AlanNZ

Track is probably a bit of a loose term. I'm just taking an overall measurement over the outside face of the tyres when mounted on the suspension. Made a mockup of the rear suspension last night and it is about 1 1/2mm too wide. I'll need to come up with a plan to decrease the overall width by that much. Thinking I might be best to cut the stub axles and lose the excess there. There seems to be a bit of give and take space there behind the wheels. Have to have some sort of reinforcing when re-mounting them though. Maybe some wire? and that would also give me some leeway in adjusting ride height.

Remember, if you want to be safe on the roads here, Left is Right and Right is Wrong. Quite simple really.....

Cesar, I think Steve is a bit confused because the car is not a left hooker.

Hey Brett, Oh rats.... Ahh well. Thanks for the offer anyway. So after this thing has sat on my workbench for a day or two I decided that I'd better either do something or bin it completely... First things first, The Testors cuda body only has a 108mm wheelbase, the Sidewinder chassis has a 113mm wheelbase, so I have to lose 5mm out of the chassis length. Out with the measuring stick and the razor saw and hack 5mm out of the chassis rails. no going back now..... Going to use the channel in the top of the chassis rail to provide a convenient location for some reinforcing for the new join. It's galv. wire too, so no chance of rusting. I've checked the track on the sidewinder and its 73mm, so should fit inside the cuda body shell with a bit of luck, if not I'll have to narrow the track somehow. Any good ideas? Decided to use as much of the sidewinder as I can, so I'm going to incorporate the two interior tubs. Cut the floor out of the sidewinder tub and made a template for cutting out the cuda tub. Actually I mucked this up a bit as I didn't think to cross check the tub position relative to the front suspension. Now I have to replace a bit of floor somehow... Anyway, progress I guess. Finished resizing the bumpers. Had to cut the front bumper to lose a 1mm out of it to get it fitting correctly. Got them put back together and painted with chrome paint. Not overly chromey finish if you ask me but I kinda like it regardless. Oh and I had a crack at a bit of scratch building. There are no mirrors with this kit and I saw a rather cool set of mirrors on a car in a magazine and decided to try to replicate them. Started with a piece of sprue and cut it down the centreline. Then took to it with a flat needle file until I was happy with the shape (kinda like a cone) then cut them off the sprue and finish sanded smooth. Then bent a bit of 0.7mm wire to shape and drilled the backs of the mirrors and the doors. Finally glued the mirrors onto the wire and the wire through the door and bent flush against the door and glued. Came out alright I thought.

Right then, time to get back into it. Amazing how "other stuff" takes over huh? @horsepower, yeah I was quite keen to remove the overiders but there is a matching mould line in the lower valance panel, so they stay. You can see the panel I mean in dwc43's post it's the second from top. btw, thanks for those photos dwc. very helpful! Anyway, following a major messup with the hemi engine involving a jar of MEK it has been on hold for a while waiting to find another engine. Eventually I got another kit, but it's 1:24....DOH. So, I have taken a step sideways and I purchased a Sidewinder kit and I'm going to kitbash the two together. Essentially the Cuda body on the sidewinder chassis with the V10 engine. Not quite sure how I'm gonna make it work yet, but, hey, the worst I can do is finish up with a really good parts bin and a whole lot of scrap styrene.....

^^^^ Not all of it I'm game to try just yet, but, hey, at least I have a vague idea of how......

This whole thread has just been off the hook. Romell, you have that rare ability to break down things into small acheivable chunks and add simplicity to it as well. Thanks so much man, I have learn't sooo much.

Everytime I check this thread out it just blows me away...... You ever considered maybe writing a "How to" book for this stuff? Maybe one of the ".... for Dummies" series?

Hey Cesar, welcome to the forum. I have seen some of your other builds over on SAM and they are certainly, like Romell's, a notch above and something to aspire to. I especially liked your Barracuda.

Don't give him ideas sweptline. I made the mistake of having him on about threading the wheel lugs and look what he's done with those!!!!

