MrObsessive

The threads about the new 1/12 scale Trumpeter Ford GT40 had some interesting responses.........especially when it came down to price. Crispy (Chris B.) mentioned that he might buy the kit, if only just to "grok" it. Now some of you newbies (and Oldies) are probably wondering---------What's the meaning of "grok"? It's basically this-----at least my definition of it......... You buy a kit of a car because you really like the car. In my case that would include most '50's/early '60's cars 'cuz that's the stuff I first saw on the road as a little kid. However, your intention may never to build the model, just look at it's parts, "air" build it in your mind, and size up the different ways you might do this. You pick up an look at the parts on the tree, check out the body, and look over the instruction sheet. You may do this numerous times, until one day-----it's 10 years later, and the kit is still unbuilt in the box. So my question is............How many of you buy a kit, to end up groking it----------intentional or not? BTW, now I can admit I DID put in a preorder for that GT40! The kit just looks too nice to pass up! I preordered it from Strada Sports while the price is "reasonable". I may never build it, but I'll have a lot of fun just "groking" it.

The '67 might be your better bet---although all three years had some unique sheetmetal so there's gonna be some cutting and shaping no matter what. That was back in the days when there were REAL annual model year changes, not just a different color or grille pattern. The '67 and '68's shared windshield frames so you've got that part covered at least. There are resin '68 Galaxies out there (R&R) but you've got that fastback roof and different trunk and tulip panel to deal with.

Beautiful save MJ! You're one of the masters of those rescue jobs! I've yet to attempt a rescue..............and I've got tons sitting in boxes waiting for their chance!

Yes, the Revellogram '65 Mustang convertible came with an uptop. With some tweaking it might work.........I was never a fan of the uptop personally, it's too "blocky" with not enough "droop" and "sag". In fact, if they went a bit further with that top, they could give us a proper 2 dr hardtop which is a no brainer.

Here's a few pics I just Googled of a '63 Chevy II convertible...........................Trumpeter's windscreen is so waaaaay off it's laughable!

Right you are Bob! I did PM him earlier about that SNAFU on Trumpeter's part. That frame CAN be fixed though if you'll take a look at the following pics................... I used a pair of dividers on the coupe to confirm to myself that the convertible's frame is too tall............ Here's the 'vert's windshield frame.........obviously too tall!! And here are pics after the fix..................I cut out the windshield header and lowered it about 1-2 scale inches.............. I don't know when I'll build this one as I did the fix on this when this was a brand new release..........seeing this thread has me tempted now!

Fantastic job Chris! I'm not a big fan of sprint cars, but the small details on that are terrific!

Yeah.................I originally wanted a working one on the GTO, I scratchbuilt a working top frame and all............... The bottleneck was the top material..........I did find something that was workable, but in this scale didn't seem right for scale fidelity so I gave up on it and made a top out of the hardtop.

That's the same thing I would do Mike. No one that I know of makes an uptop for the Trumpeter Nova. Making one from a hardtop isn't too hard. First you need some GOOD photos of the car with the top up--------then with some sheet styrene, strip styrene, and some putty.......a nice uptop can be made. Here are some pics of an uptop I made years ago for a stillborn '64 GTO convertible from the cut off hardtop. When the shape is to your satisfaction, simply primer and paint. HTH!

I do the same thing too Bob------except I might change the order somewhat. I'll do cleanup of the body, and any bodywork (doors, trunk, etc,) before the engine, chassis and interior. Nothing's more frustrating than having the car painted, and then struggling to get the body on because I didn't figure out a method to mount it before painting the body! Since painting's the last thing I'll do, I can start planning/doing research on the next car while the paint is is drying.

John, I can tell you that while I have the Revell/Protar GTO and not the Fujimi, the Fujimi is MUCH more accurate in the body shape than the Revell of Germany. I've seen the Fujimi real up close and personal, and it's got it all over the Revell one. The Revell kit is based on a car that was wrecked and wasn't restored to its original proportions per the actual 250. So while the car is correct for the wrecked car, it's woefully wrong if one wants to build a "stock" 250 GTO. I put "stock" in quotes because of the original 36 Series 1 cars, no two were alike, but they did share basic similarities in bodywork. The Protar's rear end is just too blocky and upright, maybe to aid in aero at the time, but to my view just doesn't look right from certain angles. The Revell kit does have opening doors and trunk per the original tooling, but these will need to be tweaked a bit to open and close correctly. Harold's engine for the Fujimi is top notch! You won't go wrong buying that one! Hope this helps!

Would these qualify as either/or Jairus? Scratchbuilt working window mechanism............. Scratchbuilt working front and rear suspensions using kit parts.......... Kitbashed roof section to turn a '56 in to a '55 Ford............... I guess I do a little of both to my builds..............I can't just leave well enough alone!

Bobby, if you can pick up the November '08 issue of Model Cars, there's a tutorial written by yours truly on the type of hinges you'll need for that '64. It'll be helpful for first timers like yourself. The cut out doors look good so far---------I would tighten up the shut lines a bit just a bit though for evenness.

