Dan Cooper

Still too cold to get much done. I've just been tinkering with bits when it's sunny. The rear underside is now done. Not much but it's some progress. I really want to get the wheels painted but too cold. It takes ages for paint to dry. I'm going to tackle the spark plug wiring next. Thanks for looking in. Dan

It's been way too cold and wet to work on this much. I've really only been tinkering around the edges, brush painting bits and messing with the glass. Did get the motor started with some paint, wiring is next. And got the gauges in and glossed. As soon as the weather heats up and I can spray paint again I can get the chassis into some kind of finished state. Meanwhile I have plenty to do on the motor. Thanks for looking in. Dan

Steve - Yep, most definitely going to test. But have run out of White Tamiya primer so waiting for the replacements to come in the mail. I like what you said about compatibility. I tend to stay in the Tamiya family as I have alway had great results without hiccups using their products. I know they aren't cheap and rattle cans are wasteful as all heck but they do work. ( I like the silver Sharpie idea , neat. ) Most of my progress in the last few days is with those said Tamiya rattle cans. I am lucky in that over the years I always seem to pick up a can or two when I'm in a hobby shop and so I do have a fair few colours already. ( They do get costly and doubly so on this bigger kit.). I'm trying to do each subassembly as a little model that hopefully will come together into something nice at the finish. Drive shaft painted and chipped. Dash was sanded flat of woodgrain and a new gauge panel added from thin sheet styrene with bezels from thin solder wire. I plan on using some 1/24 scale aircraft gauge decals and adding glass with clear UV curing resin. ( Wish me luck ) Probably a bit naff but I don't think I could have painted the kit piece to make it look okay, so this should look the part I hope. The Tamiya rattle cans got a workout on these buggers. Chrome stripped with bleach then everything sanded and made squarish. Extinguisher got some added bits then paint and some fluffy placard decals from 1/24 scale aircraft kits. Anything to jazz the bits up a bit. Motor, fuel tank and roll cage/seat in basic colours awaiting detail painting/light weathering. Need to sort out the chassis paint so I can start to glue bits together. All this has been a lot of fun and I'm learning as I go. Thanks to everyone for looking in. Dan

Steve - Thanks! The kits shear size sure does make a statement. It is quite nice size to work on and definitely helps the old eyes to see what I'm trying to do. Worked all weekend on her and will post some more once the primer gets sorted. Think I'm going to do a whole test to see how well I can paint it on some scrap before I jump into doing the body. I saw some 1/32 inch wide pin striping tape that looks interesting. Will- Glad you like my little efforts. If you like this subject I'd say go for it as it's a pretty good kit if you take your time and really think through where all the parts go. I spent a bit of time on Saturday getting the oil breather pipes pinned in place as there wasn't much in the way of locator pins on the parts as provided. Doesn't help I'm not much of a car modeller. Almost done with assembly, just need to work out how to reliably put in the windscreen glass. I've added a strip of fine solder glued to where the edges of the rear glass sit to make a sort of stop/lip to hold the glass in position when it comes to final assembly. I'm terrified I'll muck up the final glueing up. Quick question? --- Has anyone any experience in using very thin pin stripe tape to do the pin striping on kits like this? I'm thinking it might be a whole lot easier and more accurate than trying to mask and spray with rattle cans. I wonder about spraying final gloss over the tape? Possible or just a dumb idea? Thanks Dan

I think I'm sufficiently far enough along to share this project. Latest project; 1/16 scale 1973 Nascar Richard Petty Charger. I'm usually a model railroader who dabbles in 1/48 scale armour but I saw this kit at Model Expo, my local big model show, two weeks ago at 1/2 price($50!AUS) and thought, "I wanted one of those as a little guy...but now I have money." So here we are. Rushed home and opened her up full of glee and the darn thing has the worst instructions and build method I've ever seen. All the parts do fit but EVERY surface need sanding and fitting to get it to go together. Parts are mis numbered in the instructions and most mating pins are misaligned or not there. I thought, " You knew it was an old kit, just get on with it." I have build it all in big sub assemblies so that I sure that once it's all painted and detailed with wires and hoses that it will actually fit together correctly. If I had tried to paint the parts first it would never have gone together and it would be in the bin. The plan is to fit and fettle and mock up/ practice final assemble til it all goes together. So far, so good. It's been a lot of work but I pretty pleased with where I'm at and I think I can get it to look okay in the end. ( I don't ever want to think about the exhaust manifolds ever, ever again.) The two tone Petty blue and florescent red paint job( Planed as TS-23 and TS-36 at this point over Tamiya white primer) is going to be fun as there is no plan or details for masking and the two colours are separated by 1mm wide white pin stripe that I'll need to mask off. ( I might skip the stripe if it gets to crazy - I mean, I do this for fun ) It's too cold in Melbourne to paint anyway and I need to get the chassis and motor finished first as it needs to be all done before the glass and body gets added. At least it can all be mocked up using pins and tabs I've added to work out all the wires and hoses so they can get made and put aside to be added after the paint goes on. I do think this is a fun kit but I've been coddled by modern kits for so long I have forgotten what it was like in the old days of kits like these and slow drying tube cement & Testors/Pactra enamel paints. Thanks for looking in on my little foray into Nascar kits. The things we do for fun huh?

