Ace-Garageguy

Are any of the cars running LSR events with NO cooling system actually setting records or finishing their runs? Whereas a TF engine only has to hold together for a quarter mile at full output, an LSR engine has to hold together for SEVERAL MILES at full power, and then has to be capable of making a return run at very close to the same speed, in order to verify the record. The return run has to be done within a specified time window. LSR / dry lakes / Bonneville cars did away with radiators early on due to aerodynamic drag constraints (as early as 1929, the Golden Arrow ran iced-water in internal tanks ...no radiator) but continued to run on-board water tanks, circulating water through the engines to avoid meltdown. I respectfully suggest that attempting to run an LSR vehicle with NO provision for internal cooling, unless perhaps the block, heads and pistons are machined from titanium billets, is a sure recipe for turning a high-dollar engine into a worthless heap of slag. I could be missing some information, and my opinion here could be wrong. Any successful Bonneville engine builders in the audience ??

IF there's enough paint on the car, you don't have to clear at all IF it's a solid color...just like in some full-scale paints. The purpose of the sanding pads is simply to level the surface and remove the "crazing" you mention, or more usually, orange peel. IF you can level the surface...that is, IF you can take enough paint off to get to the level of the bottom of the crazed lines, you MAY be able to polish the gloss up. Polish is a very mild abrasive as well, and just like 800 grit paper gives a 'smoother' surface than 180 grit paper, polish gives a smoother surface than the finest grit on the sanding pads. If you go all the way up to 12,000 grit with the pads, you'll already have a pretty good gloss, and to polish will just enhance it further. IF there's NOT enough color on the car to allow you to sand the surface texture from the crazing out, you'll HAVE to apply several coats of clear to, in effect, fill the roughness left by the crazing. THEN you'll sand with the pads, with progressively finer and finer grits, and finish up with the polishing compound. Fun, huh?/

George, I certainly understand the preference to cobble something together to end up with an accurate model, rather than to start with a stock baseline shell, and Ken has shown his impressive talent and skill in doing this kind of build already on his Ferrari Mexico thread. The Ferrari is kind of a garish, in-your-face car in 1:1, and the Volvo is much more subtle and understated, and getting the proportions exactly right will be critical in pulling it off in scale. I'm sure he's capable of doing it...I just was saying it would be tremendously easier to start with a body that already had the major lines, proportions and (hopefully) symmetry of the 1:1 car. As far as doing a Spitfire goes, there IS a Lindberg GT6 kit which would make a perfect starting point (as a GT6 is just a Spitfire with a steel fastback roof grafted on). My sincere commendations also go out to Ken for even attempting this particular car from bits and pieces.To quote George, "You GO, Bro!"

Sanded with 180 to refine the shapes further, and re-shot with Duplicolor high-build gray. [ The subtlety of the curves on this thing have made it much more difficult to get an accurate representation of the car than I'd originally anticipated. I started to sling filler without any real in-depth scaling, drawings, measuring or templates, and I just wasn't hitting the look, although a lot of folks thought it looked good...which I certainly appreciate. Still, being the anal-retentive jerk that I am about getting the 'feel' of the original, I'm glad I took the time and made the effort to carefully analyze the body shape. Though there are still some fairly large inaccuracies (that I WILL correct), I'm pretty happy with the overall effect at this point.

I understand that, but I tend to look at what my time is worth on a project like this. If I were building a master to cast "so the common people can buy it without emptying their wallet and put a very common chassis under it", Id definitely start with a well-proportioned kit offering, if one were available, as a basis for the custom master. All I'm getting at is that the absolute correct proportions are so very necessary to get this car to look right, I think it would be HUGELY easier to start with something where all the really hard work was already done. If the Air Trax kit costs $150, I STILL think it would be money well spent to avoid hours and hours and hours having to get those proportions spot-on from a lot of disparate bits. Just my humble opinion, and really just trying to help.

