Harpo

My estimate of frontal area was way off, after some measuring I think the least I can achieve is around 21 sq ft. Even if Cd could be reduced to .3, this would still only give a theoretical top speed of ~250mph... This might be enough for a diesel record in 1973, time for more research!

It would help! I've tried looking online, but it's rather complex. My fantasy build takes place in 1973, can you direct me to the rules and records that existed then?

My last "fantasy" build (QuickSilver) was so much fun that I've decided to build another "LSR car that could have been". I'm after the record for diesel powered cars, and the year is 1973, the first year of the Cat 3406. With 300mph as the goal I'll need two of them (Ebay), and a car body that will go around them (spare Ecto1A). Here's the specs: Displacement: 1786ci (29.2L) HP: 1100 @ 2100 rpm Torque: 3700 ft lb @ 1200 rpm Weight: ~20,000lb Cd: .40 Frontal: 8 sq ft This gives me a theoretical top speed of 285mph, so I'll be refining things as I go along. It's going to take some serious overdrive ratios, but with the available torque this car should be capable of stopping the rotation of the earth. I haven't decided what to call it yet, but the possibilities are fun: Caddy Cat? Catillac? Caderpillar? Here's where I'm at so far, engines are built and grafted together, shown next to their new home.

That was a problem area, it is much better than it was. Here's the top rework. Many thanks to all for the kind words! Garry

This one is DONE! Many thanks to all who have watched and complimented!

Inspired by the 1963 Mustang III Concept Car (more info in my build thread), this is a Revell 68 Mustang kit shortened eleven scale inches. Still practical for everyday use, but much lighter and faster on the corners! Aside from taking a slice out of the entire car and adding cutout pipes, this is a stock build. Finish is Createx Iridescent Turquoise/Faskolor Faspearl Green mixed 1:1, then top coated with Createx 4604 Gloss. First few gloss coats were tinted with about 5% Createx Phthalo Green, final coats were clear.

Two features I couldn't resist using in this kit are those great headers and that artfully crafted transverse exhaust system. Not really compatible, but I solved that; I now have cutouts!

Painting and detailing in progress. I did some trials using gloss clear over Molotow chrome and it seems to work fine, so overall gloss coats are next!

Is that a '58 Buick? I want one!

I've had the same thoughts lately, wanting something different. My last two builds follow this theme: Pirahna Land Speed Record Car - DONE! 68 Mustang 2+0 Short Wheelbase

More progress, all chassis components shortened and installed. Needs lots of touch-up, but that's always an issue with these water based paints!

I wanted to tone down the "fake chrome" look of the wheels, so I tried some yellow Tamiya drybrush powder. I chose yellow because the body will be green with gold accents, but the color isn't really noticeable here. It seems to work very well at knocking down the excess reflections, a much more realistic look!

Googling "reliable resin complaints" tells the story, and it's not good.

Or this one?

Is this it?

You always get the best pics of the interior before the model is done!

Making progress; shortened the interior panels, did some painting:

Top revisited... On careful examination, it's a bit too "peaked". Wanting to ease this without a major rework, here's what I did: Knowing things might get a bit thin, a strip of styrene is glued over the seam on the inside: Aggressive application of the sanding block (150 grit), followed by 320 and 400 gives a smoother profile: The difference is subtle in profile, but perceptible: Before: After: It's much more noticeable in reflected light, and this should give a big improvement when the final gloss is on: Before: After: My dad owned a body shop when I was young and all our family cars were rebuilt from totals, so I'm no stranger to getting contours correct. But doing body work on a car 1/25 the normal size is challenging, I think I need scale tools!

These are some great ideas, but major mods are something I've never done before. This build and the one prior (Pirhana LSR) are my first efforts in learning to "think it/build it". I may yet change the roof line on this one, but my goal here is to learn and hopefully get a little better with each build.

Great mods, Tim! The long hood is a great look, but needs a flatter roof to go with it imo. Got a bit more done today: The easiest place to shorten the interior tub was right behind the seats: The locating pins make getting it right rather easy. Reinforced with styrene strips: Chassis gets the same treatment, in a slightly different location: Chassis cut, then trued up with a 3m sanding block: Kit also has locating pins between tub and chassis, so this fit is also pretty simple, just a matter of careful sanding. Here's tub and chassis in the body, fits good!

Carefully sanded to fit, joined with liquid cement: Seams gently welded with hot knife, extra reinforcement styrene panels glued on sides: Puttied and primed: Now it's time to shorten the interior and chassis, working on ideas but I'll figure it out!

I've started this project: 68 Mustang 2+0 Short Wheelbase

I'm only removing about 12" overall, and since the doors on this car are the size of billboards this is the logical place to do it. I started by finding the highest point of the roof: 12" at 1/25 scale is 12/25 = 0.48", so I moved forward half of this distance (0.24") and marked the spot: Back under the dial indicator, this shows a drop of .005": Since the goal is to have the roof cuts meet at an identical height, I then moved rear of center to the identical drop, 0.005": This gave me a .406" section which amounts to 10.15" (.406 * 25), which is fairly close to my target of 12" I cut a length of masking tape to 0.406", and applied this in one long piece to both roof and doors, centered on the roof center mark. This hit the doors in an opportune spot, avoiding the handles and most of the sculpting. I then added 3M fine-line tape on each side, with just a tiny gap for easy visual alignment: Removing the masking tape shows cut lines (inner edges of 3M tape) to be 10.825 scale inches apart, close enough for me! After rough cuts with the hot knife and some careful filing and sanding, we're left with two halves of a Mustang! Now I just have to put it back together!

My inspiration for this one is the 1963 Mustang III Concept Car, a rather drastically shortened 2-seater. They hacked 18" from the wheelbase and 22.5" from the body, mine will be much less, about 12" overall. I'm starting with the Revell '68 Mustang GT 2n1 because I love those concave taillights (but sadly the kit doesn't represent them very well!). I've already started slicing but haven't edited the pics yet, so stay tuned for Part 2!