OldNYJim

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

I went to the local county fair for the first time this summer (didn’t have county fairs in Brooklyn) and REALLY enjoyed the figure eight, oval racing and demo derby they ran. Came home inspired, and wanted to build something county-fair-ish. Then, the next weekend, was in Meijer and saw a little Johhny Lightning Crown Vic demo derby diecast, didn’t buy it, and then thought about it so much for the next three days that I had to go back and get it ? And then I picked up this on eBay for cheap: So I can build my take on the street-stock derby car I saw at the fair, with some inspiration from this little guy: Best I can tell, for the entry level oval / figure 8 / DD cars at my local event are REALLY close to having just come off the street…head and taillights removed, kick out the windshield and windows and…that’s about it. Some had the doors welded shut, some just ran stock seats and factory seatbelts, and some were a LITTLE better prepared, but still not really race-prepped at all. And that’s ABOUT where I’m going with mine - simple roll cage, bolt and weld all the panels shut and call it good for a day at the fairground. First step, because the kit has plastic hubcapped wheels, printing some ‘bare’ stock Crown Vic wheels, and a set of tires: And while the printer was running, printed a Recaro race seat - not a super-fancy fabricated aluminum one like a higher level class would likely require, but the sort of thing a racer might have in his shop already and could easily bolt in: And…that’s about as far as I got today: This kit doesn’t have an engine, so it’ll be strictly curbside, but getting the interior looking more like a stripped track-ready car is going to be a scratchbuilding challenge all of it’s own… Thanks for looking, more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Found one of these for cheap on eBay: So I can build something a little like this:

Looks awesome! Who makes the push bar bumper thingy?

Not the kits, but some of their photo etch upgrade sets have all kinds of useful pieces on - little brackets and rings with faux screws and rivets on, stuff like that. I picked up a few a little while back and keep finding good uses for them

Don’t tell OSHA ??

I’m actually really enjoying your superb craftsmanship and I’m enjoying seeing it come together - regardless of how long it takes!

I’ve been researching them for a fun, unusual build project…my friend races a late model and showed me some video of them racing and now I’m HOOKED! He showed me the English equivalent of demo derby, where they actually race for positions too, and I’d like to do a build of one of those cars for my display case also.

Wow - sounds like you know more about it than I do! But yes, I think so ? This’ll be a fairly involved project…not many kitbashable parts to use for a 3 wheeled English fibreglass micro-van from the 70s. I DID print some tiny 10” steel wheels for it today though…

I’m a professional designer, but I never get to design real cars. I need a creative outlet for my frustrated design ambitions, plus I want to work on being the best craftsman I can be at SOMETHING - if model cars didn’t exist I’d maybe want to make the best tables I could make instead, or pens or SOMETHING. I watched a Masterclass (online learning course) with the director David Lynch and he said something to the effect of “every area of artistic interest is an endlessly deep rabbit hole of creativity and discovery. You can keep doing as deep as you like and never reach the bottom.” I liked that - and now I want to see how deep MY rabbit hole goes (although, at my current skill level I’ve barely even fallen in the hole yet…)

Couple of swap meet finds today… Buck fifty for this slammer - always wanted one of these but had never picked one up… And double the price for this sad Prowler…I already have one, and it’s not even really something I want multiples of, but for $3 I’ll find something to do with it…

After checking the local Hobby Lobby five or six times (good thing it’s on my route home from work…) finally managed to grab one of these: Plus, a cool little illuminated sign for the shop:

Printed something unusual for a future project…

I’ve always found Createx easy to spray, infinitely mixable and almost foolproof to spray. Make sure to use primer, and thin with their thinner if you need to. Once you get the feel for them, they’re pretty easy to work with… Some projects painted with Createx, and cleared with either enamel or Rustoleum clear:

Not sure if you’re still looking, but if you know anyone with a 3D printer Nahuel sells one on Cults3d…I did a test print of one today (didn’t quite nail it, but the file is good and looks well proportioned to me…) (Sorry it took 13 years to reply…?)

This is coming out great!

Thanks Tony! I came to do my traditional Sunday night update, and realized that I didn’t achieve anything that interesting all week - doh! Lots of sanding, priming, parts prepping, painting - but not too much achieved… Painted a bunch of metal parts - lots of steel tones mostly, on this particular batch. I’ll have SOME chrome in the mix on this one, but a lot of raw metal tones too… Added some tips to the headers and a little detail: Saw some variation of this view most of the week: BUT got everything straight and smooth enough for final little tweaks and one more coat of primer this evening… Ready for the base color: This one will have some subtle period-correct graphics but nothing too crazy - next job will be a coat of intercoat and then some masking and painting fun ? Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Stunning work

Thanks fellas! @TarheelRick - I picked up the metal-tin too…got a bunch of build ideas for these! A little more progress the past few days…most bodywork stuff, but started getting some parts into primer, slowly… Fixing all the hackery on the ‘tins’…this Mr Hobby styrene putty is my new favorite for fixing little flaws: Just made some ‘weld lines’ along the seams to strengthen them and smooth them out: Leave to set-up overnight then sand and we’re pretty close: Got the frame cleaned up, into primer and then into black: And I’ve been researching the little in-out box that this kit provides you…if anyone recognizes it as being based on a 1:1 part I’d love to know exactly what that part is… Just a little update, but it took me all week ?. More soon, soon as I’ve done more!

That’s about what I figured - I tried finding good reference pics online of the exact model that it might represent, but no joy as yet…thanks for the reply! And thank you too, @Daddyfink!

Anyone know what the transmission is supposed to represent? This one attaches to the Hemi in the kit:

Same here - was slow for a few days but all good now. I wish they’d add some features to their app to make it do a little more, but it DOES work reliably, even when the ‘regular’ site is slow or having issues…

I’m impressed at how bright that red is over GRAY primer - a lot of reds will darken up some over even a light gray. Is that paint acrylic?

What mrm said! Really impressive!

Whatever works! Personally, I use the putty to get in the little crevices that would be tough to tape, then tape whatever’s left…but there’s no wrong answer if it works!