Jairus

Ahhh, I don't make decals guys. I would suggest you go and get some Letraset rub on letters and apply them to the sides. That way you can chip and scratch them so they look old and worn. The letters take paint so dry brushing and weathering is okay and can also be removed with scotch tape if you don't like them. At least, that is what I was thinking when I drew the original. Or, you could simply try your hand at brush lettering... it is not that hard once you practice a bit on something else. By the way, package sent on Friday, you should get it Monday. Let me know when it gets there.

Welcome Mike! Very nice build and looks like you will fit in here beautifully! Have fun, keep your hands and arms inside the car at all times, your mileage may vary.

Engine and tranny colors depend on the year you are depicting. Transmissions could have been replaced with an OEM version or a rebuild somewhere down the road. In either case the color will be different. Rebuilds are usually semi-gloss black for instance or natural steel and aluminum. When modeling a truck, which is 99.9% commercial, you need to figure a back story to explain your painting and detailing. Long haul messy drivers will have dirty trucks with lots of magazines spread all about the sleeper and passenger seat. McDonalds bags and truck stop trash would be cool details to place carefully in the cab. However, if the driver is more anal then a more clean cab is the result but log books and bills of ladening would still be present. The same is true about the engine and transmission. If you are doing the Astro... an older vehicle to be sure, weathering and use along with replacement parts, would be normal unless you are building a purely showroom stock vehicle.

Keep refreshing your screen. Or... you can shut down your browser and re-start that. Either one should do it. What is happening is the computer stores the last screen you accessed in a folder so when you go back a page or return to a page, it pulls up that same screen from the folder without updating it. What this does is make the computer/browser seem faster but does not update the screen.

Your best option is to get yourself a Fotki or Photobucket account. Most of those have unlimited storage space but they cost... J

The Stang indeed does look good! Most of the wheels are fine, what is wrong is the size of the TIRE! It needs more meat in my opinion. I would look for something that will really fill those wheel wells and give this puppy some agressive muscle! Not those wimpy rubber band tires... leave those for the tuners...

Stance thus far looks good. Now, about the welds... You were right about painting them first with metallic paint. Metalizer steel is perfect. Then... add a touch of automotive wax to the welds and to each side with a paint brush. You don't need a lot of wax so used it sparingly. Then lay down a primer coat and then a base coat. I would use a flat color for the base. Now, a day later when everything has had a good dryout period, take some masking or Scotch brand tape and lay it on the waxed welds ... When you remove the tape it should pull off the base color leaving a nice chipped edge. This is an old military modeler trick by the way. Practicing on something else first might be a good idea....

The welds are perfect! Go Virgil GO!

Yup, Very nice! Patina Woodys are KOOL!

Could be a fun idea for a build off.... "Build a Hod Rod Mag cover car build off 2008". Or something like that.

Ferrari used a "Comprex" type of supercharger for Formula 1 back in the late 80's/early 90's. From what I read and understood this device uses shock waves to compress air. Inside the casing is finned wheels like the paddle wheel you see on the back of a riverboat. Essentially there are openings or ports on both sides of the casing which allow air and exhaust to enter the spaces between the fins respectively, much like a turbo. Air enters a port on the left side and the wheel spins closing off both the exhaust port and the intake port. The wheel rotates a little more allowing exhaust gases to enter from the right side at a high pressure and creates a shock wave pushing the fresh air against the left side of the casing, compressing it. The right side of the port opens. This port is sized smaller and the air must leave at a slower velocity than it wants to; creating a second shock wave back towards the right side of the wheel pushing the air against a closed port further compressing it. The compressed air is reflected off the port back to the left side of the wheel pushing the compressed air out. Not a true "supercharger" and probably not what you were looking for so ..... never mind. Photo courtesy of google.

NO Harry! It's like eating out at the sample booths at COSTCO!!! I do not eat garbage...

