DirtModeler

Yeah, but doesn't a Top Fuel Dragster do only about 1000 revolutions of the motor, the whole race? Drag Motors are REALLY High torque, low RPM if i'm not mistaken.

This is just the beginning. Electric cars are still an oddity now.. but 20 years from now? An electric Dragster is going to make a modern day Combustion engine dragster look like a joke. It DEFINITELY won't be as cool to watch, or hear, or smell, or feel.. but in pure performance, electric motors are going to destroy the speeds of combustion engines in drag racing. Electric motors make maximum torque at 0rpm, so they can out accelerate anything. Just give them the power to do it. don't get me wrong, combustion engine racing isn't going anywhere.. we're still using carburetors, and fuel injection has been around how long? ... and plus.. we DO still race horses.. and the Internal combustion automobile kinda proved it was a lot better at racing then the horse. E-Racing will just become another form of motorsport.. some will hate it, some will love it..

that has been on my radar for some time now. I can think of a lot of uses for it.. I'd like to see some of the expert resin casters get a hold of one.. Scan a 1:25 body, scale it up to 1:16, 3D print it.. spend some time sanding the print smooth and making a master.. Then use that master to make 1:16 casts of a 1:25 car.

Well, i can say from a large scale model part maker that there's not a ton of customers out there, but i've been "investing" in the larger scales. Particularly 1/16th. There really hasn't been a big market for some of the new parts i've been coming out with, but my goal is try to help create one. "if you build it, they will come", if you will. I can't see any major manufacturer coming out with a new large scale kit, that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. I think the future of big scale is wrapped around the future of 3D printing. As quality of 3D printing goes up, and the cost comes down, the larger scale markets will grow. But not with names like Revell or Tamiya leading the way, it will be companies like TDR who have the ability to produce high quality, and accurate 3D models to print. The only limitation TDR has with a perfect large scale product is the 3D printing technology. One thing i'm certain of, is that if the 1:16th scale continues to grow, there will always be a line of Photoetched Brackets, Tabs, and Mounts by Dirt Modeler that will go right along with it.

I wonder how many takes it took? Drifting in an RC car isn't easy! The R/C Car is definitely sandbagging.. even a stock Tamiya TT01 4WD Touring Car does 25mph and accellerates from 0 to 25 in about 8 feet.

Thanks all, any help is greatly appreciated. The data collection phase of a new project is a lengthy one.. I pull together all of the ideas i can and then see what's feasible, the more raw data i can find one different possibilities, the better.

I like the car so much i started digging around.. found a video of it:

Well, the new parts are released and i'm just about done with all the scale drawings for the website. So it's time to start thinking about the next project. To start, i have to round up a bunch of different options so i can figure out what can go with what on which plate, out of what material, and what thickness the plate can be. I've seen some scratchbuilt gauge panels on some drag racing builds, so i thought maybe i could offer some different versions. I'm curious if anyone has any specific ones they are interested in having made, maybe you're tired of scratch building one for a certain type of car?

Sweet video.. i didn't think much of it until he opened the hood and showed his motor.. wow, what a build!

I had a little more time to work on it tonight, i really only get about an hour a night to work on anything for myself, so progress will probably be slow. I found the rear tire measurement via ebay, so i think that's a good size to work with. I'm kind of stumped on the lower frame rail. On the kit the body sits on top of the frame rails, but on the real truck reference photos, it looks like it's sitting below. The angles on the frame rails seem too extreme to me if i put them anywhere near the bottom of the body, especially when i match them up against the reference photos. I'll keep messing around with it until i find the right spot. In the current location, the ladder bar is angled too far downward. So i'll need to do something, on the reference truck, the front of the ladder bar is mounted really low on the frame rails. Edit, i was playing around, and looking at the reference photos. I think the issue is my truck body is too low to the ground. I noticed the bottom of the cab is just a little bit lower then the outside of the front wheel. I adjusted the body up to about that point, and now the angles look a lot better. (the image from Corel Draw is before i made this change) I hope my updates are ok, I thought I'd share the process that I go through for a build. I like the engineering portion of the build the most.

I think there's a rule around here that if you ask a question about a Nova kit, you are in-fact obligated to build a model of one.. cuz in my opinion? there aren't enough Nova builds, ever!

