Dragline

I think the Red Baron could give the Dukes Charger a run. Maybe. Bob

oldschool, I'm not sure of the name of the color actually. It's in another location now so I cannot reference it. I held the can up to the box top and it looked good so I went with it. Real scientific like. Ken, I'll handle the bumpers the way I handled the Chi-Town. Mask and hand paint with thinned Testorts silver and a BIG brush. I may even clear coat the bumpers after I paint em. It worked then, should work now. I did let this car dry in my kitchen for 3 days before taking these pics. I handled it cleverly so as not to touch the paint, but I'll be honest. I could probably buff it out tonight [5 days since sprayed] if I were so inclined. 3 coats usually equals a week or so. But I do have the heat on since it's cold here in Balmer. In the summer, 3 coats 2 days and it can be buffed. This Testors [sprayed out of the can] dries pretty darned quick. I have a theory about this. I clearcoat over enamels as well. They take 2 weeks to dry once clearcoated. I suspect it is because I am going over laquer and that is why it's drying faster. Just a theory though. Bob

Thanks guys. For me. Slixx decals are not opaque enough. In particular is their white sections. I have a PL Hawaiian kit that I 1/2 decaled and put it back in the box since the blue was affecting the white portions from being truly white. These Revell decals are white and stay that way over the blue. I also think Slixx are too thin as well. They react to solvents almost too quickly, and have a tendancey to tear [in my medium sized hands that is]. I have had success with Slixx, but am finding these Revell decals [of late], to be better for me personally. Clearcoating with Testors 1814 is the way I have found to put a nice clearcoat down over any color coat [aside from white], that lays down very well. Will not react to decals. And is very polishable. My finishes have improved 3 fold since finding this system. It may not be for everyone, but it's certainly working for me. Bob

Yep, the clear is over the decals. Tamiya is VERY hot for decals. It is tough to get it not want to attack them. With the enamel I get the peace of mind that it won't attack the decals, and frankly I've just gotten good at spraying it correctly. There are 3 coats on this car shot wet in wet with 10 mins between coats. In a couple of days I'll be able to polish it out. It's worth a try. You may come to love it. Bob

Got some paint and clearcoat and my Hawaiian over the last couple of days. Paint is Testors one coat laquer. I like this paint. First time for me and it went on perfectly. It smells like exactly like their Model Master laquer so I imagine it's the same formula. I'm a big fan of Revells decals. I like them better than Slixx. Not too thick, not too thin. Just right and opaque enough to not need two to cover dark colors. They react slowly to setting solvents but thankfully not much is needed and in only a couple of remaote areas. My usual Testors 1814 clearcoat. I have not even buffed out with Novis yet and it looks pretty darned good. The rub out and polish should make it look nice ands smooth. This is another great kit and with so many different parts from the Chi-Town I don't hesitate to call it another kit altogether. Well done Revell! Bob

I will be attending. Hope to meet you bro. Bob

Welcome, now that you are posting... Beautiful car. Strance is perfect and the color is dead on. We drag builders are a talented bunch. Bob

Heavy...... broads can be a real drag sometime. Bob

Just wanted to get this out of my system. You guys are showing Wallpapers and not screen savers. Screen savers move to stop burn in on monitors. These are background Wallpapers you are all showing. Nice ones at that, but there is a difference. Bob

Looking forward to it Charlie. I love this kit. Bob

Very nice detailing for "on the cheap". I'm digging the brakes especially. I may have to steal that one.. Looks great so far. I cannot wait to get mine, though it will go into the queue for some time. Thanks to you Len and Tom. These efforts are inspiring. Bob

To dull Vinyl you need to paint them with acrylic. I use Mr Hobby or Tamiya clear with some flat base added to knock off the shine. Experiment with how much flat base to add ay first. Tamiya flat base works with most acrylic clears I have tried. Bob

This is looking KILLER Brett. Nice paint and right on the money. I am A-Bing the pics and you look spot on. Nice front air dam too. SKILLZ. Bob

Tamiya XF-57 Charlie. Bob

The power to weight ratio must be Ridonculous! Gives a new meaning to the term "Open Wheel" Fab Bob

