Tortuga Kustomz Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Awesome work and details man, looking forward for more, love the work on the chassis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 12 hours ago, foghorn62 said: I found that the key for a nice finish is to have as perfect a piece as possible. One thing that I noticed is that even the tiniest imperfections or scratches will be highlighted once it is plated. Make your usual perfect piece, and buff it to a high shine, and you will be successful. It also helps to have a place on the piece that gets good electrical connection, but is hidden from view on the finished part once installed, to attach the alligator clip wile plating. If you have to contact the piece on your surface area, you can move the clip, and brush plate under where it was, but I think you will get a small smudge, or shadow that knowing you, you won’t be happy with. If you can hide the place where the clip was attached, you’ll be much better off. Professional platers use copper plate as a filler when prepping for chrome . They often will copper plate several times, and buff thoroughly each time until the surface is perfect. Then they plate with nickel, and finally Chrome. I think the copy chrome is actually a nickel product, and not really chrome at all, since in true chrome plating, it is the nickel plate that gives the bright shine, and the chrome is actually a clear product that gives it depth and protection. TCOTTC Thanks for the advice Tim, I usually try to keep or make a temporary and holding point on parts to be painted (or plated...), as I mentioned before I will definitely give Caswell's plating system another chance, this is arguably the most durable option for turning the color of brass into chrome. Francis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 11 hours ago, Tortuga Kustomz said: Awesome work and details man, looking forward for more, love the work on the chassis Thanks Marcos, your version of 64 Dodge is also a pleasure to follow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 16, 2021 Author Share Posted February 16, 2021 Hello everyone, I'm still working on the body panels and final adjustments these days so I have little to show for it as I didn't think it was relevant to take pictures of this operation. There are going to be scars on this body... fortunately the finishing putty was invented for that... Meanwhile, I made the fastening system for the tailgate and tried to recreate something that looks like what was the standard back then. I was initially preoccupied with having the brass pieces properly aligned and I will probably have to enlarge the holes to make a removable hook system in order to be able to open the panel as I wish. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Take care, Francis I engraved openings in the box and the tailgate to insert the fastening. I will probably have to make the holes larger in order to add a removable hook system. Different view. I filled the holes and the brass parts lined up nicely 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Kustomz Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 WAW, that's an excellent detail Francis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 17, 2021 Author Share Posted February 17, 2021 3 hours ago, Tortuga Kustomz said: WAW, that's an excellent detail Francis Thanks Marcos! It wasn't the hardest thing to do but I thought it would be interesting to explain the technique I chose to do it. I have much more complicated challenges in front of me... 😓 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Kustomz Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 3 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said: Thanks Marcos! It wasn't the hardest thing to do but I thought it would be interesting to explain the technique I chose to do it. I have much more complicated challenges in front of me... 😓 I can imagen, every time i want to do more complicated details to my projects, new stuff over all, for example, i have a new project in my mind, will be another resin body but this one will have a full chassis build by me and i want to do NHRA rules on that one, and i've been reading a lot lately about that, and there is so many things i haven put on any of my cars yet, let see when i can start that project, hope soon LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 On 2/16/2021 at 11:51 PM, Tortuga Kustomz said: I can imagen, every time i want to do more complicated details to my projects, new stuff over all, for example, i have a new project in my mind, will be another resin body but this one will have a full chassis build by me and i want to do NHRA rules on that one, and i've been reading a lot lately about that, and there is so many things i haven put on any of my cars yet, let see when i can start that project, hope soon LOL You are clearly younger than me Marcos and I bow in awe of modelers like you who are able to work on more than one project at a time! The only distraction I can afford is to start thinking about my next project when when the one I'm working on is in its last hours... 