AmericanMuscleFan

Absolutely true Steven! Same feeling for me, a botched or ordinary paint job will destroy most of the good work done because it's the first thing you will see and comment on a build. You can relax now, you are on the good track with yours! I love that color!!!

I'm speachless Scott! With all the passion, dedication and attention to details you have already put (and continuing to) I can't believe that you will not have a pinch in the heart when this beauty will leave your hands! I raise my hat to you!!!

Hello everyone, I do have finally finished all the parts for the Lenco transmission including the shifter handles, all the levers (forward and reverse), rods and jam nuts. I also made the side supports with a 0.047" brass rod and the mounting brackets are welded on. The transmission is not finally assembled because I do have ordered brass bolts to connect the gear cases together. As soon I get them I will make the fanal assembly minus the shiter that will be mounted on the transmission by inside the cab when the floor pan will be definitively glued (a lot of fun in perspective...). This is my first ever all machined transmission and I'm very happy how it turns out, i will move to the flywheel and clutch set-up. Take care, Francis Lenco components including the shifter handles, shifter bracket, manual pods, jam nuts and the levers (forward and reverse). Lenco side supports made with brass rod. The mounting brackets are welded by resistance. Lenco transmission with shifter. Same parts different view. The shifter will be mounted on the reverse case using brass bolts. The brass pivot pin on the shifter is testing purpose and not permanently mounted.. Same parts different view.

Congratulations Tim! Being relatively new with online model cars exposition (or any forum) I wasn't aware of this online contest but I can say without a doubt that your Bantam will remain a benchmark for the amazing quality of its construction. I wasn't a member of this forum when you created this opus so I want to raise my hat to you for this extraordinary work, simply the best 1/25 model car I have ever seen!

You just keep adding some beautiful details to this beauty! Very beautiful... what a beauty! Beautiful job Brian!!!

Very beautiful job Tim! I really love the first generation of Monte Carlo, probably the nicest Monte Carlo body style, according to my tastes! Nice paint job and perfect stance... a winner in my book of mine!

You have created a monster Justin! Your original question remain hard to answer based on all the interventions and replies from ours fellow members! Scratch building mean to me build something from zero or adding some details and/or improving some details using basic or more advanced tooling. That's doesn't mean that basic tooling can't create amazing results, we can see some everywhere on this forum! Based on the huge amount and very diverse opinions expressed on this (very interesting) thread, my own conclusion is that scratch building is a thing and cost is another based on the budget available and the choice of spending for hobbies that is obviously very different for each of us. Scratch building is fun and rewarding so let's go and make scratch build at our own way...

We cannot say that you're not dedicated to this build Alex, your a courageous man for sure but great job by the way! Sorry for the potentially dumb question but I wondering to know if a strip of Evergreen styrene glued in place with Cyanoacrylate or Epoxy would have been a good option to fix that enormous gap? I don't usually work with resin kits, but your obvious experience led you to use putty, so your advice on this technique would be greatly appreciated if I decided to build one and faced this kind of problem.

Very nice Astro Mike! That was the last semi truck that I built using the original kit when it was first released... you bring me back some great memories! If my memory is good, the kit was very well detailled and you nailed it! Well done sir!

Very nice and cool build Armando! The finish of your paint job along with your choice of colors is superb. Very good scratch building done on the interior and on the tooling too. You will soon get a call from Dave Kindig, this guy is crazy of these VW Vans!

Very nice bird Raoul! Firebird were very nice looking cars no matter the production year but I must admit that I do have a weak for '70 to '73 model years. The dark green you picked is very beautiful on this car and the gold mag wheels are the beautiful match for this muscle car. I always loved this screaming eagle on the hood... a very distinctive trade mark for the brand! Well done sir!

Hello everyone, I had just a few hours of bench time this week so today's update is pretty slim but like we say it's one part at a time... I made the Lenco shifter bracket out of a T6 aluminum rod and I wanted the handles to be functional so I drilled the bracket edge to edge in order to insert a brass rod as a pivot. More update later with the rest of the shifter and the mechanism parts. Comments and questions are welcome and appreciated! Take care, Francis Shifter bracket on milling chuck. Slots for the shifter levers are made using a 0.020’’ end mill. Hole for the pivot pin done using a 0.020’’ drill bit. Shifter bracket final. Shifter bracket near the big dime.

That's an incredible and well crafted project Eric! Your attention to details is out of the ordinary I would say. I was dealing with the idea for quite a few time making the instrument panel illuminated using a LED with a small button cell hidden somewhere on one of my build and your fabrication of that feature is simply flawless. A piece of art in the making sir!!!

