Nitrozilla

I couldn't agree more Art, for what is Art without a tale of the journey? You should know. Alright kiddies, last of the pics for the day. Man, I've been on a tear today. Wonder where that came from? Still got lots of tweaks to possibly include photo etch tank caps. I might even scratch some. Where's my hole punch.....? Hey Chris, didn't we just see that micro millimeters can make all the diff in stance? In the third picture you can see in the front wheel wells where the tinwork extends beyond. I'll get those filled tomorrow. Yikes. Something I just noticed. The rear radius doesn't leave much room for decals. Darn

Paul, both you and your well disguised black kitty are evil, evil, evil. Trying to get me to thinking about the Challengers. Bad Modeler, BAD. John, you're the only man on the planet who believes a melted body is a small problem. Thanx Ray. You're right Randy. It does look right on. BUT WAIT !!!! THERE'S MORE!!!!! Just not right now. lol I just finished all of the pre-assembly body work removing the wipers, door handles, side markers, window vents and rain channels. Next are the inserts and wheel well mods. Stay tuned.

I know...... mwahahahaha

Thank you for those inspirational words Chris. You gave me the idea to do what all good pragmatists do. COMPROMISE. Here's the new plan, I'm going to use the Super Bee bod and everything stays the same theme - wise. It'll still be Charlie Allen. What can I say? I'm hooked on Phantoms. So this morning I commenced to whittlin' on the body. It came out a little too narrow, but it only forces me to radius the rear fender wells to fix that. Kinda' glad it came down that way because I was considering it already anyway. I still need to move the front wells forward, but I'll do all of that after the body is back together. Tonite I'll make inserts for under the trunk, roof and hood to strengthen the seams when I reunite the halves. Enjoy the hacking and slashing goodness.

The song, "Telstar", by The Tornadoes holds a special place in my life. A vacation at the Colorado River in '62 or '63. A snack bar there had a juke box that got over $3.00 in quarters from me as I tried to wear that record out. Nice model too Wayne. Man, is that chassis old or what? Love it.

I know this is just me, but I see a topless Funny Car with headers poking out behind the front tires and a parachute attached to the Continental spare. Now that I look at what I typed, I KNOW it's just me. Whatever you do my friend, just haz phun.

Mike and Chris, I have two trains of thought right now and they are both, "Finish what you started" and, "How cool is this Super Bee going to look?" Ray, my heart would have skipped a beat, but I was too busy trying to suck in oxygen to avoid passing out. I'm just trying to remain focused on an overall great looking end product. I've got an "off the chain" hauler and a "bad to da bone" chassis. Now I just need to put it all together. The Super Bee is taped off, ready to commence a hackin' and a slashin'. We'll see if it has potential. If I have learned anything from life, it's that things happen for a reason. Does it mean something that only the body was damaged? On the "new home" front, I signed all the paperwork to start escrow and now the real wait begins.

Good start on the wheelie bar, but I ... can't ... stop ... staring ... at ... the ... rear ... um, er, ... housing.

Note to Contest Judges: Tim Hoagland is attempting to decieve us all by using oversized CF decals in order to draw attention away from all of the obvious flaws in this build. Note to Self: Dude, there are no flaws, obvious or otherwise anywhere on this build. Good luck getting the judges to buy that one. Note to Tim: DUDE !!!!! What a great idea using larger scale decals. Genius I tells ya' !!! Sheer genius !!

This just gets better and better.

Thank you everyone for all of the positive feedback. It's a good thing I took some cool down time afterwards before posting. There's a big difference between what I said when it happened versus what I posted. There are probably websites that allow that type of language and I STILL would have gotten a warning. As a stress reliever, I'm going to narrow a Super Bee body just for the fun of it. I've already shaved and sanded the door handles, side markers and window trim including making the front vent window go away. The wheelbase also needs attention by widening the rear fender wells and moving the fronts forward. What might look funny is the nose with those two big bug eye grills butted up to each other. Need to chop up the bumpers as well. On the up side, I've started escrow on a house and I should have some news in a few weeks. WooHoo!!!! Hope to have progress pics before the weekend. Again, THANX for the good vibes. Y'all ROCK !!!

I haven't decided if I'm going to stay with the Dart or go in another direction. Maybe something simpler until my skill level increases. The body I used is this one: http://www.compresins.com/site/751597/product/CR-4006 I do have the 68 Dart body, but I also have a Charger, both a solid and a clear Cuda, and on an off the wall thought, I've got a Super Bee and a Road Runner. Thanks John and Paul for your thoughts.

Now THAT'S a wing jig !!!! Almost looks 3D printed. Great finish on the CF Tim. I had a feeling the clear would make it pop. Onward to the next amazing step.

