Cato

A small detail I forgot to mention. I shortened the steering shaft by .250". If not, the wheel sticks out in the drivers chest and the model looks like a child's pedal car: Even if it's 'accurate', the look is much better with a shortened shaft-much like the lowered front suspension. I my opinion, those two things are pretty glaring errors for a manufacturer to allow out. Unfortunately there are several others in this kit.

That GT40 I hope...

Still fiddling with the fit of the rear clip to chassis and discovered the fancy cap on the overflow tank is the culprit. So I'll downsize that and hopefully the deck will close better: It never ends... :lol:

STOP! You're causing GT40-Envy!

Thanks to both of you guys. Hermit, as I said earlier, my finishing ideas won't be everyone's cup of tea. We all like bright and shiney models-unless they're rat rods! But thanks for your appreciation. Jim, I understand your frustration with the issues of this kit. I'm glad my work has 'saved' you the cost of entry, only to be disappointed with the kit in your hands. This thing really was kicking and screaming every step of the way to this point. I made compromised solutions for it's flaws but at least I can gaze on that beautiful shape when done. I just plain love the car. I'm firmly convinced that the existing aftermarket stuff for this car does nothing to materially improve the fundamental faults. Suspension components with accurate joints and thicknesses would go a long way to help. So would a correctly operating front clip to display all the hidden hard work. Trump really should have done a lot better for the price. Maybe if they got their ship and aircraft guys to do this kit the fidelity would have been better. Only the shape is perfect. Too bad the engineering suffered. I'm still fiddling with last minute stuff and I have to cut some glass for it's case.

Thanks MkIII. You may have NONE of the issues I had and you certainly may build another type of car-meaning not a 'track rat' as I chose to go. I just want to see more of this kit undertaken and a variety of finishing philosophies is welcomed.

Almost- ready for "Under Glass".

Be prepared: I'm in the very final stages now and like the above fit issue with the hatch, I've learned that this thing changes as you progress. When you open the box and lay the body pieces together, they fit like a glove. But the changes in shape and fit happen as you join inner and outer structures and join panels to full assemblies like the chassis. If you're anal about getting a neatly fitted shape this will cause you fits. The latest problems are with the rear clip and the windshield. The very top edge of the w'shield (on mine) needs a very slight trim or it won't lay in the opening flat. The rear clip (again, on mine) didn't sit flat on the chassis (below the scoop area behind the doors) and remember, mine is all painted and finished at this stage. The culprit is the leading edge of the rear clip, (where the rear glass front edge attaches) and it's shape. When you join the inner clip structure to it, it lifts the bottom edges slightly off the chassis-result, an amateur join. The only solution I can think of now is gentle heat in the middle of the thin front panel to curve it downward slightly to meet the chassis. I may or may not do this because it's so easy to go too far and ruin all this work with too much heat or blistered paint. At worst case, I may display the car with the rear clip in the up position to show all the engine and chassis work. And believe me-a dead-nuts accurate 427 and rear suspension is worthless here as it's virtually invisible with everything done. Those that insist on bragging rights of accuracy are welcome to spend money and bust tail to get it. But you'll need a display placard to tell people what's under there. I have my 1:1 427 which is more than just accurate-it bites hard. Improving the visible kit parts with scratched stuffed, like the suspension arms, neat hoses and fittings, tin heat shield, linkage and turkey pan I did pays dividends here. Right now I'm satisfied I've captured the character of the originals to my skill level. Although many seem to follow this thread, virtually none are building and sharing their problems and successes with me. Which is the reason I started this WIP-to learn from other guys. Either nobody invested in this kit or they are reluctant to share their info and findings. I sure put a ton of reference out here in both threads and would just like a little chat or input in return. Or this may simply be an unpopular kit to begin with. I titled this 'what to watch out for' and there sure is plenty-even if you build OOB. I've concluded I'm the crash-test dummy.

Does anyone have/make/sell/give-away 1/12 SCALE Bells like ol' Gurney here wears from 1966? Failing that, any pros have a method to scratch build one? Thanks for any help...

