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I completed this last Monday, but I was unsatisfied with the "glamour" shots I took at the time. I spent several days trying to find the posters I use for a backdrop to shoot on. I couldn't imagine what I'd done with them. This apartment is small, and I had looked everywhere those things could possibly have been! Except one. I looked there, earlier this evening, and shot a huge batch of photos. These are somewhat better than the previous session's results, so, here she is, in all her glory. I am very happy with this model! The result, here, is pretty true to the vision I had, for it, back in 1997, when I first began work on it. I got it fairly along--the chassis was built, the first body was built; I had begun work on the cockpit and driveline details, when I began to doubt my confidence in being able to complete it. I likely had the skills to do it, I just didn't believe that I had those skills, so it got shelved, until November of 2022. At that time, I knew it was time. Roughly 14 months later, I submit these photos of my proudest achievement, to date. Thanks to everyone who followed along on the construction thread: And, thanks for looking!
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Hello Everyone! As promised and for those who are interested, I am posting some pics of another of my previous completed build. On this thread you will see my drag racing version of a HEMI 1972 Plymouth Roadrunner 1/25 scale. The production of the 426 HEMI ended in 1971 and was obviously not available for the 1972 model year but since it’s a drag car and not any kind of tribute build I decided to implant the elephant under the hood… Like for my ’70 Dart Swinger, this build is also less detailed than the ’70 Plymouth GTX (my last completed build) and it was done with more plastic components but still pretty well detailled for a model car that I built roughly 10 years ago. Some of the machined parts are less elaborate than my most recent versions but still decent with all the final details added. As you know, we all have to start somewhere and gain experience to do better... As with my other older builds, I can't remember if I took a lot of picss during the build process, but I can't find more than what is posted in this thread. Some photos are blurry or overexposed so I will try to take new ones with a better-lit environment when the weather and time permit. The body shell is an original annual MPC kit that I bought on ebay several year prior the build. The car was already built but unpainted so I had to dismantle it to save the body shell. I used the floor pan and engine bay from the latest AMT version of the 71 Dodge Charger as a donor for this project. The engine block and transmission are from the ’69 Dodge Charger Revell/Monogram Pro Modeler kit that was also used as a donor on various of my builds. The body is painted FC7 Plum Crazy using Model Master lacquer topped with 6 coats of Tamiya gloss coat and polished with Detail Master polishing cloths starting with 3600 thru 12000 grit. Novus 2 stage polishing compound and Meguiar’s Carnauba wax were used to complete the job. Strobe stripes are from Keith Marks. I spent countless hours (I had not done precise follow-up) over a 15 month period working on this build from the beginning of January 2010 to late March 2011. Comments and questions are welcome, so don't hesitate to ask if you would like more information! Take care, Francis Trunk floor engraving. Transmission support in milling vise. Piece of frame made with styrene. Dana cover in milling vise. Front spindle with brake disc and resin caliper. Brake drum in the rotary table. Aluminum machined Centerline mags. Machined gas tank with brass straps. Aluminum leafsprings. Rear end components. Driveshaft Safety Loop. Hemi heads progress. Aluminum machined tunnel ram Intake Holley carbs (pretty crude design). Modified front grille. Scratch built B&M shifter. Completed model pics with hood. Without hood. Front view with brass grille and Alclad painted bumper. Back view showing modified bumper and gas cap. Side view (sorry for the overexposed pic). Interior. Trunk details Underside view I know, I know, the safety loop is not properly positioned... Underhood, the elephant!
