OldNYJim

I’m not SUPER familiar with slot cars - but is the body styrene? Or something similar to what we’re familiar with at least?

Last weekend I saw a Cybertruck…this week the exact other end of the spectrum…

That color is STUNNING - and you nailed the application. I wanna paint something with this myself, now!

Stunning work!

We have guests in town for the next few weeks, so my benchtime is basically zero…but I lined up a couple of simple projects for some of our downtime… Building the Atlantis Groovy Grader - cleaned up the body and ‘frame’ (aka: bent banana) and shot some Createx color: And I’ve been casually working on a couple of these three-wheeled vans for a future build - one nice and clean, one a little more beaten-up:

Saw the second Cybertruck of my life just outside Chicago this weekend…a lot of people don’t like them, and the build quality is apparently questionable but I like that a manufacturer did something really different and polarizing rather than just another boring blob…. Plus, I saw a weird trolley car looking bus:

Few stash-adds today…bunch of fun stuff… A few more of these for my stash… Some cool AMT built ups, an old Monogram (I think) Deuce, plus a resin Model A by ?? One of these - missing some little bits, but a tonne of useful vintage drag parts ARE in there… A showrod I didn’t have… Plus, on a slight tangent, found these while looking for something else…15 years and I still managed to resist the temptation to see what’s in them…

Here’s a weird thing Dave, just in case you need to know about it… This thread shows me as the last person to have updated it (evidenced by my avatar displaying there): But…I wasn't the last person to update it… Just a heads up! Thanks for all you do!

Interesting! Went down a rabbithole finding some pics of these UK asphalt cars…some cool build ideas there!

That engine is outstanding - and nice work on the machined parts!

Thank you! Some more work on this one today… Finished up the interior: The plastic fuel cell and battery box are from the Revell 29/30 kids - added wiring and plumbing but otherwise dropped them right in: Also designed and printed some seatbelt hardware: With that done, I could assemble the interior to the body, and then get this thing on it’s wheels: I wanted to make a simple little base to display this thing on, so I designed and printed some concrete blocks, and laid down some nice gloopy mud: And then all that was left to do was a little weathering to the outside of the car, but not a bunch - just enough to make it look like it had got dirty in the pits and rolling out onto the wet track, and then it was a wrap for this one: Oh, and a pic of the car with it’s little die-cast brother that inspired this one: This was a real simple build, but I had a BLAST with it - already got three or four more grassroots-type builds like this that I’d like to get out of my head and onto my shelf! Thanks for following along and for all the nice comments!

I’ve been trying to find one of these to build - they look like a fun little kit! Definitely unusual!

Thanks fellas! A little more progress on this one… This is strictly a curbside build, but I was at least going to paint the underside flat black, and then I felt bad for going to so little effort so I did some drybrushing and added some washes: And once those were dry, did some subtle brushing of some pastels to add a little dust and dirt also Made a number board - local rules require a 12 x 8 inch board to be mounted to the roof; a lot of drivers will reuse these if they’re not totally destroyed - they’ll be lightweight aluminum, often with digitally printed vinyl so I designed a nicer graphic for these… And finally, started working on the interior. I don’t want it to distract from the rest of the car too much, so it’s mostly black, but I’ve got some extra little bits to add later…but I started a little weathering with some dust and added some mud from the driver’s boots on the checkerplate under the dash - figure it would get real messy under there pretty quickly…. Got a bunch more pieces in paint ready to detail and add - excited to start finishing this one up! Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

This peanut butter tastes funny

I don’t know, but if it helps I lightened the photo way-way up so you can see the wheels better…based on this I’d bet they’re black, with a red rim:

Looks like the line is still visible though, plus you can see some crazing of the plastic in the center of the hood. If you’re happy, cool! Rock on! But a less ‘hot’ paint than Montana will help prevent that and give even better results…

Your Michael’s still has kits? Mine hasn’t had anything for probably 2 months now…nice score! Lucky for me, Hobby Lobby had a couple that I wanted today and is 2 minutes from Michael’s:

That about how I started doing it, yep! Good tips, thank you! I figured out a way to keep the parcel tray (and thus mounts to the body) intact and in place so it still assembles about the same, but more on that momentarily… My one friend in Jersey always told me “you stay in the city too long you’ll end up a bum or a cab driver”…I never ended up either, but I’m in Indiana right now so maybe that’s why…. Thanks for the nice comments Steve! I’d love to see that build Kurt! I have that magazine here somewhere I’m sure - and the decal sheet somewhere in my archive! Thank you!! This last few day‘s progress… Removed the rear seat, which took some careful slicing but allowed the parcel shelf to remain and thus let the tub snap into the body as intended: And then found some reference pictures of what a stripped-out Crown Vic looks like and made an approximation: I think stripping out the carpet would be a requirement a lot of places, for fire safety reasons, but my local track doesn’t require more than that so everything else is about stock…needs some cleanup and some more little details but then it’ll be ready for primer… In between doing that stuff I’ve been working on the body some…shamelessly copying the look of my inspiration: Then the doors - used Vallejo white for this because it covers great and I can get it easily from Hobby Lobby: Next up, I wanted to paint a representation of some rattle-canned numbers on the doors,plus the kind of inside-joke slogan that you often see painted on derby cars that only makes sense to the pit crew and two people in the grandstand… Masks were cut on my Silhouette plotter, because I’m not good enough to freehand in-scale spray painted numbers - but I did want to give the EFFECT of them being kinda patchy and poorly done - like someone used some cheapo dollar-store paint, didn’t shake it, didn’t think it through too well and wasn’t very good at applying it. Shot some Tamiya Smoke on the edges to make it look less opaque than it should’ve been, then shot Flat Black down the center of each number as fine as I could: What a mess…perfect! ? It’s starting to look like a derby car now! Next major job is the roll cage - more soon, soon as I’ve done more! Thanks for looking!

