Monogram Midget-to-Big Car Conversion (Sort of)

[Straightliner59]

10 hours ago, Earl Marischal said:

Daniel, that exhaust support is a really neat touch. It's one of the things that gives the car some extra 'wow'.

 

steve

Thank you, Steve. Little things like that will keep me looking at someone's model,  just to  see what else they've done!

 

10 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

Daniel, sorry but I have to say that I don't agree with you with the phrase "at the luck I had with the hinge", it is just great craftsmanship and it takes skill and dedication to achieve this level of perfection.  The guy behind the tools is not lucky but clever!  ?

Thank you, Francis. I guess what I meant by the good luck comment, was that it went together without a hitch, and it worked like a charm, the first time--I didn't have to fiddle with it! I truly appreciate your comments!

 

7 hours ago, absmiami said:

2 votes for the exhaust support ...

Thank you, kind sir!

[Vettegasser]

All I can say is.  Beautiful 

[Art Laski]

Looking good, Dan! Great work on that hood. You deserve to be proud of that.

-Art

[Straightliner59]

8 hours ago, Vettegasser said:

All I can say is.  Beautiful 

Thanks, Jimmy.

53 minutes ago, Art Laski said:

Looking good, Dan! Great work on that hood. You deserve to be proud of that.

-Art

I appreciate that, Art! I really am. It felt like  a big step!

This project gets ever closer to completion. I added the hood hold down straps and buckle assemblies. The straps are wine bottle foil. The hold-downs/buckles are brass. The buckle part, itself, is .005" brass wire. Five pieces per unit. I had to make concessions due to the fact that I am not yet ready to figure out a way to make it actually operate! Still, once it's got  bit of a wash, and some highlights, it will look pretty decent! I will give the paint more time to off-gas before I finish tweaking the hood into shape. As always, questions, critiques and comments are welcome. Thanks for looking!

[absmiami]

Yup ...

[DustyMojave]

I'm loving this project. Sure my avatar is an offroad race buggy. And I won a championship with it many years ago.  And grew up involved in sports car racing. But my dad was a hotrodder and racer in the late 40s. In fact, while he was still in high school, he not only drove Barney Navarro's track roadster, and raced his various hot rod roadsters and couples at the dry lakes, he also owned his own Kurtis-Offy midget that he raced all over SoCal. Then since the 1980s and until I retired in 2015, I made a living on and off as a self-employed race car fabricator. Many of my customer's projects were restorations of vintage midgets and sprint cars.

Such as Eddie Meyer's (as in Meyer-Goosen-Drake, makers of Offenhauser engines and at the time of the restoration owned by famous collector Bruce Meyer [no relation to Eddie nor to the guy who made Manx buggies] ) '46 Kurtis-Offy midget. And the Lujie Lesofski built 255 Offy Indy car turned sprint car. And the  also originally Indy car, turned sprinter Kurtis Offy.

Far from the only such cars I've ever worked on, but prime examples of them. I worked on these cars while working with JT Ryals of Ryals Fabrication.

The Monogram kit does make a pretty good beginning to build a sprint car in 1/25th scale. The Kurtis-Offy sprint car here shows the proportional difference from the midget. The tail is a little longer for larger tank for bigger thirstier engine. Slightly lower ride height and maybe slightly longer nose ahead of the engine. These Indy car were shortened in wheelbase by nearly a foot when the advent of roadsters at Indy caused them to be converted to sprint cars and the wheels and tires changed to the smaller diameter units used on short tracks.

This is being done extremely well and if I were paying attention here at the time, I could have offered a little help in certain detail areas. Not that I'm saying this model is wrong in any way, nor that mine that's still in it's box is ever going to be as good, let alone better, but my familiarity with the full size cars might have provided slight help and provide some reference for future projects.

The exhaust support is great. I've made a few of those in my time for full size cars. The hood straps really LOOK like leather straps. The plugs and plug wires are awesome! The water manifold is good. Great job on louvers and hood. I'm impressed with the louver press. And in spite of the slight proportion issues, overall this car is coming out great!

 

 

[Straightliner59]

8 hours ago, DustyMojave said:

I'm loving this project. Sure my avatar is an offroad race buggy. And I won a championship with it many years ago.  And grew up involved in sports car racing. But my dad was a hotrodder and racer in the late 40s. In fact, while he was still in high school, he not only drove Barney Navarro's track roadster, and raced his various hot rod roadsters and couples at the dry lakes, he also owned his own Kurtis-Offy midget that he raced all over SoCal. Then since the 1980s and until I retired in 2015, I made a living on and off as a self-employed race car fabricator. Many of my customer's projects were restorations of vintage midgets and sprint cars.

