Codi

WOW.......................just WOW! I believe the hardest bits are done now and it's truly light at the end of the tunnel for you Chris. Soon you'll be on that FED rail of yours & I for one, can't wait to see what you do with that build. This has been a massive undertaking by any measure but you certainly proved up to the task. The entire engine is stunning, just like the entire car. But that thing is a jewel. Congratulations Chris on crossing an important thresh hold on the Vega. cheers

Hey Dave, thanks for the encouragement. I won't know if it's right until I get it actually soldered, but I am more confident if it doesn't work out, plan B will be a pretty good substitute. Time will tell. Thanks John, saw all of the builds you took to GSL and your picture on the big screen while you were picking up a bunch of awards. Congratulations!!! Randy, thanks man, as I mentioned to Dave, we'll have to see when its completed. Your weber carb for the GT40 was plenty of inspiration to try this and even if I get it where I want it to be, it will never hold a candle to that gorgeous 4 weber intake of yours. Today I spent 5 hours just exploring various setups etc. to make the injector tubes. Each has to be drilled for a fuel line at the bottom facing outward and the 2 butterfly shafts that run the length. Ideally, I would have been able to machine the tubes, solder them to the base & then drill them all the way through. My problem is the drill bit is a #78 which I'm concerned about getting through all of it from 1 end to the other. So, I set up to drill each tube individually. The 3 crude tubes you see in the foreground have .4mm stainless steel rod through them to check alignment during the test and to confirm that I could replicate the height of each so they match. The tall tubes in the base were a simple mock-up & have the proper tube in them. After drilling the necessary holes I'll cut them off at approx. 3.3mm. The base is .5mm in thickness. I'm hopeful I can get the tubes drilled and soldered onto the base by the end of the week.........

Thank you Scott. It will be painted, just not sure what color just yet. Eric, a truly deserved win for you. The competition was pretty strong among the best builds and you have to be proud with Best in Show! I'm sure we'll meet at some future show. Randy, thank you as well........I'm hoping we're going to have some/any kind of update on one of your current builds soon.....hint - hint. Pete, thanks for sharing......gotta agree the parallels can be annoying but I use a heavier machinist vice and they served me pretty well on the heads & valve covers on the engine. Now, for smaller parts, well, something like those jaws could come in quite handy. I'll have to play around with making a pair of those when I have a moment and want to experiment. The 2 pics I'm sharing today are of the Crower 8 port that I want to replicate but I won't be putting a scoop on it as I want the butterflies & linkage to be exposed. I've got a couple plans on how to approach making this and this is plan "A". I have some thin wall brass tubing that should arrive soon to see if this plan will work. The pic of the 1:1 is from Mike Garland that he took last year & was among a slew of great pics of the Tramp itself. Thanks again Mike. Start of the base in brass. To replicate certain aspects of the intake, I will have to solder some things & wanted to try this approach. Got a "base" removed with the slitting saw. Gives a better idea. This pic shows blue marker on the sides that I will remove .2mm from each side once the injector tubes are soldered in place. At least that's the plan.....to be able to part the base off from the mill I had to leave some material in place. The actual injection tubes are almost to the very edge of the base on the 1:1.

Pete, thanks so much, after attending the NNL East, I want to be sure to make the GSL someday. I won't make it this year, but 2019 would be a possibility and I'd like to exhibit this car for sure. How are you making out btw on the engines? Updates soon? Eric, hey there, I was hoping we'd meet at the show but I did get the opportunity to see your beautiful artdeco streamliner. That's a killer build sir. Your ability to build matches your imagination. Did you win any awards for it at the NNL? Brad, thanks sir. I'm planning on nickel plating the axle & spindles but the rest of the frame will be painted. I'll have a build book on it so I'll have some record of what lays beneath the paint. Davewilly, I posted a pic below with a penny for scale. I was pleased after getting it mocked-up how close it turned out to the pic of the 1:1 car I shared at the beginning of this part of the car. Thanks! Dave, shame on you, you forget I've seen you Topo & Blitzkrieg altereds. Thanks so much all the same. Mike, thanks man, see the pic below. There is so many bits & pieces crammed in there that I had to write down the order of the "jig-saw" puzzle to be able to come back and do the final assembly.

