Scale-Master

Thanks guys! It was a fun project. Now if I could just find a '68 Vista Cruiser kit I could complete my collection of cars I've owned... I get the Mylar from the vinyl shop I buy all my plotter materials from. Any store that sells vinyl should also have Mylar.

I'm not a fan of the door protector trim, but I hate door dings more. And since they are on the real car I had to make them for the model from scratch… I also made reflective mirror faces for the rear side view mirrors from Mylar. You can expect to see this in the Finished section soon. I think I just ran out of parts...

Mike, yes, you are correct on all accounts. Here's a photo:

Thanks guys! it sure is handy having the real in the garage... I didn't have any aluminum tubing the right size to make the exhaust tips so I turned them out of 6061 stock.

Yes, it is really close to being done. Those bolts were easy since the real ones are 7/8 of an inch. The tough ones were the 5/16 hex heads for the battery cables. I make them on my mill. I put a set of driving lights from my first car (the Vega Kammback) on the Camaro; they were OEM Mercedes Benz units for a 450 SL. I sourced a pair from the Monogram MB 450 kit and cast copies. Got the front wheels on it now too…

Thanks guys! Sub frame connectors are installed as is the rear suspension. I machined the nuts, bolts & washers for the traction bars this morning.

Making some serious progress on it today. Interior /chassis installed. Engine/trans/front sub frame installed…

Thanks Chris. When I had the headliner reupholstered on the real car I didn't reinstall the driver's side shoulder harness/holder since it has a four point harness. I also did not use the sun visors; instead I made adapter plates that mount where the visors would to accept the brackets for the Wink mirror. Today I made the passenger side shoulder harness and holder then installed the scratch-built Wink mirror I made almost exactly two years ago to the day.

Custom drawn plate and frame and the rear bumper installed…

Thanks Chris! The molded trim for the chrome on the taillights was pretty soft so I made a pair of brass compound punches and cut the chrome rings from the new Warbird Decals chrome stripe decals.

Thanks guys! Got a chance to spend a little more time on it... Machined the breathers and the five point air cleaner hold-down nut.

Saturday 9-22-18 at the Costa Mesa Fairgrounds. 88 Fair Drive. 92626 Building 10.

The refinished glass has been installed. Still one more decal to apply to the inside of the rear window. I couldn't add it until the glass was installed and I could see how to line it up.

Hi Larry. First of all, Thank you! I draw the art in Adobe Illustrator. Having the real car on hand and being the one who striped it, I just scaled them down and tweaked them to be printable. The dash was masked and airbrushed (by me) but for the model I just took measurements from the kit dash and drew decal artwork to fit it. (My "real" job is being the decal artist for Scale-Master Decals.)

Thanks guys! I got the core support installed along with the battery and scratch-built terminals and custom made decals. (Ironically just put new battery in the real one too.) I also detailed the radiator cap. Machining the 5/16 terminal screws was fun, they came out smaller than the shavings around the mill.

Thanks Guys! The chrome on the bumpers wasn't the greatest and the rear was pretty bad on one side. And that isn't even considering the inherent mold lines. Rather than strip the chrome I sanded them smooth down to the plastic and BMF'ed them.

I just sanded it out and then polished it, same materials and skills for polishing paint.

Fixed it… But now I have to polish the rear window up to match.

Something solvent based apparently leaked (probably over two years ago) and the corner of the box soaked some of it up and the windshield just happened to be in that part of the box and was damaged. It also has some scratches I knew I'd have to remove so it's just a little more work than planned now…

Dome light, machined from aluminum.

Thanks Mike. Knowing you have an eye for design that means a lot. Both door panels installed and the dash…

Probably Pete. I'm planning to go.

Test fitting to the body. Added some flanges and mounting points… I acid cut the opening for the rear window. I also acid cut the frame that will hold the rear window in.

Thanks. I use Adobe Illustrator.

Thanks guys! I'm glad you enjoyed the article Tim. Now that it has been published for a while I think I can share a little of it. The start of a scratch-built brass removable "fiberglass" hardtop. See the June 2018 issue of Scale Auto magazine for the step-by-step how it was made…