ismaelg

Hello, The Mazda R-100 was a car from the late 60's early 70's. It was the first rotary engine car to be imported into the US. In Puerto Rico, our car culture is as strong as anywhere else on the planet. Drag racing is and has always been king of motorsports here. The rotary engine has a religious cult following both on the street and on the dragstrip. These late 60's early 70's Japanese cars are coveted. Many are modified for drag racing. From show cars to daily driver/weekend warrior, to full blown professional racers. While I am firmly planted on the Chevrolet V8 camp, I grew up with the sound of rotary engines revving havoc. A good friend who is running a 3D printing small business (Grumpy's 3D Garage) offers many of these cars in 3D resin at various scales. While visiting him, he was doing some test samples of this in 1/64. That is your typical Hot Wheels/Matchbox scale. He looked at me and said "Here! See what you can do with this". I'm not exactly into these cars but, why not? A 3D resin model requires extensive work. This is not exactly for the beginner or the faint of heart. You have to make your own glass and many other parts. And, the smaller the scale, the bigger the challenge. This is the end result. This would be a street/strip car. "Barely" street legal. Automotive lacquer primer, paint and clear. Enamels and acrylics for everything else. License plate reads R100 PR As a bonus, here is a quick video with sound dubbed in. No, the model doesn't sound like that. Thanks, Ismael

Hello, Panel lines rescribed, work on main body and first coat of primer. Thanks, Ismael

Hello, Pyromania: A type of impulse control disorder that is characterized by being unable to resist starting fires / Impulse control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires. MY DEFINITION: A modeler who likes Pyro Models I fall in this second category. You may have seen elsewhere I built a Pyro 1/32 scale 1915 Ford Model T (with working features) and a 1937 Chevy convertible. https://race-car-models.proboards.com/thread/3111/finished-1915-ford-model-pyro https://race-car-models.proboards.com/thread/3350/finished-chevy-convertible-box-stock I love these Pyro models from the 1960s. Great subjects, simple enough to be fun, challenging enough to be serious, good enough to be great projects. I have several of these in the stash. Suddenly, the 1931 Cadillac Sport Phaeton jumped out of the stash and somehow landed on the workbench amid several other projects. This will be a fun side project focusing on the basics. The model itself is 60 years old! 1965! Look at that perfect chrome! Funny, this model is 60 years old and it was of a then 34 years old car when released. The color of the plastic is quite something. The multipiece body will be a challenge. First order of business: the multi piece body. Test fitting showed some body gaps so I added material to tighten them. Multiple passes later of putty, sanding and primer, we are here: Thanks, Ismael

Hi Doug, Agree those look far better than the kit's parts. I've done some research and I think all 6 kits of this series (maybe the '53 could possibly be an exception) have the same problem: The car is roughly 1/30 scale but the wheels/tires are around 1/22 scale. I am trying to get some time to write a full article on these fascinating kits. I am working with my local 3D printing guy trying to come up with something. I convinced him that if this works I'll help him sell a ton of them.... (even if I may have to buy them all 😉 ) First goal is something for this 1920 and Murphy's 1922. By 1931 the tires were getting bigger while the wheels were getting smaller but we will get there when we get there. Thanks, Ismael

Correct. No Pace Car decals. The second half of the challenge is to hunt down a Fred Cady set. Or have them printed as the scheme is fairly simple. I am pretty sure the MPC Fiero (or at least one of them) has the 4 cyl engine.

I am looking at that Fiero to do the '84 Pace car. The boxart is even the Pace Car color scheme including the roof scoop. Maybe as a curbside...

Thank you Steve!!!!