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Hello All! Following the requests of some fellow members I will start a new threads of some of my completed models starting by the most recent. On this thread I will present my drag version of a ’70 Plymouth Hemi GTX 1/25 scale. I started making plastic models as a youngster in the mid seventies so I just build 1/25 scale and not 1/24 since they were not existing back then. I also want to be able to put my models side by side and don’t want to see any unrealistic proportions between them (I’m kind of purist…). I will go in outline because there are too many details to list and must save my time for my current project (remaining pictures should speak by them self). Using a promo JoHan body, I open-up the hood and trunk with a panel scriber and the back of an Xacto blade. I reproduced all the shapes and reinforcements with various thickness of styrene strips based on pictures found on internet. I also thinned the hood on my milling to make it more realistic. It was roughly 0.080’’ thick without detail since it was molded shut on the promo body. I grafted the underhood section of a newer Revell ’69 Charger Pro Modeler body since it was a perfect match for this project. I also used the floor pan because the JoHan original one was not acceptable for this kind of build. I removed the molded in gas tank and reconstructed the trunk floor with Evergreen styrene sheets. I also tried to recreate all the trunk’s details and embossings of the real car using references found on internet. On the interior, I salvaged the dash of the Charger but I was forced to create all the door panels using styrene (the cup style of the GTX promo was useless and the Charger was too different). I also used thin aluminum sheets to create a drag car interior. I pushed the realism by recreating the instrument cluster gauges with a professional drawing software (Adobe Illustrator). I found pictures of the gauges on internet and used them as template on my computer to exactly recreate them and print in high resolution (2400 DPI) on negative film (pretty crazy…). I also machined all bezels around the gauges, all dash knobs and a radio delete plate (a lot of hours spent in the interior). I machined all the engine components including the block mostly with 6061-T6 aluminum and some brass parts including the oil pan. The Dominator carb itself took me probably 80 hours to build and counts more than 50 parts including the bolts from RB Motion and Scale Hardware. The transmission is a Liberty 4 speed from Futurattraction and I machined a mounting plate for the shifter. I also machined the rear end housing, the Dana 60 cover and a full functional drive shaft including the yokes. I machined my own set of American Racing slot mag wheels with aluminum and they are mounted on wheel hubs with threaded studs and nuts from Scale Hardware. I made all direction components and rods with brass tubes, aluminum rods and RB Motion rod ends. I made the radiator including upper and lower tanks (machined) and photo etch mesh grille (we can see through). Plumbing and wiring as well plus a mirror finish EK2 Go Mango paint job with black accents. Hand made front grille support and machined headlight bezels along with front flashers and rear backup lights bezels. All glasses are made with 0.010’’ clear Evergreen styrene and embedded to the body shell for a more in scale look. Bare Metal done on all body trims including the GTX logo on the side rear fenders. The list can go on and on for hours so take the time to check every pics and judge by yourself… I surprise myself by finding details that I forgot when I look at it after some time on the shelf! I spent around 2000 hours (I’m slower than a turtle…) on a 5 years span working on and off from early 2013 to May 2018 on this build. Unfortunately, I lost most of the construction pictures after a computer crash during an OS update but you should have a good idea with the remaining pics posted. I just taken new pics of the completed model but I really think that they can’t do justice like seen in person. I will be more precautious in the future with frequent backup on USB key as I currently do for the ’64 D100 Pickup I’m building. Dana rear housing in progress Gas tank in milling vise Gas tank final Valve covers unpolished Engine block in progress Engine block front view details Intake in progress Water pump in progress Oil pan installed Spinles and brake calipers Engine exploded view Engine final. The blurry part near the headers is the clutch linkage Engine front details Alternator and brackets closer view. Resin Liberty transmission, aluminum support and aluminum Bellhousing I hand drilled all the holes (around 1000) in the honeycomb pattern promo grille using a 0.018’’ drill bit (I know I’m crazy…). Fuel pump, brass straps for gas tank and hand made housing stoppers Cool can, electric gaz pump, Optima battery and kill switch (you can see some of the trunk floor details) Dash bezels and knobs Cluster gauges installed (I put a flashlight behind to show all the gauges details) Interior in progress Interior with dash and panels in place (hand made Tuff steering wheel) Interior back panel details (all aluminum) Front bumper details including brackets Final view Final view showing mag wheels and wheelie bar Under view front Under view back Front grill details Engine bay final Trunk view final Front bumper closer view
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Hello Everyone! As promised and for those who are interested, I am posting some pics of another of my previous completed build. I didn't want to overload the site with all the same photos on 2 threads so you can see all the photos that were posted in the VIP section using the following link: Take care, Francis
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Hello All, Philippe, Scott, Luke, Wayne, Anton, Craig, Mark: Many thanks for your kind comments for this build, they are very appreciated and keeps me motivated for my current build!!! Following the good suggestion from an experienced member Dragonhawk1066 I deceided to move this thread in the "Under Glass" category. This make plenty of senses since the car is not WIP but finished. I took a last picture today to create a last post in the hope that it will be linked to the original thread listed in the "Drag Racing Models". I found the hint (I would say) by searching in the "How To Use This Board" so I realy hope it's the right way to do this. In the future I will post all my others completed models in Under Glass (when I'll be ready to do so). Cheers, Francis
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For over twenty years, I have been pondering and preparing to build a replica of The Surfers dragster. I have now been educated by one Roger Lee as to why my two initial attempts to build the chassis were not right. Turns out that the things I'd read, and heard about the chassis, over the years, didn't provide the whole story. The plans from the old Popular Hot Rodding article are only useful for the front-half of the car, and for the roll cage, itself. The back-half, previously unbeknownst-to-me, was actually a copy of the chassis that Rod Stuckey built for Karamesines (not, as is most commonly written, an RCS/Frank Huszar chassis). Roger provided me a plan for that chassis, along with a couple of notes regarding the chassis. The car was front-halved by RCS, and they moved the differential uprights forward four inches--so, that's where that all came from. Armed with the two drawings, I used my favorite photo program to scale the drawings to one another, gave one some transparency, so I could see what I was doing, and overlaid them. I then imported that composite into AutoCAD, and drew the attached plan, using only the sections of each drawing that were pertinent to the Surfers car. I submitted the new drawing to Roger, and now my chassis drawing is "Riceman certified"! I'm about to head out on a couple of quick errands, but, I'll be melting solder, later this evening. I mentioned that I have been planning this project for many years. I wanted to make this my best piece. I have several new things I want to try with this project, not the least of which is to complete a project with a brass chassis, and an aluminum body. Now, I have done a body in aluminum, and a couple of "playing around" chassis, and I feel confident that I can put it all together!