Tim, thanks for the words of encouragement. You're about to see how badly I need it right now. Randy, about me being Chris #2. You have no idea how prophetic that is. I'm going to need a little more time on this one. Read on. Ray, it was plenty shiney, but wasn't smooth enough. Now it's just, well, you'll see. For the most part I have discovered that Super Clean is weaker than needed and brake fluid has left me highly confused. It seems that the TYPE of plastic you are stripping makes a difference. It worked fine on kit styrene, not at all on Evergreen and Plastruct and a little too well on resin. I think the pictures speak for themselves. Actually, at this point you might want to look at the pictures and then come back for the rest of my commentary. *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** My first clue to there being a problem was when I looked in the container and saw the hood floating on the surface. Not a desirable characteristic in a one piece body. I may have discovered a new process for turning resin into rubber. I wonder if I need to file for a patent? Now the plan is to primer the Deora and the ramps after some clean up. The tinwork is fine too. I think I'll try some SpazStix Chrome as I wanted too all along. Anybody have a suggestion for a new body and or theme? I have the "Charlie Allen Grail Thing" out of my system and am open to suggestions.

I like that you're not staying inside the box on this Wayne. Vintage rides already look awesome by themselves and can only become more awesomer, (most awesomer?), with personal touches added. The Las Vegas Contingent, Mike and I, have spoken. Carry on sir.

Wow Scott, that looks mean as all get out. I love it when it can sit that low and still have a nose down rake. Looks like it's ready to pounce on the first Hemi it sees. Keep it up man.

Clay, I believe it's time to hand out another one of these. Nice save. It looks right.

I don't care what dimension or planet you're from. That's pretty slick right there Brudda. I just have to see how that J hook is going to hook up. Didn't I tell you a couple of years ago that this build needs a J hook body latching system? Actually, no. But I noticed no one on this page has pointed out how much time you've spent on this thing. Just holding up my end Buddy. You're Welcome.

And here's my new metal collection

You got that part right Chris. I've got a bid in on another house I should hear about tomorrow. Happy Memorial Day to all of my Fellow and Fallen Brothers and Sisters. We can also say goodbye to the old paint job. I put in a huge order with TCP Global for some HOK primer, clear coat, red and silver paint. Hopefully, I'll have everything stripped by the time it gets here. Since I've never seen a "How To" or a tutorial on the actual stripping process, I thought I'd fill the void. I started the stripping process yesterday by pouring a gallon of Super Clean into a container, then soaked the parts. I checked on it from time to time with lackluster results, then decided to let it go overnight. Most people I've talked to or read about say it takes about 5 - 6 hours. Not in this case. It literally dissolved the silver, but left the red and the primer beneath it, proud and resistant. I will give it fair credit in that it did a halfway decent job on the resin body. Now it's soaking in Dot 3 brake fluid. On my first check an hour into it, there is minor progress, but at least it's progress. we'll see what the end of the day brings. Aside from improving my paint skills, I'm also changing my mindset on, "Do I paint a part metallic / chrome or make it out of metal?" Basically that means I'm starting to collect EVERYTHING that may lend a purpose that has a metal surface. It started when I took apart a bread bag from Olive Garden. From now on, every bag and wrapper is fair game. Enjoy the pics and enjoy the holiday Fellow Modelers. Here's the before pic of all the parts to be stripped Next is the soak Then after the overnite Super Clean. The strange pattern on the tinwork is from me scraping with my thumbnail. A stiff brush had no effect. So I now have a really big master cylinder with a gallon of brake fluid

I've had the same clearance issues with magnetos. A micromillimeter makes all the diff in the world when it comes to stance. As far as your next project, my guesses are either a Metropolitan with twin blowers or something Freight Train-ish. Am I close?

Rob, sign me up for the shaker scoop. What do you think of mounting it on the carbs and inserting a cool looking mesh screen? I'm not sure how much a real live Allison shakes though. You might wanna' put in some monster rubber motor mounts. You know, like the kind they "earthquake proof" a skyscraper foundation with.

I found this: ZTony8, on 07 Oct 2014 - 04:52 AM, said: The frame has to be modified. The axle mounts are 26 mm spaced and the chassis mounts are 18 mm. I cut off the chassis " tube " and used a piece of Evergreen .080 rod cut to 26 mm and centered it on the chassis. Cut the axle torque arms off and added them to the rod ends. The fix took about 20 minutes. Hope this is what you're looking for.

Thanks Mick. It also occurred to me that people asking for help are not the ones shooting the good stuff. I put in another bid today. Won't know until Tuesday if it's a good one or not.

First an update on the house hunt, then one on the project. This week I put a bid in on what would have been the perfect home. I got beat out by a cash deal. I'm a novice at this and don't know why cash from a buyer vs. cash from a mortgage company is different. I could have held my own in a bidding war, but wasn't even given the opportunity. Now, from one disappointment to another, I'm still not happy with the paint on the Dart & Deora. Looks like I'm going to strip them both and shoot with urethane after I move and get my airbrush station set up in a garage. Sorry for the delay, but I refuse to do another sub par paint job. I said I was stepping up my game, so I'll be darned if I'm going to compromise now. The first thing I'm doing is to lay in a stock of HOK from TCP Global. Next I'll shoot some test bodies, then when my confidence is regained, WHAM!!!!! Hang in there y'all. I'm looking at 3 homes today. Cross your fingers for me.