Hello, Thanks guys! I'm checking but the chassis of those Minis are different to this one. My chassis has no wheel arches in the front and no molded suspension components. Some of these locating holes kind of suggest me a promo style screw? Maybe a snap kit? Thanks, Ismael

Hello, I found this in a box of Corvette junker parts but I don't recognize it. Anybody recognizes it? All it says RM 2002. Thanks, Ismael

Hello, Not much workbench time this week but churning along. Thanks, Ismael

Those are all radioactive and dangerous. I am certified to dispose of them properly. 🤣 I am missing the 1931 to complete all 6. But all are gluebombs. The wheels/tires are the main problem in all of them. Thanks, Ismael

Hello, The freezer trick is a simple yet effective process to disassemble gluebombs. 1. You dunk the model in water. I personally use a large ziplock bag just in case some small part falls off. 2. After a few minutes, you drain as most water as possible. In my case I close the zip lock almost complete but allow water to drain from a small opening. 3. Immediately close the bag and put the model in the freezer. The idea is that water has seeped inside every little gap, nook and cranny. As water freezes, it expands, usually breaking the glue joints. As simple as it sounds, it has worked wonderfully for me in the past. Thanks, Ismael

Thanks! It would still have to be painted. The well known picture that shows it in what looks like raw metal color was not on race day. I believe that must have been during qualifying or testing. On race day, the part was body color. My goal is to recreate the car as it was on race day. Loving this project as it is not only super cool but also rather simple, within the realm of my definition of "simple" . Thanks, Ismael

Hello, Slowly progressing on this. My elbow hurts from sanding but it was worth it. Pardon the small cell phone pics but I was "in the zone" and did not want to be distracted by the photo gear. So it was time for a primer adhesion test: Looked good so the test was expanded. Expanded test was good so I went all in. This will be sanded down to pretty much nothing but it is encouraging. Thanks, Ismael

Hello, Question for my vintage Indy enthusiast friends: I am still a long ways from paint, but will the classic (solid) British Racing Green work for this? The car was destroyed 105 years ago. No person who ever saw the car is alive today so we will never know what was the exact color. All we know is that it was a dark shade of green with a red radiator shell. Thanks, Ismael

Beautiful model of a beautiful car.

Thank you all for the nice comments! I really appreciate it. Update: I took this model to Modelmania 2025, the biggest car-only model show in Puerto Rico, and it was chosen as a "Top 20" winner! Thanks, Ismael

Daniel, that's a great idea! I was thinking brass but maybe aluminum is a better choice. I'll play with it. Hello, Technically, I can say that one panel is ready for primer 🤣 Thanks, Ismael

Hello, I just want to humbly share this with you all: First outing of the Marmon Wasp today at Modelmania 2025 (the largest car-only model show in Puerto Rico) and it won the Best of Show Carmelo Nieves Memorial Award, plus Top 20 in NNL style voting. My '64 Pace Car also made the Top 20. I am humbled. Thanks to Roberto (Madslammer) for organizing such a great event. Thanks, Ismael

Hello, Now it is beginning to look like a 1920 car about to be restored 🤣 Brake fluid never disappoints. Still a loooong way to go... Thanks, Ismael

Hello, If it hadn't pretty much been destroyed in shipping, this is probably the best built model I've ever bought. The paint job was the wrong color for the car I want, but it was flawless. There are traces of very fine and careful body work underneath. Every bolt was drilled out and replaced with a brass pin. Seams were beautifully worked. I got it from Italy. If this model could talk! The brake fluid is starting to do its thing but the paint was quite tough. Still a loooooooooong way to go. Thanks, Ismael

The Aurora cars are about 1/30 but the tires are more like 1/24. That's why they are out of proportions. I'm working on an article about this series of models. Stay tuned...

Thank you all! Really appreciate all your comments.

Hello, This project is missing an important part. Seems like an angled wind deflector or something, but it is not a glass windshield. It looks like unpainted metal in some photos of the era but it was body color during the race. This picture is from another track but you get the idea. Anyways I could either spend a lot of money on another kit, or make my own. I'm cheap. That's why I got the gluebombs instead of the pristine kits. You know where I'm going. I made a paper template. Actually a few. Fooled around with it for a while until it was in the ballpark of what I was looking for. Then it graduated to a masking tape template, then an index card template. Eventually it made it into a styrene template. Still oversize, but slowly getting there. The body will be stripped next. Thanks, Ismael

Hello, I was considering that option 1 (FPP wire wheels), but been 5 cars (1920, 1922, 1931, 1935 and 1940) that can get pretty expensive. The 1953 has other type wheels. Looking at alternatives, including doing my own but I'd like to find a suitable 3D offering. Thanks, Ismael