Ismael, no just cruise! You would be suprised how heavy some of the older vintage cars actually were! A lot of guys would use weight to their advantage while building up the motor for more power. The greater weight keeps the car on the track! James, No extra steps... just let it sit for a few days. Actually, I am building three of those cars (Ferrari 512 Lemans and a Ford GT 40) so with so much to do, the body has already sat for three days! I realize that James was just kidding about the "cocked" number on the rear, as he knows good and well why this was done. However, there may be some on this forum who do not understand that this was done on purpose. This car ran at LeMans which was a 24 hour race! Back in the early 70's laps for the cars were counted by people who sat at a desk with a clipboard and pencil. Their job was to count the laps of the cars day and night. Many times the "lap counters" were the driver’s wives and girl friends, at least three persons all the time. The cocked number was for their benefit so they could see each cars number as the car went by. The side number flashed way too fast but the number on the back was in their vision for a longer period... and turned toward the lap counters stand at track side! Also, the rear numbers were always lit by little license plate lights during the night phase of each race.

That would be a "no" from me! Too much work to do and no $ available for traveling and lodging and food. Sorry!

That's some pretty nice weathering ya'll got there Cowboy!

Brendan, the chassis fits without having to cut anything away from the body. Since the sides are fairly thick... ... I simply screwed the body mounts directly into the resin with #2 screws. The chassis is manufactured by "Motor Modern", which is out of Germany. It is very precise and fully adjustable from 1/32 scale to 1/24th. The motor is a little anemic but people who want cars like this don't really want to go that fast.... Interior was the only major change from the kit. I used the kit interior and raised the floor slightly with evergreen sheet styrene. Then the front and rear of the "chassis" were removed. The interior was then used as a master and a new interior vacuformed over the old. It is thin... but once glued into the body and with the chassis installed... it's not going anywhere! How many Martini's Bob? Just one.... one BIG one! The decals took 6 to 8 hours to apply over 3 days. Big secret was to cut them apart, apply one or two pieces with decal set and then GO AWAY! Over time the decal settles down very nicely. The body is about to receive about three or four coats of Tamiya clear which will be rubbed out to a glassy sheen.

I always found toothpaste to be too course for polishing paint and window glass. But, I like the future floor polish idea better.... but vacuum forming new window glass I think is the very best option! J

Ok, now my only question is: Who deleted Nick's first post?

They're just resin! For heavens sake, I would buy one and make my own! Talk about fleecing the public... couldn't be more than fifty cents worth of resin there. Bet they add on 4.50 for shipping... what a scam! Okay, here is a alternative... go to IHobby and watch the resin casting booth. Ask lots of questions and gather up the barrels they cast in front of you in the demonstration as they give them away anyway!

I hope for that price these come prepainted! Wow!

Finally finished the decals after a day and a half of cutting and intense labor! Doubt that I am getting paid enough for this but the other two are easier so I guess it all evens out.... The suggestion of painting the base dark blue was a good one (another thread) and ultimately saved what little hair I have left. I have to say that the decals are of the highest quality, which I have EVER worked with!!! Not to mention that they give you two sets of decals just incase you screw one up... which is highly probable. The Fisher resin body was cast beautifully with very few flaws needing correcting and the directions thus far are very helpful (and slightly humorous)! This is a highly recommended kit. This is what I started with.... By the way, that is the chassis next to the body in the first pic. The interior was a solid chunk of resin since this is a curbside kit so I vacuum formed a new one to give room for the slot car chassis. More pictures as this project progresses.

Fathers are the key! We have discussed this before and the consensus was that most of us were introduced to the hobby by our Dads! Period Dot! Without the male parental influence most hobbies, what ever they are, will fade and wilt. It is that simple in my gray and addled mind. What will push the hobby into a renaissance? Who the heck knows but the Great Almighty... but what I do know is that we have a good and solid.....AND moralistic expense of time! If you get the chance to spread it around to any younger generation then fine but enjoy what you have right now and do not worry too much about the future because most of it will happen without YOUR influence. Because we all know that we have enough ###### on our shelves at this point to build until we are are too weak to twist the cap off a paint bottle... or remember where the heck we last left the stupid xacto knife! Right? ###### right!

And I'm on the Left... why?

I would look into the rail section at your local hobby shop or check on-line. I think someone mentioned "G" scale and I agree that items sold for detailing tracks are very close to 1/24th scale. So much so that most rail guys buy and build 1/24th scale cars and trucks for their tracks!!! Barrels are a standard along with pick axes, Sledgehammers, anvils and a ton of other paraphernalia. Everytime Gregg and I are in Denver, CO we stop at the "Whistle Stop" and load up on train details, K&S brass and a bunch of other cool items.

Depends on application... but I have done both!