Bernard Kron

I just got back from the NNL West for 2019 and the show was a major hotbed of 3D printing. I would say, compared to previous shows, this was a "breakthrough" year. But I would defer to Pico Elgin, because if anyone who frequents this board knows his oats in this realm it's Pico, who has been scratch 3D designing and building car models for many years, moving across the arc of media as the technologies have evolved. His impressions are ones I saw confirmed at the show. Over on the Drastic Plastics board there is an excellent summary of the show by former MCM board member jbwelda which contains some salient comments on 3D. (see http://drasticplastics.proboards.com/thread/6119/2019-west-trip-report-photos )To quote: " ...there was some REALLY interesting vendors this year, with 3D printing making a good showing. Particular note to Model Builders Warehouse who are about to release some incredibly detailed 72 spoke Borrani style wire wheels. For an incredible price too, if the plans come to be. Randy [Ditton] offered to send me a set to fit tires to and otherwise give him some feedback. I am trying to think of a project that will come up to the standard set by these wheels. .... ...look for much the same level of detail and quality [as Randy Ditton's Maserati Birdcage scratch build on these MCM pages] with these wheels. He did not have any for sale at the show, only a few samples to show, but just in the two or three times I was there talking to him, people were pulling cash out of their pockets for them but none to be had...he said he was going to get into production this current week and offer them soon after. And the best for last, the price. He said he wants them "affordable" ... He also mentioned he was not using Shapeways, he had access to his own printer that easily outperformed, both in rendering time and in detail holding potential, the printers that were used when one ordered from Shapeways. And the product seemed to support that claim. The other vendor of 3D parts who I noticed sells on ebay as mnagatani, and he has a bunch of really great larger scale stuff. Really sweet wheels for hot rods. Beautiful finned brake drums. Exhaust systems for vintage look engines. And those Uncertain T bodies! He is really interesting in models and enthusiastic about developing new products. Like I mentioned, a lot of it is in larger scales, 1/12, 1/8 mostly, and I believe he does use Shapeways for his printing (and as I understand it, they farm it out for actual print these days). " The level of excitement and interest for these products, with several vendors offering them, was extremely high. The breakthrough was in the achievable quality and emerging practicality of this technology. I responded to the above comment with my own impressions of 3D at the NNL West: " JB writes about 3D printing, and that was indeed the big story of the show. There have been a couple of breakthroughs, apparently, in the past several months. One is the development of lower priced resin printers, which is why Randy Ditton was able to show such crisp and smooth Borrani wire wheels. So, the technology itself is approaching a cost of capital level that will facilitate the emergence of very small businesses that can survive using it. Randy, for example, has bought two printers in the past 12+ months, the first of which cost him 5K and the more recent of which, the one that can do the Borranis, costing 3K. So the cost/technology crossover point is plummeting. Using a service bureau intermediary like Shapeways will become far less necessary. There will, however, remain two major barriers to entry. One is creating the 3D files to drive the printers, and the other is the actual print time required to make a piece. For now, printing even very small pieces like the Borrani wire wheels, take many, many minutes, and often hours or even days. It isn't like pouring a resin mold and then un-molding after passive curing. And the little hobby printers out there, the ones costing less than $500.00, apparently burn out after just a few dozen (verrrrry slowwwwwwww) sessions. These issues will eventually get solved. Affordable high-resolution scanners will emerge that will be hooked up to software that will automatically generate serviceable files to drive high resolution, robust printers that will sell for prices serious hobbyists will consider. And there will always be those who lack the funds, time or talent to be motivated to do the work required, and these folks will constitute a market of end users for those who are brave or foolish enough to start businesses to supply us! It's coming, and it’s exciting." The comment I made about the reliability of hobby printers was from a vendor who draws up his own 3D files, then has them printed by a third party (not Shapeways) and uses the result as a master for resin molds. He was selling modern Pro Mod and large diameter stylized wheels in 1/24-1/25 scale. As I said, I tend to agree with Pico. It's not time yet for most hobbyists to consider 3D printing as a practical option for their current projects, though for the more ambitious and talented that time may be right around the corner (or in the case of some, like Randy and Pico, has already arrived).

