What Did You Accomplish Today? (Model Car Work)

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, JollySipper said:

How did that go? I know painting is your least favorite thing to do...... Any pics?

I wouldn't say it's my least favorite thing to do, but I have to be in the mood and have the weather on my side and those two things don't always coincide. It also eats up a lot of time, and the potential for disaster is always present, so I do avoid it in many cases, either polishing kit plastic, or going with existing paint (on a resto or rescue), and so forth.

It went pretty well in this case. I didn't strip the existing paint, just used some Scotchbrite pads to rough up the existing paint and knock the edges off tampo graphics. I was going for matte black anyway, so shot it in cheap Touch n Tone black primer, covered with Krylon matte clear for protection. It looks better now than it did when I started, at any rate, IMHO. 

Pics will be up in the Diecast section soon, I hope. 

[Snake45]

Polar Lights '65 Coronet: Built the basic engine and painted it. Took the molding marks off the exhaust system and painted that. Sanded the tire treads. Got the tires on the wheels--this was probably the most difficult tire installation I've ever experienced on any kit ever. I sure hope those tires never have to come OFF. 

I'd originally planned to Snake-slap this thing together in two days. I can't promise I'll make that. Will almost certainly go into a third day--at least. 

[Modlbldr]

Busy day at work today so all I got accomplished was a final coat of paint on my A-R Giulia Sprint GTA and finished wiring the distributor. Now to set the body aside for a bit before wet sanding and polishing.

Later-

 

[OldNYJim]

That color is gorgeous!  I like these little Alfas - is this a Tamiya kit?

[Modlbldr]

3 hours ago, CabDriver said:

That color is gorgeous!  I like these little Alfas - is this a Tamiya kit?

Thanks. The color is Rust-Oleum Marigold. My wife picked the color and I am building it for her.  It is a Tamiya kit. It is a beautiful little kit.

Later-

[StevenGuthmiller]

With the engine in place on the '68 Olds, I managed to finish the majority of the plumbing and wiring today.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Modlbldr]

Wow Steve! That engine is just a thing of beauty. Very nice work!

Later-

[ChrisBcritter]

Laid down a coat of flat black on the '65 Nova's chassis using the smallest of the Testor's accessory nozzles, so I could get paint into tight areas without overdoing it.

Test fitted the engine again and it looks like the alternator will interfere with the hood. Huzzah. 

[OldNYJim]

Airbrushed some lettering today - the kit had decals but why use them and make things easy ??

[Modlbldr]

Made a wheel for my 41 Plymouth today. 4 parts. Drilled out the center of a chrome reverse wheel, the white center is sheet plastic, the cap in the center is a part from the 34 Ford pickup chrome tree with a center cap from metal rod ground to a point and polished. I'll chrome all of this. Only 3 more to go....

Later- 

[Snake45]

Spent most of the day trying to wrestle a Polar Lights '65 Dodge to the ground. Finished assembly of the engine, and detail painted it. Then spent an inordinate amount of time trying to assemble the tight-tolerance Chinese puzzle that is the chassis. Wow, what a headache, and the instructions aren't a whole lot of help--they're not much more than exploded diagrams. I THINK I've figured out the final key to the puzzle, though. I set it aside and walked away from it for the day before I got really irked. Will have another go at it tomorrow. 

I will NEVER complain about the old one-piece, wire-axle chassis in vintage kits again! 

[Scott8950]

3 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Spent most of the day trying to wrestle a Polar Lights '65 Dodge to the ground. Finished assembly of the engine, and detail painted it. Then spent an inordinate amount of time trying to assemble the tight-tolerance Chinese puzzle that is the chassis. Wow, what a headache, and the instructions aren't a whole lot of help--they're not much more than exploded diagrams. I THINK I've figured out the final key to the puzzle, though. I set it aside and walked away from it for the day before I got really irked. Will have another go at it tomorrow. 

I will NEVER complain about the old one-piece, wire-axle chassis in vintage kits again! 

The 64 330 chassis is almost a perfect fit for the polar lights 65 coronet ?. 

[Snake45]

1 minute ago, Scott8950 said:

The 64 330 chassis is almost a perfect fit for the polar lights 65 coronet ?. 

Good to know. I've picked up several of the Lindberg '64 Dodges and Plymouths for cheap over the years; have never opened a single one of them. We'll call that Plan B. 

[Scott8950]

24 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Good to know. I've picked up several of the Lindberg '64 Dodges and Plymouths for cheap over the years; have never opened a single one of them. We'll call that Plan B. 

I grab them when i see them cheap just for donors ?

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Modlbldr said:

Made a wheel for my 41 Plymouth today. 4 parts. Drilled out the center of a chrome reverse wheel, the white center is sheet plastic, the cap in the center is a part from the 34 Ford pickup chrome tree with a center cap from metal rod ground to a point and polished. I'll chrome all of this. Only 3 more to go....

Later-

That would look cool as hell left as it is with the white part painted body color!

 

 

 

Steve

[Modlbldr]

Not a bad idea. I was thinking about painting the centers white since the interior and the engine bay will be white.

Later-

[Snake45]

Managed to get the chassis/interior into the PL '65 Coronet first time with much less drama than I was actually expecting. If you do everything right, the chassis will cleverly lock right in place front and rear. I'm not sure I've got it all as "deep" in the body as it's supposed to go, but I got it to lock in  and I'm not gonna mess with it at this point. 

All that remains is to add the rear axle, all four wheels/tires, and then black-wash the grille. I'm definitely not looking forward to the last, because the "open" areas are ridiculously shallow, and I doubt I'll be able to get it to look as good as I'd like. 

ETA: I was "feeling lucky, punk" (as Dirty Harry might put it), so I pulled it apart, figured out that the interference was between the firewall and the windshield base mounting tabs, and put it all back together again. MUCH better now! Put the rear axle in, and then put all four wheels on, so it's sitting on its wheels for the first time ever. All that's left to do is that grille work. 

YIKES: Just looked at the date. If I'd have realized this was Friday the 13th, I wouldn't have tried assembling this monster at all today!  Will definitely put off that grille and the finishing touches till tomorrow. 

Edited March 13, 2020 by Snake45

[Scott8950]

Built some wheel tubs for my 69 superbee.

[espo]

Those wheel tubs really look nice. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

Got the head light buckets, lenses, grille, glass, rear view mirror, tail lights, rear bumper, interior tub and chassis installed!

Pretty good day so far!

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

 

 

 

[Snake45]

Finished adjusting the door hinge holes (the doors sat out too far) on a diecast '60 Cuda. Then painted its road wheels, then started detailing its grille. Hope to get that one done in the next day or two or three. 

[Scott8950]

3 hours ago, espo said:

Those wheel tubs really look nice. 

Thanks

[Dave Ambrose]

I didn't actually do any model building today, but I did move my new work table into position. This is an adjustable height "workbench" from Home Depot. Got one for my wife for Christmas, and she loves it. Decided to do the same for myself. 

[OldNYJim]

Nice bench Dave!  
 

I worked on valve stems today, and wheels...still not sure if these wheels will end up on the project they’re intended for or not, but I was pleased with the stems anyway!  Just gotta glue them in now!

[espo]

13 hours ago, CabDriver said:

Nice bench Dave!  
 

I worked on valve stems today, and wheels...still not sure if these wheels will end up on the project they’re intended for or not, but I was pleased with the stems anyway!  Just gotta glue them in now!

What are you using for the steams ?