Ace-Garageguy

Vacuum forming has been a staple technique of the modeling community for many years. Though it has some advantages in allowing the fabrication of close-to-scale-thickness parts, it also has several disadvantages. The fact that details don't form crisply with most vacuum-forming processes (which usually form the part over a "positive" mold) is one major drawback. I've been experimenting with making close-to-scale-thickness fiberglass parts since 2005, and have the process pretty well worked out. It has several advantages over vacuum forming, chief being that it requires no heat, and as the parts are formed in "negative" molds, sharp details reproduce perfectly. My fiberglass parts that are .020" thick are at least as "strong" as injection-molded styrene parts, are of consistent thickness (if you do it right) and will take a great deal of handling and abuse during finishing. These early parts are about .030" thick, and will take very rough handling. In the mold...

Fine, fine, fine.

Excellent point.

Looks like a natural for a top-chop to me. I got an old Johan Pontiac in much the same shape not too long ago, and that's where she'll head.

I've always liked the lines of the car, and I've wondered why it wasn't MORE popular. It lends itself well to customizing in my opinion, and starts off with a slanted B-pillar that saves a lot of work when chopping the top. I still have this gasser gluebomb-save on the WIP shelf...just scored some missing parts, so she'll be coming back online in not too long.

I saw your "what's the point" thread and it seemed you want constructive input. First, I like what you're doing. Several of us here who are hard-core "traditional" hot-rodders are of the opinion that engine-swapped imports are some of today's real original-spirit hot-rods. What bothers me about this one, and remember...you asked for constructive feedback...is the Milliput at the firewall / inner fender juncture. I don't know what your plans are, but right now it looks like somebody emptied a couple of cans of Great Stuff urethane expanding foam in the crease, and hoped for the best. I find that careful fitting and shaping of sheet-styrene replacement parts that are going to show on the finished model gives better results than thick gobs of filler. The area you're working in at the junction will be very VERY hard to file and shape to produce anything remotely resembling a 1:1 assembly.

Thought I was gonna get another snow day today, but late last night the snow / ice turned to rain and the roads were clear this AM. Phooey.

Inspiring craftsmanship.

I build lotsa different genres and styles. Some of my work gets a lot of feedback, some of it gets very little. Big deal. Yes, a lot of people here like muscle cars. I don't do them very often. I'm not about to complain because a '69 Camaro gets more hits than one of my obscure old dry-lakes cars from before WW II. And I'm not going to change my own taste in cars to get more participation from the peanut gallery. People come here to look at and comment on what they like. Or not comment at all. That's just fine with me too. Harry's work...even his obscure (to most of the builders here probably) brass-era cars... usually gets a lot of interest for a simple reason: it's very high quality, and most of us can learn a lot from watching his threads. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

Stay strong Jonathan. I'm sure there are several of us who can identify with what you go through, and we're all pulling for you.

Very interesting WIP of a type of race-car we rarely see on this forum. Looking good. I got a few of those frames built-up in a box of gluebomb bits, wondered what they came from. Thanks to you, now I know. Thanks for the tire info too. That skinnier Goodyear looks to be exactly what I need for something.

I agree. Also looks somewhat like the ill-fated Aptera. Bear in mind, my design dates from 1984, was first shown publicly in 1996. Elio Aptera There's also a hot-rod lobster-buster car...er, Elio...

Yeah, they're practically identical. So's this.

Nice model. Excellent stance and wheel choice, and I love your wood parts. The pop-out windshield looks great too. It's definitely a Type-2, as everything built on the bus platform is. It's also known as a single-cab pickup (they built a crew-cab too) and by various other nicknames.

1/10 scale model, my avatar. Full scale mockup in my old shop

I'm a 1:1 painter too. High-end, show quality or get somebody else. I find most everything for real cars carries over to little ones. Every good painter has favorite techniques he's developed from years of experimentation and practice. They all have some things in common, but there are differences too. Get a good feel for your materials and their capabilities, and practice, practice, practice. This is how I do it. 1) Scrub the body with Comet and an old toothbrush and plenty of water. Takes off the mold lubricant and provides a nice tooth for the primer to adhere to, while NOT softening details like sandpapar will. 2) Do your bodywork, flash removal, sink and parting-line corrections and primer with a SANDABLE material of choice. Sand your bodywork up to 400. Primer will fill the 400 scratches just fine. I use Duplicolor high-build over bodywork, Duplicolor non-high build sandable over virgin plastic. Shadow-mask areas you don't want primer to build up on, like molded details you want to keep. 3) Try to learn to shoot your primer slick to minimize sanding. Sand any bodywork areas as necessary, and re-prime as necessary. Give your primer plenty of time to dry. It WILL shrink, so let it get dry BEFORE you sand it. 600 grit wet or 800 grit wet is fine under the color. If you shoot your primer slick, you can simply scrub it again with Comet to give it tooth for the top-coat. 4) Shoot your color coats. Learn to shoot them slick too, again to minimize sanding of orange-peel. As MrObsessive noted, DO NOT sand metallics unless you're having to level peel, in which case you'll need to shoot another coat or 2 to even out the flake AFTER sanding. 5) Shoot your clear, at least 3 coats if you're using airbrush-thinned or rattle-can products. 3 coats is the minimum for safe colorsanding. 6) Colorsand with sucessively finer and finer foam-backed pads. I start at 2400 and end up at 12,000 grit. Use plenty of water and swill your water container out before every grit change. That keeps the bigger grit from the last time from scratching your finish as you work it with finer paper. Ask me how I know. 7) Polish by hand with something very soft, turning it often. I use 3M Perfect It Ultrafine Machine Polish and a microfiber cloth made for eyeglasses. 8) Wax or seal it if desired. I usually don't use anything after the polish because I get the look I want without it. I've heard a lot of guys talking about Future, but I'm reluctant to put floor wax on my models. Ta Daaa...... there is extensive bodywork on this custom rear panel and where the top was chopped 4 scale inches . I used the exact techniques described above. Notice no sanding scratches show through the paint. Also, when this shot was taken, only the top of the roof and decklid had been color-sanded and polished. The paint was just that slick. You can see some fine orange peel on the back of the decklid and the front fender-door area. I've since sanded and polished this out.

Yes, welcome Taylor. Glad to have you tune in. Lots of good people and info here. May I respectfully suggest you read through the 23 page thread right here on the forum that goes into your question in some depth. Click here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=83153 If you look through it and still have some specific questions, I'm sure folks here will happily provide any answer you might need.

Yup.

Amen. And now that I know, I just don't care. Amen again.

Great looking model. Love your color choice. The tinted headlights are a nice touch too.

Surely one of the best wartime aviation stories around. Very nice work on this restoration project, too.

I like whatcha got so far. My kinda car.

French cars are really different from just about anything else on the planet.

This is really impressive. Love the scale engineering, heavier chassis, widened cab, casting your own parts, etc. I've seen your other work (the '38 COE is probably my favorite) and it's always an inspiration.