Vel's Parnelli Jones F5000 Al Unser Car

[aurfalien]

Wow, righteous build.

Inspirational indeed.

So much talent on this forum, so cool.

[The dood]

Cool project Art. You lay out a project same as I do. Have fun with the lathe. When I get mine, my first project will be a very artistic looking pile of shavings.

hahaha.  Great build so far

[Art Laski]

Thanks, Guys., I'm making some progress on it. I got the paint on it, and then the decals. Clear is up next.

The Indycals decals came with some stripes that are actually quite nice, but I decided to see how gold BMF would work. 
Not perfect, but I'm satisfied with it.

Of course, the tape lines were all fairly sharp, except where there was no stripe between the two colors. I masked it off and repainted a sharper line.

 

 

[Metalmad]

She's looking good Art !

[Deathgoblin]

Very nice!    The gold foil looks good.

[John Teresi]

"Happy Birthday" Art

 

[Bernard Kron]

Love this era of global formula racing, when the technologies were still within reach of relatively small organizations and reasonable amounts of capital. It was a hotbed for creative, talented entrepreneurs and driver/engineers like Bruce McLaren, Jack Brabham, Ken Miles, Carroll Shelby, Mark Donahue, Roger Penske, and Dan Gurney. For some reason Parnelli Jones often gets overlooked but was among the big players in this golden age. His cars showed his enormous talents to great advantage, often being among the most striking and original in their conception and styling. This build beautifully captures so much of that! 

Edited September 30, 2015 by Bernard Kron

[Art Laski]

"Happy Birthday" Art

 

Thanks, my friend. It was a good day.

[Art Laski]

She's looking good Art !

Thanks, Seth!

Very nice!    The gold foil looks good.

Appreciate it, Brian!

[Art Laski]

Love this era of global formula racing, when the technologies were still within reach of relatively small organizations and reasonable amounts of capital. It was a hotbed for creative, talented entrepreneurs and driver/engineers like Bruce McLaren, Jack Brabham, Ken Miles, Carroll Shelby, Mark Donahue, Roger Penske, and Dan Gurney. For some reason Parnelli Jones often gets overlooked but was among the big players in this golden age. His cars showed his enormous talents to great advantage, often being among the most striking and original in their conception and styling. This build beautifully captures so much of that! 

I love this era too, Bernard. Horsepower, tires and wings! Parnelli is a friend and hero to me, which is why I chose his Lola to replicate and I hope I can do it justice.

[Speedfreak]

Looking good Art, will be watching. 

[motorhead4646]

Nice fab work!!

[Art Laski]

Thanks, guys!

[Art Laski]

I got some time in on this one the last few days. I re-positioned some of the decals on the front. They were just a little too low. I moved the gold on the bottom chevron up just a bit so I then had room to move the decals up where they needed to be. I also doubled up the sunburst roundel on the cowl, because it was bleeding through just a little too much. I also made the Valvoline decals, and the electric switch sticker, and the fire extinguisher E decal that will go on the windshield later.

I then cleared the body and polished it out so it wasn't too glossy and got all the junk out of it at the same time. Then I masked off the body so I could paint the aluminum tub. I used Aluminum Plate metalizer, and it looked pretty bitchen until I put the sealer on. I don't usually use the sealer, but this had so much area that was going to get handled, I felt like I had to. The sealer made it look like silver paint, but I'll live with it. The seat got painted, and belts will come later to cover the molded ones. Some screens were also added to the radiator vents.

I threw in a few mock up pics also...

 

[Jeremy Jon]

Challenging build by the looks, but you are really doing it justice Art, bravo!!  It's going to look great completed!

[Art Laski]

Thanks for the comment, Jeremy!

[Metalmad]

She's looking awesome Art !

[Art Laski]

Thanks, Seth! Trying to get it ready for Pomona. I think I can make it!

[Art Laski]

I got some work done on the cockpit this weekend. It's almost done. I just need to get the shifter in.

I couldn't figure out how I was going to detail the dash that was molded in, so before I painted the tub, I sanded out the dash. After painting, I made my own dash.

I started with making some gauge bezels from aluminum tube, but I used my lathe to cut a small groove in them the mimic a real gauge. The rest of the gauges have a face I printed, and some epoxy for the lenses. I mounted just to a piece of styrene I cut out for the dash face. Then I made a fire extinguisher pull lever from a straight pin, and added a toggle switch I got from Hobby Link Japan a while back.

Making my own dash also allowed me to raise the steering wheel location, which I think is a little more accurate.

I also made my own belts using a Pro Tech hardware kit.

Here it is all together.

 

 

[Metalmad]

Awesome job on the dash Art ! 

[Art Laski]

Thanks, Seth! Always appreciate your comments.

[Art Laski]

I got the front suspension glued in today, but first I spent the last day or two making some new shocks. I also polished out the white metal and dipped it in Future to keep it from tarnishing. Hope it works!

I managed to get the roll bar glued in too, so I can join the engine soon.

[gasser59]

Great progress Art. You'll have this masterpiece done in no time. Then you can get back to your brass chassis sprint car.  

[sbk]

This is looking really nice!

[Art Laski]

Great progress Art. You'll have this masterpiece done in no time. Then you can get back to your brass chassis sprint car.  

Thanks, Brad! Yeah, I'm dying to get back to it. Maybe about the same time you get back on your sprint car...