Scale-Master

I had to hand paint the black trim and details before the ne next round of decaling.

Thanks guys. I've written a few articles about building and detailing them too. I've been building 1/43rd scale cars for over 40 years and I used to make the parts for kits. I was the lead caster at Precision Miniatures 1980-1983. I have the Coors T-bird kit (and many others of this era). It was abruptly "discontinued" when Coors threatened to sue. We also printed up decals and gave them away so others could build them. Turns out Coors could not stop us from giving the decals away, only selling them.

The tires (and outer rims) are the same in all these kits. I wonder why the Goodyear decals are also the same and the wrong arc for them… At least they react well with decal solvents.

Thanks Trevor! It's a nice break from "work" and the Lola. Know how simplistic the kit is makes throwing it together guilt-free. The interiors in these kits are very basic. In this era the roll cage was fully cast in the body. I used a shirt pin to make the shifter. The rest is OOB.

All the exterior blue is done with decals.

These kits are interesting in that they usually have the builder only paint one main body color and then decal the rest. I'm going to "paint" this one that way. Funny how the box is labeled as an '86 car but the decals are titled '87. First one applied…

Some decanted TS-44 Brilliant Blue for the interior. And a little detail painting…

The wheels are metal and resin with soft rubber-like tires. I prefer to paint the wheels before assembling them.

Some Tamiya Fine White Primer was decanted and airbrushed for a base then TS-47 Chrome Yellow was applied.

With the Coca Cola 600 coming up today I was in the mood to build a Nascar kit. It's a Starter resin kit. Clean up wasn't too bad, it must have been an early issue as these kits tended to get a bit rough as the molds wore out through the production run. I did some scribing on the hood, trunk and window frames and separated some of the molded in roll cage from the body. The spoilers are brass. The interior is essentially one piece. There is a steering wheel in the kit, and I'll add a shifter.

I built it (before it came out in the U.S. for the Minicraft catalog/box art). Simple kit; good but not "great" as I recall. With a little attention it can make a very sharp curbside.

I had to make an offset pulley for the alternator to clear the transmission mounts. The ratio comes out to the alternator turning about 3000 RPM at 100MPH. Alternator assembly loosely fitted to the car.

Assembled alternator bolted to the bracket. I machined the hardware. (The fan spins too.) Still some detail painting to do…

Thanks guys!!! Yes I did smile when it became a roller. Alternator bracket. I designed it in SolidWorks and grew it. Alternator drive pulley.

Back to working on the alternator; because it has become relevant to the suspension. More fabrication…

Thanks Guys!! Finally, and for the first time it is up on its wheels so I can get an idea of where the ride height is.

Rear shocks installed… I also turned an aluminum pulley to drive the alternator and it's mounted to the half-shaft.

Thanks Guys!!! Front shocks installed…

All press-fitted machined aluminum with the kit provided springs (also friction fit). I'll paint the springs later. At least now I can continue engineering and building other pieces of the car… Yes, there are rubber bushings for the eyelets.

Tops of the shocks with the piston shafts.

Spring tension adjusters/lock rings. The taller ones fit inside the springs.

Thanks guys! Yes, the rotors will get additional coloring. Composites don't wear the same as traditional rotors, they don't "shine up" as they wear.

Thank you Trevor! I had to make the coil over shocks next to continue mocking up the suspension. Shock bodies…

The pads are installed and the calipers have been dry set up on their respective bracketry. The rotors, hubs, calipers and pads are all scratch-built. The slide pins are polished steel, but still more hardware to machine for the calipers. Rears: Fronts:

Composite brake pads. They have been seated and used just a little bit…