DeLorean Time Machine: WIP (Photos Restored)

[David G.]

 

The Back To The Future DeLorean Time Machine. Aside from the Batmobile, one of the most iconic movie vehicles ever! I thought Deloreans were cool from the moment that I first saw one so you can imagine what effect this movie had on the DeLorean's coolness factor. I've been working on this for a few weeks now and finally have some progress worth posting.

 

This is a Snap-Kit. The pieces are intended to go together much like a 3-D puzzle, they snap and click into place. Realistically, I could probably assemble this kit in less than thirty minutes.

 

The main focus of this kit will be on detail painting and adding little bits and bobs to increase the visual interest.

 

The first bit I want to address is the TFC Drive Circuit. In the movie it's shown as a set of discs arranged in-line with a clear cover, reminiscent of an old style TV tuner. There is also a handle on the end that Doc Brown cautions Marty not to confuse with the gearshift.

 

The TFC Drive Circuit I want to replicate is on the right. Don't ask me what TFC stands for or what the Drive Circuit does, I'm not that much of a geek.

edit: I eventually figured out that it means Time Flux Capacitor.  

 

The first task is to remove the old bit.

 

While I work out how to make the TFC Drive Circuit, I'll attend to some the more simple matters, like painting and carpeting the interior. The "carpet" is embossing powder.  I masked and painted the floor, sprinkled the powder on the wet paint, waited for the whole mess to dry, then painted the powder.

 

With the "carpeting" now dry now I can start on some of the detail painting.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

 

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[GeeBee]

One of my all time favorite films, I've got the trilogy on blue ray, looking forward to following this build

[KWT]

Looks like you're off to a good start.

I've always wanted to build one of these. My brother and I have been big fans of this movie for years. My son is now. He got a 3 car diecast set for Christmas. I'm definitely interested to see how this turns out to see if I might just get one or not.

[David G.]

I've been plodding along on this kit, working at a slow but steady pace.

 

The front and rear clips have a different finish than the rest of the body. I presume that they would be a type of flexible impact plastic as was common on cars of that era.

 

I have a gray paint that I hope will give me the look I want.

 

The gray color turned out a little too light, but I can work with it. The problem here is that the masking tape has pulled bits of the finish from the body. I'm hoping that a re-application of Dull-Coat lacquer will correct this.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

Edited June 28, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[David G.]

The interior is nearly done! I have completed most of the detail painting and fabrication of the additional bits and bobs that I want to add.

For the black handle on the TFC Drive Circuit I laminated a couple pieces of sheet styrene to get the right thickness.

 

Creating the main bit of the Time Circuit took a bit of imagination. I used clear styrene rod. After cutting it to the proper size, I sawed three grooves in it and painted the grooves with bronze paint. The handle I carved from the laminated styrene, painted it, drilled it and inserted a wire to help hold the whole assembly together.

 

Here's the interior foundation ready for assembly.

 

As always, thanks for looking and please feel free to comment.

David G.

Edited June 28, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[David G.]

Another update.

 

Here's the assembled interior. I think the TFC Drive Circuit came out fairly good.

 

For the wires on the dashboard, I painted them with flat acrylic white then used fine-point Sharpies to color them.

 

I also made wire bundles from bead wire colored with Sharpies.

 

Dash detail.

 

I'm thinking about adding some wires to the rear bulkhead. It just seems a little too plain.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

Edited June 28, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[David G.]

OK, I've decided that the interior is done. There is an almost endless amount of detail that I can add to it, but most of the people who see the built-up model in my display case probably wouldn't notice the difference and probably wouldn't care. If you have to point out the extra things you've done, is it really worth the effort?

On to the chassis and body.

The chassis will detailed through masking, painting and weathering.

 

Here we see Testors Metalizer Aluminum Plate and Tamiya Ocean Grey with a black acrylic wash.

 

Application of some earth-tone pastels and a few more washes and we're done.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and always feel free to comment.

David G.

Edited June 28, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[Brizio]

Coming along nicely! The interior looks great!

[D. Battista]

Lookin' good ...!   I like the x-tra work and detailing you have done so far..!

[David G.]

Coming along nicely! The interior looks great!

Thanks Fabrizio, I'm glad you like it.

Lookin' good ...!   I like the x-tra work and detailing you have done so far..!

Thanks Dave, it's nice to know that the extra work is worth the time and effort.

 

David G.

[David G.]

For those who may be interested, here is another update.

I painted the exterior wiring with flat white acrylic to provide a better base for the colored fine-point Sharpies I plan to use when detailing the wires. The damage that the masking tape caused to the finish can be seen on the rear quarter. I have a plan for fixing that. I'm also not too pleased with the appearance of the nose and tail clips. I may clean those up and respray them.

 

The panel lines have been detailed and the bumpers, belt-line impact strips and aprons have been painted.

This one is finished and can be found in the Under Glass section, here's a link.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and always feel free to comment.

David G.

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[David G.]

Hello Everyone!

