Ace-Garageguy

Here's another old one. Hint: model cars are used as stand-ins for the real ones in one scene.

Kool!! I never noticed. Have a couple on the shelf and will definitely have to find a use for one. Thanks.

I'm more critical of my own work than anybody else is going to be, believe me. I usually point out the flaws myself first, just so I don't have to hear or read them. Simplifies everything. What I'm not too keen on is folks who'll start off on their particular taste in color, or some other purely personal-preference-style point. If you would have painted it red with purple seats, by all means, paint YOURS red with purple seats. Then there are the ones who tell me I did something wrong when the "wrong" was intentional and explained in the thread text, and if they had bothered to actually READ the thread instead of just looking at the pictures and mouthing off, they'd already have their answer. On the other hand, if someone has an idea as to how I can improve my model building, something they think might be appropriate to add or delete on a WIP, or catches a technical error, then, by all means, let me know.

I wouldn't paint a real car with a brush (I have slopped on some Rustoleum primer that way, to protect cars sitting outside) and I wouldn't paint a model with a brush. Back in the days of carriages, sure, they brush-painted stuff and rubbed it down. Yes, you CAN get a beautiful finish, but why bother? Kinda like using two cans and a string instead of the cellphone, you know?

Somewhere along the line, someone DID reverse-engineer the AMT kit to produce the Lindberg tooling (and as Casey says, the tale is it was Palmer). If you compare the parts VERY carefully, you'll see subtle differences that prove beyond doubt that the two kits do not come from the same molds. Very similar yes...identical, no.

There's a thread on here started a few weeks ago showing some dual-plug Ford flathead heads., and the plug placement is pretty obvious. Flatheads flow pretty poorly in general, and flame travel is poor. Dual-plugs could achieve more complete combustion, and add a little power. Porsche used a 12-plug-terminal cap for its dual-plug flat-six engines, with 2 coil inputs. This distributor cap is for a 12 cylinder '31 Caddy, and is also set up for 2 coil inputs. An old 12-cylinder distributor like this could be modified by a very competent hot-rodder to fire a dual-plug head on your Hudson.

Here's a simple schematic, for a real car. DC circuitry is DC circuitry, whether real or model. Delete the LS1 "dome light" and one of the switches. The "car battery" will of course be the AAA battery pack, or whatever you decide to use. L1, L2, L3 and L4 are LEDs wired in parallel. Your LEDs may require resistors, or may have them already attached.

You may find that the small "coin" batteries will not provide sufficient amperage to run multiple lights, or last very long in the LED application. Check the specs for available amperage-over-time from the battery you want to use, and determine the total system current draw with the number of LEDs you want to use before committing to a system design. The typical loads the little coin batteries are designed for are about 1/100 the load of one LED lamp. Click link: http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/cr2032.pdf The "simulated application test" shows a load of .19mA. Remember that the load of one LED (post #7, is around 19mA...or 100 times greater) Here's the spec sheet for a typical AAA alkaline battery. Draw your own conclusions. http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/E92.pdf Remember also that your power supply requirements will be quite different if you want your model to sit for hours at a show with the lights on, compared to what will be required to illuminate the LEDs for a few seconds at a time (for which the cigarette-lighter power supplies are designed).

Now THAT is slick !!

Beautiful proportions...better than the real one, which is just a little too squashed at the cowl. Very nice work.

How's 'bout another oldie?

That's great, but that big ol' 9v battery is massive overkill for LEDs which draw very little current. 5mm LEDs are available in quantities of 100 for $2.72 including shipping from China (!) that only take 2V to 3.4V forward voltage (depending on color) at 18-20mA. You don't add the voltages of the LEDs. They should be wired in parallel, total system voltage still being 2-3.4 volts. Two AAA batteries in series will give you 2.5 to 3 volts with enough amperage to run a long time. (4 LEDs, roughly a couple of hours, depending...)

Thanks for the link, Matt. I have a lot of tech stuff on the Ford GT40s, but not that book. It'll be here shortly. Sounds like a good read.

Put a pair of outer tie-rod ends in the PT from Hell yesterday. Turned the little car from feeling like a worn-out piece of junk on its last legs into a smooth, solid, noise-free ride. Measured the rod ends carefully, and installed carefully, compensating for the 5.5mm difference in length. No alignment necessary, tracks straight, wheel centered. Also put the lie to the $800+ she'd been quoted (by several "mechanics") to replace the wheel bearings, CV joints, lower balljoints and a rebuilt steering rack...which the other guys said were all worn out and dangerous. Did the whole job in about an hour, $55 parts.

I think I've seen this one on another forum. Once again, a very nice blending of different kit elements to make a coherent, nicely proportioned car. You have a good eye for design.

And welcome to the forum, Jacob. Here's a bunch of tips on making opening panels like doors and trunks... https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Amodelcarsmag.com+opening+doors&oq=site%3Amodelcarsmag.com+opening+doors&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i58.5932j0j8&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

You can easily fabricate a battery box from styrene, with brass contacts epoxied in place. LEDs use very little current, so you can use a tiny battery. Check the current draw of the LEDs you want to use, and size your battery accordingly. Ebay has LEDs from China very very cheap. I got 10 for less than $1 once. Some of them were bad, but you can't beat the price. Ebay also has micro-switches. In a 30-second search, I just found a 2-pack of SPDT 3-pin, two-position slide-switches (smaller than a penny) for $4.25, including shipping. Or 50 micro toggle-switches (8mmX4mmX5mm) from China, for $6.99 including shipping. If that's too costly, just twist the wires together for "on", untwist for "off". NOTE: There are many momentary-contact style switches much cheaper, but they won't stay "on" unless your finger is on them. Understand what you're buying. LEDs also produce almost no heat. A PVA (polyvinyl acetate) white glue that dries clear, used by many modelers for gluing clear parts, lights, canopies on aircraft, etc. will work fine for gluing lenses "cleanly".

I personally think the Revell parts-pack 427 Ford engine kit makes a good, cheap starting point for any FE engine, and the kit comes with 2 4bbl carbs and manifold, a setup seen on some MkIV cars. The kit also includes an optional set of headers, the signature coolant expansion tanks found on these engines during this era, a manual gearbox, and a complete optional GMC blower setup. You can get 4 of them with free shipping on Ebay for $17, or one for about $7. Some folks call these old Revell engine kits "fiddly". You'll need to strip the chrome, and they take some care in squaring up the many parts that make up the longblock assembly, but I think they build into really good looking models. I don't have a good recommendation for something to use for a gearbox, but if you can score an old AMT Coyote kit cheap, all the guts in it should give you a reasonable MkIV, as the old MPC MkIV is the basis for the kit.

Exactly.

Wow. You've taken something that looked toylike and turned it into a great looking scale model. Very nice.

I'll be enjoying seeing this come together too.

Man, that's pretty.

Damm that's nice !

Yes, it is a multi-piece body, and it's one of the more popular kits to complain about. With some care and patience, it can build up into a beautiful model. The hinged panels take some extra time to fit properly, as does the multi-piece body, but great looking models are possible from it. Here's one...NOT MINE...but do a Google image search for "Revell '59 Ford" to see more.

You guys are a riot. I'm still trying to figure out what she sees in me...forever suspicious of any little good fortune, you know? I think it may be that a couple of things I fixed for her actually worked afterwards and stayed fixed. Like Red Green says,