I highly recommend this package. Fit and finish is the usual very high quality we expect from Drag City and the impact on the look of the car is obvious in the pictures Ed has posted. It's details like this that "make a model". Five years ago I built a model that eventually won the Randy Vandraiss Memorial award for traditional customs given by the staff at the NNL West in 2015. I'm convinced it was entirely because of the contribution this louvered set made to the styling of the car. As difficult as louvers are to do this is a perfect example of how valuable the work of gifted casters like Ed are to our work. Thanks Ed!

I posted about Manuel Olivé Sans back on page 3 of this thread with pictures and links both to the website for the foundation established in his honor after his death, and an excellent English language article on the CMA site showing multiple examples of his work. Along with Michele Conti and Gerald Wingrove , he was one of the masters of the auto modeling in the 1960s years when plastic auto modeling in the USA was first blooming into its golden age.

Thanks once again, guys. This was a challenging build, and not just because the paint job went south at the 11th hour. Like so many resin body projects this was whatever the opposite of a kit build is. Short of scratch building my own chassis, just about everything had to be redone to fit the Ramchargers donor chassis. And deciding to fill the roof and rear window area only added to the demands on my meager skills. But I absolutely love the look of these cars and I've always wanted to do this style of Fiat Competition Coupe, so when Fremont Resins offered one I was in. They actually offer it in 2 nose lengths, but the longer 200+ inch style lacks the balanced proportions of the mid-length (ca. 165") cars so I opted for the shorter nose. As it was I still had to add material to the panels under the engine. But it was all worth it because I really enjoy seeing this on my shelf. And I'm most appreciative of all your kind words. Thanx! B.

I said it earlier but it's worth repeating - this is 1/24th scale folks. One thing that makes modeling this era of sports cars so much fun is the wide open media coverage of every detail in these cars. This is in stark contrast to the opacity of the modern era, due in part to the secretiveness of manufacturers in order to assure any competitive advantage they can garner. Even at the time enthusiasts knew absolutely everything about these state-of-the-art cars. (What book or magazine article are those marvelous detail photos from?) Back to the opacity thing, we can also point to the huge leaps in technology that have occurred over the past 50 years. It's no longer about the first tentative steps to tame the contact patch and optimize chassis rigidity,;today it's the abstract world of computerized fluid dynamics and micro-controlled circuitry, hardly the sort of things to stand up to the shear romance of welded tubes, leaf springs and and U-joints, all so spectacularly on display in the Birdcage Maserati. This car was really a kind of last hurrah and tour de force of lightweight space frame construction and old fashioned de Dion based suspension mechanics. And this project, above all, captures that romance as well as any I've seen grace these pages. Build on, Randy!

Here's the latest drag car off my bench, a chopped Fiat Competition Fuel Coupe:

C U there, Randy!

Thnak you, all. Glad you're likin' it! MCM member Curt Raitz sells them on FleaBay under user name crt8z. Here's a link to his products page: https://www.ebay.com/sch/crtr8z/m.html?item=323637764099&hash=item4b5a506003%3Ag%3AjIMAAOSwZltcGS8k%3Ark%3A1%3Apf%3A1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Thanks! Here are the 5 finished beauty pics as entered in the TRaK Autorama plus an additional one showing the side profile. Thanx for lookin', B.

Thanks Dan! Done! And with 5 days to spare! If the paint hadn’t blown up on me I do believe I would have gotten in under the wire on the original deadline. Thanks for the reprieve! Here are some detail pics of the final things to have been done. The motor was largely completed earlier b it still needed some detailing and of course fitting to the chassis. When I repainted the body I was able to pay a little closer attention to the interior surfaces and they are now painted gold to match the stripes. The interior furnishings are largely from the donor Ramchargers FED kit with the exception the steering wheel which is a Revell Tony Nancy Double Dragster Item. The front suspension is 100% Tony Nancy Double Dragster. The wheels are the new TruWire aftermarket items from Curt Raitz’s miniscurtraitzing.com with tires from the Tony Nancy kit. The front wing is an aftermarket resin piece from Competition Resins. The wind-up key push-bar is from the Carl Casper Undertaker dragster kit. Thanks for all the comments and encouragement. Formal presentation pictures will follow tomorrow! B.

Thanks to you both!

