Duntov

It was just a matter of time..... looks like a fun build....keep it going and keep us updated!!!! Thanks!!!!!!!! Regards Bill (Duntov) ................ P.S. I think Zora would have really liked this!!!!

HI: Here is “one†of the things I have in progress at present. This is a fairly pedestrian looking 53 Chevrolet. I will be using the big block from the Monogram 65 Corvette requiring surgery to the inner front fenders. The custom wheels and tires and the rear end from the Revell Cutlass Supreme kit have been substituted for the kit pieces. I did major surgery on the belly pan to remove all cast on exhaust and muffler items and rebuilt the pan with scrap styrene and flat shapes to match the original panels…. Enjoy…. Front wheels with Pegasus disc brakes installed - these will be detail painted with some jet exhaust to simulate the wear pattern. Front wheel from the inside: (the holes in the engine heads are forthe pinned headers) The big block Corvette engine....much detail still to add.......... The frame and belly pan have been rebuilt as shown……the cross member is purposely built in an identical manner to a Corvette to be able to accommodate the stock big block Corvette exhaust system.... Note the liberal use of Tichy rivet heads to "re-detail" the frame components.... The car will actually sit a just a bit lower in the front when I cinch up the front member to the frame....it's a 1 mm high at present....... Will go to primer tomorrow if the weather holds….. no color in mind yet but something very conservative to keep with the “sleeper†theme of this car. Regards Bill (Duntov)

Some time back .... around 2000 I think there was a 1:25 scale jeep 4X4 that came out. Dragon or AFV CLub....something like that. I have one someplace..... I'll try and find it and get the brand...... It was really different in that most military subjects are 1:35. Also.... AMT had a Hogans Heroes '45 vintage Jeep that appears on e-bay from time to time.... you might try that too... it was 1:25 scale... More when I find the brand..... It's been packed away for some time..... Regards Bill (Duntov)

Wow Doctor C!!! ................. can't decide if this sexy or evil or both!!!!!!!!! I love it!!!! Now I just need to build a 1:1 ..... will drop by and take you for a ride when I am finished... Regards Bill (Duntov)

WOW!!!! this just screams...... "Take me out for a DRIVE"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

Very nice......a very clean combination of some very basic kit parts to make an interesting and very believable hot rod......nice work!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

Your skills are going to fit in quite nicely here!!! Welcome.....keep them coming....you do some nice work!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

Very Nice!!!! This is going to be fun....keep up the clean progress.... Regards Bill (Duntov)

Hi Brad: In the past I have left the end of the interior side rail square so I can hang a stabilizer on it for the rear end I use..... however, you can trim it and it will look very clean....to your point....Just do what works for you in this instance...... On a previous version I actually used some half springs from the 41 Willy's kit to spring the rear end and I used the square ends of the frame to anchor those springs with pins and nut bolt washer detail....so again....it's up to you on this one. Regards Bill (Duntov)

Rob: I generally do not Z the front rails....I have had good luck working the front axle to provide a reasonable drop....one that would be driveable.... however, you can certainly Z the front.. I would suggest using a mild kick up or perhaps jsut a step up.... Regards Bill (Duntov)

Thanks Chuck!!! Great review.... I have my eye on one these..... I have the Revell version and would like to add this one to the stash.....thanks again!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

Cruz.....very cool!!! I have to have one!!!! Thanks for passing this along!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

Nice!!! A classic build....clean and very cool.....welcome!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

Nice.... I think duallys on the older trucks have always been overlooked by a lot of folks..... you certainly hit the nail on the head with this one!!!! Keep it going!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

This is some nice work..... I really like it when a builder combines a lot of older stock kit parts to get a unique look..... you certainly set the mark here.... keep up the good work!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

I sure do...especially for scratch building.....easy units to use and it is rare tht I have to use a smaller increment (your point about splitting a MM!!!) ....the conversions are pretty easy too..... It's actualy an old model railroad habit that I picked up many years ago..... works rally well in S scale narrow gauge which is now my primary ralroad scale....... Laer Bill

Thanks for posting this Doc....very good stuff.....I need to take a deep breath and start working with this product!!!! Thanks again!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

