MarkJ

Wow, Shawn. It's amazing that you can 3d print the parts you need for this build. Especially the wheels and tires. I want to do some trans am cars in the future but the aftermarket doesn't really have the right tires and wheels for the Bud Moore 69 Mustangs like Panelli Jones drove. Those daisies you made look perfect. Thats what has been holding me up from starting on it. I will definitely be watching this wip with great anticipation.

Not sure but I remember seeing some pictures of some wild looking streamliners at that high banked facility in Germany. I think it was called Avus that might have been in the early fifties. They definitely looked like aero was involved with their design.

Amazing you found wire that thin. I wonder if that number helped the aero on the car at all as far as keeping the car more straight on the straightaways. Kinda doubt it, being a topless car. Of course, they really didn't worry about aero back then anyway. Just wanted a pretty body to look at which they succeeded in doing.

Made some truck arms and springs. Located the axle and added the truck arms. This is tricky because I want to build the whole axle assembly and paint and maybe plumb it before I install it in the chassis. It would be hard to paint if I just started building it into the chassis as I went along. The truck arms need to be cut to the right length and some mounting bushings added to the front of them. I think I can add the shocks after the axle assembly is installed. The track bar should also be able to be installed after the axle is installed.

Totally agree. It is more than just acceptable. It is a huge addition to the overall look of the model. So crisp and clean in application.

I got the track bar brackets finished and installed.

I agree, but they call it that in here instead of the showroom. Guiness, I presume. I'm fixing to pour me a cheap glass of Cab Sauve. 9 bucks a bottle but oh so good.

Andrew, nice save on the Ferrari script. You sure have some beautiful ref photos. I'm very jealous. This baby is looking seriously good. Seems like you're right around the corner from the under-glass section. Looking forward to it.

Looks great where I'm sitting. Looking forward to the final steps and the decals. Should really look awesome in the under-glass forum.

Yes, but a few more positives on brush painting are you can mix the paint to your liking to any color you choose in a pallet and brush clean up at the sink is a lot easier than cleaning an air brush with toxic fumes from the air brush cleaner. Also, you can paint no matter what the conditions are outside which for me is way to humid to get good results with an airbrush most of the time down here in southeast Texas. Plus, you can paint right where you build. I guess you could mix the paint in the palett to airbrush but it's hard to transfer the mixed paint to the airbrush. Plus, you can never get orange peel from a bristle brush. I bought an airbrush recently to paint my chrome wheels because I could not get any Revell Chrome, so I had to use alclad II which gave me not so good results. I was finally able to get some Revell Chrome so the purchase of the airbrush was basically a waste of money, but I do that all the time so, no big deal. You can't take it with you. Pierre, once you get that baby polished it's going to look a lot better than most peoples airbrushed or rattle can jobs.

Wow, Pierre. I believe this might be your best result yet with the brush. How do you get it so smooth that it already looks like it has been polished? Have you changed anything in your process as far as thinning or maybe adding a retarder? Other brush painters would really like to know the secret to your success. Especially me.

Thanks, Pierre. Thats good to know. If I could be half the scratch builder, you and Ken are, I'd be very happy.

Continuing on. The tank and areas around it are done. I fixed a void in the compartment near the floor on the frame rail. Had to make a triangular patch to fill it and then putty the seams. I need to add the track bar brackets to each side to have a place to mount the track bar to the truck arm. I guess there are two brackets to use depending on whether the car was to be run on an oval or road course. Just guessing. This car was run on a 2-mile trioval at Michigan.

Thank you, Ken. So glad you stopped by to give the build a glance. It's always good to have a fresh pair of eyes to check it out and if you see a glaring mistake, please feel free to share it. I can miss a lot of stuff till it is too late to go back and fix it. Sometimes I will find a new ref photo that lets me see something I could not see before. Thanks again, and I hope being a scratchbuilder is a good thing.

Got the tank done just need to finish up the planking around it. Then it's on to finishing up the axle.

Thanks, Andrew. Every now and then I can come up with an idea or two. I appreciate you stopping by and giving some input. Gets lonely in here sometimes.

As always with these scratch-built parts you find that what you thought were the dimensions of a part don't turn out that way after you fit the part to the chassis. I had to make the tank smaller front to rear and also in its depth. I will need to add a wall to the back of the rear axle compartment and also add 3 reinforcement square bars to the tank. I also realized from some new ref photos I found that the truck arms are not straight. They have a bend in them that I'm not sure how many degrees it is but its right after where the spring is mounted on the truck arm. the two ref photos are posted below. I will have to redo those truck arms. I'm thinking they also need to be a little thicker than the square bars I was using, but not by much.

Started making the fuel tank and realized I don't need to make a top for it. It's impossible to see. Also installed the truck arms to the axle. The long one won't be as long when I figure out how much to shorten it for the frack bar installation.

Andrew, really liking the dash and steering wheel very much. Hope the driver was wearing gloves. I won't tell anybody that the steering column is bent if you don't tell anybody that on my latest build a lot of things are bent that aren't supposed to be and some are not hidden from view. I'll just use the same old defense many do and just say it's a shelfer so it doesn't matter. Actually every model I own is a shelfer because they all sit on a shelf. Not the same one of course.

Here is a better ref picture that I enhanced with the markup tool.

Started on the truck arms. I will need to add the fuel tank so I can locate and install the mounting point for the track bar. They actually had them on both sides of the car, and they are located very close to the front corners of the fuel tank. I will have to add a bar to the floor to hook the shocks to. My ref pictures show both 2 and 4 shock setups for the rear axle. I'm choosing the two-shock setup because I'm doing a car that ran at Michigan. And I'm lazy. If you look at that horrible ref picture hard enough, you will see the track bar mounts. They are square rods with holes in them on each side, close to the front corners of the fuel tank.

Beautiful build as always, Pierre. The whole look of the model says that it came from an advanced kit instead of a snap kit. Love the brick wall and signs backdrop and your paint finish as always is magnificent. the wheels and tires were definitely worth waiting for. Another great build from the master.

Looks Awesome, Pierre. Let us know when it's in the showroom or whatever they call it here. I always enjoy your presentation with the backup photos.

I had to remove the floor that I had added because it was too close to the axle and there wasn't enough room for the shocks to be mounted and be too short. The springs will be mounted on a pedestal on a landing on the front wall. There will just be enough room to squeeze them in. The real car has them mounted that way.

Looking fabulous, Andrew. Love that shade of red and its applied and polished perfectly. On to the decals. Will you be clearing them?