Thanks everyone! And yes, My thinking is that I had too many layers of too many different types of paint and, as Goatguy said, they dried at different rates. Well, I made it out the other side without mishaps. Phew! You'll notice that the decals scheme is very simplified. I was never quite happy with the 8-ball motif, the color and shape conflicted with the rest of the car. As fate would have it, I made enough mistakes applying decals along the way that I couldn't have replicated it even if I wanted to, despite the fact that I started out with three sets. Meanwhile, I've been so focused on the darn paint job that I've almost forgotten about the mechanical bits. I've got to make sure that the final assembly process stays clean and precise... With a little over a week to go I think I have a fair chance of making it. Thanx for lookin', B.

Thanks guys1 I'm glad you dig 'em. On to 2019!

Thanks for the comments guys! In the final week leading up to the December 31st TRaK Autorama deadline several entrants had major disasters which meant they had to drop out. I was among them, and for most of us late dropouts our setbacks were paint related. Misery may love company, but it was cold comfort. Fortunately there were enough of us that the judges decided to extend the deadline to January 19th. Thanks to the extension I've got a chance to include this project in the Competition category. By the time the extension was announced I had already stripped the paint. I decided the safest approach was to sand the paint down to a smooth, consistent and stable layer. This was basically the original silver metalflake layer. Then I sealed the surface with Duplicolor Primer Sealer and wet sanded that layer with 1000 grit. The result was a smooth, neutral colored (light gray) surface to start over from. This time I went for a minimum number of layers. The heavy flake of the original silver underlayer had been largely obscured by the subsequent color layers so I decided to start with a simple metallic gold base. I had some Testors Pure Gold left over from my recent customized '57 T-Bird build so I used that. I also had a little of the Tamiya Clear Orange so I shot one layer of that over the gold. The result was very close to the original gold shade the first time around. This was followed by 3 coats of Tamiya Clear Red after masking the stripe trim into place. I made one change from the first time around. The 8-ball over gold circular motif on the rear "spare tire" is now gone. After doing it I decided it was a bit busy, and then I realized I hadn't made provision for the drag chute. So this time around the rear deck is plain red with the drag chute to be placed in the center of the "spare tire" and the gold Krazy Koop lettering above and below it. Other than that most things should remain the same, although I'll have to use other contingency decals. One thing for sure, however, there's only about half the layers of paint compared to the first attempt. Hopefully this will avoid the prior problem. Out of the proverbial "abundance of caution" I'll be clearing with Tamiya Clear since the prior color coats are Tamiya. And hopefully I can get this done to the new deadline, now! Thanx for lookin', B.

Super tasteful and immaculately turned out. I especially like the plain interior re-do. It really works!

The Enderle stacks have been available in the aftermarket for a while now courtesy of Speed City Resin. Unfortunately they are part of a set scaled for a Chevy Big Block, not a small block like on a Jr. Fueler. Also they were a bit thick looking, although overall they looked good on a completed model. No doubt the problems you've had casting them has been related to how thin they need to be to look good. I built a model using the Big Block setup just to get that Enderle look even though I knew the result would be an A dragster and not a junior fueler. This is why having the skill and determination to fabricate parts at the level of authenticity your showing on your project can have such a big impact on the result. Build on!

All exquisite renditions but the weathered Daytona car is my favorite for its spectacular realism, only achievable because of the skill and accuracy so apparent in your build style. All the best for 2019!

It may be your single build but it is singularly breathtaking. My only regret is that we haven't seen more of your spectacularly precise and emphatic build style! All the best for 2019!

We share similar tastes in automotive machinery so it's always fun to see what fine work comes off your bench. But I must admit to have missed a few this year, the 612 and SR2 in particular. Very nice indeed! All the best for 2019!

All that's great about the discipline and precision of showroom stock is on display in these models. Regardless of the style we build in these have got to be inspiring. Thanks! All the best for 2019!

The consistency and crisp precision of your work is always a reference and an inspiration! All the best for 2019!

Well, we all know how totally out on the edge this project was. Following along was one of the highlights of the year on the MCM forums. For me it was an inspirational and educational exploration into just what can be accomplished with a plastic model car kit in 1/24th scale.Thanks for it all! All the best for 2019!

Consistently handsome and finely executed models. without a doubt. And I love the muted desaturated photography style. It sets them all off to advantage. All the best for 2019!

Well, those of us who follow your work know you're a past master of the CarToon car models and the period restoration box art builds. But now we can add the "never was" to the list. And, for a sense of how consistently crisp and under control these models are, just take a look at that El Camino curbside... nice! All the best for 2019!

Great starting year! Welcome back! You have a nice sanitary, crisp build style that will serve you well. Build on! All the best for 2019!