Tommy Iv o's Showboat wip

[Scott8950]

This is probably the best build of this kit I have seen yet. Nice job 

[Farmboy]

Joe, thanks for the walk thru.  I may use it on my next build.

Many thanks for the kind words Scott.  The finish line is getting closer.

[sflam123]

You are doing an amazing, fantastic job on this.  I LOVE how the exhausts turned out.  The seat belts detail is amazing too!

[Farmboy]

'Preciate the shout-out sflam.  Got a couple of the belt adjusters finished and filed to a thinner aspect, they look pretty good imho.  And, I must admit the pipes turned out better than expected.  Like a lot of the mods they're not 100% accurate but I do think they convey the personality of the car.

[Farmboy]

Got the seat back belts done to see how they look on the model.  Lap belts are next

Comments and observations welcome.

 

[Tortuga Kustomz]

nice

[Farmboy]

And here are the 4 belts with associated accoutrements including a homemade central buckle/release all cleaned up and installed

Comments and observations welcome

Edited November 24, 2022 by Farmboy

[Joe Nunes]

Looking very nice. ?

Joe

[Farmboy]

Thanks Joe, glad you're liking the build.

[Tortuga Kustomz]

Looking real good my friend

[Farmboy]

Thanks Marcos, so far so good.

 

 

[Farmboy]

On to the brakes.  Pretty simple but for a few bends to make and a little filing to the rear side body panels to allow the lines into the cockpit. However, I did have a couple of issues with the rear axle and disc assemblies.

Issue #1:
Built with no mods, the rear right side axle piece stuck out noticeably farther than the left. I carefully removed enough from that  piece to have the discs sit equidistant on both sides like the 1:1.

Issue #2:
Quite by accident I noticed the backing ring (it fits over the end of the axle) of one disc is deeper than the other.  Not enough to correct anything to do with the axle discrepancy, just odd.  I made sure to use the deeper one for the axle I had altered.

After these things were done, the metal insert axle was shortened to suit.

The front assembly built up without a hitch

Comments and observations welcome

[Farmboy]

Brakes.  The usual hand operated rear-brakes-only setup is on this car.  The kit has a one piece lever and brake cylinder.  I separated the lever/cylinder in to two parts to install the lever after the dash and cowl pieces are installed.  Makes the cylinder easier to work with.  

 

In the mock-up I've added a 90 degree line with a tee on the end.  The horizontal outlet connects brake line to right wheel, the vertical one lets the line go down to cross along the axle to the left wheel.   Odds are this detail will probably never be seen but so what.

Comments and observations welcome.

Edited November 26, 2022 by Farmboy

[Farmboy]

And here's the brake cylinder and the two brake lines mounted.  Once the cowl is mounted this will probably not be seen, just chalk it up to practice for the next model where it will.

Comments and observations welcome.

[Scott8950]

Nice work 

[Joe Nunes]

Looking good!

Joe

[Farmboy]

Thanks guys.  Looking for time to do the outer brake lines between the wheel caliper and body. Should have them done soon I hope.

[Farmboy]

...and the external lines left right. They are weensy, but it's another texture that catches the eye instead of the empty tire/axle/body fit on so many fed and open wheel drag car models. Make sure if you do this to test fit the wheel/tire and side panels before things solidify so your line doesn't give you problems, as well, gel ca is great for this.

 

 

Comments and observations welcome

Edited December 1, 2022 by Farmboy

[Farmboy]

Clutch linkage was something I thought about during the build but didn't get around to till now. Believe me it would have been a whole lot easier after the first bank of engines were installed and there was room to work. But anyway....

The linkage arm was easily made with a small piece of aluminum tube cemented to a piece of flattened small diameter solder. This will be attached to the side of the front bell housing.

 

I painted a small diameter length of styrene rod silver. I also made sure it wasn't the same diameter as anything else in the area. A slightly larger id piece of aluminum tube was slid over the end acting as the pivot arm attachment. The rod was inserted from the front above the axle till it reached the firewall. It took a few tries till I got it to install between the engine banks in a straight line. It does however have a slow rise from the firewall to it's location on the linkage arm up front.

At this point rather than just have the arm simply glued to the bell housing I sliced a narrow piece of aluminum tube, cut it open into a horse shoe configuration and used it to cover the glue joint.  Worked out ok I think.  Hard to make out in the photos but it's there.

Comments and observations welcome.

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Farmboy

[Farmboy]

Clutch and gas pedals.

The kit supplies these pedals connected as what looks to be a finished piece. This would explain what I read somewhere a couple of years ago that the car had two gas pedals and the pilot used both feet at once to roar on down the strip. Must have been someone who had the kit and took the piece at face value. . No, they should be separate clutch/gas pedals as below.  Note they have 'hooks' that (supposedly) attach to thin rectangular sections that are molded in to the frame.  Paint the extensions black and they won't stand out.

This is another  "why even bother?...." detail.  A short piece of aluminum tube has been cemented to the back of each pedal to hold the linkage from pedal to firewall.

I made sure the gas pedal is closer to center.  It was slightly askew in this shot but has been corrected.  The pedals chew up a lot of visibility in the cockpit, and  when you add the dash the view's pretty well blocked off.  Just a few firewall blemishes to touch up anyway.

And a couple of views of the pedals and linkage.  Apologies for the slight blurr.  Also, you may notice a rough edge to the top of the firewall.  I had gotten ahead of myself early in the build and had to Hulk it apart before the model tube cement had fully cured.  It isn't visible as it sits under the edge of the cowling and fits perfectly to the mating unseen scar on the underside.

Comments and observations welcome.

[Farmboy]

Parachute lever. The kit has this mounted inside the frame but on the real car it's mounted on top of the rail with the actual cable disappearing inside of the rail itself.

I replaced the blob of kit chrome with a blob of my own lol. I filed the seam from the lever as well as shortened it by about a 16th. The lever support I made from pop can aluminum bent to a u-shape and drilled 2 holes to cradle the bumps on either side of the lever

The no-return point was filing a clearance 'wow' in the body panel like on the actual car to allow the lever assembly to sit in it's new location. I've drilled a shallow hole in the frame rail for the cable to sit in, and a hole in the lever pivot for the other end of the cable. A separate piece of wire will come out along the narrow side of the shute to complete the illusion.

Obviously I haven't added the short section from lever to frame rail yet but this is the general look.

Comments and observations welcome

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Farmboy

[Farmboy]

And here is the cockpit part of the chute release with cable entering the frame and side body panel finished to fit around the assembly.

Comments and observations welcome

[Tortuga Kustomz]

Looking real good

[Bainford]

Coming along great, Mike. Nice attention to detail.

Sure is cramped in that cockpit. One gets pretty cozy with the rear axle. 

[Farmboy]

Thank you guys, 'preciate the comments. 

Edited December 10, 2022 by Farmboy