Acetate sheet which is also called Clear Stencil Sheet in the craft stores is the best when it comes to replicating glass in models. Here's a quick and dirty tutorial on how I did wraparound glass on the '55 Ford which is stalled for now. This comes in handy for special built models where you have no previous pattern to use, or the kit windshield is lost or broken in several pieces. For consistency, you may want to do the rear window in the same fashion so the optical clarity is the same for both. Of course, if the rear window is for something like a '57 Chrysler 300...................Weeellllll you may be outta luck! I take a 3x5 card and cut it to the approximate size to the windshield opening. Then trace the window opening on the card. Cut the card to the shape of the window and then test fit it inside your opening........... It would be a good idea to make some kind of "trough" or lip inside of your window frames to hold the templates in place. This will also aid in holding the acetate once you begin to epoxy. Now you want to take the pattern of the tracing, lay it on the acetate, and trace on that. I use a Exacto blade as I can see the faint lines it creates..............it's also thin enough that the cutting point will be more defined as opposed to using a fat magic marker or Sharpie. Once you cut the pattern on the acetate, now you can test fit that inside your window openings. When it all looks good to you, epoxy the acetate in place. Compound curves can be tricky, so when I'm doing wraparound windshields------I'll epoxy one side of it first, let that cure fully, then epoxy the other side. You then might want to epoxy a layer inside the windows once again to "trap" the acetate to ensure they won't pop out on you when trying to clean them up. Here's the end result of the scratchbuilt windows............... Your windows are gonna be quite a mess once you've epoxied 'em in. I use rubbing alcohol and Meguiar's Car Cleaner Wax to clean everything up once the epoxy has fully hardened up. That for me is usually overnight. To cover over some of the overlap of the epoxy you may get, cut a very thin piece of electrical tape or whatnot to simulate weatherstripping as what's seen on 1:1's. Hope this helps!

Yup! They sure did............it was called the Z1 from around 1988-91. ..................And yes I have a nice pristine Revell kit of it. Will I build it? Ain't sayin' yes, ain't sayin' no------------just mebbe!

The brand I use is Dynatron Putty-Cote. It's just a brand name I stumbled across in auto supply shop when I couldn't find Evercoat one year, and I've been hooked on it ever since. It's a two part mix------putty and hardener. Mix up the amount according to the directions, and you're good to go. The fumes are a little obnoxious though.......make sure you've got plenty of ventilation! One thing I like about it is it's got some plastic in the putty. Makes it nice when you want to attach side trim like I had to do on the '55 Ford. It may not be available in your area as I've had folks tell me that they can't get it where the live. Any type of two part auto body putty should work...............plain 'ol Bondo would work. Most putties/paints are compatible with resin, the key is in the prep just like anything else. The brand that Mike mentioned above sounds like good stuff...........if that's in your area, you may want to give that a try if your finances allow.

Well, you'll need to add plastic back to the resin/plastic part you're working with to achieve the fine gap you want. In the link I posted above, I also show how to make your gaps tighter so they are more in scale, by adding sheet plastic to the edges. As far as bondo sticking to resin......that's no problem at all! Here are a couple pics of a stalled project of resin Ford GT40 doors that needed some bodywork because the gaps were too large when shut. You'll see on the one pic where I added plastic to the underside, and then used putty to even things out................

If you've got some 400-600 grit sandpaper, use the coarse side of the paper and "file" in the groove where the putty is. You do one side, then the other, and so on-------'til it matches the original shut line. I might suggest folding the paper, but that might make the shut lines too large. Work carefully as you don't want to make the gap any larger than it would normally be. If you'd like to see the benefits of using auto body putty, click here for my '55 Ford Fotki page. I've had some MAJOR use of putty in a roof swap I did a while back.

Ya, I would definitely try to peel away the epoxy and the Squadron! You got to remember that your resin is a LOT softer than the epoxy------and will sand at a faster rate. You don't want to lose any detail because of the coarser sandpaper. Hope this helps..............

I'm sorry........... I was in between working on my Cougar and fixing dinner when I ran across your W.I.P. Just to save ya from some frustration...............but that Squadron is some mighty frustrating putty! Is there anyway you can sand it off (carefully!) and start anew?

To add some more about the nose............when trying to fill in a split such as that, it might be a good idea to fill in the underside with sheet/strip plastic (you'll need superglue since it's resin). Then you want to build up the topside of it with putty, minimizing the chance that the nose will flex and the putty cracking when you get to the final assembly, polishing, etc.

What type of putty did you use? I've found the best stuff to use for resin/plastic bodywork is regular 'ol body putty. My favorite is Dynatron Putty Cote. It's a two part mix, dries fully in about ­­½ hour and feather edges very well. Please don't tell me you used "Squadron" putty................that stuff never dries! Actually it WILL dry eventually------I just don't like how it will keep attacking your bodywork long after it's painted, especially plastic.

Good to see you back Billy! The 'Vette looks great!! Ain't it nice to have a change of pace?

Mustang?? That chassis looks quite familiar!

Chuck the software on the board is mostly HTML specific so that wouldn't work here for the most part. There are attachments you can make (see bottom of text box) but you'll quickly run out of space there. Here's a link to a tutorial on posting pics here........................... Hope this helps!