More minefields: For me at least. When trial fitting, long before paint, pay a lot of attention to the front clip's fit to the chassis and the hood or 'hatch' (for oil tank access) as I'll call it. You must decide early how you wish to display the model. These are NOT operational features on the Trump kit. For reference, I'll show you the Exoto 1/10 GT. In these two shots you see the correct, scale operation of these moving parts. On 1:1 GT's, the hatch must be opened first then the entire clip can pivot forward. Or just the hatch can be opened on it's hinges and the clip left latched to the chassis. Exoto does this in perfect scale operation but the Trump kit can not do this as designed. And I'm not that good a builder that I can make it work. see the Exoto: Remember, I mocked everything up while the body was white plastic and it all fit great. Now I'm always conscious of paint build-up so I avoid that. But with all the chassis parts glued in place, the fit changes. Here is the inside of the front clip and when mated to the chassis, it would not snap down flush to the chassis in front of the doors. The fix was to gently Dremel the inner edges at the bottom, aft of the wheel wells, where it touches the chassis. The inner structure Trump designed does NOT allow it to pivot and makes it tough for the clip to sit flush. So I nipped off the two pins on the chassis which are supposed to fit in the slots of the fender stone guards: Next problem I had (you may have none) was the fit of the hatch. The hood pins wanted to be angled aft slightly to let the hatch sit square. I enlarged the hatch holes for the pins and angled the pins. Be careful you don't glue the hatch to the pins when you fit it up: At this point it seemed as though the hatch grew in size-it would not lay flat. The solution was to sand the 3 edges (leaving the back edge) until it fit in the hole. Keep checking and don't over sand: I then decided to bevel the edges to thin them and that was where I stopped. Of course I had to hand touch-up all the paint but it was only edges. At this point it sit flat and flush: So the clip won't tilt to show all your hard detail work in the nose area. That's the trouble with the whole kit's design-you see nothing of the detail you think is so important when you start the kit. Now you must decide how to display it. I will glue the clip down and leave the hatch loose. It won't open like the Exoto because the hinges are just decorative. Like the 935's front hatch, I will just lift off but mostly show the car with the nose closed up. Many of you with better skills may make parts that pivot the nose and hinge the hatch but that's beyond me...

OK Don-thanks for an answer.

More great advertising Tim but it still doesn't answer the simple question I asked-twice now. What was the source material for this model?

Dave-I hope so. I have some chassis drawings so they're fairly common to obtain. The Kirkham Bros who build the 'Polish Car' (aluminum) have shared some body and chassis reference material with 'BMW Mech', who made a big splash of his total scratch 1/8 Cobra up until about January-then disappeared. He got as far as most of the chassis but I believe he intended to do sheet brass body panels, just like the K Bros build their car. Those replicas are exact BTW unless you desire their billet, non-original suspension and certain options they offer. In fact Shelby buys the Kirkham roller body/chassis for their aluminum car. (Shelby offers a cheaper replica, the f'glass car which is the CSX 4000 series). I ask the question because this major work will obviously be an expensive kit and authenticity should come with the price. Also there are many replicas out there where 1:1 scratchbuilders try to clone the car. Copying one of those would not be fair to the discerning modeler who pays for an authentic 1/8 replica. I know the TDR group never works from existing models by others so that's not a concern. So far the chassis looks very good, especially the Sunburst wheels and early G'years. The SideOiler too is very good but may take effort to fill the RP surfaces. Only the very early street cars were so powered and 100 or so cars into the run, the 428 was installed. The shapes of the two engines can wear the same dress and are near identical especially tucked into an engine bay that tight. But 428's were single 4160's or the quads which TDR will offer. I don't think secrecy is a factor unless the licensing fees are avoided or a private owner of an original CSX 3000 series car requests privacy. Trumpeter makes no secret of the fact that they kitted chassis 1046 for example.

Tim, Can't quite tell from the illustrations but I believe the tire well in the trunk floor should tilt downward towards the front. What car and chassis number were used for drawings and measurements? Restored original, CSX 4000 or KMP replica?

Thank you Taffy. Fabrice's is all nice and shiney-what would he think of my scruffy track rat?

Thank you Mred you're very kind BUT-I must have failed because I wanted viewers to smell the heat as well as burn their fingers. What did I use? Well the kitchen sink. Various applications of Testors 'rubber', dark and light tans, Future, Alclad pale gold, Tamiya Titan gold and believe it or not-a little #2 lead pencil. And a lot of time spent studying my old stainless sidepipes. Today got the rear clip hung and wired and the hood locks onto the nose. A small word of caution to builders-you'll need to enlarge the holes in the front hood slightly or it won't sit flat in the front fenders. And if you use the wire rear clip retainer, narrow the peg on the rear crossmember so the tiny circular loop from the wire goes over it. It's all very fidgety-but strong if you get it right. Very close to messing it all up with weathering mists. Windshield and rear window staying out until after paint. Some teasers:

-And I showed-off a plastic magazine holder as my GT40 jig Boy you know how to hurt a guy... Just brilliant and the 1:1 methodology is the perfect way to get 1:1 results. Watching Indy all weekend I presume?? Any chance you can whip-up Melanie's ProMod?? She's my fave.

Getting dirty: Light wash of thinned jet exhaust and German gray randomly applied by daubing with Q-tips. This area will get an overall mist of German gray and black as the draft picks up all dust, oil mist (which Side Oilers are famous for!) and rubber. The key is I must not overdo it-so I'll be careful. This looks stronger in a photo than in life on the model-looks much more subtle in person. I'm using acrylics for weathering and anything that I don't like can be easily washed and redone. Not everyone's cup of tea but I'm trying to improve what I did on the 935.

