Scale-Master

Thank you Tim! The tub and some of the other bulkheads and related parts finally received some paint.

Thank you Jim! I turned my attention back to the interior and started fabricating the dash parts. The bulkhead is all styrene; solid stock and sheet. The dash/gauge panels were made from sheet styrene too. A little more styrene was used for the steering column and its mount.

I started texturing and coloring some of the suspension parts…

Thank you Jim! Dry fitting the transaxle subassembly together…

The Red Alert Chevelle has an awful body. I was just looking at my kit a couple months ago and was shocked at how bad it really is. It does not look like any real Chevelle or other car. And the real Red Alert was a '70, so even if the parts were accurate for the year it represents, it's still not correct. Why reissue something so "off" that can be had now with a much more accurate set of parts?

More little machined aluminum hardware added to the (3D created) rear cover.

Breather can holder and mount…

Thanks Trevor! The rear of the case was also done the same way and the bolts were acid treated.

The BD-J is done.

The BD-5B is done.

The transaxle was lightly textured and new bolts and drain plugs were machined for it.

Thanks Trevor! I used Warbird (Scale-Master) Decals white stripes for the meeting edges of the canopies, the rest of the frames were hand painted with Tamiya white. The canopies don't fit too bad, (or all that great) and there is a slight difference between the jet and prop versions so it's advisable to keep track of which plane they go on during assembly. The pitot tube is a steel straight pit cut and filed down to size. While the ½ gram in the nose was enough to keep the nose wheel on the ground, the pin doesn't hurt especially with the prop on the rear.

Thanks guys. I use hydrochloric acid. It is NOT friendly to aluminum, or concrete for that matter. Be very careful if you experiment.

Unfortunately it's all too common. It will likely split along the wrinkles, but the rest is still good; so cut around them. Usually changes in humidity are the culprit, and there's not too much you can do to other than use it up.

Thanks Guys!! I made the head bolts and acid treated them because they were too bright. Added a little grunge too.

These have 2.75 and 3.5 inch wing spans. All the decals are on them…

The oil pan is done for now. More machined aluminum parts too. It's starting to look like something…

Thanks Ray! Distributor hold down clamp. Also scratch-built.

I finished the water pump after texturing it as well and making the aluminum mounting hardware and the plug for where the heater hose would go.

Hi Pete, I read up on them before starting the kits, it seems the availability of engines for both the prop and jet versions were the problems relating to production. Their website even sounds like they are still holding out for a new powerplant to produce future aircraft. (I think it's better you had the MR2 and survived...) Here's the link for the WIP:

Turns out the red color called out in the instructions is way too dark to match the red on the decals. So I added some yellow to the red and repainted the stabilizers. The decals for the BD-J fit pretty well, but solvent is a big help especially for the fuselage ones as they are a little on the thick side. The excess clear should be trimmed away, (counter what I would suggest for modern decals).

I repainted the interiors and replaced the seatbelts. The prop version gets red stabilizers.

I painted some wood grain onto the prop.

I thought I might have been able to mask off the cockpit like I usually do with other 1/72 planes when I started, but it turns out the easier way was to ditch that work and I'll hand paint and re-decal the harnesses after shooting the white. (Good thing the Warbird sheet provides a lot of belts.) I was able to hold them by the interior with tweezers for painting too. I used Tamiya Fine White primer to check my bodywork and provide an even base, and then shot some decanted TS-26 Pure White for the color.

Something fun and simple between Lola sub-projects... A pair of 1/72 scale BD-5s. These things are tiny. The BD-J is on the left, the BD-5B is on the right. I used Warbird Decals seat belts in them.