Ace-Garageguy

There's all manner of PE screen made for military and railroad modeling, as well as for cars if you look. There's also a wide variety of woven mesh filter screen made for industrial applications, usually in stainless. Some of the woven mesh is so fine you can't really even see through it. Some industrial suppliers will send you samples. Google is your friend. Sorta. And there are multiple suppliers who will sell small quantities, too. https://www.amazon.com/REMOPEST-Stainless-Steel-Metal-Sheet/dp/B07MNNCGCP Nylon filter mesh is another option.

For what it's worth, that doesn't look like any kind of gearbox to me. A 2-speed planetary box could fit in that general volume, but it would be shaped differently (it would look like one section of a Lenco). Likewise any in-out box I've ever seen...but I'm sure there's a lot of stuff I've never seen. What it does look like is an adapter plate / flywheel housing bolted to an engine plate, with a housing for a multi-plate clutch bolted to the adapter. The flange on the clutch housing where a gearbox would mount appears to have a plate bolted to it in turn, configured as an output shaft bearing support. A torque-converter could also fit inside that general volume, in which case you'd still have a single-speed driveline, but with some built-in slip. Again, the assembly doesn't really look like anything I'm familiar with, but that's not at all definitive. And again, there's lots of stuff I haven't seen. On the other hand, it certainly wouldn't be the first time a kit designer included incorrectly rendered mechanical bits he didn't understand the function of. If it IS supposed to be simply a multi-plate clutch setup, your clutch arm seems reasonable for a model. Clutch-only drivetrains weren't uncommon on high-horsepower drag cars. It's important to know when the model was tooled as well (or the kit it was derived from), as that will have a direct bearing on the tech that's represented.

Nice to do it as the camera car from the film. Beautiful model. I was at Sebring in '70 for that race. McQueen was definitely a talented driver, and pretty tough to drive an endurance event with a broken foot.

Yeah, when they get rowdy, watch out.

Most of that generation AMT kit used 1/16" steel rod for axles. 1/16" brass rod, tube, or 1/16" steel welding rod will work exactly the same way. 1/16" is .0625" or about 1.58 mm.

Wow. I want I want I want.

An Essay on Craftsmanship https://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Gould2.htm

Only reason I knew this one is 'cause I've followed limited production cars with fiberglass bodies...and all things early Porsche...most of my adult life. Those canted-quad headlights make it pretty hard to forget, too.

Tell us more about the Escort. I haven't seen one of those in decades. Looks like a rally car.

Just to be clear, my comment wasn't directed at you. But anybody doing renderings of "awesome" stuff that "should have been built"...well, if I was paying the guy, I'd expect him to realize you can't arbitrarily place the engine directly over the drive-axle center-line unless you use a setup like the old Toronado...which makes for a very tall package, not at all appropriate for a high-horsepower supercar. The Lambo Countach places the gearbox forward of the engine, and runs a driveshaft next to the crank back to a diff at the rear of the engine. Complicated, but it gets the engine much lower. And as you see, the engine is not centered over the drive-axle

...or have a clue how one works.

I seem to remember a prohibition here about getting too specific or showing photos along those lines on this board. I may remember that incorrectly, but suffice it to say I've acquired rather more firepower than a pea-shooter, but rather less than a star destroyer.

I'd wager you're probably having considerably more fun with the hobby than I am. I've seen a lot of your work, and I'd be more than happy to have turned any it out myself. I really like everything I've seen you show here. I'm currently trying to finish up a few models that ran way off the rails in terms of complexity, and I keep promising myself that my reward will be to try to lighten up on the next few. But I always start out thinking "this one, I'm going to keep simple", and then one little thing leads to a couple more, and after a few days on the bench, it's become another monster.

I got my self-defense capability significantly upgraded.

Pretty cool.

Very nice work.

Yeah, I've been kinda cheating lately by buying some Danbury and Franklin mint pieces so I at least have a few nice looking, finished models around. I can take 'em out and go vroom-vroom too.

It's a matter of personal viewpoint, personality, etc. I was blessed (or cursed) with the old micrometer eye, and discrepancies in scale, proportion and line, and defects just jump out at me. I don't go around trying to be hyper-critical. But I instantly see what's wrong with damm near anything I happen to be looking at. That's one reason, probably the major reason, that I finish very few models. I'm continuously seeing things I missed, or could do better, or can't yet do well enough to suit my expectations. They jump out at me and will bug me until I redo them and get them right. Probably just as well that I'm also naturally more of the enjoy-the-journey-more-than-the-destination persuasion.

The way I look at it is that if I have enough projects and ideas lined up that would be realistic for an 18-year-old who knew for sure he would live to 140, I'll always have something to look forward to.

Thanks for that info. The Dodge WCs, M-series, and PowerWagon direct descendants are another group of vehicles near-and-dear to my heart, and I've been looking at the Italeri kits...as I know nothing, zip, nada, about AFV Club/Skybow.

1961for the 5W coupe. The roadster in the above post first appeared in 1959.

For what it's worth, modifying an oil pan doesn't have to be difficult. Just remove what doesn't suit, and replace it with a little bondo and/or styrene.

Aha. Thanks for the clarification. Makes sense now in light of the fact that the early Riv ran a nailhead.

Both of these pans are shown as OEM replacements for the 400-430-455, depending on application. This one is listed as being for the '67-'70 Riv. "and other center sump applications" (possibly Electra and Wildcat)... ...and this one for '69-'76 Skylark and full-size: There doesn't appear to be a lot of aftermarket support for the 350, and the only pan I've found so far looks like this, listed for '68-'77 Skylark, Century and Regal. EDIT: Typical problem with online sourcing this stuff is that suppliers disagree on exact fitment, but they all agree these are the two 400-439-455 pans. And the nailhead shares absolutely nothing with these engines other than the nominal bore-centers.