😢 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butter Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 The frame does indeed fit like a glove. I like to see realistic under body structural details that are correctly done. They add so much to the finished product. I think you are on the right track with the tailgate latches. Burying the brass under the plastic like you did is indeed the best way to approach that. You don't need to worry about brass to styrene surface joints during final sanding and final finishing. Also, I was wondering what the square hole in the fire wall was for, now I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 13 hours ago, butter said: The frame does indeed fit like a glove. I like to see realistic under body structural details that are correctly done. They add so much to the finished product. I think you are on the right track with the tailgate latches. Burying the brass under the plastic like you did is indeed the best way to approach that. You don't need to worry about brass to styrene surface joints during final sanding and final finishing. Also, I was wondering what the square hole in the fire wall was for, now I know. Thanks for the kind words Ron! I'm very happy (and surprise at the same time) how well the frame fits with the body. I saw (and admired) the work of some talented members who use a jig (to make the frame) to make sure everything stays perfectly straight but I felt too lazy to make one so I took more precautions as usual during construction to make sure the structure is straight. It was actually my very first frame made from scratch and I'm very proud of it, maybe I will have the guts to make one in brass in a future build (if the project requires this type of framework). By the way, you inspired me with your superb FD-100 and I started working on functional hood hinges for mine, the mechanism is different from the ones we usually see but I can't resist trying, they will be decorative at worst... 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 On 2/12/2021 at 4:12 PM, AmericanMuscleFan said: Thanks for telling me about this story Daniel, I didn't know but it just makes me like the guy even more. I will forever remember the great humanity and humility of this talented human being. He went through so many ordeal and his inner suffering never seemed to affect his work, a man of great discretion! Working Man 🎶 Thanks again for you good words on my pickup Daniel, I do really appreciate, I hope my old uncles Philibert and Raymond are watching from above, it's a bit of homage to them that I'm doing it!! Francis Hi Francis! Great shots from the whole assembly, from below at that. Fantastic fit! Your comments about Rush and the passionnate motorcyclist that we all admired, reminded me of a cherished memory for me. Back in the early nineties, I was painting custom motorcycles on a grand scale with a good friend. Many major Harley dealers across Canada were our clients. One day, a Toronto area dealer called in desperation: a guy from the band Rush had just bought a brand new Harley, UNDER THE STRICT CONDITION that the Harley-Davidson logo on the black tank would be modified to be exactly like the new Road King logo that struck the musician as very beautifull and desirable. The dealer assumed he could get decals from Harley's parts dept, to replace the existing logo, have the tanks repainted, logo applied, cleared, and hence satisfy the awaiting customer. Horror: Harley would not release the new decal to ANYONE before the first run of Road King models would be fully sold. The dealer called us, shipped us a Road King tank, and I had to "clone" the logo (airbrush and freehand painting) on the tanks ASAP. It took three days. Not exactly a "rush job". I'm told the customer was happy with it. Memories... CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butter Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 22 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said: Thanks for the kind words Ron! I'm very happy (and surprise at the same time) how well the frame fits with the body. I saw (and admired) the work of some talented members who use a jig (to make the frame) to make sure everything stays perfectly straight but I felt too lazy to make one so I took more precautions as usual during construction to make sure the structure is straight. It was actually my very first frame made from scratch and I'm very proud of it, maybe I will have the guts to make one in brass in a future build (if the project requires this type of framework). By the way, you inspired me with your superb FD-100 and I started working on functional hood hinges for mine, the mechanism is different from the ones we usually see but I can't resist trying, they will be decorative at worst... 😁 My "functional " hinges have the same geometry as the stock Ford hinges, but I cheated a bit to make them operate. The top bar is attached to both the hood and the body with the same geometric design as the real truck. The bottom bar is attached to the hood only and has a notch in it so that as the hood opens, the bottom bar slides along a pin in the body until it hits the notch. The notch on the bottom bar rests on the pin to hold the hood open. To close the hood, the bottom bar is raised to release the notch from the pin so the bottom bar will slide along the pin to allow the hood to close. I plan on updating the FD100 string in a couple weeks. I built a frame (the frame rails are boxed around the front and rear axles, but an open channel in the mid section), built all the rear end mounting brackets for the 4 bar, and am in the process of aligning the rear end. When I get it all done i will post a few pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 15 hours ago, Claude Thibodeau said: Hi Francis! Great shots from the whole assembly, from below at that. Fantastic fit! Your comments about Rush and the passionnate motorcyclist that we all admired, reminded me of a cherished memory for me. Back in the early nineties, I was painting custom motorcycles on a grand scale with a good friend. Many major Harley dealers across Canada were our clients. One day, a Toronto area dealer called in desperation: a guy from the band Rush had just bought a brand new Harley, UNDER THE STRICT CONDITION that the Harley-Davidson logo on the black tank would be modified to be exactly like the new Road King logo that struck the musician as very beautifull and desirable. The dealer assumed he could get decals from Harley's parts dept, to replace the existing logo, have the tanks repainted, logo applied, cleared, and hence satisfy the awaiting customer. Horror: Harley would not release the new decal to ANYONE before the first run of Road King models would be fully sold. The dealer called us, shipped us a Road King tank, and I had to "clone" the logo (airbrush and freehand painting) on the tanks ASAP. It took three days. Not exactly a "rush job". I'm told the customer was happy with it. Memories... CT Great story Claude! However, I would have thought that your chance to be in contact with Neil Peart would have been through your long experience of the radio world rather than that of automotive aesthetics (bike in this case)! Here is a great example of the advantages of being a man of many talents! 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 44 minutes ago, AmericanMuscleFan said: Great story Claude! However, I would have thought that your chance to be in contact with Neil Peart would have been through your long experience of the radio world rather than that of automotive aesthetics (bike in this case)! Here is a great example of the advantages of being a man of many talents! 😉 Hi Francis! Truth is, I often had the chance to meet and greet the members of Rush when they came for concerts, in company of my radio station listeners who had won such a "back stage" privilege. But I am NOT the biggest fan of Rush, whereas some of my station DJ's were DYING to meet them. So, I chose to let them accompany our winners to meet the band, and went down to my basement in the meantime, to... mash-up some models! When we say it is a grave sickness... CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 2 hours ago, butter said: My "functional " hinges have the same geometry as the stock Ford hinges, but I cheated a bit to make them operate. The top bar is attached to both the hood and the body with the same geometric design as the real truck. The bottom bar is attached to the hood only and has a notch in it so that as the hood opens, the bottom bar slides along a pin in the body until it hits the notch. The notch on the bottom bar rests on the pin to hold the hood open. To close the hood, the bottom bar is raised to release the notch from the pin so the bottom bar will slide along the pin to allow the hood to close. I plan on updating the FD100 string in a couple weeks. I built a frame (the frame rails are boxed around the front and rear axles, but an open channel in the mid section), built all the rear end mounting brackets for the 4 bar, and am in the process of aligning the rear end. When I get it all done i will post a few pics. I don't see any big cheating here Ron, making functional hood hinges for a scale model is already hard so you have developed your own concept and it works, there aren't many builders who can boast of having achieved this kind of detail so you can be proud of it. Can't wait to see your next update, your project is heading in the right direction! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 22 hours ago, Claude Thibodeau said: Hi Francis! Truth is, I often had the chance to meet and greet the members of Rush when they came for concerts, in company of my radio station listeners who had won such a "back stage" privilege. But I am NOT the biggest fan of Rush, whereas some of my station DJ's were DYING to meet them. So, I chose to let them accompany our winners to meet the band, and went down to my basement in the meantime, to... mash-up some models! When we say it is a grave sickness... CT I can understand that Claude! I'm am a big fan of Rush but not the kind of crazy fan who don't miss an opportunity to meet the artists in person. In most cases, I prefer to listen to the CD on my sound system at home (while making models) or like a few years ago, late at night, listening to "Le traffic lourd" on the FM band with the comments and the incomparable voice of the host! 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 I really can't say much that has not already been said but, what I will say is this. You and some of the other builders are building models that most of us wish we could do. I can only speak for myself but I really enjoy what you guys are capable of doing. I myself will never be able to come close to most of what I see on this forum but I do love seeing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 8 hours ago, cobraman said: I really can't say much that has not already been said but, what I will say is this. You and some of the other builders are building models that most of us wish we could do. I can only speak for myself but I really enjoy what you guys are capable of doing. I myself will never be able to come close to most of what I see on this forum but I do love seeing it. Hi Ray! Take it from a guy who has seen Francis' models "in the flesh"... They are in a league of their own! Our luck is that he is a generous guy, has a knack for photography, and loves to share his ideas and techniques. We are all better for it. CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Colmer Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 You never fail to amaze and inspire, Francis! Great tailgate lettering and latches! