OldNYJim

Great link - there’s a bunch of cool stuff on that site! Thank you! This is a render of that block - I’m no Hemi expert and I THINK it maybe be a few years too modern for this era of build…but it’s better than what came in the box at least. I’m sure it would be ok for a Cacklefest car at least: A little more progress - I really wanted to get this thing roughly mocked up before starting to add layers and layers of detail, so I had to figure out the exact wheel and tire situation… Fronts were easy…printed some cycle tires to fit my wire wheels: The kit rear tires are okkkkkk-ish, but the sidewall is way to square, and they have different manufacturer logos depending on which side you look at… These still need some post-processing, but I think they’re a bunch better: Quick mockup with my new tires…looks like a dragster to me! I needed to finish off the front suspension linkages - the kit ones are a little rough so I printed some rod ends and just made my own: WAY crisper! Note: excuse those jacked-up tires and wheels - I’m using the failed prints for all of this mockup work so I don’t ruin the good prints… As you can see, I’ve started messing with the body a little also…this kit isn’t really designed with having the body panels be removable in mind - so I started the cutting and shutting today so that with the frame completely assembled I can (hopefully) add and remove the body panels as I see fit. I did toy with running the bare minimum of a body - but I want some surface area for a nice paintjob too… Still have to finish locking in the exact mounting position for the motor, figuring out the steering and a couple of little projects and then I can start really going back through this thing and doing some fun detailing…thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

…we get an extra hour of bench time this weekend*! Good chance to start those fall projects or straighten up or do some research! *unless you’re married to my wife and she already planned a bunch of stuff to fill that hour and THEN some ?

Some great leads and insight there - thank you!! I found a banger forum online that has a BUNCH of cool photos on there, including a thread of ‘World Final’ paintjobs…amazing the amount of effort that goes into them!! Murals, hand-painted lettering, airbrushing…there’s so much cool inspiration there!

The recently reissued 32 Ford Sedan by Revell has a Flathead - and it’ll drop right into any of their variants

Cults3D offers two printing services from different vendors on their site, after you purchase a file: Looks like Craftcloud has an office in the UK, so presumably can ship there also

This is gonna be awesome - and mannnn that wedged chop is nice ?

Man, I’m so envious! GREAT score!

I’ve been researching ‘bangers’ lately - I really like them! All the crashing of a derby car…but they’re racing them too! I love that - WAY more interesting than just a demo derby, to me. I’ve got some candidates picked out for a demo derby build - it’s tough picking a suitable kit because it seems like almost all the really cool and common ‘bangers’ haven’t been kitted in styrene…but that said, if you have any pointers, I’d love to hear them! I REALLY like the super-intricate airbrushed paintjobs on a lot of them too - they’re, like, NICE race-car paintjobs often (REALLY nice!), and then they get wrecked in an evening. Awesome!

I never built a rail before, but I REALLY like a late-era front engined car. Hemi, cycle wheels out front, driver hanging his legs overtop the rear axle and wearing one of those terrifying goggle helmets…awesome! So, here goes…I’ve got the old MPC Young American kit here, but I’m building something I’ve had in my head a while - not a replica of anything in particular. First challenge was to see if I could print up a set of feasible looking wire wheels. I’ve done all-metal ones before with photoetch spokes, but I wanted to see if I could actually print a set, repeatably. Took a week (the spokes are 0.4mm thick so they’re REALLY tricky to print) but I got an acceptable set eventually: To put it into context - of this batch here, I only got a couple of good sets (and this was the SUCCESSFUL batch): High rate of attrition… Now that I’ve figured that out, and I wasn’t going to build one of these with those chunky styrene kit wire wheels, I can start at the front and work back. The front axle will be the other challenge on this one - the axle isn’t too bad, but the front suspension is pretty blobular. Designed and printed some replacement pieces that will sleeve onto the kit frame… Chopped the existing horns off, cleaned it all up and they install like this: Next up, printed added some steering arms: The balance here is making everything in-scale, but not SO in-scale everything breaks as soon as you touch it. Of course, brass is probably the answer to that problem, but not on my first attempt at one of these… Whilst the printer was running, I also tackled the engine - I’m not ready for that yet, but this Matty’s 3D printed piece is WAY better than what the kit gives you: I’m actually planning to use the kit induction setup if I can…a hybrid of the printed block and some of the kit parts, but we’ll see how that works out once I’ve got the stubborn-to-remove chrome off those bits so I can start playing with them… And…that’s all folks! More soon, soon as I’ve done more! Thanks for looking!

