Scale-Master

Thanks John, and now it only takes about three weeks to make one.

I made and added the tags. The year tag is the actual sticker material from one of my real cars with a custom made decal for the details.

Thanks Brad. I thought about it, but I like the reflective look better. I painted the spokes of the wheel metallic gray then built up the black with Tamiya Smoke for a subtle gloss anodized black look. Still need to finish the rim.

A mix of pearl white and silver was shot to match the reflective finish on the face of real plate. (The back was painted flat silver.) I made a decal that was applied to the front for the lettering.

Thanks Bruce! I milled a license plate frame from some resin I cast into a blank first. I used dye to make it gray when I mixed it, this hasn't been primed yet. Front: Back:

The brass center and aluminum ring are melded together. Front: Back:

I machined the rim for the steering wheel from 7075 aluminum.

Corrected the center of it. Added a little more material to the spokes for the grip and am continuing to fine tune/shape them.

I started the steering wheel over a week ago. Being 0.032 inches thick it took 8 days to acid cut the brass parts out. Due to that extended time the cuts came out a bit rougher, but that issue will be dealt with later. Seven pieces soldered together.

The rear window is installed. More machined hardware to hold it all together.

Thank you David. just keep plugging away. I thought I had peaked back in 2003. And then in '07 I realized just trying is half the battle. I used the piece of brass I cut out of the inner window frame (attached to the inside of the roof) as the template to cut the window from some clear plastic stock. The second piece of the frame below the window and template will sandwich the window into the roof assembly.

All installed and painted.

Front latches for the securing the roof were milled out of resin and the rear mount for the roll bar was built out of brass then they were "fiber glassed" in before painting. I milled the roof lock pins from aluminum. And I acid cut the lock levers from brass. They are really small.

The beginning of the license plate. Acid cut brass.

Thanks guys! I retextured and final painted the exterior of the roof.

Time to get back to work on the scratch-built brass roof. I used Faux Fabrix for the texture on the exterior but it wasn't as uniform as I wanted so I sanded it off. (That's what the red is.) I reworked the mount that attaches to the roll bar and had to fine tune the fit of the lower side edges where they meet the body by adding more material. (Note the little tab that fits into the body above the rear springs.)

Thanks John! I finished the radiator and oil cooler. I machined some bolts and washers to hold it all together as well as a drain petcock, cap, plug and oil line fittings. I made a framework that is mounted to the oil cooler brackets to support the stone shield. It is bound to it with .002 thick wire. I also made all the decals. Sorry for the bad shot of the shield frame, didn't notice the wrong setting before I assembled it permanently.

I installed the battery and connected it to the starter solenoid and the ignition box. There is heat shielding on the positive cable where it snakes past the header. Also wired the master cylinder. Wired the coil into the system and made the little brass hardware for the signal wires.

Thanks David! I formed and added the front brake hard lines and connected them to the flex lines that were installed with the brakes. The upper frame and scuttle have been installed permanently and I started to install the ignition system and wiring.

I made the mounting and detail hardware for the ignition box. I also made rubber insulators for the four mounting bolts. The (correctly colored and sized) wires have been added with a grommet where they are connected to the box. The larger wires connect to the battery and already have the clamps installed to the ends.

Thanks Guys! Not as many as last year, but a good time nonetheless. Here are some answers and clarifications: I mistakenly said they were all started this year, but the replica of my '73 Camaro was a four year project. (On and off.) The wheels and tires on the Yenko Camaro are from the kit, but I made decals for the tire lettering and the front rotors to set them off. The Corvette is a conversion from a '78 to a correct replica of an actual '79. The F1 car was a treat to make as it was built before the kit had been announced. The 2000 GT should not be too hard to find as it has been released multiple times, however with the Hobbico bankruptcy there might be a delay in new stock as they were distributing for Hasegawa in the U.S. The Ford GTs are not Revell. They are the new Tamiya kits. Not too much of a break in bench time, but enough to make some new patterns for AFX slot cars in 3D and new Scale-Master decals in 2D...

My 2018 models in the order they were built. All were started and finished this year except the Gulf Seven which has been under construction for a few years.

The proportioning valve is installed to the firewall and plumbed to the master cylinder and out to the brake lines. The hard lines were made from aluminum rod.

Thanks John! The proportioning valve was milled from an aluminum impregnated resin blank I cast. The five fittings and knob were milled from aluminum.

I did have to remove the engine once to finagle the header in. But it is in for good now… The scratch-built Left Hand Drive footbox has been installed too.