Love what you're doing on this build John. Thanks too for sharing that photo, always love seeing great pics like that. cheers

Thanks to one and all for the posted comments & continued interest in the build. The front suspension is done after more than a month of work on it. She sits level & I'll drop some .9mm stainless steel tube down the center of each spindle, then I have some 1cm. long .6mm threaded stainless rod & nuts that I'll cut to length to secure the top and bottoms of the spindles. Yes, the steering bracket has to be completed yet but when I work on the body & firewall I'll address it at that time. cheers, tim

BEAUTIFUL Car. Congratulations on your build! cheers

Still here Brad, snuck off with Dave to the NNL East show. My first in 40+ years and really enjoyed it. I met Leonard as well....super nice guy and he had his Camaro there. What a nice build, there were quite a few and the vendor areas were packed. Only the shock towers to put on and the front's done. I'll have those on this week but I was messin' around today looking forward to returning to the engine to finish that part up. I won't be doing the scoop after all and will do the Crower Injectors with them exposed. I cut up quickly some 2.5mm stainless steel tubes and placed them on top of the blower for giggles & to get an idea as to what it might look like. I also lowered the engine (this was bugging me for quite a while) by 1.0mm. Makes a big difference to my eye and I stare at this thing way too much. Couple quick mock-up pics to verify everything works and fits properly (it does) and now I'll finish up the front suspension. I'm really anxious to get onto the Crower. The 3D printed manifold & blower were from Chris btw. I'm going to use the manifold AND the blower if I can't machine the blower design that I want for the car. The pieces are VERY nice that he sent me. Thanks again Chris! Couple pics to tide you over Brad. cheers, tim

Nothing gets ones attention like the prospect of failure. I think the site has a lot to offer modelers of any skill level. Reading all the posts it appears that the glass is either half empty or half full. I would say half empty when it comes to the magazine. MCM's prime competitor on the magazine rack is Scale Auto and they quite simply put out a better product IMO. However, you can't compare the forums / websites that the two offer. Here is where MCM has ScaleAuto beat by quite the margin, again IMO. I would cut bait since almost all printed papers / magazines are facing the same struggles and challenges, especially since there is no end in sight to the downward trend of subscriptions. Focus your teams energies on improving the forum and figure out how to monetize it. If that can't be done, then Gregg, I have to ask you personally, what is your "aggravation factor / quotient"? At some juncture it just doesn't make sense for you and the "fun" will be gone. I commend you on your efforts AND especially your desire to make it work somehow. I have many more questions but they are probably more suited to a one on one conversation if you're interested. There is value in this forum, it's just a question on how to tap into it I believe. Cheers, Tim

That pleated effect you achieved turned out really really nice. cheers

This will be fun to watch Mike. Looking forward to your next post. cheers, tim

Getting closer Dave. I finished the necessary brackets now I have to drill the chassis for the 4 link brackets and assemble it all. The only missing piece to fab yet is the panhard bar but I'll get to that after I get the shocks and 4 links in proper position. Don't laugh at my bracket drawings okay.........promise me!! cheers, tim well, okay, you can laugh Dave if you must.............it's a long ride to Jersey!!

