kensar

I'm happy to answer any questions about my modeling stuff. When I first got back into the hobby in the 1990s, I got a bunch of kits, more than I would ever build. When I realized this, I had a change in focus. I started investing in tooling and my own skills. That way I could build anything I wanted and not depend on model companies. These days, you should consider getting into the 3D printing stuff. I think that is where the hobby will be going in the future. I didn't know anything about machine tools, so I started with a website named mini-lathe.com. They have articles about how to set up the Chinese table top lathe. These lathes are made to a single design by many Chinese companies and sold under many different retailer's names. I bought mine from Harbor Freight. The minilathe website tells you how to set it up and tune it up to get 0.001" accuracy, which is plenty good for modeling stuff. They also reference LittleMachineShop store for parts and metal. You will also spend about the same amount of money buying tooling as you do for the lathe itself. Based on the information from the website, I set up my lathe and just started working with it. Simple stuff at first. If you have a lathe, you will want a mill, too. Mini-lathe.com has some references to a mini-mill website too. LittleMachineShop has a lot of resources for both. I got a micromill from Harbor Freight, although I wish I had gotten a minimill, which is larger than the micromill. This is the lathe I have. I can show more about my workshop if there is interest. As for the Meng bolts, removing them from the backing doesn't give me any heartburn. I have re-shaped a hobby knife blade to use for the small bolts (I make a lot of my own tools for special purposes). Just cover the bolt with your finger when cutting it off or it will go pinging off into space. I remove the larger bolts using a razor saw. The blade broke, so I modified it so the blade extends far out from the holder. This is a very handy modification. Over the years I acquired a few machine tools for this hobby stuff, which opened up a whole new aspect of model building for me.

I don't mind the discussion. I usually learn something I didn't know and at least others are watching. The wheels will not rotate (at least there will be a flat spot on them) and I didn't know what position the drive shafts would be in, so I made them functional. I really didn't like the looks of the kit version of them anyway. Some 1/16" aluminum tubing and 0.032" wire did the trick. The fit of the axle through the hub carrier was very sloppy. It looks like there is a piece that fits around the axle that is missing, but it is not in the kit or mentioned in the instructions, so more re-engineering with a sleeve to take up the slack. Till next time...

Added a few more details and charmed the snakes. I detailed the exhaust by adding some stretched sprue to depict weld lines. They came out a little overdone to my liking but they are not too noticeable since they are mostly black anyway. Did touch them off with a little gold accent. I corrected the transaxle plumbing based on what references I could find. I think it is correct now.

Nice job on this not too often seen variant.

Slick black paint!

It may be simple, but its got displacement! Update on the progress. I found the kit's braided lines, made of a textile, not metal, actually work very well with their fittings. The downside is that it comes in white. I colored it with a metallic silver Sharpie marker, but it turned out gray. The distributor and plug wires worked out okay. I re-worked the entire front end of the engine, making a water pump, pulleys, and alternator. I think it came out well, much better and more accurate than the kit offering. Next is the exhaust system. I'll need another can of this! Thanks for looking in on this project.

Wow, that's a lot of modifications you've done. Nice work.

Great looking weathering, Pierre. I have the 1/12 Tamiya Porsche 934 to build one day.

I think it looks good. My opinion is that light weathering is better than overdone.

Thanks to Force for posting the pictures and diagrams. This has enabled me to make some corrections to the model which is so wrong. When screws are involved that need to be threaded into plastic, I cut a slot into the threads to make it easier to cut the threads without over stressing the plastic. I use a Dremel tool with a cutting disc. While waiting for paint to dry, I have started prepping the chassis. I added some bolt heads and cut down some mounting posts that were needlessly tall. Next, I spent time working on a water pump that was omitted from the kit. The reference pics posted by Force and Vamach1 were invaluable. I didn't have any styrene sheet that was thick enough, so I laminated up some sheets. Then sketched out the water pump, eyeballing the size and shape. Then cut out and shaped the pump and turned out a couple of the pulleys. Didn't detail them because they will never be seen. Test fit. So this is where I'm at with the engine. Still working on the water pump and planning other fittings for the plumbing. Next will be a bracket and alternator. Again, the reference pics have been invaluable. I put on some washes and filters to give a more realistic appearance, so my recent military model building (aircraft) experience didn't go to waste. Thanks for all the comments and following along. I hope soon I will be posting real time for timely replies.

May the Force be with us!

Keep the reference pics coming, guys. I see I will have to go totally rogue on the plumbing. Trying to piece together the cooling system, I think the coolant comes out of the top of the engine block, up to the water tank, then out to the radiator, comes back to the pump on the lower side, out of the pump through the two tubes into the block. Anyone know if this is right? Then there's the oil system. Out of the bottom front of the block to the oil cooler, then to the filter, then back into the block next to the outlet pipe?

Nice work on the weathering so far.

Distributor I didn't have a 1/12 distributor, so I'll be making one, starting with the black part in the last picture I posted. Fortunately, the shape was pretty close to the basic shape of a distributor and the right size. Another complication is the plug leads are at 90 degrees coming off the distributor cap. First, I milled out slots for the posts. Then, glued in 0.035" styrene posts. The silver cylindrical part is a starter motor I made on the lathe. My plan going forward. I found some vinyl tubing about 0.035" ID x 0.050" OD. The spark plug leads are 0.030" wire. I cut 90 degree notches into the tubing, not cutting all the way through. I used a sharp scalpel for this as the blades are sharper than hobby knife blades. The plan is to press the tubing over the posts on the dist. cap, insert the plug wires in the other end, then place some CA glue in the notch and fold over the plug lead end into a 90 degree bend allowing the CA to set in this configuration. Should work. I'll be using the same tubing for the spark plug boots on the other end of the wires.