The subtlety and balance of this design really demand getting it pretty almost-dead-on-close, to maintain the striking presence the original has. It won't be easy, but I'm rooting for you. I think you'd be WAY ahead of the game if you could locate a 1/25 Air-Trax resin P1800 kit as a starting point... http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=67167

You've done a beautiful job with this, as always. I have a couple of original-release kits on the shelf, and the proportions always looked very good to me...except, I think the windshield frame is a tad tall.

One of my favorite cars, and done as a gasser too!! Pretty cool. I agree...more pix, please.

For American manufacturers, it would have to be Revell...hands down. Mostly due to subject matter...a bunch of pretty nice '32 hot-rods, a bunch of model-A Fords over the years, race cars like the Challenger and Orange Crate, and the beautiful '50 Olds and '57 Ford kits...just to name a few. Though I've been critical of mistakes Revell has made, it's probably because overall I've come to expect such high quality with scale and proportion that when they goof, it's more noticeable than some of the other other guys. It helps that the 'real' Revell is still sorta around...unlike AMT and long gone Johan. When I was younger (much) I preferred Revell kits for the level of detail, and opening features like on the '56 Ford pickup, and the tri-5 Chevys. I'm still a hoarder of the vintage parts packs, which I think are some of the best things out there. For Japanese, I'd have to go with Fujimi...again for the subject matter...the wide range of exquisitely detailed Porsches.

Wow !! I didn't know that, had never seen the 1:1 before. Googled it and read the info...fascinating. Thanks for the enlightenment.

...autocross or gymkhana would be fascinating...or drag racing...3 minute ETs.

Pretty cool!! Your symmetry looks good too (which isn't easy to accomplish, and where a lot of radical builds really suffer). Nice work.

Nice!! Engine looks like a 351C, which is what oughtta be in there. Which kit is this, with the GT flares ??

Looks really good. I've done work on about a bazillion 1:1 Panteras (okay, maybe only about 20) over the years, and I have an appreciation of their strengths and weaknesses. Fujimi seems to have done a good job of getting the proportions right. I just had one leave the shop with polished, billet copies of the Campagnolo wheels, and they looked very much like yours in the original, pre-black-wash state.

Yup...and I just run some hot water in the sink with the stopper closed. Simple, quick, works every time. Water transmits heat to the paint faster than air will, and the heavy part of the can (the paint) ALWAYS is down in the water.

Man, really some fine work going on here...somehow I missed most of this. Very very nice.

A great save. I love seeing stuff that most folks would throw in the trash turned into fine models. Very nice.

Thanks again for everyone's interest and comments. That was the reason for jigging everything together early on...to keep it all lined up as the surfaces got developed. There ARE some imperfections at the panel junctures that I will need to deal with shortly, and before the jigs are broken out, I've got to make pins and pockets to line everything up on reassembly. I didn't realize just how many differences there were either...and since I put up the primer pix, I've noticed something I got wrong, and something I missed entirely. Not too hard to correct though... .

Great looking, original and wild, as usual. Nicola Tesla did a lot of experimenting with various forms of electricity. This is a reconstruction of one of his devices, and the Doc captured the electrical discharge beautifully...

I would respectfully suggest you mock up some tires under this before you go much further committing to bodywork. It has always worked best for me, in building real 1:1 cars as well as models, to establish the stance first, and then build the body to accommodate that. It doesn't work so well doing things in the reverse order. Again, just a suggestion to help avoid disappointment and substantial rework down the road. I do have several Auburn (Lindberg / Pyro) engines in various conditions, if you're still looking.

Tons of fun to watch your imagination and building skills in operation...

The package is long gone, and mine is molded in an ivory-color plastic, but I assume that's it. I haven't seen it in a while (packed away) but it stands about 16" tall if I recall correctly.

I'm always fascinated by unusual, purpose built trucks from this period. Great project.

I've read several articles stating the 'new improved re-named' product isn't the same and doesn't work like the old one. Any truth to this? I've never used it myself, but I've thought of trying it...just to know.

Just beautiful, beautiful work. Nice lines too.