Why Taffy, my first sports car hero! Thanks for the kind words from across the pond! Yes you can ask-that's a light buffing with a well-worn 3M gray scuff pad. (Get at auto paint supply store). Go easy at first and creep-up on the effect you want. In fact, practice on chrome sprue or in my case, the FIA suitcases which Trump chromed and I didn't use. Trump was roundly booed for chroming way too much stuff. I stripped what I wanted to paint or BMF and actually left stuff like the latches and rocker covers for this. It's really very close to the well-scuffed and handled originals. A touch of clear blue shows the header heat so close to the cover. The front clip aluminum panels (see further up this page for snap of original) were also well worn and I scuffed as seen here: It's just a nice way to change-up the various aluminum, chrome or steel bits on the car. Nothing on these cars was ever brightly chromed or polished-even brand new. Will/are you building this car? If so please post and if you've any good reference snaps, I'd appreciate seeing them. Thanks for looking.

Getting close now: The carb linkage is complete. Just some latches and hinges to add, the windshield and wiper and then some heavy thinking about the extent of 'race track weathering' I want. It sits 'right' with the stance I wanted so it's getting exciting. 'Ex' is also the way 'exhausted' starts and at times it has been fidgety. The linkage-.015" steel wire and a b-word to fidget with. My earlier tip about dental floss came in again. The spring would not stay on tweezers and flew a few times on my bench. Solution-tie a circular loop of floss through the spring, play for hours mounting it, then snip the floss and pull out when CA'd. You can't lose it if/when it drops-you see a nice big loop of floss: Rear wheels need brake dust and taped-on wheel weights. I'm considering tire 'pick-up'-usually white stones stuck to the hot tires- from the pits and/or the chunks of rubber 'clag' from being off line on the track. Overall views of the rear clip: A look at the cabin. The windshield left out intentionally so as not to handle or scuff it. Debating whether to do the wiper sweep in the road grime like my 935. The rear view mirror is set into a shallow hole drilled into the roof(!) instead of the roll bar like 1046-I deleted the bar which came after LeMans '66. I think the fused wires are too large a gauge for the scale and I'm a little unhappy about that. The cockpit has the right cramped, hot and cluttered look they all raced with so I'm OK with it overall-but I could have done better. Funny how you see things more clearly on film, after the fact, than when you're selecting parts to scratch. -OR, you guys all know that and I'm a dope! Cabin: Here's the other side and you can see I shortened the steering column or it would be in driver's chest. Be careful if to do this because the shaft that Trump gives you is as soft as solder and bends very easily. I also did not add a fire extinguisher or system plumbing as the cabin floor is already cramped with battery, wiring and french fries. Besides, my 1/12 driver has confidence that I didn't build him a firetrap :

Dave, Your words are very kind. To be honest, I'm ashamed my work can even be seen on the same screen as yours. I am enjoying this build as I'm pushing my meager skills to higher levels than previous work. And learning all the way. The good reference material is a huge 'push' to get it better. I've still got miles to go however. When I can machine my own threaded heim joints and engine blocks and cast uprights, wheels and carbs-like you can--then I'll feel better about myself. Right now I'll be content to have it give the impression of a thoughtful build in a case on my shelf. But I just love looking at GT 40's. Thanks for the inspiring work you do-but it makes me want to crunch mine...

Only the throttle linkage to go on this end:

NEVER LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE... Well I did make more work for myself but I'm kinda happy I did. I remade Trump's clunky piece. The scratched piece is .005" baking pan aluminum and .020" styrene as a backer. That's almost a 1:1, 1'16" sheet on the real car which is fine. The tin cuts easily with scissors or #11 blade. A tape pattern made from the original worked great. The styrene backer allowed me to roll the edge for a truer look. There's another tip in here I stumbled across. Here's a main view of the new piece. Compare to the shots in my other post of the Trump piece. Notice the cyano 'stains' in the upper corner and under the 'wings' in the following shot. That's not excess glue, it's the 'flash' that cyano gives off on shiny surfaces like windshields and canopy's: Here you can see the rolled edge clearly: Here's the tip that I found works-WD40. Using a Q-tip wet with WD, I gently swabbed the tin where the stains were-top and bottom. Gone! See here: Lastly, you can see I made the wings slightly shorter so the fuel fitting on the filter clears the heat shield and the visible line from the carb has a clean attachment to the fitting. Now what's really bothering me is the clunky turkey pan Trump gives you for the carb. I BMF'd it early on but it's just cheesy the way mine came out. I still have plenty of .005" tin........

Yes, this is what Tom mentioned in the article. Fantastic work x 2! I don't think TV had blueprints for you to work from on such obscure subjects (especially the hauler!) You make this stuff up as you go along??