Scale-Master

When I put the body on the chassis I noticed there was a lot of daylight visible through the wheel wells so I made some inner panels out of sheet plastic to remedy that.

I gave it a coat of clear flat and used powders to add some wear to it. I'm keeping the two main parts separate until I install the pedals and maybe steering column.

I created all the decals for it too. The hood is still dry fitted to the main section and more washes were applied to some of the panel lines.

It is pre smog/exempt. And it's a gross polluter.

I had to machine the mounting hardware for the plate/bracket before I could install it. After it was installed I added the interior mounting brackets for the taillights and the loom (with pigtail) for all of the lights. Still some weathering to do in here. The rear spoiler has been installed too…

I did a little grunge work on the wheels.

When I test installed the new taillights I didn't like them; they were too bold for the car. Amazing what a couple thousandths of an inch can do… good or bad. I made a new smaller set like the previous ones, but that same design was still distracting to me so I machined one more even smaller "simpler" set. I had to make new bezels and bulbs too.

Thanks Ray. I went with some decanted Tamiya Camel Yellow as it was the orangest yellow I had on hand. I did some pre-shading and black washes before putting the yellow on.

This is from an old 1/32nd scale Hasegawa F-86F Sabre kit. I found it in my Dad's collection and always had been intrigued by that tug. The plane was used to fit the Scale-Master Decals artwork for the first release of the kit under the Mini-Craft name. Some of the airplane parts are off the runners, but I assumed it was complete. Unfortunately there are no instructions in the kit, and the only ones I've found online are not for this deluxe kit. It was only offered once with the tug, so the only instructions available just have the plane stuff. Some cool features are the rubber-like tires for the plane and the tug and metal parts for the plane's removable jet engine as well as wire and tubing for the engine. There is also a trailer/dolly/stand for the J47 engine. I may have to build the engine and dolly too, although ironically I am missing the instruction page for the standalone engine. At least I have the wiring diagram. These are the parts for the tug and dolly. After the main body parts were cleaned up and assembled I scribed the panel lines in. Some of the panel lines were at the glue joints. There were a few sink marks to contend with too. These two sections are dry fitted as I figure out what order to assemble and paint it in.

The plate is now registered, the tags are reflective too.

I had already finished the taillights and repaired a couple of them due to the flexible hose material melting into them in the box, but upon closer examination even the "good" ones weren't as true as I'd like. So I machined new ones out of clear Lexan and tinted styrene. Each lens is two pieces. I was able to refinish and reuse the bezels and the bulbs I already made. Two red and two amber.

The harnesses went in as planned.

While not a big visual thing, the cockpit section of the body has finally been permanently mated to the tub. Now I get to build the rest of the interior into the car. Nowhere near the ship in a bottle game; but the limited access proving to be the challenge had I expected in a couple of areas despite my optimistic planning. The seats are installed hopefully for the final time. The steering wheel can be popped off to install the harnesses.

I would bet someone already is making something like that, but these are old school "simple" coolers and radiator. I have made true flow through coolers and radiators, but once they are on the car you really can't see much through them.

The shifter linkage was the next "little" project to make and install. I was a little surprised the kit did not have the exterior part of the linkage. Turns out it's quite a tight fit, maybe that’s why it was not included. The extra parts I added and the correctly scaled engine did not help. I'm still relying on the magnets to hold the body section to the tub, but since I've run the shifter linkage all the way from the shifter to the transmission I'm pretty committed at this stage. I also connected the electrical items that were built onto the rear bulkhead to the receptacles on the tub and the fuel lines. The transmission cooler has been installed and plumbed. If it was a real car, it could be test fired now.

Thanks. I thought it was cool too. 🤣

The radiator is installed and the cooling system has been plumbed. I'll install the stone guard and petcock later due to them being somewhat fragile.

Thank you Tim! But I really doubt it will be done by Christmas.

The rear spoiler is done. Brass, clear styrene and aluminum. Some of the bolts will anchor it to the body.

To answer your question John, I just "unscrewed" it off the bolt. Then I applied the glue. And Thanks!

Several people have pointed out the risks of using the kit supplied air duct hose as it has a propensity for melting plastic over time. While I was already aware of this issue, (the ones in this kit melted some of the parts well before I started building it), and have been lucky in the past, I decided I have too much invested to take that risk even with the precautions taken on this car. I also was not keen on the color of them. So I pulled them off and fabricated new ones from wire and white glue. I wound the wire around the proper sized bolt for the diameter I wanted. After the glue dried I made connectors with shrink tubing. I painted them with orange R/C car (Lexan) paint and gave them a wash of Tamiya Smoke with Flat Base mixed in to it. Plenty of flex to route them where they need to go and a direct retrofit to boot.

Those are nice photos EMRE, thanks for sharing them! Another significant step forward, the last section of the body has had the paint cut and polished. The insides are painted as well. Once that is dry it will get some wax. (It's quite the dust magnet right now.)

Thanks Ray! The exhaust system and rear tray are installed. The dashboard assembly is installed. Getting closer to begin mounting some of the body panels to the tub…

Back to the doors… I installed the gas struts and made the mounting hardware. I think they are done.

Another dozen and a half nuts, bolts and washers were machined and installed for the rear suspension. The rear section of the clutch line was added and the battery has been grounded. It's barely visible…