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 21 hours ago, cobraman said: I really can't say much that has not already been said but, what I will say is this. You and some of the other builders are building models that most of us wish we could do. I can only speak for myself but I really enjoy what you guys are capable of doing. I myself will never be able to come close to most of what I see on this forum but I do love seeing it. Thank you very much for your kind words Ray, I must confess that I myself am surprised at all the new things I have done so far on this truck, but I must say that the high level of craftsmanship and support on this forum certainly has something to do with it! I still have a lot to do but I start to see the light at the end of the tunnel... Take care, Francis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 13 hours ago, Claude Thibodeau said: Hi Ray! Take it from a guy who has seen Francis' models "in the flesh"... They are in a league of their own! Our luck is that he is a generous guy, has a knack for photography, and loves to share his ideas and techniques. We are all better for it. CT Thank you Claude, but I have no choice but to outdo myself on this one, with all the wonders you've been doing lately, most of the attention will be on you at the next model exhibition! Now I have to deliver the goods... Francis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 10 hours ago, Scott Colmer said: You never fail to amaze and inspire, Francis! Great tailgate lettering and latches! Thanks Scott, this wasn't my most spectacular update so far, but it's still another part of the completed puzzle... I'll have more interesting things to offer... Can't wait to see your next update on your fantastic truck sir! Francis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 Hello everyone, Today's update is an important one for rather small parts... It's been a long time since the idea of making functional hood hinges has been in my head and after having collected several photos from different angles of the real parts I decided to embark on the adventure. I must admit that the work on this point by some talented modelers has forced my hand a bit but I am very happy to have taken the leap and I hope you will like the result, in any case, I am good happy with the final product. I had already made holes in the engine compartment at the start of construction to receive a static or decorative hinge shape so I used this as a starting point. Lots of photos are uploaded but feel free to ask if you have any questions. Comments are welcome as usual! Take care, Francis First part are the clamp that are "bolted" under the hood. Second part of the clamp which is one piece on the real one but I can't make them in one piece so it's 2 parts welded together. Both side shaped and completed. A quick test under the hood. The other side. The main parts of the hinghes with machined aluminum rivets. Assembled hinghes, the return springs are functional and made using the larger guitar strings. Final parts. Different view. With the bid dime... Glued and "bolted" in place. Different view. Test fit... success! Different view. The hood stays at any position with just the right friction. Hood closed and perfectly aligned. 😜 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Hi Francis! Great technique, and great parts. Bravo! I was visiting a friend last week, who just restored a 1/1 1970 Challenger T/A, and he told me he had to remove the springs from the hinges, because over time, they exerted a pull on the fiberglass hodd, and got it to buck, or arc up at midpoint lenghtwise... The resin of the glass hood could not sustain the pressure. May such a threat exist on your plastic hood, even if it appears well gusseted and reinforced? Just curious... keep on! CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 8 minutes ago, Claude Thibodeau said: Hi Francis! Great technique, and great parts. Bravo! I was visiting a friend last week, who just restored a 1/1 1970 Challenger T/A, and he told me he had to remove the springs from the hinges, because over time, they exerted a pull on the fiberglass hodd, and got it to buck, or arc up at midpoint lenghtwise... The resin of the glass hood could not sustain the pressure. May such a threat exist on your plastic hood, even if it appears well gusseted and reinforced? Just curious... keep on! CT Thanks Claude! I'm quite proud of the result but don't worry, the little springs have just the right amount of resistance and the hood is raised or lowered with just the tip of my finger. I could even have shortened the springs of a coil and it would still have worked. I myself am surprised (and so happy) to see that it works so well! 😊 Francis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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