That’s awesome! What a cool idea! Which track was that? I’d like to research those too!

Thanks fellas! I love hearing about stuff like this - our local track has a ‘bomber’ class too, but I’m not sure of all of the ins and outs of it. I should research those earlier cars - probably some cool build ideas there! Tiny update - mixed up some pink, similar to the die cast that inspired this build and shot the body this evening: Just Createx red and white, nothing fancy - but I get to do some fun masking over the next few evenings so I’m excited about that! Quick mock-up with the wheels… Next project will be figuring out the most painless way to get this back seat out of the interior tub…it’s not going to be the most fun part of this build… Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

I never realized One Shot MADE a clear - huh! I’ve been looking for a good replacement for the old Testor’s enamel clear…I’ll have to give this a shot! Pardon the pun…

My favorite! Both are cool tho… A little mini-project tonight…wheels and tires! Painted the stock Crown Vic wheels in stock Crown-Vic-wheel-semi-gloss-black: And I guess I could’ve left it at that, but you know how some demo derby guys really like painting their wheels and tires for some reason… Shot the outside faces with some Vallejo white - built it up in thin streaks to try and emulate them being rattle-canned and a little imperfect: Then, masked them and shot some Vallejo red; same deal, kinda patchy and imperfect… Then removed the masks, and blended the edges with some Tamiya Soot and a q-tip and gave them a light mist of dark brown and tan, just very lightly: Most fun I ever had painting some wheels and tires ? Started prepping the body for paint too - just shot a light coat of primer to make sure I didn’t miss any flaws that I didn’t put there on purpose…excited to get to the paint on this one! Need to start figuring out the interior next, that’ll be the biggest project on this build by FAR. Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Ok, so today’s progress was body prep. I downloaded the local stock-class rules and used those as my guide and worked on de-niceifying this nice clean body… Local rules allow the doors to be welded up to the pillars, so I did that: Trunk lid can be welded too, so same deal there: I’m a little worried about these details disappearing under paint so they’re a little bolder and less small and crisp as they could’ve been - some good ol’ tractor welds ? Local rules also allow three 3” by 6” plates on each door, so I found some reference pics of a CV built to similar rules online and did what they did: You also HAVE to remove external mirrors, and can plate over where they were, so I added some nice heavy steel plates there, plus it’s a requirement to run either a chain or a steel bar from top to bottom of the front daylight opening - I tried a chain but it looked a little TOO agricultural for my poor Crown Vic, so I ended up with a bar: Rules also require a 12” x 18” number board on the roof, so I made one of those with some Plastruct sheet and angle: And you’re allowed four hood bolts with 4” square or round washers - I found these Titchy Train plastic bolts in my stash that worked PERFECT: I need to figure out the lights - I wanted to make some styrene fillers but the angles are a little tough to make some nice one-piece fillers in styrene, so I’m modifying the kit pieces to LOOK like I’ve filled them with plates. Added some Mr Putty Sprue Goo to the front headlamps and the clear red taillights so I can smooth them out tomorrow: Interesting how much red color leeched out of the taillights into the red putty - turned it pink! Thanks for looking, more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

I’ve been enjoying a bunch of those videos too, lately - plus there’s some cool ones of people building Crown Vics into various different classes of racecar. Fun to watch someone working on the 1:1 while you’re building a little one! Another rabbithole to fall down, thank you! Are they dirt or asphalt cars, mainly? Agreed! A nice clean low-mileage Crown Vic is on my ‘want’ list in 1:1. I’d really like my next car to be as close to a ‘forever’ car as I can get…and I figure if I drive 10,000 miles a year and a lot of the NY Crown Vic taxicabs could make half a million miles if cared for properly I could probably get 40 years out of one ?. And by the time 40 years is up I guess I could try one of those new-fangled nuclear cars that we’ll have by then… I spotted the 4-lugs on the wheels too - I found the file online and it looked well-done when I checked my reference pics aside from the missing lug. I guess there wasn’t a four-lug version of these wheels so I guess it’s an error on the part of the designer, but not such a major one that I feel like spending a week trying to correct it… Thanks for the nice comments so far fellas - update after the jump…

Agreed! It’s such a nice clean look! Great looking build!