OK....now that the image posting Nazi's have been placated..............here is the rest of the tutorial.... Now get out your .010 styrene sheet. You need enough to cover the side rails completely…….see the example…these strips are about 30mm by 130mm to fully cover the sides. If you are crafty you can get the sides completely covered with minimal waste. Now carefully glue the .010 styrene to one side of one of the rails. I coat the side rail with Tamiya Extra thin and then quickly place the rail on the sheet. Let it dry and trim the excess with a NEW SHARP #11 Xacto blade…….use the same process to “sandwich†both of the rails. When you are done it will look like this…..a nice smooth surface and a strong frame rail……NICE!!! Hint: trim ONE side at a time….NOT both….if you do both I will personally guarantee that you will gouge the frame rail…… By now you should be able to see pretty clearly where I am headed with all this fussing, cutting, sanding, gluing and fitting……. SO….. let’s see how we did on the original measurements……… SPOT ON!!! Now you need to round off the front of the interior side rails. This is done to give the frame a finished look and blends into the front extension rails cleanly. ……be careful that you radius the side rails in two DIFFERENT directions so the finished rails come out symmetrical……You also need to add the front rails after you measure the length needed. Again, longer engines get longer rails……be sure to account for radiators and the front axle mounts as well. By the way the front rails are just bare .060 X .156 stock….no need to sandwich them as they will be plenty strong as is. Once you have done that you can glue on the front extension rails. Glue them on with a 10mm overlap….EXACTLY the same on both sides…..this is where one of your key cross members will attach…..botch this one and you have a “horizontally ZEED frame†…… NOT GOOD!!!! Note: longer transmissions, like automatics, may need a longer overlap to get the engine / transmission pair to sit correctly in the cowl area. Mock up the engine to see how it looks…..OK so far…..as you can see the engine you use and the headers….(don’t forget them) will dictate the width of the frame at this point. Everything else needs to accommodate that one element. Still with me??? OK…now for the rear trim off. I want the rear frame to extend as far into the ’32 as possible so I can rig up a mounting pad so…….I do this…. I keep a slight angle on the end to match the body panel…this may change later……I cut ONE rail and check the fit….if it is OK I do the other……It was pretty much spot on so I ended up with two perfect ends. One more time I checked the engine width and location and fit of the cowl area and I am ready for cross members………the cowl points measure out to 32mm across and the rails are now 2mm thick so my main cross member is 28mm…..I double checked the front extension rail width with the engine and it provides the required clearance……I cut the cross members (three of them) nice and square and 28mm long…….glue them in place and I get this…… I only did two cross members at this point – the transmission main and the upper deck member – this allows me to make adjustments later and maybe even change the rear end and engine combo. If the main member gets in the way I just section it out and build around it. One last check with the frame in the 32 body and…………… Here is a quick shot of what is possible….the frame on this 34 was built using this technique and I hung all the appliances you see on it….. That’s it for now….you need to hang your own appliances on this thing…..this should give you a good start on your own frame…..just work slowly and keep things square…..and remember the sandwich technique to strengthen the rails. Have fun…. Regards Bill (Duntov)

