MrObsessive

Jim pretty much summed it up. I like to first make a tracing of the glass using a 3x5 card, then cut that out. I then lay that pattern over clear stencil sheet (acetate) and make a tracing on that-----the pattern is then cut out. As a few pics will show------I take half round stock of appropriate size, and glue them into place inside the A pillars. This will form a kind of "track" for your glass. After the pieces have dried sufficiently, then I'll lay the 3x5 card pattern inside to see how well things fit. I could use the clear acetate pieces for this, but since i don't glue windows in until near the end of assembly, I can set those pieces aside for the time being-----or cut them to fit after I think the 3x5 card pieces will fit without a lot of drama. And here's the glass after it's epoxied, and all shined up.............. I'll clean up any epoxy smears with alcohol, and wax..........and then I may add some very thin strips of electrical tape to simulate weather stripping around the perimeter. If you'd like to see further detail of how this is done, visit my Fotki page here, where there's a complete buildup of the Turbine Car shown. Hope this helps!

I needed to measure the exact center of the hood to place the windsplit, so that's what was done here......... The windsplit was done by using some strip styrene in the appropriate size along with the little "spear" at the leading edge of the hood. It's hard to photograph with the lighting I had, but it's there. Next, I'm going to barrier the heck out to the hood with Future Floor Wax, and then attempt to paint this again. Once everything's nice and dry, I'll rub everything out along with the rest of the body. Hopefully, I can wrap this thing up once and for all, and there's no more drama with the house such as floods, collapsing ice/snowstorms, etc. Thanks for looking and comments welcome!

Whew! I though I lost this thread since the changeover------and the fact that I haven't worked on this since my house was flooded from Tropical Storm Lee in September. Well things are back to normal (almost) as everything is all cleaned up.........but I still have no furnace as I haven't been properly reimbursed from BofA. That's a story for another time though............. Anyway, this kit has been fighting me tooth and nail since the day I started it! While the parts were very well cast, for some reason, I've been having trouble particularly with the hood. The original hood had a bow to it which hot water wouldn't cure------so I went and ordered another hood from The Modelhaus. Weeellllllll..............after I had that all painted, I didn't like how it turned out (dust flecks), and I went ahead and stripped it with Easy Off. The Easy Off took the paint off, but after a few days I noticed the hood had a slight bow to it. No biggie I thought, so I heated it up and straightened it out. The flooding then hit my home a few days later so I didn't look at it again for maybe about a month after it was put away. A few weeks ago when I was trying to get things back in order, I took a look at the hood and it was warped again! Ok.............something's wrong here-----I've never had resin have a "memory" like this and not only once but twice! Well, I decided I'm not buying another hood. I'm going to take a page from KennB and scratchbuild my own. Here's the results of my attempting this.............. Here's the original hoods that I can't seem to cure of their bowing. The closer one is The Modelhaus, the other is the original hood. The plane of the hood is flat enough to warrant using .040 flat styrene stock with no issues so that's what was done here. Since the only styrene sheet I had in this thickness was ribbed on one side-----I went with this. The underside of the hood won't be seen, so it's no big deal to me. I simply made a tracing around the hood, and went from there. The leading edge of the hood was made by simply cutting along a straight line, and bending it there. I wanted the radii to be consistent from end to end, to some careful sanding and shaping was in order after fillling the underside with some super glue. Stay tuned for more!

Whoops! Sorry I'm just now noticing your question Skip! The Cougar is 1:25-----I thought that the wheels may be a scooch oversized for the car, but they were much better than the kit wheels and tires so I went with 'em. I have that Maserati kit as well, and remember test fitting those wheels to it..............I didn't think they looked too bad. Once again they're much better than what that old/reissued kit gives you. Niko, I'm no expert on trucks or truck tires, but is what I have pictured below what you're looking for? Those are from John Sharisky's Fotki site............if you click here, it will take you to his entire Fotki page as he has some other things related to what you might need as well. Hope this helps!

I have the Volvo P1800 from Airtrax, and yes they do require cleanup before beginning. They're certainly not for the novice! Here are a couple shots of the body................ The rest of the kit can be seen here. I'd like to someday duplicate the 1:1 '65 I had years ago.............that was a FUN car! HTH!

I've seen the coupe Monteverdis before, but this is the first I've seen the four door model. The front end had a very familiar look to it------that's how I was able to zero in on exactly what it was. Wheels are turning in my mind as I'm trying to figure out what kit is available out there that can be transformed into a model like this.............with somewhat drama free bodywork. Available with a 426 Hemi Eh?............Hmmm.........

I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out what this is. Like Cranky and others I know what era it's from, but no idea as to WHAT it is! I love its lines though----------------very Euro and tidy as well!

That resin Javelin looks pretty good! I may have to check that one out! I once owned a 1:1 '69 AMX 390 (that car could be a real handful in the rain due to the short wheelbase), so I have my share of kits of that. I have no Javelins though............I'd sometime like to model the one my Mom once owned------a '69 SST model she bought brand new in the summer of '69.

