Psychographic

Nope, just one kit. This might help figure out how it got to where it is. First I thought of doing a Volksrod, so off came the fenders. I couldn't find a wheel/tire or wheelbase I liked, so I decided to play "What if". What if is simply cutting, removing, or adding with no direction of what the next step is. So what if I straight chop it, and not take a section of the back of the roof out? I also want to lay the windshield back to give it a more modern look. A cut was made about 3/16" behind the top edge of the windshield, a notch in the bottom of the A pillars and a deep score at the base of the windshield/cowl. 1/8" was taken out of the B and C pillars. The C pillar only gets cut halfway with the horizontal cut and ends with a vertical cut coming up from the bottom of the body. After the roof was cut off, approximately 1/16" was removed from the front edge to allow the windshield to lay back. When put back together the entire back of the car ( well what's left of it) drops with the roof. So the back of the car is 1/8" lower than the rest of the car even though the roof lines up. Confused yet? The fenders were widened 1/4" in the rear and 1/8" in the front, the front fenders have been raised about 1/8" and the rears about 3/16". The rear fenders are also brought forward 1/4". The B pillars were then removed and filler pieces made to reshape the rear side windows. The back widow is filled, with the hope of grafting a split window from a 40 Willys ( if I can find one). The full size windshield didn't line up with the side windows, I made a filler along the top edge to take about 1/16" out of it. No pic of that yet.

I set Hammerhead to the side and I'll let it outgas for a day or two before final prime. In the meantime I decide to attack some more plastic. I've always wanted to do a VW Beetle, but can't ever remember building one. I had no idea where I was going with this, I just took out the saws and started cutting to see what I could come up with.

The interior panels are very simple. Some .030 sheet and a little .060 half round to add some detail.

My first thought for paint was the iconic Gulf Porsche colors. I would go a little more modern and use some pearls and maybe ghost something here and there.

Here's a tip for doing leaf. Tack and dry time is everything, the problem most people have is gilding too soon. To wet and you'll never get the proper shine, too dry, it doesn't stick. This is also why you want to lay as even of a coat as possible. Quick size is a lot more vital to time than 24 hr.size. When you set up to paint the size onto your object, find a scrap piece of something to paint some test patches on 1/2"x1/2" is enough. When you think the size has set long enough to lay the leaf, go to one of your test patches, make a fist and touch one knuckle to the size and pull back. The size should NOT transfer to your knuckle, but should "snap" when you pull it away. If this happens, you're ready to gild. If some size sticks to your knuckle, wait 10 minutes and try again on another patch. When you get the snap, gild your test patch, it should stick with no problem. To gild you want to just drop the leaf over your sized area and gently tap it into the size (I use the pinky side of my hand). You can then burnish it with cotton. If the size is not tacked up enough, the slightest movement will tear it, and it will most likely have a wrinkled appearance. As this was Variegated Leaf, it's much easier to work with, it's thicker and slight wrinkles can actually look good as they catch the light different than a smooth surface.

Sorry, double post, the site is not agreeing with me today.

I understand the purpose of clear. My point was, if the manufacturer offered a version of a kit without chrome, the buyer who want's to either go the Alclad/Spaz Stix method or have it sent out for plating would not have to deal with stripping the clear if the parts weren't plated to begin with. I have no problem stripping chrome, but the clear underneath can many times be a nightmare to get out of well detailed parts.

I think the last thing I need to do with the body is the lip for the back half to sit on when closed. I'm using .010 x .125 to make it. While looking at it trying to decide on paint, I wondered how much, if any of this is unmolested 68 Corvette. The green part is the only thing left that wasn't altered in some way.

I completely understand the cost aspect. I know I'm dreaming here, but it would be nice to have 2 chrome options when buing a kit. 1- Just as is right now. 2- No chrome. Less cost for the manufacturer and for the buyer, no more stripping chrome and even worse, the clear they use underneath.

Mold lines in chrome.

Hey, haven't we been here before? The extensions I glued to the original rods decided to jump ship. Rather than deal with cementing them back on and risk it happening again, I just made longer ones.

That depends,,,,,,,,, are you now, or have you ever been involved in law enforcement?

I've been trying to come up with a good name for this build. Hamerhead is perfect! Thanks

Looks like a good place for some headlights.

Oops! What could've gone wrong here?

I cut the styrene rods too short to give enough support once everything is cut down and filled in. I made some extensions and rounded the exposed end to give it a finished look, along with filing down the front edge of the glass. Once I was happy with the fit, I marked the brass wire at the surface of the canopy surround, then cut it a little shy of my mark. You can't make this too shallow as this will act as a stop when mounting the canopy to the hinge, too thin and you can pop the brass rod through. Next I put it back together and the holes are filled with Styrene Bondo and set aside to dry before strengthening the rods from the bottom. It doesn't look like it would be to awful bad trying to get in the drivers seat.

I I can remove the canopy, it will slide right off the brass rod. You'll see how it works very soon. Other than having to trim the glass a little in the front, it looks like it will work. The bad news is once again I have another part that is too fragile for my not so sensitive building style. The surround for the canopy is the victim on this build, it just broke again. It kind of goes like this, manhandle, break, fix, repeat until paint, then pray it holds.

A good thing I cemented it the way I did, I had the hinge way to far forward on the body. After an adjustment I think it will work. I'll know in about an hour, I want to test it before things set up so much that there is no chance of giving something a little nudge if needed. The rods, drilled and installed.

The last main body mod is hinging the bubble. I hope this goes as planned! I filed two notches into the glass, and two holes into the frame. I'm hoping to drill and cement two pieces of styrene rod into the frame for the brass rod to slide into. The bottom of the hinge, I used some .060 scrap to hold the tube in place as this will dry much faster than the epoxy I have. Also by cementing and using Styrene Bondo as a backup and filler, after about 15-20 minutes it's got a decent bond, but can be moved with a little force to fine tune the alignment. After aligning things I hit it with another good dose of MEK to help remelt the joint.

Lots of sanding, priming, filling and more priming. Other than making the hinge for the bubble, the main part of the body is ready for paint. The back half is close and so is the undertray. Hinging the back was not much fun as I had a heck of a time getting it to close properly. Using a smaller pin on the hinge to allow a slight bit of "Slop" fixed the problem. I don't think I've posted a pic of the bottom of the undertray. It's all one color for the first time.

Of course it can be done, but as said already, how sensitive to solvents are the occupants of the house? Other than urethanes and epoxies, an airbrush is less harmful than a spraycan. I'm sure no one is buying a little spray booth to paint a lawn mower part or something similar when using a spraycan.

That's a lot of silver. I'm going to need to add some color and a wash to get this to look like something.

A question for you guys in Canada. Is it just models that are higher priced or are prices for most of the things you buy more expensive than here in the US?

I added some detail to the motor end caps, and then started on the wiring and plumbing.

I scribed the joints of the A arms and the mounts, then added bolt heads to the A arms, the pivots on the cantilevers, and the shocks, using slices of .060 hex rod. I think this is about ready for paint.