Ace-Garageguy

One thing I'm about 99% sure of is that the front seats in the '64 "Race Hemi Lightweight Package" cars were borrowed from the little A-100, being the lightest OEM Mopar seats available. They were mounted on custom aluminum frames with largish "lightening holes" visible on the sides. A 95-pound truck battery was fitted in the RR corner of the trunk, too. The grilles as-delivered were anodized aluminum.

You've hit on one of the things that sometimes hangs me up on a build too. Getting that specific "look" just right can be elusive, and it often takes exactly what you've done to figure out what is off. Nice going here, and I'm really looking forward to seeing this progress. Your inspiration car is pretty cool, and looks to be very well built and finished...and drivable, from all appearances. Which brings up another thought. The rat-rod movement is in large part responsible for popularizing the exaggerated proportions of that car (which were seen occasionally back in the wayback on 'traditional" cars too). That's a good thing. This is shaping up to be one great model.

I agree 100% with Art. It's a great tool. There is one downside though, in that it can tend to clog...and it can be almost impossible to clear if it does. I buggered my first one, apparently, by allowing dissolved styrene to accumulate in the bottom of my liquid-cement container. Some of it was introduced into the tip of the capillary tube, and when I allowed the tube to dry out, it solidified (this is my assumption, anyway) and clogged. I was able to clear it a few times by soaking it with the tip immersed in clean glue for a couple hours, and using a rubber bulb to force-flush it. It finally clogged so badly that I couldn't clear it, but scoring the capillary tube (which is very hard metal) with a diamond file allowed me to snap off the first 1/4 inch or so, and that removed the clogged part. The things work great, but can be pricey if you ruin them in rapid succession. SO, I've started using very fine hypo needles made for insulin (that I get free from a diabetic friend) for the majority of my precision gluing. Take the plunger out and they work just like the made-for-it tool. Nothing beats the Touch-N-Flow for some applications, though.

Yeah, I've done some experimenting with modified dental picks, saw blades, knife blades, etc., but so far i haven't come up with anything I'm in love with. The posters assertion that the Tamiya tool pulls out a "plastic curl" with every back stroke sounds like exactly what I'm after, but several also say it's too thick. I figure if I copy a design that already does what I want it to, but using thinner steel stock, that ought to do the trick.

Art is absolutely right in his assertion that the same basic things are done to chop a little car as to chop a big one, and that HAMB thread is a great reference. One word of caution though. Go slow (which is two words, actually ). A carefully planned and executed chop can really improve the lines and "flow" of just about any car, but one that's rushed without serious thought and a very critical eye as it progresses can ruin a car, and at worst, make it look squashed. More is not always better, so look at a LOT of photos of chopped Mercs to determine exactly what you want to accomplish FIRST, and then follow the basic technique from the HAMB reference, but pay close attention to relationships between height and angle of pillars etc. as you work, so that your finished product will match your vision. Careful measuring is also imperative to make sure you get everything symmetrical. A few thousandths of an inch can make a noticeable difference in 1/25 scale, and can make or break a model.

I just checked some AMT 2-piece slicks with a sidewall insert, and it's as I remember...if the insert fits well in the tire, assuming you've removed the little piece of molding runner and any flash, you don't NEED any glue to hold it in...especially if you put the insert side towards the car where it isn't seen. And if your wheels fit correctly, they will also hold the sidewall insert in if it's loose (which it rarely is) when you glue the wheel parts together.

I missed this one up 'til now. Pretty slick, pretty trick.

The Model Car Garage #2238 photo-etched saw blades are some of the trickest tools I've come across in a long time. They're thinner by several thousandths of an inch than a conventional 32 TPI razor saw, and that makes a real difference in how fine a cut they'll make. You can hold them in your fingers for precise control, or mount them in the regular small X-acto style handles to cut more aggressively. Go slow, and they're magic.

Somebody has done a nice set of 3D renderings of the McLaren, and an enterprising young man could convert this info to STL files, printable. https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/car/racing/mclaren-m6-gt-grand-prix-race-car

It's a good looking thing, but it IS a phony-baloney kinda mashup. The real car its shape is based on, the McLaren M6GT, comes a lot closer to actually being "awesome".

They rebodied a Ford GT40 Mk IV kit. The real Coyote was a kit-car with molds pulled from a Manta Montage, which was in turn a more-or-less replica of a McLaren M6GT.. The stance of the kit is pretty horrible, and the guts have no resemblance to what's under the real car.

Some really fine looking work going on here.

Thanks for the reminder on the panel scriber. I've been meaning to pick one of these up to figure out exactly what kind of curve and point I need to grind on a thinner piece of steel stock.

I want I want I want. How good or blobular is the old AMT original?

Outstanding work, very evocative.

Man this thing is cool. I keep coming back just to look at it. You really did a great little model here.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well, and doing things well is often difficult and frustrating...which is why so few achieve excellence in anything. I really have to applaud the effort you're putting into this. Your renderings look very good so far, and at this point, I'm certain that if you stick with it, you'll get the final result you're after. Nice work.

Fine looking model. Your experimentation with creating that garage backdrop really paid off too.

There's a lot of truth in that. Some of GM's colors are notorious self-strippers...the white on my '89 GMC truck being one of them. When the urethanes hit the aftermarket and collision repair industry, and began to displace the acrylic enamels and lacquers, they adhered phenomenally well. I painted some test panels with intentionally poor prep, and they refused to come unstuck for 20 years in the UV and weather. The materials have proliferated and many got cheapened and dumbed down, like everything else, and I honestly am beginning to believe they're now actually engineered to only last as long as they need to in order to get the repair shop or refinisher past the guarantee-window.

There's a lot to like on that model, some very significant and well-engineered changes from what can be done with only box parts. One big one...i assume you hand-punched louvers in a real sheetmetal deck. Correct?

Man, that is a knockout. I've never seen that box-art version of that kit done before, and yours looks really fine. You were absolutely right-on in adding the two center exhaust branches, as the stock A engine does indeed have all 4 of its exhaust ports on the side, arranged as you have it. The short branches you added are very like what an early tuner might have done, as header design was only in its infancy then, and the real science, though being investigated, wasn't widely distributed. The AMT version of the Riley 2-port head setup (the optional parts you elected to not use) is a little vague and inaccurate (as we've gone into here on occasion) and it was relatively rare and expensive Great model.

Cute little bugger. I could commute and chase parts happily in it, so long as I didn't have to drag around any engine blocks or 60"-wide rolls of carbon fiber on the day.

'Bout the realest-looking scale rust I've ever seen.

I hope that works out for you. I had one once who had at least 10 different personalities living in her head, and 9 of them were demons.

Hey man, don't feel bad. Looking at espo's post above, I momentarily forgot entirely where I was too.