Hello Mike and thanks for your inquiries! The aluminum used for most of my parts is the hardest that I can find and usually sold as T6 or 6061. I am not an expert so I don't know if an harder grade of aluminum is available (maybe someone can answer this for me) but the one I use produce good results using a 2 flute style end mill at high speed. It is always a good habit to make several shallow cuts (0.010'' at a time) instead of a deeper ones that leave marks or bites in the groove walls resulting of too much material removed on a single pass. The aluminum on those tubbing is soft material and called «cheese or butter» I think by many experienced machinists and it is very difficult to achieve high end result with this kind of aluminum. It is also quite impossible (at least for me) to machine this kind of aluminum, the end mill just creates kind of «plowing» and the results are not the greatest with a lot of sanding and filing at the end. Hope this is helpful for you and answered your questions, I'm always happy to help as much I can in the limit of my knowledges! Regards, Francis

Hello Mike! A fellow member has already pointed this flaw (or mistake) on my builds and I must say that I wasn't aware of the NHRA regulation regarding this. I'm now fully conscient and I will address this on my future builds and maybe add another safety hoop at 6 inches (in scale as well) of the front drive shaft joint on my already built models when the time permit me. Thanks for your kind comment and the useful infos about the safety hoop, I do appreciate! Take care, Francis

Not a lot of these 41 Plymouth around Tom! The paint looks great, did you accentuate the doors grooves, they look very good as if they are shut but functional!

Great line-up John! What about the '70 Charger, the missing link between the '69 and the '71... You have a good (but pleasant) building session in front of you sir!

I totally agree with you Noel. Beyond the amazing possibilities of those edge cutting piece of machinery, ther'se an input file that must be drawn on the computer using a 3D software that also require a minimum of experience to be exploited to it's full capabilities. By the way, I would be curious to see this fancy device carving a piece of aluminum or brass with a tiny end mill... maybe it was not designed to work with these kind of material but only wood or Renshape or its equivalent? I also think that 3D printing would be a better and cheaper alternative but I must admit that this 5-axis device is pretty amazing to watch working! Even if it can be still considered as scratch building, I do think that we are now in another territory and close to mass production for business purpose... interesting... lol.

Tom, did you start with the recent MPC release of the '78 Dodge D100 pickup to make your 600 cab? I recall seeing those truck when I was a youngster (my school bus had this cabin). This body style is for the '74 and '75 production years, is it? Many thanks for this very cool project sir!

I don't want to put you more pressure about opening the doors because your car is fantastic anyway and don't necessarily need this feature. However, if you decided to proceed with the cuts, I just want to tell you that I had this problem (with the «A» pillars) on my '64 D100. As you know my donor kit was an original 62 FORD body so the plastic was very brittle and the windshield frame had to by modified to match the shape of the Dodge truck. They are very thin already so they broke on both sides not counting that I dropped the body on the floor a couple of times on the early stage of the build. I glued them back several time with Bondene liquid glue or Cyanoacrylate but they were simply too thin to endure any manipulation. To fix the problem I folded a thin piece of aluminum in a «L» shape and glued it on the inside of the «A» pillar where the door window frame meet the pillar. In the unpleasant but possible event that a break happen on you car, you could try this trick with thin brass instead of aluminum depending on what you have on hands. I attached a picture that show partially the fix, but I don't want in any way to hijack your thread Daniel!

Sensational scratch building project Scott, everything you've done so far is top notch! This is what motivates me and my main interest in this hobby, so I particularly enjoy what you are doing on this build! For what I understand, you mentioned at the beginning of the thread that you make it as a request from your friend Louie so will you really give it away at the end or i'ts a personal tribute to his 1:1 truck? I am just curious to know!

Outch! That's hurt but it seem that you made a good recovery Gerald. I do love the 69 Charger and you do have the attention to detail sir! Sad that Mopar has quit the NASCAR, It was the best era with the epic battles of the American car makers. Nice WIP by the way!

Superb collection of Camaros Christopher! As other have mentioned, you display cabinet is fantastic and worthy of a car museum! There's no possible doubt about your favorite car maker!!!

Nice paint job Tom! You achieved some very good results with the polishing and the Galaxie will be perfect in red. Great job on the engine too, the carburators are very convincing!

That's a beautiful and great display of power Pat! Very good and ingenious idea for displaying some of your superb engines! To be confused with a real life set-up with the background and the pavement. Well crafted as usual sir!!!