GrandpaMcGurk

Mike, this has possibilities and has raised a few eyebrows at TDR.

BJ....one of the Tri-5 wagons especially the Nomad is a possibility...being R/M already has the Camaro & Bird in larger scales, not as likely.

Matthew, to answer your question...yes TDR does special orders, but understand that special orders involve a considerable amount of computer time....plus the cost of printing the part. There are two ways to go with it, if it's an item that TDR wants to put in their catalog and own the rights to, we don't pass those costs on. On the other hand if you wanted a master to resin cast from or a one off for a specific build, you would own the rights to do whatever you pleased with it. Big rig stuff could certainly be done but being a "niche" market....it wouldn't be cost effective for TDR to produce things like a hub cap for a specific year truck etc. This isn't to say we wouldn't do it, you could have us do the part or body....but the costs involved might put you off, especially if you were to want a finished part. You could save a lot of coin by doing the research for things like dimensions, photos and final finishing of the RP on your own. At any rate contact TDR by email (the addy is in my sig) and chat with the design team.

Hey fellow modelers......just an update and to get some feed back from you guys. TDR has been a bit quiet lately....we were trying to take advantage of the summer ho-hums, vacations, catch up a little and start planning for next year. As you know we have the Cuda body coming to a close, along with some other goodies, there were some other very time consuming projects in the works before we took on the Cuda. There's an NNL show coming up and it looks like you guys may get a sneak peek at the project TDR has had under wraps. It's been a while coming and I can't tell you how much work and development has gone into it, what it is, will cost or even what it is.........but I can tell you this, have your drool towel and a fresh change of undies close by. To get back to the reason for this post.....TDR would like to hear from some of you "smaller" scale builders. Please understand that TDR isn't going to get into the 1/25 scales other than maybe a body or two. Seems to us there are plenty of suppliers in that arena. That being said, and keeping in mind that we are talking 1/16th and up.....what would you guys like to see made available in those scales? Please use a little common sense with your replies, you know that things like an odd ball year Hupmobile in 1/20th scale isn't going to happen. However.....TDR can do most anything if there is enough demand to warrant the production costs involved. Here's a chance for you builders to tell us what you want....please take advantage of it.

I guess you could call me an analog guy living & trying to keep up in a digital world. I spent many years developing photographic skills with 35mm SLR cameras.......then along come these credit card size do all digital cameras, good grief, video, sound, bells and whistles up the ying yang. You guys have touched on specific brands.....when you get right down to the meat & taters, personally I'm sold on Nikon. Not because of the number of things they can do but because of the lenses....it's hard to beat a quality Nikon lens. I use one of those little pocket Nikon's for just about everything (forums, emails, photo-bucket etc.)these days. However, for my artsy, fartsy other life stuff I still use a full size Nikon with interchangeable lenses and a full array of manual settings. Yes it's digital & cost a lot.

Way to go Dave.......sterling craftsmanship as usual.

George, how high is up? Depends on what you want to use them for. You can use a very high resolution for photobucket (they just take up more space and take longer to load). Unless you plan on printing large prints or enlargements a really high resolution isn't needed for forums, emails, etc. It's a balancing act

Rear coil spring buckets, this should give me the measurements I need to be able to fab up the pan-hard bar, shock mounts and all those other little bits that I know need to be there. They may not show on the finished model but I want the suspension to be functional.

As I mentioned before, the Hack body isn't going to add a lot of structural stability to this model. That combined with the inherent flexibility of the ladder style T frame leaves me with a painted "egg shell" fragile model. NOT COOL! I'm comfortable with the mock-ups......... so where's the beef? I'll start with the floor boards, I drilled some locating holes in the frame rails and glued in some scrap tubing to use for pins. I'd like to take a moment here to say that this is all pin vise & eyeball stuff, the point I'm trying to make is simply, you don't have to have all the mega buck equipment and tons of experience to build a model that is cool and will stand up to a bit of handling. The plastic floor board is .060 thick, I'll cover the road side with thin aluminum and the top will be covered with wood planks, add to that the locating pins and I'll have a stable platform to mount the body to. None of it will show, but the model won't twist or break joints over time even if the adhesives get a bit tired. Besides, it helps keep everything square and I can remove the floor boards from the rails and mount them permanently to the body. Why...you may ask? Down the road aways I may want to put a different body on this chassis without having to build another one.

You're probably havin' way too much fun playing with the big water toys.

Yep, that's a big 'un for sure......close your eyes for a moment and imagine the size of that puppy in 1/8th scale, LOL.

Couple more pics.........sure is a lot going on with this "fun" build. So far the car is plugging along....LOL, it'll be a dio by the time I'm done. So far it's got a tag along BBQ smoker, surf board & mini bike in the works. You may have spotted that big ol' hawg in the back ground of the pics. Problem is, now I have to build a cooler and some 1/8th scale ice cubes!

