Gluhead

D'oh!

Not sure I've ever seen this kit built to match the boxart. Looks great, and hard to imagine it having held up so well.

That's a real beauty. Nicely done.

What I would do here is use a straight edge to cut my larger piece of foil, and try to lay it down with the top edge where I would want to run my blade. If you do a panel at a time like I do, it should be a manageable length to keep lined up how you want it. Then carefully burnish it down to cover the rest as you normally would. If that failed, I'd lay a run of 3M Fineline tape down the body to give myself a guide edge...but it should work. Don't be afraid to give it another go if it doesn't take the first time.

You can probably get that one to open up for you. Just go nice and slow...it'll be a test of patience. But if you are too aggressive you can warm the plastic enough to make the slats wavy...so slow and steady.

Yep, lookin' good. Love the colors.

Deep end!

Thanks, Randy! Hopefully I can get a little more insight from casters.

Great!

Oh. Haha. I was way off. Carry on!

If only it were that easy. lol. I need to find a caster willing to run with it.

Nice! I've got a started one to rescue as well. Most of the important stuff is missing, so hello curbside.

Beautius. I think I might know, but what was the source of the covers on the back of the block?

All the right moves... I'm really curious to see how those foam corners work out.

You're like me, Chuck. Plow along on something and then catch a glimpse of OH LOOK! SHINY! [footsteps headed off in the other direction]

Pretty cool, Jared.

Yeah, it can be done...but as was mentioned by someone else it's very difficult to get scale fidelity with real cloth. You can do a lot with paint and flocking, especially if you throw decal patterns into the mix. In other words, it's far less about using real materials in model building and much more about getting a realistic look in model building. That usually means getting there by other methods.

That's kind of my thinking as well, Mike. It's one thing to offer a few pieces that along with a bunch of other scratchbuilding, you can eventually get there. It's another to have the whole package. Some kits and conversions can easily get away with just a few pieces just fine. The Ford 4x4 stuff of Steves that Jeff pointed out above is a great example of a minimalist conversion that works really well, because of how the stuff goes together with existing kit parts. That's just not the case with this Chevy stuff. It'd be great if it were, but it's not. lol. Plus the fact that all this would certainly not be limited to just '67-'72 GM products opens up the viability quite a bit. It could easily be used to make '60-'66 4x4 conversions, because a lot of people put those bodies on the next gen chassis. And as Brian pointed out above, GM kept using a lot of these parts until the early (maybe even mid?) '80's. Not to mention all the backyard builders who robbed trucks of these parts to beef up their Jeeps, etc. So lets say there's two ways to get the kit - with the GM specific frame and wheel tubs and with just the suspension hoodads...that can cover a lot of territory.

Good to know about the strength of the resin. I'll relax about that, then. Hey Jeff, thanks. Steve's stuff looks great, but it's all geared for Fords. The Dana 44 center would be the only thing that crossed over. I'll head over to your forum and check it out soon. Hopefully we can fill some gaps. With that in mind, the tranny and transfer case are a given, I think. The Blazer kit parts are complete garbage...AMT's version of the SM465 looks like it was made out of play-doh that's sat in the sun too long, and the tc is far too generic and toy-like. These two parts are what pushed this whole thing into motion in the first place. I cheated a little bit with the rear drive output housing on the transfer case and modeled more of an aftermarket style piece (hey, it was a lot easier. lol), but I think if I really put my mind to it I could muster up something more prototypically correct to stock form. Aside from this and some minor finishing touches like the PTO covers and some bolt detail, these two pieces are done. Yep, someone did a PE leaf spring kit, but I'm not sure it would be all that applicable here. I've got an idea that I think would work pretty well for what we're talking, especially if you're giving me more confidence in the strength of resin for small parts. It would allow for adjustable main leaf length and arch, and make it easy to use PE shackles...which I think is kinda key to getting the right look. Were I putting together an ideal kit I'd want to see these included. Add in some shocks and boxes to mount the springs to, and I think it'd be relatively straight-forward to offer a complete suspension conversion. It's probably also worth mentioning that I've also made some parts to do up the steering linkage, and modified a kit steering box to suit the application. I guess I figured there would be enough niche interest in this stuff, or it wouldn't have been gnawing at me to post up for input. lol So, I guess my next question is - considering how many little parts a potential conversion kit with poseable steering could end up including, who's willing to take on the casting? I think the overall picture we're looking at is: SM465 Tranny NP205 transfer case (GM version) a leaf spring kit, with resin main leafs and associated parts, including PE shackles shocks (well, these are pretty easy to make, so maybe not) front and rear axles (may as well have them match, right?) steering knuckles and u-joints steering linkage (or at least the ends) steering stabilizer steering box with separate arm At this point, may as well throw in the wheel well tubs from the Blazer, and possibly even consider making the necessary modifications to a frame and pop that too, so it all just falls together. This is where I run into my doubts. Not in people not being interested in buying it, but in finding a caster willing to reproduce it. It'd have to be a project of passion rather than profit, since it's anything but a wham-bam-there's-a-couple-parts-to-sell conversion. But if it were done, I think it'd also open up the door to quite a few variations on the theme...but that's a whole nudder ball o' worms. lol

Thanks, Ron. Much appreciated.

The search terms you are looking for are "flocking" and "embossing powder". Plug these in and you'll find a wealth of info. It's pretty easy stuff to work with.

Cool project. And do my eyes deceive me, or did you raise the headrest on the drivers seat?

Ah, that's good to hear! Thanks much.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say wee little tiny finger.

No problem, Johann. For what it's worth, the only other time I'd pulled off a finned part I did it how you were thinking. But for this piece, that wasn't working out too well.