Psychographic

A clear cover for the rear was made from two pieces of.015 sheet and some .060 half round to cover the glue joint. I also started playing with an intake and header. I doubt if either of these will make it to finished parts, the upper A-arms won't clear the header already.

Getting an idea of what the roller will look like. I did a little filling and shaping on the grille shell, along with making mounts for it. The cover for the rear end has been started, I think the back part will be either hinged or clear. I decided to make a cage for the Jeep. A whole bunch of .100 rod was bent, cut and notched to come up with this. The frame has 6 locating pins, 4 of these also locate the rollcage, 2 extra pins at the rear locate the back of the cage. Everything in place. the cage almost disappears in the body.

On to the front suspension. Links are all 3/64" rod, I'm not sure what size tubing was used for the ends,

I need to track down a new Deora engine to figure out what I'm doing from the firewall forward. In the meantime I'll move on to the frame and rear suspension. The main rails are two .080x.100 square rod stacked and cemented. The rear notch is 2 layers of .040 laminated and cut to shape. The upper bag mounts are in and the suspension arms are getting fit. From underneath. Some random frame shots.

I used to sublet a spot in a bus yard, the owner had me paint all the roofs white for him. Yes, it is to keep them cooler in the summer.

I've decided to do twin slant sixes from the Deora with one turned around to get a V shape. The engine coupler which also houses the torque converter. The fabrication on the firewall is done and the coupler fits in it nice and snug.

I opened up the doors. The left side stepwell fit perfect, I had to redo the right side and make it a little deeper to get it to line up with the body.

It's time to build the transaxle. I looked at a lot of transmisson and transaxle pics online and decided to make my own.

As for the Transport, the cab, interior, bed and frame are gone. A heavy box fell on it. I told myself if I can find another grille for it I would build another. On my first try ebay had one and it's on it's way, so keep yours eyes open, a new one will appear soon. Now it's time to dive into this project. First up, a new floorpan from .040 sheet. The driveshaft tunnel is 3/8" tube cut in half with .030 sheet for the sides. The tubs are also .030 In the body. The firewall is .040 sheet and the door sills are .030 bottoms with the .010 sides. Some more in the body pics. This is pretty much the stance I'm shooting for.

With my Daytona Transport meeting an unfortunate death, it's time to move on to another project. I'm starting with a RMR Willys Jeep panel truck. This will be my first venture into resin, it seems like a nice kit and the owner of RMR was a great guy to deal with. At the time I bought this kit, I had just finished working on a 1:1 of these and was in the process of restoring the body on a similar model Pick-Up and did a quick photo edit to see "What if!" Unfortunately, 2D and 3D don't always match up. The front track was just too wide and looked really bad. So after a little thought, this is the direction it will be going.

Does or did anyone ever make a kit of a TVR 3000?

That didn't take cojones to do, just a mindless fool following the current trend. Now what I want to know is, how long will it be before the paper thin sheet metal used on new cars turns from surface rust to rot holes? I know why it cost so much too. It takes them a week to DA a car and throw some salt on it. That's a total of half a days work at most. Oh wait, they dinged up the trim, add 10 minutes for that. I sure wouldn't take a car to these idiots.

A couple more shots as I didn't post a pic of the front or the headliner.

Ira, you are a madman. Another crazy idea that looks great. You have quite an imagination.

Beautiful job James. You have a great style, this one along with your other builds proves it.

Thank you all for the compliments. I think the only aftermarket piece on this is the steering wheel, the rest is either from other kits or scratchbuilt. Here's the link to the build. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=64504&hl=

Some close ups.

Other than a decal for the rear plate, she's done.

No, too many of them ramble on instead of getting to the subject at hand. I also don't like watching two minutes of self promotion that many have in the beginning, I came to see the subject matter, not your self promotion.

Yes it's a Deora, and I agree it's a perfect match except for 1 small problem. You either have to narrow up the Deora, or widen the bed on the Transport, I had to wedge it in to get the pic. This seems to be the drawback to it, a pretty narrow bed and not a lot fits in it.. It wouldn't take much to widen it, but I'm not going there.

I'm having a bit of fun cutting one of these up,. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=67882

That truck is gorgeous!

To properly dye a part you need to soak it in the dye for about 24 hours. Most dyes require you to heat the dye in a pot and add the parts. The heated dye works much faster, about 20 minutes or so IIRC. The thought of dropping a part in boiling water is a bit scary, "Surely it will warp" we thought back in the old days of racing RC cars. If it is nylon, it should take the dye no problem.

How can anyone follow a grown man admitting in public that he bought Spice Girl dolls for himself?

If you account for Leap Years, the date for the supposed end of the world has already passed.