No, not really. The suspension doesn't really need to flex all that much to work unlike a 1:1........not to mention there's just not that much weight on the suspension as it is. We're talking about a few ounces perhaps relatively speaking? Thanks for the compliment!

One thing about working suspensions, is there (at least for me) was a LOT of trial and error to get it to look and function properly. You're doing a lowrider as you mentioned, and you have some leeway in which you can bypass certain functionality and appearance. In my case, since I build pretty much replica stock............It has to look and appear pretty much just like you would see it on the street. So just a fair warning------I hope you're a patient person as this can test your patience to the highest degree!

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys................I'll definitely look into the different tips I've gotten.

BTW, later on when I get time, I'll post pics of the hood I scratchbuilt. Hopefully I can retrieve the original Olds thread as it's been quite a while since it was last seen. I was working on it just before my house got flooded.............things are back to normal here------almost.

Hmmm.........dry transfer lettering is a thought. Chuck I could probably do the drawings that Al would need. It's just that this won't be a show goer as some of my other builds, and that's a lot of work for something that will be a shelf ornament after a few rounds on the 'net. I might give it some thought though as some other projects come to mind that need scripts badly.

This is not what it might seem........I know that you can get separate PE letters in different sets made for different cars. What I need are the letters only that are done in PE that come in different sizes and perhaps fonts. The reason why is because I'm starting work again on my long neglected '64 Olds 442, and taking a page from KennB-----I've decided to scratchbuild my own hood due to not one but two warped hoods. I've checked with MCG and unless I overlooked something, I don't see where he sells the letters alone that can possibly be universal. So does someone know of such a thing? Or am I to have a hood that will end up being letterless? Thanks in advance guys!

Yeah, I had a restoration book when I built that Daytona (in 2000! ) the bolt holes were there as well as the alignment holes...........I just tried to duplicate it as best I could. I learned something new as I didn't know that's how Mopar (and probably others) did the unibodied chassis---------makes sense though!

Dunno Harry.............perhaps drain holes per Mopar?

I should have added that the first two pics are of a '58 Chevy, which is very similar (if not exact for a model) to the '64 you want to work on.

If I can remember correctly, I used styrene rod drilled through for an .020 metal rod to go through, sliced it to scale, liquid glued it------ and then let it dry on the frame thoroughly, then put a very small dab of super glue surrounding the joint. Ten years later I can still flex the suspension and the frame works just as well as the day I built it.

I've done working front suspensions on several models...........basically what I did was to get a shop manual on that particular car and scale it down to what would be suitable for 1/25th scale. Here are a few pics of what I did.........it'll be hard to go into detail in this format of how I did it simply because it will change from car to car. I don't have any in progress pics of doing the suspension on some, as these were built before I got a digicam.................... Those that have seen these in person can vouch for the fact they they do work per the real car...........even the Daytona has working torsion bars that twist. As I mentioned, a shop manual of the car you're working on might be the best way to go as you can get an idea where to make your pivot points------and to simplify things down without it looking too gimmicky. Hope this helps! Anymore questions ask away............I'll try to help as best I can, but the memory's a little hazy now of step by step procedures as it's been years now since I've done a fully working suspension.

To my eyes the best proportioned of all the '70-'74 'Cuda would have to be the Johan ones, but as George said they can only be built out of the box in drag racing form. Some kitbashing with the reissued MPC 'Cuda can be done to make a nice one however. The MPC ones come in a very close second....my only complaint with them is the rear window is a scooch too rounded. Last on the list would be the Monogram '71's. There's just too steep of a tumblehome in the roof line to make it accurate for me, as well as the too far apart headlights. Following dead last would be the horrible '70 Revell AAR Cuda. I don't know why they even bothered with that one, as to me it borders on being a caricature of the actual car instead of a scale model.

I had to do a double take as I thought at first this was an Impala with incorrect trim! Fantastic job in converting this to a Bel Air! The red paint is mind blowing! Yeah, these were not too numerous back when they were new.........I don't remember seeing many if any of these as a kid. I always saw the glitzier Impala in hardtop form.

John, by '65 Chevrolet had remedied that swing axle suspension by introducing quad u-joint drive axles, which was similar to what the Corvettes had at the time. My Uncle never complained about the first gen Corvair's twitchy handling-----although he was somewhat of a wild driver anyway! IIRC, the first gen '64 models had something extra done to the suspension as well to tame things down------I just can't remember exactly what at the moment. Most of the complaints and "accidents" were about the 1960-63 models....although it can be argued that the majority of those wrecks were due to driver error.

That is a beautiful car, and I happen to have a 1/43 kit of it! Here's a '56 coupe version of that car................. Gorgeous!

Only according to Ralph Nader, and the guy never learned to drive! My Uncle (and others in my family) never thought they were so unsafe............I'd love to own one today in pristine condition!

Very clever and realistic! Every '59 Impala I've ever seen had the chrome separators. Not sure about the lesser models but I believe they did as well.