I picked up an Aoshima Subaru BRZ off the 'bay today. I have a project in mind for it.. though i don't actually need the kit for a while i just couldn't resist picking it up. this one may be my NEXT project. Tamiya makes one too, but come to find out the Tamiya kit is Right hand Drive

The Donor kit did indeed arrive today. I started by taping the bed onto the cabin and scanning the whole thing. It allows me to scale it in Corel Draw and lay things out true to scale. As you can see, the big rear slicks that came in the Camaro Pro Stock kit are just way too big.. I thought they would be close for a mockup.. but they are way too big. good thing Mr. Akai is sending me the other tires. After i get the stance the way i want i'll need to layout how the suspension will sit for the top, side, and front views. Lots to go, but it was nice to at least do SOMETHING on the project today. The rectangles are just a super rough placement of the frame rails to scale. I've no idea where they will end up.

I haven't done a toggle switch in ages, but another cool trick is to drill out a hole where the switch would go with a dremel and tiny bit.. then use small styrene rod and glue it into the hole. I did a dash for a Jaguar XJR-9lm Le Mans car years ago using that technique and it turned out pretty cool.. which reminds me, i gotta get back to that build, it's been in a box for a decade now.

Saw this one in progress, such a great build. Mostly built from just strips of styrene sheet!

Well, judging how you rocked the Pro Stock motor, i have no doubts about how the next one will look.. plus your fab work on the hood and engine bay is fantastic!

well, you didn't ruin the engine the second time around it seems, that's one beast in there!

Thanks Mike! Well, i'm getting closer on being able to get started. Want to start fabbing the chassis. The Revell donor kit is due here today. I just ordered a rusting kit, i've seen the results on Youtube videos and they look good.. going to use it for the chassis once it is done. And i'm expecting a new butane torch anyday now. The Harbor Freight ones are total junk, and the ones i got at Home Depot years ago finally died.. the one i ordered is supposed to be top shelf. I'm going to need the torch to solder the frame rails since they are so big. Lastly, i have 20 feet of 3x32" x 3x16" rectangle tubing on the way. It's kind of funny because i have so much brass around my shop already.. hundreds of feet of round tubing of all sizes, but I didn't have any rectangular tubing at all.

Love it! Always like a Nova build. Cant wait to see more

Hi guys. Jim that update helps. It does drop the price, but they are still pretty big.. 1:16 .012 Brass Raw 1.811 2.9134 5.42 in² using my handy-dandy calculator that i use to calculate the prices of my parts based solely on their size at 5.42 square inches each, a pair of them in brass would be about $12 retail. Stainless Steel would jump up to about $18 or so. Nickel is even more, something like $22 would be my guesstimate.

Yeah, Loeb was pretty unstoppable.. but i never much liked him.. maybe it was just the french accent..

They do 120mph, on a cobblestone street.. i saw it with my own eyes at World Rally Mexico. These aren't even prepared tracks.. these cars are driving on someone's farm driveway.. and i mean that literally. And they do it in the rain, snow, ice, in a foot of water.. whatever. There have been two F1 drivers, one a world champion who tried to hack it in Rally, and neither of them have been any good. Now i don't know if that means they are the best in the world.. but when you take a comparison of Rally Drivers to F1 drivers, the F1 drivers in Rally Cars don't dominate. I think good drivers are good drivers, no matter what car they choose to drive.

I never have visited one.. we don't have them around here. we only have one hobby store here in Medford, Oregon and half of it is bicycles, 1/4 of it is R/C, 1/8th of it is model planes, and 1/16th of it is model trains.. that doesn't leave much for Car kits! I just order everything off the internet, i hate driving around, and the LHS usually doesn't have what i want anyway. I just go there for a random jar of Model Master Paint every once in a while.

Hi Mikey! If you could part with them and you really don't want or need them, that'd be fine.. but I'm not in dire straights to get them.. if they are in an available kit it's not an issue for me to just buy the kit. I just didn't want to have to spend $18 - $20 just for the tires.

That'd be cool.. If someone could part with a pair of rears that would be groovy.. if not it's not a big deal, i'll buy a 67' Chevelle Pro Street and use the front clip of it for an IMCA Modified Project sometime down the road.