Ace-Garageguy

Heat, while the parts are in the mold.

Older ones are acetate. It's cellulose based, and tends to warp and shrink over time, particularly in humid conditions. Later ones are styrene or ABS, which is a toughened styrene. Some solvent-glues will work with ABS, and the labels generally tell you. CA and epoxy also work fine. Old-school tube gloo will kinda stick acetate together, but it's not a strong bond. CA or epoxy are your best bets for acetate. Both acetate and ABS work much like styrene as far as cutting and sanding go. EDIT: LOCTITE 401 is said to work well on acetate where other adhesives have failed. I haven't tried it myself, but the reference was from someone in product prototyping who actually used the stuff. Loctite 401 is a CA specifically developed to stick hard-to-bond materials together.

Man oh man...a little set of pressed rails in 1/25 would be too cool. I have a set of American Stamping rails waiting in the wings for a build after I move. A correct set in scale? Damm man. If you were to print a set, I know of a filled resin system that was developed specifically to cast press-tools from. It's adequate up to about 1/8" mild steel sheet, so .010" or thinner brass would be no problem. Sheet-wax to cast a matching press die properly spaced from the first one is also available. Let me know if you want additional info.

It can also be a problem with the valve inside the can. I've had some that would spit no matter if I cleaned or even replaced the nozzles with brand new ones. Try smacking the bottom of the can on something to dislodge clogs, and then shake the absolute dog-snot out of it. I've cleared a few this way, but I've ended up just having to discard others (or decant).

The tail end of this thread shows how to easily scratch a buggy-spring rear crossmember if you don't want to cut up good frames. R&M makes springs, and axles too, I believe.

This ancient Revell kit and the several that have been derived from it over the years have the best stock A frames and underpinnings going. You used to be able to get 'em really cheap, 'cause nobody wanted 'em. The original AMT Ala Kart / Model A double kit and all the derivations over the years have the next best stock A frame and guts. There are passable stock '32 frames in AMT's '32 Ford 5-window coupe and Phaeton (and I think the Vicky too). The frame in the AMT '32 roadster is more blobular with rear suspension molded in. No kit has a good stock '32 Ford frame and guts. Pretty bizarre considering it is THE iconic hot-rod.

How the bleep did I miss this? Cool, cool, cool.

With a tall enough intake manifold, you can put it in the "normal" position.

There are several options to take an ignition drive off of the front chain cover. Here's one. Impalow's setup would appear to have an angle-drive for the ignition in place of the fuel-pump drive as shown above. An angle-drive would normally bolt to one of the locations for accessory drives provided on the cover, like zo...

PLEASE add as much info as you have. The only object here is to help people decide which way to go to get a good engine. And PLEASE post those shots you have of the Moebius engine completed.

Thanks for your comment too, Rusty. Trying to keep it real usually seems to take a lot more time, but I'm much more satisfied in the end (which I rarely see) if I look at a model and it doesn't scream "toy". Though I appreciate many of the more outlandish build styles that have the "gotcha" factor mine usually lack, for the most part, it's not a style I work in...and I personally take the "model" definition to heart.

Thanks a lot for your interest and comments, gentlemen. I haven't had much bench time lately, and what few minutes I can scrounge each day go towards finishing up the MSP Corvette. But as soon as it's in paint, this one is in the short list to get done.

Great looking work there. Very evocative, interesting use of framing and forced perspective, and your water effects are among the most realistic I've ever seen. Kinda been wondering where you've been.

You might be on to something. Typing a RH parenthesis preceded by a capital B gives a smiley face in the text on this site, so if you're giving a string of examples, they need to be 1),2),3), etc. Caps followed by parentheses wont work (for B anyway).

Lots of info on building this car already available in the thread below, particularly on getting the carbs and manifold right. BUT...be sure to read the text carefully. There is some conflicting "advice", some of which is just flat wrong. Far as engine color goes, when you build a hot-rod, you can paint the engine any color you want. If it's a Chevy, for example, you're not stuck with orange just because that's what the factory used.

Interesting fact about this thing is that a "Frank Sinatra" option package was offered in '81 and '82 in a metallic blue supposedly matched to his eyes, and included a special interior and badging.

Wow. Absolutely beautiful. Great price too. I'll be having some.

I'd like to see your reference shots. I've never seen a real F40, but I've seen...and built...a lot of carbon parts (and I've seen a lot of Ferraris). "Print through" is a very common occurrence on carbon parts (and honeycomb core parts) as the resin shrinks over time (even aircraft grade epoxy) and the weave of the carbon or the honeycomb pattern becomes visible on the surface of the paint. I don't think that's what you're referring to as "ghosting" though. Real racing-weight (or aircraft) carbon parts (as opposed to the glossy, resin-saturated aftermarket or show stuff) have the lowest percentage of resin (by weight in the finished laminate) that will keep the fibers stuck together. This tends to require a filling primer on street parts to fill the very obvious weave prior to the paint going on, and filling primer, even if it's catalyzed epoxy or urethane or polyester, will also shrink enough over time so that you'll begin to see the weave "print through" the surface in some lights. Sport aircraft built of carbon, like the carbon Lancair planes, will show the same effect. I find it difficult to believe that Ferrari would not apply enough paint to achieve what's known as "full hiding" in the business. Full-hiding simply means that there's enough coats of finish paint on the car so that the color of the primer or substrate doesn't show through the topcoat, and usually allows enough film-thickness so it can be polished a few times as well. I'm NOT disagreeing with you on the "ghosting" phenomenon; it's just that I've never seen it myself, and I tend to be a little skeptical what with the internet being awash with people repeating what they've "heard" with no first-hand experience (this remark is NOT directed at YOU). So...again, I'd really like to see your reference shots. I'm always up to learn something new.

Probably the slipperiest Willys ever built. Lotsa trick stuff going on there, too. What did you use for a gearbox in the sidewinder configuration?

Always sad to see somebody's old cars destroyed, whether they're particularly "desirable" or not. Lotsa salvageable parts on the visible hulks though, so I hope they don't go straight to the crusher.

I like it. Nice choice of parts, and the wheels work remarkably well with the rest of the design. Very rare beast in the real world, too.

I used to frequent a place (not Chinese) where we often opined the menu would probably be more accurate if, instead of the options of beef, lamb, or chicken, it used the euphemisms Street Beef (dog), Yard Lamb (cat) and Urban Chicken (rat). I once found a tiny pelvis in my soup... Mighty tasty though.

If those were all 1/25 (the dragster at top is, but the others are 1/32), I'd buy 'em.

Yes, and it's a problem on real cars too. Hanging doors accurately requires the body to be jigged or mounted on the frame using the same spacers you'll use on final buildup. After cutting your doors open, tape them back in position...accurately...with something like aluminum duct tape. Jig your body to the frame you'll be using, with white glue as a removable adhesive. You should then be able to remove the doors and build your hinges, ensuring everything will fit at the end. You really have to be careful here, as just a few one-thousandths of an inch out-of-line and your doors won't work properly.