This "partial" tutorial will hopefully give you some ideas on how to build a simple, cheap and effective street rod frame from styrene scratch materials. There are a few absolute requirements you will need to fill here prior to starting….otherwise anything you do will be pretty much for practice. The tools needed will be a SHARP #11 Xacto knife, sanding stick, various styrene glue (Tenax, Tamiya Extra Thin, gap filling ACC), a new razor blade, machinist square and the major vehicle components. The three most important vehicle components will be the body you plan to use, your engine choice and at a minimum the rear end. The body will determine the length and width of the interior side rails, the engine will dictate the length and width of the front extension rails and the rear end will dictate the "K-brace" or kick-up rail angle and length. If any of these are out of whack then you will have a nice pile of styrene scrap. That out of the way….let's get started. Take a look at the drawing below and the terminology used. You will be building two frame rails like this with a slight variation. Each completed side rail will be comprised of six pieces of styrene. One front rail extension, one interior side rail, one kick-up, one rear side rail and TWO .010 styrene veneer sheets to tie the three rear pieces together seamlessly. First take a look at the materials you will need. Two types of styrene are needed. I use .060 X .156 strips for the various frame components. Use larger dimension stock for heavier cars and trucks or different scales. You can vary this by width and depth to suit your needs but be aware that all of the frame components EXCEPT the front rail extension will be .020 wider when you are done. You'll see why shortly….. Next take a look at the components that will dictate the critical measurements. Body, engine and rear end. You can pretty much wing it with regard to the front axle when you get there….but these items are critical. Here the engine choice is the old AMT Buick nail head and the custom rear end from the new '72 olds Cutlass Supreme kit. You can see that the springs on the rear end will dictate how the cross members will be built and placed. Also the depth (height) of the kick-up gets defined here as well….but then again the higher / longer the kick-up rail is the lower the car is going to be. Keep that in mind….it's your choice. Your first step will be to measure and cut to length the interior side rail. This is cut from the .060 X .156 strip. In this instance I measured from the front of the cowl on the '32 sedan to the beginning of the rear fender well ridge. It comes out to 55mm. Cut two of these "exactly" and keep the end "SQUARE"!!! Now cut four more 55mm pieces just as you did before. These will form the rear side rails and the front extension rails. They will be too long but that is not an issue. You can always trim them back to the correct length. Make them too short and you will be filling up your scrap box. (Note: if you are building something with an absurdly long rear end or very long engine you may actually want to make the front and rear rails longer…..I'm sure you get the idea…) Any way now you know why there are six pieces in the picture!!! Next is the touchy part. You need to determine the angle and length of the kick-up. Remember, this dictates how low the car will sit in the back and sets the overall tone for how low this beast will really be so you need to go slowly here and get it right. Unfortunately, you will have to "eye-ball" the work at this point but you can still be pretty exact and get good results. I am using some old Aluma Coupe rolling stock here (or some other similar variant) and I want the axle point (center hub of the rear wheel) to sit just above the "bottom" of the door line. Now follow this closely……The length of the spring on the rear end is 7mm so that is how far the "bottom" of the rear side rail must be from the "top" of the interior side rail…..now we are getting closer to the needed kick-up dimensions. Now we can lay out the rails for the first time…… lay one interior side rail down with a rear side rail….you guessed it…. 7mm apart…..roughly end to end…..AND PARALELL!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's now a simple matter of laying the kick-up in place, marking it carefully and cutting it correctly. Lay some scrap .060 X .156 stock on the pieces as shown…..I use tape to hold the rails square and parallel to one another (VERY IMPORTANT!!!!) Now cut the kick-up (keep the ends nice and flat) and you can mock up your first side rail…..if you cut the kick-up correctly it will slip right into place between the rails…….now make the other side…..hint…..leave the rails taped in place and just repeat the process….that way you get two near identical if not exact pieces for the kick-up (Again – VERY IMPORTANT!!!)….. Now tack the two assemblies together with Tennax (or similar) and allow it to dry…..if you did it right the kick-up piece will slip right into place and the frame rail will look like this.............. Once the pieces are tack glued together I use the grid marks on my cutting matt to make sure they are parallel. I adjust accordingly and SPARINGLY apply a bit of gap filling ACC to one side to set them permanently. Once dry I carefully sand the surface flat and repeat the process on the other side…..Next, CAREFULLY trim the top right corner of the rear side rail in line with the kick-up…..you may leave this in place depending on what your interior needs are……your side rails should now look like this….. That's it for part 1....see the next post for the rest..... Here is the link to part 2 http://www.modelcars...showtopic=42483 Regards Bill (Duntov)

Once again....simple elegance....very good, short.....HIGHLY WORKABLE technique.....Thanks!! Reagds Bill (Duntov)

Simple elegance....very nice!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

Wow Cruz!!! That is one fine piece of crafstmanship!!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

Justin: Certainly a home run on this one!!! I like it because it actually looks like you could drive it and the finish is great......great work....thanks for sharing!!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

Greg: I have always liked this kit a lot and you did a great job presenting it in a unique way.....good job!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)

Hi Greg: I use the wrapped wire found in the bead supply section at Hobby Lobby. It comes in several different sizes down to VERY fine.....it might work for you. I use the fine stuff for braided plug wires and it is very convincing. Give it a look next time you are there. Regards Bill (Duntov)