I am starting a new project that I got as a gift for Christmas. It's the Ramcharger FED. I much enjoyed building my first FED in eons last year but was disappointed with the wire wheels from the old kit. I have been casting about trying different ways th make wire wheels without success. I then thought to see if I could get my 3D printer to make some acceptable wheels. My ambitions are modest. Just something better than the kit. I know I can't get fine enough spokes to look better than real wire or photo etch but I can't seem to get those methods to work. With this in mind I fired up the computer and had at a design after carefully measuring the kit parts. I used Fusion 360 and this is what I have got working at the moment ( WIP) . I've managed to get the design into my Elegoo Mars printer and printed a test piece. So far the wheel fits the tyre but needs some work on getting the supports just right to print reliably. ( To be honest I'm over the moon with how well it fits the tyre.) I can now start to think about some subtle tweaks to make it look a touch better. It's not as good as a hand laced wheel but I think it is a step in the right direction. Please let me know what you think and any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for looking in. Dan

Excellent looking build. So clean and sharp Inspirational stuff, thank you for sharing.

That motor looks super John. What brand of wired distributor did you use? It looks so neat and tidy. I'm looking forward to your progress. How is the kit? I've never seen one before but it looks great and I really love the subject. Is it worth tracking down? Dan

Wow, that came out looking flash. Thanks for sharing. Those engine bay details look amazing. Well done.

This is such a cool project. Your mad skills are wonderful to watch. Enjoying your build immensely and lots to learn from. Thank you for taking the time to share your craftsmanship and knowledge. Much appreciated.

Progress; Just about done with the chassis. Now it's on to the body! Thanks for all the great comments. I'm happy folk like her so far. Dan

Thanks Vi, I'm glad you like my little efforts. As for the barrel valve and throttle linkages. They are all just bits of Evergreen styrene rod, strip and brass wire. I just try and break the part down into the simplest shape and then glue little bits together until I get something that looks close. The Optvisor helps with being able to see close up and doing each part in lots of small steps / subassemblies to let it dry helps. The Fuel lines are 0.15 lead fly tying wire for the injectors( As are the spark plug wires) and little drilled blocks of 2mm square Evergreen strip. The braided line is from Top studio ( 0.6mm) IHTH.

Thank you Marcos - Not too sure what you mean as I add my photos from the box at the bottom of the posting then hit return twice to get the curser to drop to below the last photo and then keep typing away. If you are referring to my little Squirrel Built logo I add that in when I'm post processing my photos. I hope that helps.

I worked a bit more on this one today and I'm calling it done. I may in the future go back and add the steering linkage but it's just a bridge too far right now. ( Come to think of it I'd like to try lacing some wire wheels too) At some point you have to just say, " The next one will be better but this one is done." Final pics; I pretty pleased, it came out much better than I had any right to assume. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun. Enough to start the Candies & Hughes Funny car. Great to try something new and different. Many thanks to those who looked in and left a comment or two. Thanks! I hope you like her. Dan

Thank you gentlemen for your kind comments. I'm glad you like my little efforts. One thing I note from looking at other work is that I need to work on keeping everything clean and tidy. I don't know how some of you guys build such super sharp models. For me the dents and paint muck ups seem to pile up one upon another. Progress; I couldn't get the exhaust pipes to stay round so I cut some brass tube and soldered four bits together and grafted them on to the ends. Not perfect but learned enough that I can do it better next time. The plumbing is all in but I'm not super happy with it( I'm sure I could do better next time). Once again learned more about what not to do rather than what to do. I can't imagine using the tiny hose fittings as even without them my nerves are shot to pieces. I had ordered some seat bets but the ones that came were, for me, unworkable so I have some others on order to see if they are better/easier. A few more bits to do on the chassis but it's time to address the elephant in the room and tackle the body work. So far so good and I'm looking to do mid 70's funny car next. Anyone have a suggestion for a good kit to try? Preferably one that you can still get a hold of. Thanks for looking in and your comments and encouragement are most appreciated. Dan