gasser59

Thanks for the comments gentlemen. The wheels are the Black Widow ones, just deepened a bit and the tires are from Fred's Resin Workshop part number 6064F. They're called 1960-1964 Firestone Style Stock Car tires. The screen material I found on a strainer at Walmart. Its metal so it holds it shape quite well and the mesh was the perfect size. Once cut to shape, I spray painted it flat black. Thanks again guys.

Here's a tribute to a car I built this spring that I used to watch race as a young teenager in Harlan, Iowa. Built from the Black Widow kit with Tamiya Mica Blue paint, Fred's Resin Workshop tires and solder headers. I also created the decals for it and had them printed by Bull Ring Graphix. Hope you enjoy. Here's the best picture of three I had of it.

Thanks for the kind words fellas. The frame got a shot of metallic black before heading off to work so I'll have some more picture updates tomorrow. Thanks for following along.

OMG, that's very kewl indeed!! Glad to see you on here Wayne. Big fan of your stuff after going through your FB pages and pix numerous times. Mikey, you're going to add the splitty windows, right? It wouldn't be the same without them so I hope those are in your plans.

Your dad's car looks great and building a tribute of it is a cool idea. Too bad you don't have more reference pix of it. Your build is progressing nicely and I'll be following along with your progress. What is your paint color on the spoon?

Glad to hear you're getting some build time in. Looks like I'm just ahead of you as my frame just got painted a few minutes ago. I got in a few hours this morning and set up the disk brakes and re-enforced the rear end as you did. Thanks for the inspiration. I'll be anticipating those pix tonight. Did you ever source some printing plate?

Any progress or latest developments on this great build? I need my 1/16" scale fix!!

Thanks for the comments fellas. I've been working around some different color schemes and have settled on HOK Tangelo Pearl with black sections. Now that the color is in place, been working on a name and graphic. Been toying with this for the last few hours. It sure looked better in my head than it ended up looking like. What do y'all think?

I like this one very much as well. I also like your choice on front rims. What chassis did you start with?

I know this is an old thread but I am looking for the same color; HOK - Tangelo Pearl and found a 4oz bottle at TCPglobal.com/kustomshop for $10.95. This was the lowest price I could find online. Anyone tried this vendor before?

Thanks Danno and Romell. I am really enjoying this build and wish I had more time to put into it. I suppose I could do less details and then I'd be......on second thought, nope!! Its the details and fabricating that I love doing so it'll continue to be slow going.

Here's those pix Chris. First is a close-up of the linkage at the rear of the injectors. Next few are the front hinge for the nose piece. Just after these pics were taken, the frame and body went to the spray booth for primer. Thanks for following along.

ßpectacular build and execution. How recent is this build?

Thanks for the comments guys. They're really appreciated. A bit of bench time last couple of days but not much progress to show. Got the anodized fittings painted, linkage set up, and am working on the hinge for the nose piece. Pictures to follow soon once the hinge is done.

I see Thumper's Chassis Shop is open for business. Great to see you're busy with this economy so maybe its turning the corner. Keep us posted on your progress and where are those updates you mentioned?

A small bit of progress tonight. My Scale Hardware nuts and bolts came in and I think my eyesight has gotten worse overnight. These things are tiny!! I must have lost 10 or so of the washers by squeezing too hard with the tweezers. Boink. They were gone. Was finally able to get the shocks mounted to the axle with the new hardware and I don't ever hope to do that again. I really got to get to figuring out how the nosepiece is going to mount so then I can get the frame painted. Here's a stance shot with the MAS wire wheels. Wish they were a bit taller but they'll work out fine. Thanks for following along.

Wow Greg. I like where yours is headed. I'm having enough trouble figuring out a color for mine let alone yours. That's an interesting approach with the headers. We going to see you at the next MM meeting?

I pick my printing plate up from a small print shop in downtown Phoenix but these places are all over town. Any small shop that actually uses a printing press as opposed to digitally copying will have some used plates. I'll bet there is one within two miles of you.

Chris - This is one detailed build and I'm enjoying your progress reports and pictures. A local mom and pop print shop will have some used printing plates so find one down there in your part of town. There are number of different thicknesses to the plates and I like the thinner ones used on the smaller presses where the plate is appr. 9" x 18". If no luck sourcing some, let me know and I'll hook up with my supplier downtown. On another note. With all of the torque the rear end takes, what do you think of adding a brace between the taller tab on the top of the differential and the housing as in the photo? Again, great work and I'm really enjoying seeing your build take shape.

Per your request, here's a diagram of how I built this front axle. I know, it looks really complicated but once you understand the stress points and have one built, its not that difficult. Just time consuming. Take your time, have a bit of patience, some fresh Zap-A-Gap and you'll get it done. Let me know if you have any questions or difficulties.

Thanks for the comment Matt. I get my "printing plate" from a guy I've had some printing done with in the past. He's a small shop here in town and the plates I get from him are used and from a small press like an AB Dick that uses 9" x 18 or so plates. They cut really easily with a sharp scissors or with an X-Acto on a cutting mat. They bend really easily too and I bend them over the sharp edge of my metal ruler. You should find a small print shop in your neck of the woods and go down and introduce yourself, tell 'em what you're into and ask for a few old plates. They recycle them so offer them a couple bucks. Here's my first attempt at making a batwing for the front axle. Its also made from printing plate and bent over the edge of my machinists ruler for a crisp fold. For the rods, I used aluminum rod that has been flattened with my toothless pliers and then drilled out. I have an order in with Scale Hardware for the bolts and nuts so I'm waiting for that to arrive so I can continue. And a close up of the right side of the front axle showing the spindle, knuckle and steering arm connection. I used 1/16" aluminum tubing for the knuckle connection to the steering rod with a piece of black nylon tubing (scale hose) to take up the slack and provide a smooth movement for the steering rod. The actual steering rod is a piece of solid metal rod with the ends bent at a 90 degree angle. What holds it in place is the two bent ends are slightly at a different angle to provide a bit of twist in the rod so it will stay in place without any glue. The actual knuckle is made from aluminum channel from the LHS that's cut to size and ends on the top and bottom of the axle connection are rounded with a small file. BTW - I use Zap-A-Gap for any thing non-plastic and Plasti-Zap for plastic to plastic connections. Hope this all helps and gets you guys inspired to make your own tube axles. As always, comments welcome.

Thanks for the comments guys. I appreciate all of the feedback, it keeps me on track and focused. Chris - the small brass brads are from The Doll House in north Scottsdale but I imagine you could get them at other places that caters to that sort of thing. As for a color, haven't decided yet but it will be a light and bright color. Something fast looking.

Are you looking for someone to build one for you as on a commission type deal?

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm not 100% on the rear wheel / tire combo and am thinking these slicks are too wide but if shaved and sanded, they may look just right. My wire spoked fronts came in today and when assembling the second one, two of the spokes broke. Now I'm not sure what direction to go. Will decide later. The WW rear axle was too thin and weak looking so I replaced it with a beefier one from the parts box and moved it back and lower for the frame to sit better within the body. I also beefed up the rear frame and shortened the rear most part of the frame. I also fabricated the steering column, tach, gearbox and a tiny dashboard with switches. This will make more sense once you see it in place. Stay tuned and thanks for following along.

The Wild Willys seat left alot to be desired so I fabricated one with printing plate. Plan on drilling weight-reducing holes in the sides, adding some padding and PE seat belt hardware. Original seat. Fabricated seat.