Such as Eddie Meyer's (as in Meyer-Goosen-Drake, makers of Offenhauser engines and at the time of the restoration owned by famous collector Bruce Meyer [no relation to Eddie nor to the guy who made Manx buggies] ) '46 Kurtis-Offy midget. And the Lujie Lesofski built 255 Offy Indy car turned sprint car. And the  also originally Indy car, turned sprinter Kurtis Offy.

Far from the only such cars I've ever worked on, but prime examples of them. I worked on these cars while working with JT Ryals of Ryals Fabrication.

The Monogram kit does make a pretty good beginning to build a sprint car in 1/25th scale. The Kurtis-Offy sprint car here shows the proportional difference from the midget. The tail is a little longer for larger tank for bigger thirstier engine. Slightly lower ride height and maybe slightly longer nose ahead of the engine. These Indy car were shortened in wheelbase by nearly a foot when the advent of roadsters at Indy caused them to be converted to sprint cars and the wheels and tires changed to the smaller diameter units used on short tracks.

This is being done extremely well and if I were paying attention here at the time, I could have offered a little help in certain detail areas. Not that I'm saying this model is wrong in any way, nor that mine that's still in it's box is ever going to be as good, let alone better, but my familiarity with the full size cars might have provided slight help and provide some reference for future projects.

The exhaust support is great. I've made a few of those in my time for full size cars. The hood straps really LOOK like leather straps. The plugs and plug wires are awesome! The water manifold is good. Great job on louvers and hood. I'm impressed with the louver press. And in spite of the slight proportion issues, overall this car is coming out great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard, thank you for your input. I do appreciate it. When I started this thing (about 20 years ago), it wasn't supposed to be a replica, or really anything more than a general representation of an old Indy car--and was never intended to be this involved! When I began working on it, again,  it kind of took on a life of its own. As it got out of hand (?), I knew that I was much farther along than I was willing to undo to fix it. It made me just accept it for what it is,  and do  the best that I could, given where I was with the project. Was I to do it again, there are a couple of pretty big things I would change. All that said, I am happy with the  way it looks, as a piece of art. I've learned a lot, in its creation, to be sure, and I consider those louvers and the press something of a triumph! Thanks again for your thoughts, and your kind words. And thanks for looking!

[Dave72]

Absolutely stunning build. I love all of your details and am making mental notes to learn new techniques from. Thanks for posting!

[Straightliner59]

19 hours ago, Dave72 said:

Absolutely stunning build. I love all of your details and am making mental notes to learn new techniques from. Thanks for posting!

Thanks, Dave! I hope you found/find some useful stuff you can use on future projects! Thanks for your comments,  and for having a look,  sir.

[Straightliner59]

With the fuel filler cap, this thing is all but done. I intend to put a windscreen on it, but can't seem to locate the instruction sheet, which I seem to recall has a pattern for it. A search of the usual suspects doesn't seem to turn up a sheet for this kit. So, I am cutting myself a little slack in calling it done, since I don't have those. I'm fine tuning the graphics. I want to have it completely done by Christmas, anyhoo, even if I have to figure out my own pattern  for the windscreen. As always, questions, critiques and comments are welcome. Thanks for looking!

[AmericanMuscleFan]

One word says it all: MASTERFUL!!! ❤️

[Earl Marischal]

Daniel - Would a photo of the instructions help for the screen? I have the kit in my stash?

steve

[DustyMojave]

Very nice job on the fuel filler neck and cap!

OTOH, most such cars when used for short track racing, as this car appears to represent (in spite of your title on the thread that refers to it as a "big car", which is a long wheel base car used for long tracks such as 1 mile dirt ovals and paved ovals of 1 mile or more per lap) have the fuel filler under the snap down leather at the very top of the headrest fairing. To fuel up a Sprint car or a midget, one unsnaps the leather skirt at the top to find a round hole with the cap inside the bodywork.

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, Earl Marischal said:

Daniel - Would a photo of the instructions help for the screen? I have the kit in my stash?

steve

They most certainly would, Steve! If you could grab a shot with a rule alongside, that would be excellent. Thank you, kind sir!

[Straightliner59]

50 minutes ago, DustyMojave said:

Very nice job on the fuel filler neck and cap!

OTOH, most such cars when used for short track racing, as this car appears to represent (in spite of your title on the thread that refers to it as a "big car", which is a long wheel base car used for long tracks such as 1 mile dirt ovals and paved ovals of 1 mile or more per lap) have the fuel filler under the snap down leather at the very top of the headrest fairing. To fuel up a Sprint car or a midget, one unsnaps the leather skirt at the top to find a round hole with the cap inside the bodywork.

