Tortuga Kustomz Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Looks killer Mike, love how the exhaust looks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 On 2/13/2021 at 1:07 AM, Mike Williams said: @CT, thanks for the input. Meantime, I've come to the conclusion, blower parts can be about any shade you'd like, the duller finish being the most acceptable and realistic. When the dark rubber fuel lines are attached along with the bolts for the blower/manifold, the "steel" shade should work out. A couple of years ago, I was fascinated by "The Old Master", the blower, intake and top hat all sandblasted, here the original and my project using cast nickel and sandblasted parts for the all metal motor... EDIT! @CT, finally a shop has the Alclad Black Base, also ordered was the Airframe Aluminum! Looks good! @Tim, the bumper looks superb. I'll read up on the Caswell Plating deal. I like your family rides, looks like a fun collection. Mike.. Hi Mike! Great that you found a supplier. And that pink Old Master is absolutely a dead-ringer for the real car. Bravo! CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Glad to know that you have finally found Alclad's base in Germany, you are used to being served pretty well with specialty products across the Atlantic... I agree with Claude, your version of Ed Pink's dragster looks really good sir! Did you also make the hull with aluminum on this one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Williams Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 @CT, yes, happy about the shop with replenished Alclad supply, especially since I already had 3 different colors already....chrome too! @Francis, I'm excited about the paints, since no metal on this motor, I'm paying special attention to new paint techniques. The body is brass on the pink car. Two things make the real car special in my opinion. The toe blisters on top were hammered into the brass sheet, not soldered on. Then the special paint job to get the pink correct....a quality mix of fingernail polish. This was fun too! The current project will probably be made with an aluminum body, perhaps even with no paint! Time will tell. Mike.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 WOW Mike! It really is a great job going on here, this brass body is a work of art for sure! It'll definitely be a tough decision to cover this beautiful body with paint, but it's not like you can't do another one for another project, right? You have proven it more than once!!! We tend to forget that nail polish is an incredible source of very interesting colors, we often have the solution at your fingertips... 😉 I love what you are doing my friend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoatGuy Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Great update. Looks awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Williams Posted February 16, 2021 Author Share Posted February 16, 2021 @GoatGuy, appreciated, thanks for looking. @Francis, I'll have to write, the brass body shown above was for the pink car, The Old Master. I thought it may be of interest, concerning the brass body. Meantime, the brass chassis is painted, and overall the aluminum body gains interest. The designer of this car, Woody Gilmore, preferred very simple body cowl designs, so this would be a breeze with aluminum sheet. Plus I do like the bare aluminum body look. These were not high dollar cars, just well built and simple in design. UPDATE: Motor work has started. Painting has been for exercise and getting acquainted so it was removed as lots of manipulation follows. The front cover was lacking, so a new brass piece was bolted on, the blower needs lots of work. The modeled-in bolts were shaved off and new holes drilled for better looking bolts. Some work with the starter support and then the manifold fuel lines. A word here, the scale is perfect for soft rubber hose, so these will (probably ?) be lightly brushed with rubber looking paint.....not sure yet as I have zero experience with the 1:16 scale. Still trying to figure out which color for the valve covers. Since the order for Alclad Black Base has arrived, chrome? Mike.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Kustomz Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 Looking real good Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 Great improvement on the engine Mike! All that good work will pay off as the engine is in honor on these front engine dragsters. Are these the brass bolts from your German supplier? The chrome valve covers would look great and the Alclad will produce a perfect shine but be careful and avoid handling them too often, the Alclad finish tends to wear out rather easily and it's quite frustrating to have to redo the finish at the very end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Williams Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 @Marcos, I appreciate your support, many thanks for looking here. @Francis, thank you for the Alclad advice. I'll surely heed as my Alclad success to date is minimal. In this case, the motor is a resin kit and unfortunately the surface quality has issues. I just simply cannot get the valve covers smooth, so the Alclad "Polished Aluminum" was sprayed today. I'm still unsure of success. The surface shine bothers me as well. I'll have to write I miss my real metal casings. Sand blasted, real nickel just looks better than any resin or styrene, to date I haven't seen a paint application that matches a real metal finish. But with this resin/styrene modus, I'm a beginner. More later. Mike.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butter Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 That body is truly outstanding. Everything fits perfectly. In a way it is too bad you will be painting it, but I am sure it will be awesome when you are done with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Williams Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 @butter....yep, painting the aluminum and brass bodies always leads to an inner self debate and every time an argument ensues. This one though will probably be aluminum, unpainted. I like the look. UPDATE: Zoomie tubes... Left side is about finished, the 1, 3 & 5 tube ends need to be capped somewhat as the line doesn't run parallel with the valve cover panel. # 7 is in a good position to the tire surface. Right side has problems though as the radius is not tight enough, but since the tubes have been shortened already, they don't fit the tube bender anymore....my bad! Here the aluminum 4mm tubes which is about 99% real 2,5" scale. Right side has currently brass tubes in the works, more later.... Mike.