R. Thorne

Thanks, gentlemen. One of the added benefits of posting pics (plus, I am always thankful for comments, criticism, and suggestions) is seeing things that you may have missed. I am this time referring to the roughness of the sidewalls (thanks, Roger, for your astute observation). I used too rough of a sanding drum (80 grit). Lesson learned. Smoothed it a bit with my new David Union sander (well, I just had to try it out) and then some hand sanding with 220 and 400 sandpaper . Had it to do over, would use the David Union and hand sanding. Anyway, put a coat of semi gloss clear on and we’ll see how it looks then. Oh, thanks for the racing info, Roger. I had watched it on tv.

Race coverage update, Roger. Mike did make a pass Friday evening and won 1st round Saturday. They were rained out today and scheduled to run tomorrow. Back to the model. Did some sanding on the rear slicks to remove the Goodyear cast in and make the finish more realistic. I sand with a medium grit sanding stick with a drum sander wrapped with masking tape on the tread and as much as I can get on the sidewall. Then, another sanding drum with a sanding roll to finish the inside part and make it more concave (convex?) to simulate running a narrower wheel width . Had to call in my backup cordless drill to finish the 2nd tire.

Again, thank you, Roger. The Jeep was a nice, calm, break in the action. If Mike is there, he didn’t make a pass today. I watched (and am watching) the free live coverage of the Bowlingreen points meet today on YouTube. It’s on all weekend and will definitely cut into my modeling time.

Believe it or not, I remember reading that issue when it came out as it was one of my favorite magazines. Looking forward to your build and don’t forget to google for more pictures.

Thank you, gentlemen, you are way too kind. Took some time off the Nova to experiment with some new mig slower drying cements and also my first 1/35 model kit out of the box (with some Tamiya rubber black for the tires). I also tried some different sprue nippers, but went back to my 3 peaks that leave very little, if any, nibs which is even more noticeable on 1/35 scale. This was a tribute to the Jeep I drove for about 6 months in 1970 at Ft. Carson, Colorado. I was in he 148th MP Co. and drove the company commander to different venues. Anyway, I am now back at the Nova.

I understand now.

Yes, it is sop with them. Another one of the reasons my favorite is Scalehobbyist.

I use it for collectors. Just a quick swipe with a cigarette lighter to shrink it on the primaries. It needs to be a relatively snug fit initially so as not to look too large or megaphone like after shrinkage.

Thanks, Daniel. Trial fit, without windows, may raise the front bar up some.

You are too kind, gentlemen, but I thank you. Some small progress on the roll cage. One of the joys of modeling is you learn something every time you try a different approach or try to stretch your skills. This is my first roll cage. In this case, I learned it would have probably been easier to build the cage from scratch instead of using the bar from the kit, some tubing from a nascar kit, and some 1/16 Evergreen rod. Anyway, my ceramic bladed knife (much safer, no cuts) helped remove the seam line from the NASCAR tubing. Side bars are fitted, glued only at the bar. The top bar was hand bent and glued on with ModelMaster cement (after letting it set a few minutes and get tacky). I actually liked working with it better than the medium super glue I had used previously on the cage. Going to let it dry overnight and see how it fits inside the body. Looks like it might be slanting down hill a bit and have to be adjusted.

Thanks, Roger.

Difficult to answer. He may have some idea that it may be in the works, but I don’t think he knows for sure. I am hoping to surprise him.

Thanks, Roger. Some small progress. Worked on the roll bar that came in the kit, changed the diagonal. Scrounged up 2 racing seats from NASCAR kits, modified them to more closely resemble Mike’s Kirkey seats. Cut some forward bars up to fit, held the side panels on with tape.

A little trial fitting and super glued the rear in. Hoping for the best, but moving on, anyway.

I took a quick perusal of your WIP. Easy to see the passion and persistence of this build. Well done, sir. I do have a couple questions. Why do the tie rods and center link look radiused or bent? Camera angle, amc engineering, or model manufacturing defect? Also, where did the Mallory coil come from and does it look like the one I have pictured (happen to have one in the garage I used to use). No decal for it? Again, outstanding work.

After some “slump” time, I am back at it. After shortening the rear axle (actually, a no-n in 1:1 cars) , I realized (duh!) that the spring mounts were too far inboard now. I still can’t believe I pulled such a dumb move. The reason behind shortening the axle was the wheels stuck outboard too far. Well, I have since fixed this issue (hopefully) by drilling out the wheels to remove the hub caps that came on these wheels. Anyway, I have made new spring mounts, made a jig for gluing, drilled out the inner wheel hubs I scrounged up so they will slip over the rear wheels, and set her aside to dry.

Sorry for the delay. The GSW was only put on the outer edge of the wheels (thanks again, Roger) and applied with the microbrush as shown. I tried to airbrush the GSW when I first got it a couple years ago with less than stellar results with the air brush version (there are plain and air brush types available). The “plain” version I like a lot for touch ups and interior work applied with tooth pick, micro brushes, and just got some mascara throw away type really small pointed brushes that work pretty good. I tried to show the difference between the plain(on the lower right of the roll bat) and airbrush version on the left. If you look at the top of the bottle(s) , you can make out the superior chrome look on the “plain “ version.

Thanks, John. Gonna put em on my list.

Another fine model. Is the GX100 available in a spray can (I’m old and lazy)?

Boy, you sure build clean, highly detailed cars. Another nice one. Job well done.

Very nice, clean, pretty build, but, inevitably, leads to questions. Three speed manual trans? Not a 4 speed in Leal’s car? The coil wire(?) leading from the inner passenger side fender appears to be unusually large? The chassis is exceptional.

Grey primer is easier to see imperfections. White primer gives the color coat more “brightness” as the base coat (primer) affects the color coat.

Glued the rear axle back together, hopefully properly aligned. Touched up the outer rim of the wheels with some GreenStuff and a micro brush. Put some 1/32” rod in the springs. The reason the springs look so rough is they are not the smoothest castings you can get from Shapeways.

Thanks much, Daniel. Trial fit for width of axle with slicks. Looks close.