Nitrozilla

Thanx Darryl. Hope if somebody at Revell Customer Service starts out their Monday with a Grumpy Face, that might help.

Glorioski !!!! I don't have them either. Technically, you couldn't build this thing box stock if you wanted too. I love Revell kits, but this is a pretty big omission, especially since the body brace is supposed to sit on the frame AND the body latch rods. Thanx for the kudos. Just sent this to Revell: Dear Revell Customer Service Personage; My name is Joe Goss. I am currently building the 1/16th Hawaiian. Big Kahuna - 1/16th Hawaiian I have posted the start of the build on the Model Cars forum. One of the commentors also building the same car asked me if I had Part #117 - Body Latch Rod (X2). Much to my shock and surprise, mine were missing too. I can easily scratch build new ones from styrene rod, so I'm not asking for replacement. You may already be aware of the situation, but if not, there it is. You folks are my main fix for all things Funny Car and always will be. Hemi's and Nitro Forever, Joe Goss

When I woke up this morning, it hit me that I saw a fix for making plug boots all the same height. Then, after coffee, I realized I was the one who came up with the fix while working on the Quarter Master engines. Insert any length boot, take a thin piece of plastic, drill a hole the diameter of the plug boot, then whip out your handy dandy X-Actomatic and hack and slash the little devils into submission.

Copy that.

Amazing the silly things you do when you're trying to paint while on most excellent pain meds. It's been an adventure, but I spent the entire day painting and correcting mistakes and forgetting to glue together sub assemblies. Still have the body to do, but I'm almost out of Gold paint. Have to say I love these paints. Fast dry, easy edge clean up, fast dry, consistent color, fast dry, one coat coverage and it dries fast. Next comes detail paint, nuts, bolts, etc. Should be able to start on the engine soon. Might make a cradle. Lot's of handling needed with fuel / oil / ignition plumbing to do. I still owe y'all a picture of the body brace, but, well, um, refer to the statement above. Enjoy the pix.

Thanx for asking that question. I'm not there yet on my build, but I'm sure that's going to come in handy.

Just so everybody knows, I'm still in progress here. Over the last 2 days I've cleaned up and de-chromed everything on the tree except the wheels. Lot's of teeny tiny parts. As far as when it might get paint, the sun is back out for the next week and reasonable temperatures: 97 to 100. I also took the 2 separate body support rods and turned it into a full blown one piece body brace. Hopefully some pics tonite. Okay? Okay.

Thanx for the words of encouragement Chris. It's been a challenge, as it should be. Especially after you remove 6 defects from one part, then find 2 more. I also now understand your obsession with rivets. My obsession has been to preserve as many molded in rivets as possible. lol All white parts have been washed and ready for paint. Still have the chrome to knock out tonite. Something tells me about 60% is going to get de-chromed either due to seams or the fact that "It ain't sposed to be chrome." It actually rained today, but I think tomorrow will be spray bomb compliant. Edit: Just found pic of car with canards. Where have I seen these before?

Wow David. Black is, to me, the hardest color to lay down. That is incredible. I feel really good about my choice now. Thanx.

.....and Captain Destructo (that's me) makes 3.

I'm on it Darryl !!! This time, fixing the fix. Apparently what happened is, when I installed the plastic tubing to replace the bent rods, a build up of heat from the glue softened the tubes, which bent. Now I am reinforcing that with aluminum tubing. No more flexing !!! However, that also means I can't spread them to install the tin work in the pivots, so I opened up the top of the frame mounts. NOW it's fixed. Also wanted to show you the paints I picked out. I haven't work with an Acrylic Lacquer before. At least, not that I'm aware of. What's good for clean up, lacquer thinner? Also, what's a compatible clear coat? Can I hit it with a straight acrylic? Enjoy the pics.

I think Mark Twain said, "Only a fool takes his own advice." Never, never ever use a Bic lighter on thin rods. They tend to twist and warp. So I cut away the damage after measuring for new tubes and I like the result. That was almost a disaster. Still putting the frame together. Need to narrow the seat because instructions show it going in during assembly. Wait, maybe if I use a lighter to tweak the frame..........naw, narrow the seat. Think I'll go paint shopping.

Here's how it's working out so far. Got the axle mounts moved. Since this is a "load bearing" joint, I thought it best to add a little piece to mount on the inner frame for support. Found another warpage issue in the rear frame body mounts. Shouldn't be a major big deal to fix with a Bic lighter and crossed eyes. Everything else frame-wise looks fine. Decided on paint already. Body and tin work will be gold, frame and accessories blue, engine silver with blue and gold accents. I'll have specifics when I pick up the paint tomorrow.

It was a pleasure to watch construction and now it's a joy to behold. Genius John. Just Genius.

***** I can do it ***** Resist the urge to build box stock ***** Wait, what? Are you a professional hypnotister? I did fall asleep watching TV a minute ago. Why do I want to watch an OSU halftime video on YouTube?

.....and there's the reaction I've been waiting for. Let's not forget, I have built out of the box before, just not a car.

Thanx a group. Exactly what I need. I was actually going to do step one, but wasn't aware of the other tricks with the rollcage and tin work mods. I put the pdf with my picture files so I'll know where it is when I get to that point.

I'm not sure if this is possible for me, but I will attempt this build straight out of the box. Well, almost. I do need to get some Slixx tire markings. None come with the sheet provided. Hopefully my color choices will curb the desire to go totally wackadoodle as I do on so many of my projects. The plan is to knock it out, then get back on the Quarter Master 4 engine Charger. What you see here represents 3 days of parts clean up. Removing all seams, ejector marks and initial blending of sub assemblies. Already ran into a fitment issue with the main tin piece. First of all, as you can see in the first picture, it's warped. That will correct itself during assembly. Secondly, the upper dash had to be sanded repeatedly on the sides to get a flush fit in the body. During mock up I'll decide how to correct the stance to something more eye appealing than the over high rear tire clearance. First guess is to raise the rear differential mounts. That will probably lead to other changes, such as the drive shaft coming up to hit the seat bottom. We'll see. Before y'all ask, I'll decide on body color while I'm standing in front of the paint rack at my local auto parts store. I do know one thing. It's not going to be blue.

Looks real enuff to me. Flawless

Thanx Some More All. Glen, when you're right you're right. The valve stems are a little biggish, but how kewl is that belt guard? Cody, gotcha covered. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=50592&hl=%2Btopless+%2Bterror & http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=91680&hl=%2Btopless+%2Bterror

Thanx again everybody. Decided to do a quickie build before jumping back on the Quarter Master Charger. Going to knock out a box stock build of the 1/16th Hawaiian F/C. There will be picturage. Gonna' take a few days just to clean up parts and prep for paint. So far, so fun.

Did I mention how I didn't like the plain black tail decal from the Charger and was robbing decals from my stash that includes a set from the Blue Max? Totally intentional as opposed to mistakes I've made in the past. Thanx all for the comments.

.....and some more after that.

This has been a long journey to salvage my favorite build. I've done a complete body replacement from Challenger to Charger. A momentary lapse of reason resulted in a warped body with cracked paint on the first incarnation. I'm much happier with the new look. Thanx to all who followed the original build and the Phoenix. Not the car, the bird. Do I hafta' explain everything? Enjoy

Thanx Roger, Glenn and Chris and everybody. She's finished. Posting in Under Glass.