, increased the i.d. of the front tires to fit the wheels. I used an expandable rubber freeze plug wrapped with sandpaper. Also, drilled out in a couple steps, the mounting holes to fit the axle stubs I made up.

Some wash on the vents, some chrome on the lower molding, cleaned up the cast TH200, shortened the driveshaft, tried some airbrush type GSW on the trans, didn’t like it, tried something else later.

Returned to this build a few weeks ago, just didn’t update on here. My mold and casting experience was interesting, but not very productive. The first batch was worthless as the mold did not harden. I was not totally surprised as this kit was 2 years old. Ordered some smooth-on and had good results with it. Anyway, moving on, couldn’t resist posting a couple more pics of this beautiful car. I put the tailights in and painted the parking lights with some Tamiya white. I really like these coated tweezers for handling small parts with a good grip.

You might consider one of these.

I guess it just depends on how important a shiny paint job is to you. I strive for accuracy in the mechanical aspects (engines, chassis, etc., ) of model building. Paint job shininess, not so much. I do not sand, buff, etc., though I have experimented with it. To me, it is just not worth the amount of effort involved. If the paint job turns out yucky, it goes in the tank, and I will try again. 80 percent of the time, it is good enough for me. I use, mostly Tamiya ts spray cans. I do, perhaps, obsess on cleanliness, paint temperature, and thorough paint mixing. In other words, a Tamiya brush for final dusting, warm the can in hot water, and spin the can with my paint can holding fixture in a cordless drill. Oh, yeah, a final water spray in the paint booth before painting.

This might give you some idea of what the ts30 would look like.

Something like this can be very helpful. Of course, you could make your own.

Great information, Keith and Paul. Also, two of the best model car parts companies we have. Aftermarket, we go, I guess. Just thought they might be in a kit I have to purchase, anyway. Thanks, guys. Is this forum great, or what?

Just wondered what 1969 Barracuda kits would have this hood with these scoops? If not, would the Duster kits have them?

The last 2 days of “new” videos on his channel he has introduced from his bed in rehab. They are reruns of heavy duty truck stuff, but good, nevertheless.

Thanks, Carl and Will. Took some time off to experiment with making molds and casting some small parts. Time to finish this one. Put some chrome on the clearance lights with a pen, then added the clear amber and stop light red. Tried at first with a small paint brush, but worked better with a toothpick ( where would we be without them?).

Old credit cards work pretty good.

I really like the M.A.D. Distributors.

Just some possibilities from eBay, Shapeways, etc.

Steve should be back in February. Currently in rehab and doing well.

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