You don’t need STRIP necessarily - you can pick up Evergreen or Plastruct sheet that’s pretty thin and just cut strips from that. Most actual pre-packaged strip would likely be too thick for this task, I’d bet

Thanks fellas! Worked through most of the paintjob this last few days… Shot a base color of white over all the rust. The entire paintjob is built around this base color, but I’ll be burning back through it to some of the brown shades later to reveal some damage… Didn’t aim for full coverage here - actually shot some streaks and badly-painted spots on there like it had been shot by someone who either didn’t know 100% what they were doing or didn’t have good gear to do it with… Next up, masked the front portion and added some stars: Painted Createx blue: And de-masked: Next up, a coat of intercoat to protect my work so I can mask over it (not that it matters if I ruin it, particularly) and then masked out some stripes: Tamiya vinyl tape is good for this - you can make it somewhat bend around curves… Shot some Vallejo red: And de-masked again: Next up, another light mist of intercoat to protect these layers (but not too much - I’ve got to try and burn back through these layers before I’m done) and then I masked for some door numbers and lettering: I cut the masking film with my Silhouette cutter; the film is Oramask… Shot Vallejo white first: Then added a second layer of masks for the numbers: And shot some Vallejo black: And after letting the paint tack up for 10 minutes or so, carefully demasked all this stuff too: Next jobs are to paint the inside of the body and the engine bay / firewall and then start chipping and sanding through some of the paint to expose the rust and grime underneath where some battle-damage has been sustained. Still plenty to do, but I’m having a blast with this one! Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Picked up the Revell 39 Chevy from Hobby Lobby - I try and pick up anything ‘hot toddy’ when they have it because I’m sure I’ll want it at some point… Plus, they have their own version of the Tamiya weathering powders now - couple of different flavors - picked up these to try out and compare to the Tamiya ones. Plus, slightly off topic, picked up the teal Johnny Lightning demo derby car to match the pink one I already had: I already built a 1:25 build of the pink one - guess I need to do the mint green one now too:

Couple of new pre-orders announced today:

Thank you! Oh, I’d never do this to a REAL one - I barely feel ok ruining a TOY one ? Started the paintjob tonight - I’ve got a particular thing in mind and it’s gonna take a few evenings so I’m getting going on that now. Last night I primed, then shot a base of an acrylic red oxide: Then, spent some time adding some shading over top: I actually quite like this look - I hardly ever do really beaten-up patina’d paint jobs but they ARE fun…but this is really the base so that I can start laying down the REAL paintjob and then burn back thru it in some spots to reveal various layers of primer, rust and dirt. I’ve got some texture to add to those orange spots too, plus some more shading but that’s about good enough for what I have in mind next… Just a small update, but this paintjob will take a few steps…more soon, soon as I’ve done more! Thanks for looking!

Yep - I hadn’t taken the time to read that until just now, but yep:

I bet it’s the COLORS that are non-toxic, but not the clear (hence the careful wording) - but a safe(r) 2K would be a great thing indeed! Usual disclaimer; don’t drink paint, wear a mask, spray in a well ventilated place etc

I built a Crown Vic inspired by the oval racing at our local county fair a couple of months back, and didn’t quite get that out of my system yet…plus a racecar needs something to race against, so here we go again… I’m building this for roughly the same class as the Crown Vic I did previously which was a mostly-mechanically-stock class with some minor upgrades allowed for safety and performance but a mostly standard car: This one is gonna be a little more beaten-up but not a complete wreck either - just a ‘well loved’ racecar with barely a straight panel on it, but mechanically cared for and ready for battle. Printed some Hoosier dirt tires, which are technically illegal but I saw on some cars anyone at the 1:1 racing I watched: And then set about ruining that nice body…filled the lights and anything you’re allowed to weld up: And then set about ruining the body. I wanted some creases and wrinkles and dents to demonstrate a bunch of minor doorbanging and barrier-clipping that this car might’ve seen in it’s life before, and that was today’s project. I removed some some of the panels to allow me to form aluminum and copper copies that would then be reinserted flush with the surrounding panels like so: So I didn’t have to completely disassemble the body, I left the doors in place and embossed metal sheet over top: And worked my way around the car adding more or less damage depending on where it was likely to happen. The rear trunklid got some damage at one point and is particularly bad: But the outside of the car, the one that would end up up-against the barrier most often has really seem some battle damage: Bad enough that the rear quarter has been replaced at some point, but even that has some dings and dents. Sidenote: I really had to trust in the process and regularly thought “this is just a mess”, but as it sits tonight I’m pleased with it, so I’ll keep going here ? Because, in some cases, I’ve skinned over the existing panels I used a little sprue goo to smooth everything out and hide the seams… …but I was reassured that a coat of primer showed it looking loosely how I wanted - not a completely trashed demo-derby car, just a hard-working racecar that’s still all-together but kinda beaten to hell at the same time. And that’s day one progress - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

I have a body printed in that material - it looks like the standard stuff Shapeways used a few years back (maybe still does). Lot of texture, not the easiest to sand nicely…I’m planning on a few decent coats of filler primer on the one I have

Awesome! That makes it a LOT easier!

Nice 1:1! And thanks for the interesting info on the oval stuff - I enjoyed reading about that. More rabbitholes to fall down!

Picked up this promo cheap…I’m not really a promo guy (or that much of a Vette guy) but I liked it enough for it to follow me home…

Cool concept! Love the Aluma Coupe! What are you planning for the interior (assuming you’re starting with the snap kit and not the full-detail version, that is…)

Since visiting my first county fair this year, I’ve been buying some weird stuff… I’m thinking this might be a good basis for a dirt drags build - I saw a few Blazers running in the dirt drags and they weren’t super different, visually, to the pullers…

Cool score!

Like finding cash in an old jacket pocket!