Psychographic

The heck with Kermit Ira. Do a search for Poison Dart Frogs, I bet you find them much more interesting the Kermit Green. No offence to any Kermit fans.

I don't know who Bill is.

This is coming along great Joe. Have you figured out your paint scheme yet?

I made some tires out of styrene for a current build and need to paint them. I've seen some very realistic resin tires and was hoping someone had some tips on what they used for paint and the process used to paint them. The tires are for a dirt track car and I want them to appear in motion while the car is racing, so some dirt and mud might help. Thanks, Dave

What do you see that is wrong with the side door?

Here is the proposed plan for the paint. This could change about a 100 times berfore it's done though.

Man that was fast! It looks great too.

They don't alow us dark siders on the light side. Meet, Supersonicus Idioticus, he's won with the USAC, WoO, All Stars and the Pa Posse, so you know he knows how to get things done. To be honest, I think it's his short T-Rex arms that gives him such lightning quick reflexes.

I have one header finished and ran out of supplies to make the other one. The LHS is out of stock on what I need. What I would give to have one 1/8" rod right now. Other than the driver, the left side header is the last thing to fabricate. The tubes are 3/16" tube and the "collector" is 7/16". Hopefully my driver figure will show up today.

Thanks everyone. I finally have the rear suspension and driveline finished! To get the rear cocked and having everything line up was an exercise in patience, that's for sure. I was going to scrap the idea of the W-Link, but it fell into place in the end. I also made a six piston brake caliper along with a drilled and vented disc. I might add some ribbing on the center section of the quick change.

I made 2 sets of front wheels and tires, added some bars and mounts to the frame, reworked some suspension parts and started on the cockpit. I did get a pic of the engine before my camera batteries died.

Thanks for the compliments! I got some more fabrication done and actually stated doing some of the body work. The tires came out great so far. I made the lips on the wheels and a Beadlock with a cover for the outside wheel. What respecting Deal's Wheels doesn't have the induction and exhaust sticking out? I made the injectors by heating 3/16" tubing on the end and shoving a pencil point into it to make the flare. I then reamed out 1/4" tube for the bases. I made them just tall enough to peak through the hood. The exhaust will have to wait until I can get to the store for supplies. If you notice, I redid the top wing mounts, these work and look much better. I also started doing the bodywork on the tank. It was more work than I planned to make the rear tires, but I'm glad I decided to make them, it's adds soooo much to the cartooney look. This shot really gives you the feeling of the grip the new tires have. Now I guess I have to make some front tires.

The big right rear gets banded in .080 square stock, which I sanded somewhat round and is ready for filler. Before sanding, After sanding and ready for primer and filler,

Thanks. I think they are getting better, I ran a bead of .040 half round in the center of each sidewall and the center of the tread, made a a arched squeegee out of some scrap and filled the tread and sidewall with bondo, giving dimension to the tire. This was only the first pass and it's looking good to me. You can see the simple block pattern I want to use, I would like to carve the tread, but I don't know how I should do it. I will have to carve the tread out of the body filler, not the styrene. Any ideas?

I got the engine started. I also noticed the other tires didn't have much bite. So I started on another set. These are a little stickier, what do you think?

It's sitting idle for now. I have a bunch of projects going at once, about 5 for me and 2 for customers. What happens is, I get bored with finishing details, but love mocking things up, so I seem to have too many going at once. I promise to get back to it soon. As for the paint, I have a sketch of the paint I did one night while watching TV that I hope to use. I'll scan it later and post it.

The wings are done. Now on to the engine. The top wing, The completed body ready to go in the body shop. The completed body.

Joe, I try to bend most of the tubing cold. If it's a tight bend, just bend a little bit at a time until I get the bend I want, otherwise it will snap in two. The problem with this is, over time it wants to go back to it's original shape. Usually this is not a problem as most parts get glued to another that will hold it's shape. For bends that are critical to stay were they are, I cold bend them, then use a disposable lighter to give it just enough heat to hold the bend and set the plastic. If I had a lot of bends to do, I would just use a candle for my heat source.

Looking good Ira. Those carbs and stacks look great. As ther is not a lot of body to work with, I'd paint that in a simple 2 tone, broken at the beltine and then follow the trunk line across the back. I'd do the topin that coppery orange pearl and the bottom purple.

It looks like it's time to build the wings. The tank and rear bumper are fabbed and ready for the body shop.

The tank is almost done, so far it wasn't too bad to build. It will take 17 pieces to make it. The worlds first Mercedes Benz quick change rear. Actually, so far it's made out of 2 wheels and 2 mufflers, both from a Gullwing Benz. It's starting to look like something.

I got most of the body panels built. I still need to build the wings and tail tank. The wings will be easy, the tank I think will be a challenge. It took 9 pieces to make the hood.

The rear suspension is a bit of a pain trying to set it up with a lean to it, but I'm getting it. This s pretty close to the pose I want for it. The clamp on the cage is a counter weight to get the front up. When I'm done, I hope to get weight in the left rear tire to hold the front up.

The front suspension is fabricated.

Thanks Ira, that means a lot from the king of DW's. James that 36 is cool looking, do you have a build thread on it?