I've gone in and reedited the old photos to hopefully make them a bit more eye friendly and uploaded them to the topic once again. This should be the last time I have to rescue this topic from the PhotoBucket Monster.

Regards,

David G.

[Andrew D the Jolly Roger]

Nice, glad you brought this back for those of us who missed it the first time (think there's a pun of some kind in there considering the subject....). 

Very nice detailing!  Always better than just painting molded-on detail.  Great craftsmanship!

[vamach1]

Looks great.  Snap kits are often overlooked but the paint and detailing make a world of difference.

[Oldcarfan27]

I always look at the posts you've edited. Great to be available to see them again!

I enjoy these movies with my family, so I have a fond interest in detailed builds of this car.

As always, thanks for taking the time to fix them.

[David G.]

19 hours ago, Andrew D the Jolly Roger said:

Nice, glad you brought this back for those of us who missed it the first time (think there's a pun of some kind in there considering the subject....). 

Very nice detailing!  Always better than just painting molded-on detail.  Great craftsmanship!

Thanks Andrew, I'm happy to know that my efforts are appreciated, both in modeling and editing.

19 hours ago, vamach1 said:

Looks great.  Snap kits are often overlooked but the paint and detailing make a world of difference.

Thank you Rex. There are a lot of good snap kits out there but Polar Lights snap kits are the best I've built so far.

8 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

I always look at the posts you've edited. Great to be available to see them again!

I enjoy these movies with my family, so I have a fond interest in detailed builds of this car.

As always, thanks for taking the time to fix them.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me Patrick. 

I'm a fan of the movies too... well the first two anyway. The third one's not bad but it's not as good as the others.

BTW, I was a fan of the cars before it was cool . I usually tend to root for the underdog and it kind of broke my heart John DeLorean "failed". 

Thanks again,

David G.

[Oldcarfan27]

3 hours ago, David G. said:

I'm a fan of the movies too... well the first two anyway. The third one's not bad but it's not as good as the others.

I enjoy BTTF III simply for Thomas Wilson (Mad Dog Tannen). First couple times I watched the movie, I didn't even know it was the same actor as Biff. He is so unrecognizable as a cowboy and he did such a great job as a ditzy one!

[David G.]

19 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

I enjoy BTTF III simply for Thomas Wilson (Mad Dog Tannen). First couple times I watched the movie, I didn't even know it was the same actor as Biff. He is so unrecognizable as a cowboy and he did such a great job as a ditzy one!

I have the set on Blu-Ray, I'll have to watch #3 again when I get the chance.

David G.

[crowe-t]

On 2/22/2017 at 4:56 PM, David G. said:

 

While I work out how to make the TFC Drive Circuit, I'll attend to some the more simple matters, like painting and carpeting the interior. The "carpet" is embossing powder.  I masked and painted the floor, sprinkled the powder on the wet paint, waited for the whole mess to dry, then painted the powder.

 

With the "carpeting" now dry now I can start on some of the detail painting.

 

David G.

 

 

Excellent job!

You sprayed painted over the embossing powder?  What color embossing powder did you use?

[David G.]

8 hours ago, crowe-t said:

Excellent job!

You sprayed painted over the embossing powder?  What color embossing powder did you use?

Thanks for the comment Michael. 

The color of the embossing powder I used is Sea Foam White, the manufacturer is Ranger. I'll se if I can post a photo later.

BTW, it's nice to see this one float back to the surface again, I had tons of fun adding all the extra detail.

Thanks again,

David G.

[Mr. Metallic]

Nicely executed build. Looks like you had fun with it which is the whole point, right?

If I was going to ever build this one I'd want to do the Polar Lights with pre-finished body. Good to know that the finish isn't that durable.

[David G.]

On 2/15/2022 at 7:57 PM, crowe-t said:

Excellent job!

You sprayed painted over the embossing powder?  What color embossing powder did you use?

Hello Michael.

If you're curious, here's a picture of the embossing powder.

 

Regards,

David G.

[David G.]

18 hours ago, Mr. Metallic said:

Nicely executed build. Looks like you had fun with it which is the whole point, right?

If I was going to ever build this one I'd want to do the Polar Lights with pre-finished body. Good to know that the finish isn't that durable.

Thanks for your comment Craig, I did have a lot of fun with it and I'm mostly pleased with the results.

As for the damage to the model's finish, I blame the masking tape more than the finish itself. Since that build I had two other occasions when that particular roll of tape damaged the paint on other models. When I figured out that the tape was the source of the trouble, I tossed it.

But still, yeah I would be careful.

David G.

[Tabbysdaddy]

I don't think it's just the tape. I built this one when it first came out. It's dusty but the spots aren't dirt. 

[David G.]

10 hours ago, Tabbysdaddy said:

I don't think it's just the tape. I built this one when it first came out. It's dusty but the spots aren't dirt. 

 

Yeah Sean, I see what you mean. I would like to someday build the other two versions of this. If I do, I'll be sure to spray it with a good lacquer dull-coat before I do anything else.

David G.