Ramcharger

Thanks for the encouragement, guys! I hope to get her done for our contest in 2 weeks, I'm running out of time quick! Here's the interior, I added seat belts and a roll bar. I would have been smarter to start with the Fireball Roberts '57, it already has a roll bar in the kit. I also turned a "Moon" tank on my buddy's lathe the other night. Now to build some headers and then on to paint! I'll keep you guys posted.

Another post! Model Fink Blog

Darn it! We fell off the front page, time for the old bumperoo!

Nope, not the new phone books, the first week of the month! You know what that means, the BSAC March meeting is this Thursday at the Speedy O'Raceway at 628 Harrisburg Pike in Columbus, Ohio. We'll be there at 7:00 pm. Bring out your cars or trucks to show off and enjoy the fun. The big discussion will be about the upcoming show on the 23rd. Notice how I kept the Irish references to a minimum? That's because we are hiding our pot o' gold from the leprechauns.

Needs more chop! Just kidding, looks good so far.

More progress, I Dullcoated the seats and interior side panels, so they are drying. I wired the magneto and joined the block and trans, built some motor mounts. I didn't like the gap between the motor and the stock mounts, so I made some, they still need painted. I scratch built a roll bar out of sprue, it needs a little sanding to look good. I've got a couple of more interior details to work out tonight and I have to shorten the drive shaft a little. The next big project will be building some headers, ugh, I hate building headers! Here's some photos of this morning's progress, I'm taking a break for a few hours!

Well, I dropped the nose and it looks much better, I kinda want to drop the rear a little now! I think I'll quit messing with it, I have to clean up the mess I made of the front axle and spring set up when I took it apart. Apparently, I built it Ford tough, It really didn't want to come apart! Walter, that looks pretty cool, I love the wheelie stance.

Things you never hear a rally driver say: The track was greasy There is debris on the track I hate rain delays I need to pit for new tires in the middle of the course This track is too bumpy You have to love any form of racing that puts hay bales in the middle of the track on purpose and "debris" could be a spectator or another car!

I think I have to flip the front axle and put it inside the springs, it's a little too cartoon-y for me. I'll do that tomorrow, it shouldn't be too hard. Since this is my first try at scratch building a spring setup, I think I missed the arc by a bit, I'll get it right on the next one. The funny thing is, I was worried it wouldn't sit high enough in the front. I also already raised the rear about a 1/4 inch, I'm actually pretty happy with how the rear is sitting, I want a little of that "cowboy" rake that was popular in the early 60's.

More Photos!

I finally got the car up on wheels! I think the front end is too high but I can't rebuild it now, it's too close to the contest for that. I measured the crank center line when I mocked up the motor and it sits at a scale 24", which should have been be legal in gas class back in the day, but seeing to drive the beast would be another thing! I'm painting the interior and I have a few more things to do like the roll bar and the rear seat area, then I can paint the chassis pan. I've started some detailing on the motor, I plumbed the fuel lines for the injectors and made a magneto out of aluminum tube. I also did some work to make seat brackets and did up the seats, I have to dullcoat the seats yet. I'll probably get the motor and drive train in her this weekend and then on to the body!

Thanks Ray! Tulio, that is the greatest compliment to a modeler ever! When someone else says it looks real that just makes my day! Thanks!! More to come probably tomorrow, I remember this started out as a quick build, hmmm, what went wrong?

Wow! Looks Great! Cockpit and motor look spot on.

Thanks Stan, I've started the motor and I always seem to find something I forgot to paint.

Chassis got some paint, as well as the front suspension. The front shocks are drying as is the interior. I'm working on the wheels and tires while watching the UFC fights and sippin' a Natty Boh.

My thoughts this week: Model Fink

Jesse, just cut one up, it's real easy! When I do my '62 T-bird AWB car I'll take some photos before I do all the body work and you'll see it's not that bad. The piece you cut out to move the wheel wells forward generally fits in the space behind the new wheel well location so the body work is pretty minimal. The chassis you just chop a piece out the same size you moved the wheel wells forward, slop some superglue on it and you're done. As a matter of fact, the sloppier you are, the more realistic the build. Remember, most of the AWB cars after early 65 were done in some guys garage with a blue wrench (cuttin' torch). I made some front shocks out of brass and then worked on the rear suspension. I made the traction bars like the ones Ford used on the Thunderbolts, so they were pretty easy to fab up after I made a cross member and some axle brackets for them. I found some 9" pie crust slicks in the parts box and some chrome steelies for the rear.

Thanks Tulio! The feeling is mutual, I am a huge fan of your Galaxies, they are great! I'm headed down to the paint booth to shoot some parts.

More. I finished the front end, I have the shocks built, I'll install them after paint. I'm going to blow it all apart for paint tomorrow. My wife is quite sure I'm nuts for doing this much scratch building with all of these tiny little parts.

More updates! I went to the local IPMS show on Saturday, so I didn't get anything done, but I got a second and a third. My parts box POS Gremlin gasser almost beat a $400 Model factory Hiro Porsche (I talked to one of the judges). It doesn't look like much but I mocked up the front suspension and I'm working on the steering set up. I cut the spring shackles out of aluminum, scratch built the rear brackets, and centered it all up. It took a few tries! The axle is aluminum tube with plastic ends and I'll use aluminum for the steering brackets. After I get this mocked up, I'll start on some painting.

More posted this morning: Model Fink

Thanks, Bill! That's a big help! If anyone ever should wonder why you need to be active on a model car message board, this is the reason why. Look how many guys from all over are willing to help improve a build, for no other reason than to make it way cooler. I'm am so diggin' the sense of community around here. I'm in the midst of adding more detail to those springs and working on building the front axle and spindles. I'll probably have some photos tomorrow or Saturday. Stay tuned!

I had some time in the lad last night to work on the monster. I built the front leaf springs out of a soda can and some strip styrene,

Bumpage!!