No worries about rushing me Steve, the old bones have slowed down considerably but I'm (do I dare say) seeing the finish line on the horizon. The Cuda is looking a bit clunky at the moment.... clay dams, and glass matt for the nose make it look like it's being attacked by a 1/8th resin monster. Tomorrow, time allowing, I'll lay up the rear section of the mold. That will be 2 of the five chunks I'll need for the complete mold. I can only do one section at time, remove the clay leaving a flange to bolt the next section to, and sling some more glass matt. I'll post some W.I.P. pics when I have the sides of the mold in place.........hang in there, it's on the way.

Now I have to deal with the cowl.....I could do a plank on bulkhead with wood strips or form it out of thin aluminum for that back yard pop riveted look, Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm? decisions, decisions.

Got to the point where I needed some down time from my other projects, plastic, resin, fiberglass...oh my, perhaps a little wood therapy is in order. Did the head scratchin' and tried to build in a little strengh at the same time, the "Hack" is an open air somewhat fragile structure at best. The arrow indicates a built in lip for mounting the windshield glass. Here's the mock up.

Lookin' great Al....I really like the creative use of the brake springs and retainers?.........very clever!

Dave, I think the best thing that Romell could do is chat with Mario, he does amazing stuff with equiptment that is within the means of serious modelers and when needed makes his own. I'm not attempting to hi-jack your thread but having bought my fair share of Bridgeport equipment (in another life) it can't be beat. If Rommel wants me to hook him up with Mario, I'd be more than happy to.

You guys are cracking me up.........I worked my way all the way to Dear Abby, Moderator and Super Moderator at SMC and have finally achieved the the title of "Under Assistant East Coast Promotion Whatever", only took me around 5 years. Have to admit though, the pay is fantastic, company car (rusty oil pukin'Edsel) and all that good stuff. You MCM moderators are doing a great job, keep it up.

Hi there Dave..just me rattling your your cage again with a small update and a question. As you know this Cuda body was headed for limbo until TDR picked it up. Giving credit where it's due, the master as I received it was exceptional other than a few nit picky things that hurt my face & a few undercutting issues pertaining to casting it in glass. Those gremlins caused me more than a few hours of head-scratching but have been resolved. So the time has come for me to get busy making the multi piece bolt together glass mold. As said before my main concern is squaring away Dan's original investors in this project....it's a ways out yet as I won't cast ANY until the mold makes the Madd Fabricator smile. However, after seeing the rad modifications you made to the resin Cuda prototype I'm wondering if it wouldn't make your mods a little easier if I don't prime or open up the wheel wells etc. on your body. Seems to me it would be easier for you to make your mods before the extra material ( necessary due to the glass lay up) was removed....yes, no?

Couldn't stop myself from responding to this Dave, great answer but what the question really boils down to, at least in my mind, is "how high is up". Sure, if the old piggy bank can handle all the hi-tech equiptment, that's a wonderful thing indeed....but to build on your level the individual has to be dedicated enough to treat each individual part as a model in itself.....in other words the tools are just that...tools. The magic is in doing the leg work to know exactly what does what and where it belongs. I do believe I could give you a Q-tip as a tool and a ball bearing for stock expecting you turn it into 1/8th scale blower pulley. The tools just make the journey easier.

Guys, thought I'd pass this along for those that aren't already aware of it. This very well built tool has become one of those my "can't be without" tool box goodies. A friend turned me on to it years ago and I've been using it since, it's called a "nibbler". They are intended for use on circuit boards for cutting openings etc. It'll easily produce a clean cut in plastic from .010 up to about .060 and as you can see if you drill a pilot hole you can cut openings. I bought these at Radio Shack for about eleven bucks. Haven't tried them on thin metal but I'm sure I will as the nibber end of the tool is pretty rugged. Seems like every time I use them I find a new use...good stuff!

Hey Harry....havin' fun yet? Dude...just flip the "ON" switch to the "other models" section, some will like, some won't. Sound familar?

Okay Harry, got a question for ya....more out of curiosity than anything else. The 1/8th Cuda I'm working on is no doubt a "scratch built". However, I have a very dusty 1/6th '54 Chebbie (that gets worked on occasionally, the old Jesse James RC car) and a couple of the 1/6th Willys RC's. One will be a retro gasser coupe and the other a shortbed pickup. As you know the scale on RC cars is pretty much tongue & cheek as they tend to get really goofy with over size wheels, tires etc. In the case of the Chevy, it started as a a plain Jane 2-door sedan. So far it has been stretched, the hood pan-caked, converted to a 2 door fast back, sectioned, chopped, doors lengthed, frenched headlights and totally reshaped rear quarters, wheel wells etc. In other words....yes I started with a manufactured body, but at this point it is so far removed from the original injection molded body that by the time I fab an interior and chassis there's not much of the old car left. I guess it would it still be considered a kit bashed build? Personally I like to think of it as a radically modified 1/6th scale '54 Chevy and not concern myself with the "misused" terms. What would you call it?

Gregg, now that you've had some touchy feel time with your 1/12th Miss "E", here's a thought for what it's worth. Pick up a 1/12 Tamiya kit for the trans-axle & heater (very detailed right from the box) ....shoe horn the V-12 under the hood and stuff the trans-axle and suspension under the rear. Now that in my mind would make a very unique killer ride.

Perhaps think Vette layout for a minute...engine in front, trans-axle in rear connected with a torque tube....lots of possibilities.