Thanks for all the information posted about GT40s. I am certainly no expert on the subject and the pictures and information help a lot. I suspected that the oil lines and fuel lines shown in the Trumpeter kit are not 100% correct in their routing and Rex's (Vamach1) pictures are a great help. I was having trouble finding pictures detailed enough to use as references. Due to many inaccuracies in the kit, I am not replicating a GT40 MkII or MkIIb, but attempting to build a feasible vehicle and trying to correct some inaccuracies, being reasonable and patience willing! This also affords me the justification to use whatever colors and finishes I want. The engine and trans are not molded correctly to build an accurate FE engine, so there will be numerous compromises in accuracy. The show must go on! (Gotta bring yer own popcorn)

Starting my first build thread on this forum - the trainwreck called the Trumpeter Ford GT40. There are many inaccuracies with this kit if one wants to build the 1966 LeMans winner and I have read that it does not represent any particular GT40. I don't know how accurate that statement is, but in any case I like to do my own thing from time to time, so I will build this up as I would like it. Visually, it will resemble a MkIIb, but there will be differences under the skin. The first hurdle to overcome is stripping the chrome off of almost all the chromed parts. This was no easy task as the Trumpeter chrome is the most stubborn I have come across. I did find a way, however. Starting with the engine, I cut off all the nodules that are supposed to represent bolts and nuts, and stripped the paint off. Looking around for nuts and bolts to improve the model, I found that Meng makes styrene nuts and bolts and prices them very reasonable, so that is what I am going with. This is a great improvement over the as-molded kit. I have place 57 bolt heads so far and more are sure to come. I'm liking that price on those Meng bolts! The kit left out some necessary components, like the distributor, starter motor, and crankcase breather, so I will be adding these. Must have slipped their mind. The beginnings of a distributor and the breather I knocked out on the lathe. You're welcome to come along for this ride, but it won't be a short one.

Thanks Curt and Ace-Garageguy for the explanation regarding the electroplating. It makes more sense to me now. I would prefer to strip the chrome and paint with solvent based paints for better paint adhesion to the plastic. Poor adhesion to the plastic is why I don't use aqueous based paints. Thank you everyone for the discussion.

I believe a urethane clear coat such as 2K is a base monomer that must be mixed with a catalyst before spraying. It yields a very thick clearcoat that takes some weeks (yes, weeks!) to fully cure to a hard finish. I have used it a couple of times on models. My personal opinion is that it's more trouble than it's worth. Definitely use a respirator when spraying this stuff.

I wanted to remove the chrome because it is the wrong finish for the parts I am working with. Removing the mold lines is also another reason to remove the chrome, but for some parts, they would need to be re-chromed. I am unfamiliar with the process to electroplate an unconductive material, such as polystyrene. Can you explain more about this? I am a Chemical Engineer and I have never heard of this. As far as working with this highly corrosive material (NaOH), I am familiar with the hazards. I am not advocating that anyone else use this method just because some clown on the internet did. Every person should familiarize themselves with the hazards associated with whatever materials or processes they are using!

Well, after an extensive internet search, the only method of stripping aluminum coatings I found were to use bleach (7% sodium hypochlorite) or lye (sodium hydroxide). The bleach did not do an adequate job, even after soaking overnight. I went to a hardware store and got 100% lye, used for clearing out stopped up drains, and mixed up a strong batch of about 40% - 50% NaOH. Soaking the parts for 2-3 hours removed the plating (but not the clear yellow coating that makes the surfaces smooth). So this is what I will do to strip the chrome from the parts. I guess the aluminum coating is thicker on Trumpeter parts than parts from other manufacturers.

Moderator - how many more posts must I put up before they don't need to be reviewed? The forum information says six, but I have posted far more than that.

This may have been covered somewhere before, but I can't find the topic. What will take the chrome plating off of Trumpeter's sprues? I have tried Easy Off oven cleaner, bleach, Super Clean, and Floquil Easy Lift Off. None of these have cleaned the chrome off. I have used all of these before and each one has worked on chrome plating from other manufacturers. Any other ideas?

Very nice models, Allan. My condolences for your lost brother.

This is the Dora Wings version of the Caudron C.631 in 1/48 scale. The C.631 is a sport plane built in the 1930s and was used to set transcontinental speed records, mainly from France to places like Japan and Madagascar. This depicts one flown by Andre Japy from Paris to Tokyo. Unfortunately, Japy crashed it in Japan and was seriously injured. This is an out of the box build. Thanks for looking!

Thanks for all the kind comments, everyone. I was motivated to do a good job on this because I have been wanting to do a subject from this racing era for awhile now and there doesn't seem to be any very good kits. The box art from the Heller box is also very cool looking. I just hope some company would do a decent Alfa Romeo 158 or a Ferrari 500 and not want an arm and a leg for it (like MFH does). As for the wheels, I basically try to duplicate the kit rim and hub. A lathe and mill are needed for this kind of work. I find that the hub can be made of aluminum but the rim is better made with a softer material like PVC or polyurethane resin, which machines good and won't break the 0.013" drill bits used for the holes. The hub is not drilled for the spokes, but the spokes lay in a slot or on a ledge, then superglued there when the lacing is completed on that side. The monofilament spokes are threaded in a pattern that enables me to use one piece of monofilament for each set of spokes (inside and outside spokes). This pattern requires the number of spokes to be an odd multiple of 4 spokes: 3x4=12, 5x4=20, 7x4=28, etc. On this model, there are 28 spokes on the inside and 20 on the outside. A jig is also needed to hold the hub and rims in alignment when lacing the spokes and I make this from aluminum usually.