MarkJ

Thanks, Pierre. I think I have a mesh that will work. Hope the bug hits you quickly. That Ferrari sounds like a project that will be a feast for our eyes out here in mediocrity land . I will be on the lookout at the wip section where you usually are found. I'm guessing that is where it will be.

Thanks. Pierre. I think you're right. I scraped off some the dried wash last night and the paint in the little squares came with it. Looks like I might not be able to get rid of the toyish looking grille on this one. Have to go to some kind of plan b. Maybe involving a mesh screen of some sort like you have used on your recent builds. Are you possibly home from your travels? If so, can we be expecting a new build from you soon? Thanks again for your input on the build.

Added the bar on the floor of the tub that the cage connects to, it won't actually ever be glued to it because I have to keep the cage free till final assembly for painting. The cage is black, and the tub is red. I will paint the bar on the floor black after I paint the tub red with a brush. Also got the body primed and now I'm working on the grille with some black wash to make it look more like a grille. After the wash dry's I will rub the grille with a wood toothpick, and it will remove the wash from the eggcrate part of the grille, but the wash will remain in the little, tiny squares. I always like to do this to make the build a little more real looking. I think most of you guys do this too.

Just one more bar to add to the floor of the tub and I will be ready to start painting for a while

Good news. Not much rain this week so I can get to painting in a big way. Just hope it's not too humid.

Looks great, Bob. I wonder how long that fiberglass body would last on a short track. Of course, it has the bar all the way around it so it might be just fine. Sure, would be an eye catcher though.

Got the crush panels at the rear fenders mostly done and the 1/4 glass fairings as well. Also filled in the voids in the pads on the triple horizontal bars on the inside of the left door cage. Just need to do a little putty and sanding to finish up and start painting.

Thanks, Carl. The bar extending from the left rear frame rail to the right roof rail cage bar at the front corner of the top of the cage. I believe that is what they called the Petty bar but don't quote me on it. I just copied the Allison cage from a ref picture and included it for that reason only. The horrific crash that Richard had at Darlington in 1970 or 71 brought that bar into being. It exposed a weak part in the cage they were using at that time.

Thanks, Mike. I always appreciate your takes on my builds. Thats good to know, Bob. It's always nice to have a large stash on hand. Every time I finish a kit I go through all the sprue and cut off anything that looks promising for a future build. I have a large plastic case with a bunch of little compartments and try to keep all the parts that are like carbs or manifolds or anything like that in the same compartment together for easy finding later if I need something that I don't feel like scratching.

Mocked up the tub in the body with the chassis connected as well. I can still get the cage a little tighter at the left roof rail. Looks pretty good on the right roof rail. I need to finish the crush panels around the rear fenders and also fix the fairing around the quarter glasses. There are a few spots on the triple bars in the left door that need to be filled in with styrene pieces. I'm starting to see some painting in my future once I get these little details ironed out.

Got the cage mostly finished and you can see by the building technique I used I can now remove it from the tub for easy painting with an airbrush. Had to add some crush panels to the rear part of the tub to get the tub more centered and get rid of the huge gap between the body and the tub at the front of the rear fenders which are part of the tub on this model. Really looked odd to be able to see the rear tires from the inside of the car but that's what you get if you build this model oob. I still have some more styrene sheet to add to complete the crush panels. I have to redo the fairing around the quarter glass openings as well. The cage now sits much closer to the window openings and a-pillars then the oob cage would have.

Almost done with cage.

Thanks, Kevin . I really appreciate you stopping by for a comment.

Andrew, again, that dash looks superb and the engine is going to look superb too. You are the only builder I know that's not in a big hurry to finish. And it shows in the final photos.

Got the head restraint installed. Now on to the triple bars in the doors.

Thanks, Donato. Always appreciate your positive comments on the builds.

Thanks, Bob but that cage looks nothing like the cage I need. I'm really not looking for a way to save time. If I did I would have just used the kit cage.

With no nascar race to watch today because of the greed of nascar to take away the next 5 races in hopes that most Nascar fans will try to stream with televisions that aren't set up for steaming. I should have time to work on this build when I would normally be watching a Nascar race. Thanks Nascar.

Some more work done on cage. All that's left is the head restraint pad and the triple horizontal bars in the sides of the cage at the doors.

Got to the point I don't need my friend Mr. tape to help me anymore on the cage. Just a few more bars, padding and a head support to prevent whiplash and I should be done.

Carl, I told you wrong. The skinny tubing is 3/32 not 1/8 of an inch. the padding is 5/32, that was correct. I put a small piece of wire in the tubing and just bend it cold with my fingers. The wire inside the tubing keeps it from breaking as you bend it. You can do a 45 degree angle if you want to.

Carl it is 1/8-inch tube and 5/32 tube for the padding. Thanks for the comment.

Got started on the cage. I begin off the midpoint of the model right at the door opening at the rear of the door and build on to that, eventually ending up with what I have in the final photo below. Then I go back and add all the other bars. I'm adding a tube over the main size bar to represent the padding. I split it down the middle spread it, and it slips over the main bar wherever I need to have padding. I'm not gluing the cage to the tub. It's just a tight fit at 4 spots around the cage and will remove it to paint it black and also paint the tub red. I will glue it at final assembly. These bars fit tight to the roof and A pillars in the front like the real car has it. There is still enough adjustment space to make room for the windshield......I hope. Thin masking tape is my friend during this beginning phase of the cage build

I'm so jealous of your wealth of ref pictures that you actually took yourself knowing some day you were going to need them and appreciate you sharing them with us.

Thanks, Steve. I tried to fix it, but it is beyond fixable. Thanks for stopping by with your thoughts on the build. Yes, Carl. I was trying to keep this build as oob as I could, but the cage is just too ridiculous to keep. Thanks for asking about the build. Thanks, Kevin. That's why I decided to do my own cage. I was having trouble incorporating the kit cage with the quarter glass fairings. Thanks for your props on the fairings.