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foghorn62 Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 (edited) I can see why these would be a headache Mike. Getting one right, not so tough, but then seven more exactly the same... This is one (or eight) situation where larger scale is not necessarily in your favor. Looking good so far, as is the entire build! Edited February 25, 2021 by foghorn62 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Williams Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 @Tim, you are exactly right. These pipes are in 1:25 and 1:16 equally difficult to get aligned properly. At the head, the distancing seems to be OK. Problems multiply with the bend and then the sway back. Then when you think you have it right, one of the pipes slumps down. Look above at 2nd photo....cylinder #3 pipe slumps at the bottom, is out of line. If I were using these pipes I'd leave it as is though. If I could get the right side as nice as these four, I'd keep the deal. Meantime I've pulled them and new brass pipes are in the works. A jig of some description would be an immense help but to be honest not much thought has been applied to this method. Hands on and hoping for the best. Mike.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Williams Posted March 6, 2021 Author Share Posted March 6, 2021 UPDATE: Blower hardware and magneto. New cap for the magneto and a few changes there, still needs black paint. Water spouts added to the heads and blower is bolted down and ready for the injector hat, fuel lines and barrel valve setup. Irritating still, the rough surface of the resin motor, I should've tried polishing before paint....valve covers are not nice either, seems as if the "Donovan" covers have the street Hemi crinkle look. Mike.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Williams Posted March 8, 2021 Author Share Posted March 8, 2021 UPDATE; Now with the blower hat and fuel lines along with a barrel valve. Throttle linkage right side is meantime finished....on to the fuel pump and lines to the barrel valve. Valve covers and plug wires will be last thing to do here. Mike.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Kustomz Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 I did coment on this post on FB, just love what you're doing on this project man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foghorn62 Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 Glad to see you at it Mike! Progress is fantastic! The paints look awesome! Very real! TS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 Hi Mike! Totally credible, and your choice of finishes is great. On the subject of the Alclad chrome final "shine" level. You may have noticed that if you put too much of it on your black shiny base coat, you will get a less shinier finish, more like used or dulled chrome. It happened to me once, and I used that vere "mistaken" technique later to get a more credible worn finish on a vintage race car. Akin to what you get when you coat vacuum chrome from kits with a semi-gloss Tamya clear. But as Francis stated, it is sensible to handling later on. The more I look at your "bare metal" masterpieces, the more I think that, whenever you show them, you should have a finished and a bare metal version (in progress) side by side, for everyone to see the amount of work involved. Only issue is... the bare metal one might steal the Best of show trophy from the finished one! Oh well... Keep going, termendous results! CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 Great progress on the engine Mike, the different chrome and steel color shades are very convincing. The plumbing of the fuel lines is top notch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Williams Posted March 10, 2021 Author Share Posted March 10, 2021 @Marcos, yes we meet here too. We're doing it, making progress and taking chances that create success. I really like the path you've chosen with chassis plans and the adaptation....the only way for some great scratch building results! @Tim, thanks for dropping by, I'm enthused about the new paints. Mixable, to get other shades, plus more durable (touching) than Alclad. Still, be careful though, surgical rubber gloves help a lot when parts need intense attention. Mike.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Williams Posted March 10, 2021 Author Share Posted March 10, 2021 @CT...many thanks for the Alclad, Airframe Aluminium recommendation. Also the tips for chrome have shown success! Just yesterday you wrote about "touching" the paint.....well, I had the valve covers painted with "Airframe Aluminum" (excellent shade !) and after a lot of manipulation they of course let the black base shine through. BUT, this let the covers achieve a great look, not as shiny. Exactly as you mention. Just today a small and short spray was added overall using the new AK paint (Metallic Smoke) ....HA! I do believe the look is what I was looking to achieve. New photos and post added after this reply. @Francis, meantime I'm quite enthused about the new paints and the mixed applications. The goal was a believable non-chrome motor with a possible metal looking finish. Today a step closer.....look below. UPDATE: Valve covers added with preparations for the plugs and wires. Also, just a small mockup to have a look. I feel this car is getting an attitude! Mike.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Hi Mike! Fabulous results with the finish on the engine! It has the look of a well cared for, but slightly worn match racer. Bravo! CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Kustomz Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 I like it more and more Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Claude is absolutely right you got just the right amount of shine to achieve a plausible look. Yes it has attitude... I love this brass frame by the way, did I tell you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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