Thank you, Richard. That it's not a true conversion to a "big car" is the reason for the "(Sort Of)" in the thread title. The fuel filler is exactly where Monogram put it, so I went with it.

[Straightliner59]

2 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

One word says it all: MASTERFUL!!! ❤️

Thank you, Francis! Much appreciated, kind sir!

[DustyMojave]

Over a decade ago, Jairus Watson wrote this thread in SlotBlog forums about building a static model of a rail frame post war midget using the Monogram Kurtis-Offy. But In his thread, he refers to another article in a Rod & Custom Models magazine from June of '64 about building a V8 offset sprint car by Joe Henning.

http://slotblog.net/topic/11995-1947-midget/

 

This is a 1952 Kurtis "Big Car" aka "Champ Car" (so named because they were used in competition for the AAA (later USAC) National Championship Series.

This is another 1952 Kurtis Big Car:

This is a Kurtis Champ car

This is a Kurtis-Offy midget, as in the one modeled by Monogram. Note the proportional differences.

A midget typically has a wheelbase of about 6'. 70-72". A sprint car wheelbase is about 85-95". A Big Car, or as they are known in the more modern USAC series "Silver Crown" car has a wheelbase of 99"+. Note that Joe Henning used a wheelbase of 85", which is a real short sprint car, typical of those built to be used on short tracks of 3/8 mile or less. Most sprint car racing takes place on 1/2 mile dirt or paved oval tracks. So 95" is more typical for a sprint car. I'm curious what the wheelbase scales out to with the converted Monogram midget kit here. I believe it was stretched, but how much and how are not discussed in this thread.

 

I DO want to make sure that in no way am I ever saying anything is "wrong" with this model. There's a million ways to skin a cat or build a sprint car. This is one of them. I'm just providing more relevant information on the subject.

[Earl Marischal]

Daniel,

Hope these pics are of use.

steve

 

[Straightliner59]

3 hours ago, DustyMojave said:

I DO want to make sure that in no way am I ever saying anything is "wrong" with this model. There's a million ways to skin a cat or build a sprint car. This is one of them. I'm just providing more relevant information on the subject.

I will be happy to tell you, all day, about the things I know that are wrong with this as any kind of replica of an Indy car. When I started it about twenty years ago, it was meant to be a quickie representation of one--something inspired by the  Belanger Special. When I dug it out, earlier this year, it was for the "Bring Out Your Dead" thread, because it was far enough along that I figured it was a manageable completion. The time constraint, there, and the fact that it was already much farther along than I was willing to undo, to make it right (there are a bunch of things I would change!), left me to dress up what I already had, and go with it. Essentially, all I really did was to lengthen the kit's wheelbase and change  the wheels and tires. I am aware of its shortcomings. It didn't get here, because I lack information--more so, because I did when I started. Anyway, I'm not sure what good further information is, at this point. Clearly, it's WAY too far along to concern  myself with things like the wheelbase, the height of the body, ride height, etc. Therefore, it's kind of hard to see your commentary as anything other than criticism for criticism's sake. Was this still in the beginning stages, I would welcome your advice and your critique, rework my project. At this point...I thought I explained all of this, in response to your earlier comment.

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, Earl Marischal said:

Daniel,

Hope these pics are of use.

steve

 

 

 

That's a beautiful thing! Thank you, sir!

[Earl Marischal]

Happy to help.

steve

[Straightliner59]

On 12/22/2020 at 6:11 AM, Earl Marischal said:

Happy to help.

steve

Thanks again, Steve! What do you think? More pictures coming in "Under Glass"

[Earl Marischal]

8 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Thanks again, Steve! What do you think? More pictures coming in "Under Glass"

Looks pretty good to me!

steve

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, Earl Marischal said:

Looks pretty good to me!

steve

Here's the link to the "Under Glass" photos:

 

[absmiami]

On 9/21/2020 at 7:38 AM, Straightliner59 said:

I tried out the straight knurls and made the caps for the hand pressure pump. I bought a set of 100 TPI straight knurls, to make blower drive pulleys. This is the first time I used them. I like the way the pump looks! I made the brake handle from a piece of stainless wire, and the head of a pin. Wire insulation serves as the back nut. As always, questions, comments and critiques are welcome! Thanks for looking!

Shearling sells knurls with 80 TPI but not 100. -  which as you have discovered - is what is needed in this scale - who sells 100 TPI KNURLS and what tool holder do you use ...   ?  ?  
and happy holidays ...