Ace-Garageguy

This is generally the case. In the particular case I mentioned, the epoxy was MGS 285 with the slow 287 hardener. It's a high-performance material certified for use on several aircraft (most German sailplanes and the Cirrus SR20-SR22 for example). MGS 285 has a nominal pot-life of 45 minutes to 4 hours depending on hardener. It reaches full room-temp cure in 24 hours, and full strength after an additional 24 hour elevated-temperature post-cure cycle. In critical aviation use, it HAS to be mixed on a gram-scale to a ratio of 100:40 by weight (100:50 by volume) accurate to within about 2 percent...or it doesn't reach its full strength (and for aircraft use, we often have to have "test coupons" from EVERY mix validated by an FAA-approved lab, and the test results included in the paperwork before the aircraft can be signed-off and returned to service). I also use it for modeling and a wide variety of real-car applications because of its exceptional strength, and always mix it on an accurate scale. It allows me to make almost-scale-thickness fiberglass model-car panels that are many times stronger than styrene, and are stable up to 176 deg F if post-cured properly. 10 grams of 285 plus 4 grams of hardener is about as small a quantity you can mix with reasonable accuracy for non-aviation work, so after I mixed that amount and used less than half (on a warm, humid day), I forgot about what was still in the cup and walked away. I heard "sizzling" coming from the bench area, and turned around to see a plume of smoke rising from the sputtering mass of resin. Luckily it wasn't sitting on anything flammable. The actual lamination I'd used the stuff on was just fine, because it was spread over a large enough area so any heat from curing dissipated quickly. Lesson one is that thicker masses, even small masses, may runaway-exotherm. It's easy enough to avoid if leftover material is simply poured into a flat pan with enough surface area so heat isn't concentrated in a confined volume like a mixing cup. Metal paint pans work well for smaller amounts, and metal under-car drip-pans work well if you have more waste to deal with. Lesson two is try to not mix more material than you can use within the pot-life window, and pay attention. EDIT: Lesson three is that higher ambient temperatures and higher relative humidity will have a very noticible effect on shortening pot-life...so PAY ATTENTION

Breakfast of Champions.

Epoxy tastes pretty foul too...and it sticks to your tongue like glue.

I did at first, but after having to plow through several every year, I got to hate the sight of 'em...but I saw one in a store the other day and almost bought it, just for the nostalgia. They really are pretty good if you have your mind right.

Boy, that brings back memories. When I was much younger, we were floating in them around the holidays. Seemed like everyone in my father's family and everyone he worked with sent us one.

Exactly. And the front-end lift under hard acceleration leaving the line is misinterpreted to be a nose-high stance while standing still. There's been a lot of argument over it in the past, of course. Great photo, by the way. Man I miss those days.

Now there's a man adept at making lemonade...

If you read back through the earlier rules, that wasn't always the case. The 24" to-crank-centerline rule was instituted to stop folks from building stupid-nose-high cars. Sorry...I don't recall what year (early to mid-'60s) but it's not there one year, it is the next. Far as "sets the front ride height" goes, it doesn't so much set it as limit it. Sorta. It's a maximum, as you note. Still, the front of the car can be raised and the engine lowered in the chassis to conform to the 24" rule...though why anyone with a semblance of a brain would do that, I just don't know. However, the nose can also be in the weeds and the engine can be raised in the chassis to the maximum height...the reason being to get better weight transfer from the heavy engine being as high as possible, but better aerodynamics from the body nose being closer to the ground. Once the trap speeds on gassers hit around 130-140, aero lift and scary, squirrely handling on the top end became a serious concern with all the air piling up under the front, so getting the nose down became the norm on faster cars.

Good man. The silly nose-high cars bother me too (though there were a few who did that in the wayback, it was wrong then, it's wrong now). Anyway, that's the nice part about building your own suspension. You can get your model to sit exactly the way you want it to by fiddling with the amount of arch your springs have, where you put your spring hangers on the frame, and using a dropped axle if necessary to get it in the sweet-spot...all things real car builders did too. The M/SP Corvette build I directed you to sits as shown, correct for the class and period...as well as gassers.

Page 3 of this thread shows how to fabricate a straight front axle (with posable steering) and parallel leaf springs for a gasser or similar vehicle. It's really not hard.

Use PET available for FREE from soda bottles...and it doesn't scratch easily.

I have absolutely no idea... EDIT: ...but I have an inkling who the designer might be... EDIT 2: Got heem.

Exactly...and an accurate rendition of your example in scale would be a show-stopper.

Yeah, that was what I was kinda thinking.

If you're interested in more of these early "kit cars", here's one of the web's best resources. https://www.undiscoveredclassics.com/forgotten-fiberglass/

Much more-better-making going on. Much as I like this kit (though I've never completed one due to all the issues you've already identified...mostly), it's certainly not a high-point of kit design and tooling.

Well, you're wrong. Car bodies are thin sections and as such usually bleed enough heat into the adjacent mold to prevent a runaway. A 1/24 scale engine block is a relatively thick section and CAN runaway exotherm...and so can the container the material is mixed in if the user isn't careful...which is why material designed to be runaway-exotherm-resistant is preferable. I've had as little as a 14 gram mix of epoxy get hot, smoke, and sputter violently. FOURTEEN GRAMS is hardly "looking...through the eyes of someone who has done casting on a very large scale".

Now 7:12 PM EST it seems to be happy for the most part. Occasional hang-fire, but nothing I can't live with.

The problem, as I mentioned above, is RUNAWAY exothermic reactions when materials are used by the untrained or inexperienced.

There are lots of Alumilite products. https://www.alumilite.com/products/resins/

It depends on the size of the parts, primarily, but there are other variables to consider. In general: "Casting resin" is usually formulated to reduce runaway exothermic reactions that can easily occur if parts the size of an engine block (in 1/24) are cast in a warm environment. Runaway exotherms happen when the heat generated by the resin and hardener doing their chemical thing go into a "feedback loop", with more heat speeding up the cure, making more heat speeding the cure, making more heat... etc. The effect is anything from severe bubbling throughout the casting, to the whole mess bursting into flame. I've had it happen. Casting resin is also thinner, less viscous, too...which helps to fill voids and air pockets, and release air bubbles introduced during mixing. Though you "can" cast parts with epoxies designed to be used as adhesives, you're better off using "casting resins" for casting. OVERVIEW OF "EXOTHERM": https://www.systemthree.com/blogs/epoxy-files/epoxy-exothermic-reaction All that said, most molds for model car parts today are made from silicone, and the parts cast in them are usually made of some variety of urethane. Most of the manufacturers of the materials you'll need have GOOD videos of how to choose and use their products, and they're much more complete and useful than any advice you'll get here.

Yup. Even before I logged in to the new improved post-update version the first time. Still hanging occasionally pretty much all the time now.

Look ma !!! Poseable steering !!!

Very clean. Clean is good.