R. Thorne

Made some side windows using an adhesive back scratch pad and some .005” clear plastic. Used the gs hypo to install ‘em along with toothpick/fun tack and the handy flashlight that came with the tweezers. Worst part about the gs hypo cement is getting that tiny needle in the cap back in the tube female hole. The small light helps illuminate that chore, but it is tedious. Put door handles, windshield wipers, and some other trim pieces on. Letting her dry overnight and should be able to put her together tomorrow.

Well, there’s also the ultra high tech toothpick with fun tack for handling small parts. May be too expensive and complicated, though.

Just got these today and tried them out. Proper bench lighting is always important, but sometimes I do work away from the bench in another room. While I have a lighted head band, the glare (especially on gloss black finishes) is often a hindrance. Saw these on Amazon for $5.99 (they are now$4.73!) and decided to take a chance. The quality looks good and I believe the light can be used on other tweezers. Anyway, they helped me to see better installing some chrome trim on my ‘56.

Headlights and hood ornaments installed with the help of my high tech toothpick and some gs Hypo and a lighted tweezer. Not perfect job, but ok, I guess. Almost left them off as “mild customizing” was permitted back then.

Oh, to be young and dumb again. Got the tailights and license plate bracket(after sanding the back tabs off), on. Noticed the rear windshield (which has very little surface to glue to) had “drooped” down on the top. So, put some more gs hypo on and weighted it down with a pill bottle I had filled with lead balls. Gonna let it sit overnight to dry. The top of the bottle (installed inverted) has masking tape on it which helped it sit at an angle. I use this pill bottle bottom to hold super glue normally. I may have to go back to Bsi gold ca in the future for installing windshields. Wouldn’t have had this problem if I had used ca glue. Live and learn.

After a couple weeks off, I am back at it. Decided (for old times sake) , to adorn the back window with a common addition back in those days. A similar one on my 53 Olds stocker around 1969 (wow!, what memories). Anyway, put the rather delicate placement windows and windshields on with the precision tipped gs hydro and my high dollar toothpick/funtack device to hold them while installing. Hard to get the cap/wire plug back on, but the precision is worth it, I guess. Worked pretty good.

I use ca glue (Bsi gold) for painted surfaces, otherwise Tamiya extra thin cement.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Truly an outstanding ambassador for the modeling community.

Thank you for showing some of your awesome early work. Unfortunately, my ocd kicked in. AA/G cars would have blowers, take 1 A off to make it unblown (A/G). Slick, no tread front tires?

Finished up the Hasegawa chrome and used an aluminum pen on the vent window only.

Your comments are always appreciated, Mike. It can be trimmed with a hobby knife or scalpel like bmf, but I just find it much easier, quicker, and less nerve racking to cut it on the package and install. Especially on shiny black paint, the Hasegawa stuff has a tendency to glare when being installed and then cut on the car. I even thought about wearing sunglasses (lol).

Excellent work! An obvious labor of love.

Thanks, Mike. I’d say Revell missed it a little on the battery placement as the full size cars were not that close. The driveshaft length was ok, so I trimmed one end off, reamed out the other end, and glued it on. Then started on the Hasegawa chrome trim. I cut it out on the package with a steel ruler, then install it, as this stuff is thicker and, consequently, harder to cut after installed. Sometimes it requires a do over. I like it better than bmf, however, because it is shinier, has less wrinkles, is fairly easy to handle after cutting a piece off, is stretchy without easily breaking, and leaves no glue residue (the main reason). The rear quarter panel section goes from .060” to .110” and, so, has to be cut on a taper.

Another way of doing it for about $20.00. UMM has some great tools.

I like this one I got a couple years ago.

Looks like a 65 Pontiac station wagon.

After another interlude, got a few things done. Trimmed the rear inner fender wells for header clearance, made some rear engine mounts to raise the rear of trans to align with the rear axle, then super glued those and engine in place. The activator in my new little jar helped, but I still managed to get some on the glue brush, making a large blob on the brush. Oh well, I’m going to transfer the super glue to my empty Tamiya glue bottle tomorrow (another experiment). Then snaked the headers in and glued them (tedious work). Finally, used one of my new acrylic “brushes” to touch up some under hood spots.

Thanks, Robert. Working on these early drag cars brings back fond memories to me.

Well, I’m back at the 56 after getting stalled on the Firebird stocker. Reoriented myself on this build (it’s been a couple of months), then installed the firewall after some cleanup along the mounting edges. I installed the interior then and the chassis mocked up to see what needs to be removed in order to install the fenderwell headers. Looks like the inner fender area behind the upper A arms will need trimming.

Good question. These are considered race cars, not restored cars, so some leeway is allowed in paint colors. You can paint it any color you want. On all the 1:1 race cars I have had, I have always painted the chassis/undercarriage a lighter color in order to show up any oil, trans, and rear leaks. Discovered some runs on the passenger side that will have to be fixed. One of the disadvantages of using a clear red. Painted the engine blue after masking the trans off, touched up the dash due to some overspray from painting the body. Glued the differential cover on and installed rear and front suspension.

There is a lot to look at here (especially like the Indy natl’s participant decal). You do excellent work. Great pictures, too. Takes me back to my days at Indy watching funny cars run. Outstanding!

No primer on this car, by the way. After the gold base, I put 1 light coat of clear red on, paused 15 minutes, then a heavier coat, another pause of 15-20 minutes, then a heavier coat, then done. Covered it up. Almost forgot the ram air scoop.

Did some painting today. Thought I would show some of the steps I take before painting the body. Warm up cans, spray water in the booth, wipe off body with alcohol wipes, finally Tamiya brush off. Then, hope for the best. Was doing okay, then the metallic burble on the top of trunk. Gonna let it dry a bit, then another coat. Hopefully, get the clear red on today, if it looks ok. Painting the ram air hood, but, hopefully the other dual snorkel hood will come sometime soon. Almost forgot, gotta dig out the scoop. Also forgot about my paint can spinner that I modified to fit the Tamiya cans. Invaluable tool.

Stalled for a bit. Got the suspension ready for paint. Put some masking tape on for better wheel fit. Decided to modify the aftermarket hood .

I am still waiting on Greg for the hood. When I get it, I will definitely post it on this thread.