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This model, like many of my models, has a long story. Begun in 2000 or 2001, it has been near completion perhaps a couple of times. The first time it stalled due to my dissatisfaction with the first body I built. That body was built from tooling aluminum, which, although very malleable, doesn't have much tolerance for compound curves--at least as far as dragster cowls are concerned. Then, while I pondered building a new body from aluminum flashing, I decided I didn't like the Hilborn injection setup, as compared to Enderle's. So, I tore the engine down, and began to explore possibilities for Enderle stacks. Turns out,there aren't any good ones from a kit (this was still several years before the Slingster was released. Those are the best kitted versions, but those leave something to be desired, too). I began to make sets of stacks, hoping to come up with a pair of tubes that were good enough to mate into a single unit and have them cast. That turned out to be relatively fruitless, until, within the past year, or so, I made a mold of one of the units I made, in which one of the stacks was a bit "off". I used two of those castings, and cut them apart, and mated two of the "good" stacks into a single unit (small, cropped photo below) that makes me happy enough to believe I can complete four units, and finally finish the injector setup. I may use the pictured resin manifold (it's from one of the better known casters, but, I can't recall where I got it from, at the moment), or, I may use one of the manifolds I began building. At any rate, I think I see the light at the end of that tunnel! Now, I am working on a new cowl. I like the older one--it fits decently, and is well-formed, but, I've always wanted it to be a bit "taller", at the rear of the cowl, so... I found an article in an old Hot Rod Magazine Yearbook that features several junior fuel dragsters, and I collected the ideas I liked from them, and began to conglomerate them into my own version of one of these bad little rides. Here's where it all began, and, where it is, today. As always, queries and comments are welcome!
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Nostalgia Fuel Dragster--Scale Archaeology
Straightliner59 posted a topic in WIP: Drag Racing Models
I just dug out this project I have barely looked at in nearly 20 years. I never had a decent camera, when I was working on it, so I figured I'd take some new photos of it--the way they came out, you might not suspect that I have a decent camera, now! The chassis is brass tubing and rod. The nose and tail sections are K&S tin sheet that I formed over wood bucks, then soldered. Rust is fairly evident, especially on the tail section. The rest of the body panels are tooling aluminum (before I discovered 5"X7" aluminum flashing), and would be re-created in flashing, should I ever decide to revive this thing. All the body mounting tabs are cut from K&S shim brass. I made a jig from plexiglass, so that I could cut and drill them, uniformly. I'm not sure what caused this project to stall, unless it was because one of my non-modeler friends bent the BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH out of the cowl--due to the softness of the tooling aluminum. I wish I could remember what I used to engine-turn the windscreens and firewall, because it's very nicely scaled! The engine mounted in the chassis is a late-model Donovan. Some of its "accessory" parts are visible, as well. In some of the shots, there is another engine. That one is a vintage Donovan I created using the block from the AMT Chrysler 300. I used Plastruct letters for the "nameplate" on the crank girdle. The oil pan and valve covers are laminated Evergreen strip and sheet. In one shot here, some of the smaller details are visible. These include the brake handle, chute release handles, master cylinder, Enderle barrel valve, throttle pedal, etc. I had originally planned to create graphics from the old Header Flames board on Nitronic Research. I'd still like to do that, but, it's not too likely that I can come up with art to work from, at this point. Comments and questions always welcome! -
Sorry for the file size. I didn't want to reduce the physical size, because the text is important. Tom Hanna tells you how to build a shorty body for a dragster. From HRM, back in the later '60s. Also attached are a few photos of a body I built, using Hanna's guidelines. It's not black magic!