A bit more bodywork done. Enlarged the tail lights so they look a little more realistic and have got the lenses fitting flush. I have no idea how the tail light lens strip was supposed to fit in the tail light recess. So I chopped it up to make a lens that at least fits the recess for it.. Rear bumper fitting properly now. Unsure whether to cut exhaust holes in the rear valance? I've also nutted out the bonnet (hood) hinge system. Took abit of trial and error, but it was quite fun! No photos yet though..... Progress is slow but fun.

Romell, this thread contains so much brilliant work it is more like a giant 19 page tutorial.

I know you didn't ask for votes but I reckon a white top. However, I'm a believer in using one type of paint all over. I would use a white metallic on the roof. A plain white just wouldn't look right somehow I think.

I've got to the point where I can put together a mockup Getting it to sit like that might be another problem altogether though. These are the cast metal wheels Shame about the solid infill.... So I took to them with a drill and a dremel Now they look much more lifelike. Started mucking around with the rear suspension. Here's a rough coilover I made.

Lugs and lug nuts??? Next you're gonna tell us you're going thread the lugs..... So you're going to remove the cast in nuts on the wheels and drill them out? Following this thread is so cool. Keep it coming Romell. Cheers Mate!

Had a bit of a think about where to go with this thing. I have a picture in my mind of what I want it to look like, so I decided to start with the body. A quick inspection of the body showed up numerous defects. Sink holes, mould lines, you name it there was at least one of them! Started out with the basics and sanded off the gutter, door handles and wheel arch trim along with the clips from the bonnet and applied a liberal coating of Tamiya putty. The rear panel just seemed to be one long series of sink marks And those tail light recesses just look stupid.... The front and rear valances were a rough fit at best. A bit of putty to go in there.. And there is this huge gap underneath the headlights???? The rear bumper fit is not too flash either. A bit more putty to be put to good use here too! Anyways, it's a start...

I reckon that's a really nice colour. Not much of a green person, but I like that. It will look even better when you put the chrome highlights on it.

Hey thanks guys! Eric, that is a nice looking car. And, honestly, I had no idea the colour I chose was so close to an actual colour. Shame mine didn't come out as shiny as that.... That photo really highlights how wildly out of scale the window trim is on the kitset. One day I'll get another one and have another crack at it.

The Pontiac GTO came out ok. Paint gave me a bit of a headache. But not enough to discourage me completely. So here's my next project. A supercahrged 1971 Plymouth Barracuda. The kit itself is, I think, not very lifelike and the mouldings have quite a few defects, but what the hell, it's winter and I'm sick of TV and the ski season hasn't kicked into high gear yet.... So, body straight out of the box. You can even make out the sink marks in the photo. I'm planning on removing all the moulded in window and wheel trim, shaving door handles and suchlike. The kit bonnet (hood) is not attached in any way and has securing clips moulded in. I'm going to clean it all down and forward tilt it. So, I'm off to start glueing stuff together....

@ Lownslow, the can just says "Orange"

Betcha thought I'd lost interest huh? Well, you weren't the only one. Ressurected the body out of the cupboard after an extended curing period. I saw an idea on here for applying aluminium foil, and, as we can't get BMF here I thought I'd give it a crack. It came out sorta not too bad for a first try I thought. Not sure if I'd try it again though. Anyways, moving right along. I tried another coat of clear over the body and had the same motley reaction. So I binned the clear and the body sat next to the hot water cylinder for the next month or so. Then last week I called in and got another can of gloss clear, sanded the faulty coat back and had another go. This came out spot on! Only drawback was the polish I used on it. Seems to be slightly sticky and is nowhere near as glossy as the clear coat all by itself. Ahh well. Live and learn. Here's the finished photos anyway. The bonnet doesn't sit flat, but too bad. It's as finished as it's gonna get!

This is lookin' promising

BTW, Loving the Escort and the Cologne Capri in the second photo

John Steeds V12 coupe is one of my all time favourite cars. Such a shame they didn't carry on the coupe with the series 3 XJ6. I was about to ask where you got the kit when I saw that you had fabricated the body from a Super Bee?????? That's just amazing

Whoa, that took a while. Had to catch up. Pages 7 thru 13...... Looks outstanding Aftashox! Now to go find the door tutorial I saw mentioned.