Mark W

Ok, the 2C had an aluminum monocoque chassis, so this I will paint aluminum. My reference photos show the seat area as “dark” (black and white). I will follow your suggestions, brown with black padding, which in the photo looked pretty basic. Thanks!

Thank you, I printed a picture of your work to have as a model when I do mine.

Perseverance Pierre, those belts look beautiful! And the color of the interior is perfect. I think those belts would look fine on my Chaparral, what brand are they? The material also.

The three recommendations above are the best choice. I’ve used two part Bondo body putty, Bondo spot putty and Milliput. All with excellent results. I will add Mr Hobby Surfacer. It comes in three grades 500, 1000 and 1500. But I only use the 500 and 1000. They are great for pin holes and scratches. Just brush it on.

A bit of progress on the Chaparral. Anyone that has built this kit knows the interior is pretty basic, as it was designed around two AA batteries. The rear of the chassis is offset to accept a tint electric motor. This was supposed to be a quick build for me, that ended after the first modeling session. So now I’m firmly caught in the “I can do this better trap”. Ah well, at least I enjoy it. So here’s my efforts to insert the Union Chaparral 2E interior in the 2C. It needed to be widened a bit and reinforced to fit the AARI chassis. Paint will be aluminum, but does anyone know what color/material the seats were?

Great work so far Justin. I have the same build going myself, so I will watch closely.

That’s ingenious! I’ve used magnets to keep a stubborn hood down, but never up. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful job on a classic pickup.

Yes, I’ve had really good results with Future. The nice thing is, it’s reversable.

Try taking everything off with Windex, got to be the original with ammonia. Picture please

Nice innovative thinking on making the boot!

Been there!

I use Future (is the quick shine?) and tint it with food color. Seeing you post, I may experiment with acrylics. I’ve had spotty results with double coating, sometimes it doesn’t go on as smooth as the first coat. It's better to tint the Future darker and go with one coat. Brushing slowly works fine, clean your brush with Windex with ammonia. But don’t use ammonia in your airbrush!!! The metal doesn’t like it.

Beautiful build! Isn’t it great to have the 1:1 right there to reference!

Working on the screens for the front. I really want to make them flush. First a piece of screen was cut about 1/8” oversize all around, then a it was covered with a piece of masking tape. Placed underneath the vent and traced with a pencil. Then with needle nose, a box was made. The fit doesn’t look perfect right now but I’ll super glue a bit at a time and form it in, if all goes well that is. It will be painted lightly and installed after the body is painted.

Dan, I love everything you’ve done with this kit! So many special techniques you have used, it’s more of a tutorial than a WIP. Thanks for sharing your efforts.

Dan, thanks for taking the time to send the pictures, they are going to be an invaluable reference in a complex build such as this. Guy’s build is phenomenal ! If I can just come close, it will make me very happy. Have you built any of these yourself?

Just to reaffirm what others have said. Real spark plug wire is mostly 9mm or 3/8” or .375” all the same dimension. .010”. = 1/4” easy to remember, so .015” = 3/8”. Perfect! Another easy dimension to remember is 1mm “ = 1 inch in 1/25th scale. 1/25 of 9mm = .36 mm

You’re right Pierre, after looking at these two builds, I had to re-think mine. The metal A/N fittings are quite pricey, especially for two kits. I bought resin fittings last night and some braided cable. Going to experiment and see how they look. Rich was right, the vinyl lines are difficult to clean up. Looking at what I did so far and the other builds, my lines look pretty bad. I’m going to try to replace them, good thing I didn’t go too far! And thanks for the kind words.

No problem Bill. The body is great, well proportioned, the front swoop should be a little deeper but that’s hard to notice. The interior is lacking, the pontoons should be flat, but they are round to accept the “batteries”. And it is a curbside. I’m going to correct that. The prices are crazy high on ebay, buy I watched for several months and got one for $40.00 total cost. Still high for a curbside, but it’s the only game in town.

Great, the fine it shall be!

Thanks Steve, I’ll look into the Cady decals.

Bruce, I got various screen sizes from an industrial hydraulic filter. I should have some extra, how much do you need.

Working on the screens, which do you prefer?

A few spacer, a little filing and the ride height was adjusted. Now on to the screens and cockpit!