Welcome to the forums Travis. This thing is looking SINISTER. All Drag builders are a breed apart. You sir HAVE IT... Bring it on. Bob

The entire Rat Rod thing has completely missed me. For this, I am grateful. Bob

I use the clear acetate from pasta boxes for my drag car windshields. I even have my Mums saving them for me.... She cooks more pasta than I so...... Bob

Since I use enamel for my clearcoat [except white] I always use Novus to polish my paint jobs. The results have been excellent. That Mequires sounds good though. I have some at work and I'll get some and try it. Bob

Both of the examples are VERY nice guys. I'll bet that aluminum one will not be cheap though. Whale, yours is in the same spirit as mine. On the cheap. Either way you go, they look a darned sight better than what comes in the box. Bob

Quite the color. Hello Pinky! You are a bold man... Bob Did I say it was nice? NICE

Geez Brett, first time I'm even seeing this car at all. As usual, it's a visually arresting paint scheme. Looks like a PL kit would be a great start for this one. Time to break out the striping tape if you are going to tackle this one. Bob

Here you can see an extra piece and a piece installed. I leave about an 1/8th of an inch over the top of the strut to get a nice tight coil and a little tension. I pre installed the bottom retainer before I slid the coil over the strut. All that was left was to install the top and VOILA'. A strut.... Give an extra roll of wire on one end and keep those together. That way it looks like a coil spring end. They always keep 2 coils tight at the top and bottom. I did only one here because that may be the toughest part of this. Getting one end isn't so tough. One end ends up being a pain. But you can do it! A strut needs a spindle so out comes the styrene rod again. I use a small round file to put a indented cut into the spindle so it sits tight and strong. That's the way they cut em, so that's the way we will. I put a small angle in mine since struts are always angled and if the spindle is at a 90 degree angle to the strut the wheel caster will be wong. Every application is different so experiment with yours for proper angle. AND FINALLY.... here is our strut! There are many factors in determining length and angles that I couldn't possibly go into here. Your build will differ in almost every respect so this is a general build of a part that is always woefully lacking in most kits. It's not their fault though, they have to make it from one piece of styrene. Buy building ours from several pieces we get a much better representation of the real thing and pride in saying we did it ourselves. Bob

While making these struts for my Reher Morrison build last night I thought I'd make a little photo tutorial of how I did it. Nothing fancy as far as tools or styrene needed here. Just some patience and the will to improve this kits weak spot. This works for any strut you may need but please remember to measure, measure, measure. I'll leave it up to you how to do that but I'll show you how I built convincing struts from some basic raw materials. Please forgive the photography. At times I was one handing it and I'm not as solid as a camera stand. That's something I'm going to pick up when I see one cheap enough. On to the strut. Here are the basic materials we will be using. A piece of K&S alum tubing and an Evergreen styrene rod assortment. Glue of your choice of course. Find a solid rod that fits into the alum tubing snugly. I will spare you all my measurements since I eyeball a lot of times and sand to final dimension. Once you get your strut top measurement you simply roll it under the knife till it seperates. Go easy, it'll shoot across the room! Sand em to final dimension. I use an Exacto to ream out the center so the rod will slide in. It's already looking like something. I found a piece that fits over the styrene and is a little bigger than the alum rod. This Evergreen pack is a dream for this kind of thing. They fit into each other and are of similar dimension to K&S rod. I cut disks out of that rod and sand them thinner. You can get em real thin if you want to. On my car I sanded them very thin and are better to scale. These look OK, but thinner would be better. The ole eyeball test will tell you when you got it right. Here the piece is attached and looking pretty cool. Not much more to go.... Here is the wire I'll be using for the spring. Not sure of the size, but it's what I use for plug wires. Color choice is limited by what you have on hand. I wouldn't recommend painting the wire though. Buy the color you need since painting it would probably mess up the scale fidelity. Use the same alum rod you used for the strut top for a nice snug fit. Just wrap it tightly but not overly so. We'll tighten it up in a sec. Now is time to tighten up the wire. I force it gently all together in a nicecoil and then twist it till I cannot twist it anymore. Then hold it for a bit. Let it go and see how you did...

Yet another beautiful nuild. We have a LOT of talent building drag cars around here these days. Classic detailing and great paint. Time to step up my game I think. Bob