Congrats to you Brad. Well deserved! cheers, tim

Hey Paul, I use stuff called "BurLife" by RioGrande Jewelry supply. Part number is 117-983. I apply it with either a glue wand (when drilling tiny holes) or a very small brush (when doing using the slitting saw) as I use a little at a time. It's a very light oil and a little bit goes a long way and it truly does add life to your bits or blades. I'd probably try something else if I was machining something bigger just due to the cost. A big bottle lasts me quite a while though. cheers

I learn a lot every time I stop by one of your threads John. That's very creative the way you did that. cheers

I have to agree, it IS a shame to put decals on that paint. Looks flawless to me & what a beautiful car. cheers, tim

Love em' Pete. Cool detail that will certainly add to the competed engine. What's next? cheers, tim

Thanks everyone, I think they're going to look pretty trick when all is done and assembled. To answer Pete & Mike's questions, I used a .5mm slitting saw on the mill to cut them off. Each is .36mm in thickness which is very close to the thickness of the photo-etch pieces I've used on this build. I made custom brackets as there are no available PE pieces for me to use. As Dave (comp1839) noted earlier, most of the brackets / tabs will be custom in nature due to the uniqueness of what I'm trying to copy. Makes a heck of a mess on the mill "parting" them off this way with the shavings & cutting oil all over the place..........that's a 30 minute tear down / clean-up I don't relish. Thanks for the questions too! cheers

Hey Bruce, I'm awaitin' on your update. I said a long time ago how much I always loved that particular F1 car and can't wait to see you finish it. You've done an outstanding job for sure. Cheers, Tim

Sorry for the pause in posting. Been sick and stuff. Chris, thanks man, have fun at the DSC too! Dave, also thanks, that's stainless steel tube btw. Mike, thanks again sir! For everything. Mike, there are just some things that can't be replicated in plastic. Glad you like it too! Randy, appreciated as well.........but I am oh so getting impatient for ANY kind of update on ANY of your projects.....throw a guy a bone would ya'? The only thing I got done this week was the shock towers but I'm happy that they turned out the way I'd hoped. The look was 2 sides to each shock tower joined together with welded (in my case soldered) tube in between therefore a gap all the way around for some perspective. After machining a general shape I super glued all 4 brackets together to shape them with some sanding sticks. Then I heated them to separate them, cleaned em' up and soldered them together. They are NOT soldered onto the chassis as of yet. This was a big step though towards completing the front suspension. Cheers, tim On the mill Before shaping and soldering Just resting on top of the rails for a quick mock-up. What it's going to look like, very quick mock-up.

Like Dave said Brad........"GOOD LUCK" and more importantly, have FUN! cheers, tim

Hi Chris, there are far too many good things that you've accomplished over the course of this build and hurdles you've overcome to quit on it now. So, take that deep deep breath and step away until you're feeling better and then come back to it. We're all rooting for ya' and we'll raise a glass in celebration the day it is done, and there is no doubt, it WILL get done. Cheers, Tim

I share everyone's sentiments already expressed. The other day I was browsing some of Harry's earlier threads on his builds when I stumbled across his WW1 Albatross plane. The man could build ANYTHING it seems. If you've never seen it, you should check that out. Maybe the best way to remember & honor Harry would b a "pinned" place on the forum dedicated just to Harry and his various builds that he posted in their entirety. A simple but lasting tribute to him perhaps? My sympathies to his family.

I want to thank Magic Photos for the fantastic pics he sent me on the Tramp altered. These are pics that you can only get by seeing a car in person. Priceless and of great quality. Thanks again! Pete, 2 pieces soldered together. Brad, the bottom of the rod is a hair over 6" in scale off the ground. If you look at the pic of the 1:1 I posted, you can see how low to the ground that bracket is / ends to the ground. All good. Thanks too Brad & Dave, and yes Dave, a fair amount to do yet on this part of the build. I'm optimistic it will be pretty cool when done though. cheers

Thanks Randy, saw your new site btw, looking good and I'll sign up soon for future updates. You're off and running now. Chris, hope you make it, even if the build doesn't. Have fun. This morning I got the tie rod brackets done, quick mock-up. The first pic was kind of what I was going for, I liked the curves/shape of the bracket and more importantly it positions it out of the way of the panhard bar & shocks eventually. No machining these buggers. The curved part is 1.0mm rod and the top soldered piece is 1.2mm tube to attach that the pin will go through and the bolt hole for the tie-rod itself was a #79 bit. This pic shows what I was hoping to emulate to some degree of accuracy.