sflam123 Posted December 26, 2022 Share Posted December 26, 2022 (edited) Hello all, Several years ago, I acquired a re-isssue 1/16 scale Revell Jungle Jim kit from a hobby store that was going out of business, even though I already had a built Jungle Jim in 1/16. I have considered selling it, building another Jungle Jim or building it as something else. I finally decided to build it as the Yellow Pisano and Matsubura Vega. I've actually been working on this off and on for about a month, but thought I'd post where things are and how we got here. I'm going to get up to date over several posts. So we are starting with the Revell Jungle Jim kit . and hoping to end up with this Edited December 26, 2022 by sflam123 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Kustomz Posted December 26, 2022 Share Posted December 26, 2022 this will be a cool project to see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sflam123 Posted December 26, 2022 Author Share Posted December 26, 2022 (edited) As I said in my original post, I've been working on this for well over a month, but I'm just getting around to posting. So Here is update #1: While I think the Revell kits were exceptionally well engineered for their time, there are some things that drive me crazy (it's a VERY short drive, I know!) with the kits. The first thing I attack is the stance. TO ME it just doesn't look realistic if you don't adjust a few things on the build. The first thing I do is relocate the rear differential/axle mounts. It's not a big deal to do, but it lowers the rear of the car almost 3 scale inches. I reinforce the new locations with some strips of plastic on the backside. The white makes it bad, but once painted, the reinforcing strips are barely noticeable. Edited December 26, 2022 by sflam123 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Kustomz Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 Nice, i did the same modifications to my Jungle Jim Vega and turned out better then i thought 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sflam123 Posted December 28, 2022 Author Share Posted December 28, 2022 On 12/26/2022 at 10:47 PM, Tortuga Kustomz said: Nice, i did the same modifications to my Jungle Jim Vega and turned out better then i thought Yeah, it's not a big change but it seems to have a really nice impact to the stance of the car. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoatGuy Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 Looking forward to more of this Stephen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sflam123 Posted January 1, 2023 Author Share Posted January 1, 2023 Okay all, another update. I got the body out to start working on it and found that unfortunately not only was the body severely warped about 1/4", there was also a significant crack in the hood, probably the worst place it could be cracked. Although this was a Revell kit and not Atlantis, I could have contacted Atlantis and they may have allowed me to purchase another body, BUT i decided to see If I could salvage this one. The first picture shows the warp in the body with my fat finger as a reference. The second picture is the crack in the body. I used a #2 pencil to highlight the crack, which is why it appears so dark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sflam123 Posted January 1, 2023 Author Share Posted January 1, 2023 Continuing the saga of the body..... After hours of soaking the body in very hot water and lots of time with a heat gun, I FINALLY got the body pretty true, and after gluing, sanding, filling and repeating far too many time, I FINALLY got the body ready for paint. Two coats of Tamiya fine white primer were applied sanded down smooth, then 2 coats of Tamiya AS-12 were applied to all the window trim and bumper areas. Those areas were then masked off and 3 coats of Tamiya TS-16 was applied to the body. I am REALLY happy with the results. IMO, a funny car body from the 70's should not have any visible seams on it, so I try really hard to have my funny car boys appear as a single unit. BTW...The color is much more yellow than it appears in the photos. In daylight the color is close (though certainly not exact!) to the photos I've seen of the Pisano and Matsubura Vega. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bytownshaker Posted January 1, 2023 Share Posted January 1, 2023 Great save on the body 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian McLaren Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Well done Stephen, the body looks great. Nicely done! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Yoder Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Well done on the body! This car has always been a favorite of mine. Later, Lee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sflam123 Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 Another brief update for everyone. Now that I have the body squared away, I started working on the interior tin. Although I know why it was molded the way it was, I have never been a fan of how th cockpit tin looked after it was assembled. I've been fortunate to know several tinsmiths, a couple of whom worked extensively in the circle track world, and they are meticulous craftsmen. So, I invest some time and effort to clean it up and make it look like it would have been something they crafted. It's not a lot of work, just some filling and sanding and smoothing of the seams. I also detail painted the seat. I have tried and tried to use the photo-etched seatbelt hardware that is available and I've tried using medical tape, cloth, and about everything else I can imagine for the belts, and in the end all it does is frustrate me because it ends up looking like BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH. So, I paint all the cast in details on the seat. At best, it looks "okay". Would it look better if it were hardware?? I'm sure it would if someone other than me did it!! But, trust me...this looks WAY better than if I used photo etched hardware and seat belt material! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian McLaren Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 The seat looks fine, I've done a couple with painted details. However I suggest for your next project you check out ProTechs seat belt sets. Easy to assemble and the results can be very good with little effort. PM me and I'll send you some more information and a sample photo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sflam123 Posted January 6, 2023 Author Share Posted January 6, 2023 2 hours ago, Ian McLaren said: The seat looks fine, I've done a couple with painted details. However I suggest for your next project you check out ProTechs seat belt sets. Easy to assemble and the results can be very good with little effort. PM me and I'll send you some more information and a sample photo. Ian, Thank you for the comment. PM sent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sflam123 Posted January 26, 2023 Author Share Posted January 26, 2023 Hello again all! I know it’s been a bit since I’ve updated and for that I apologize. I’ve gotten a fair amount done in the last three weeks. I’ll start by saying I love the way these 1/16 scale cars look after they are wired and plumbed, but I HATE doing the plumbing. I do love how this project is turning out though. I’ve got all the engine wiring done and most of the fuel and oil plumbing complete. The engine is wired using the kit spark plug wiring with Pro-Tech boots. The plumbing is done with .045 Pro-Tech braided line and fittings on the oil lines and .035 Pro-Tech braided line and fittings for the fuel lines. The front wheels are from LPH 1320 Model Products. The rear wheels are the kit wheels sprayed with two coats of semi-gloss clear to tone them down a little. The only thing I don’t like is the injector hat. I am using the injector hat from the Atlantis Green Elephant kit, and although I’ve assembled and disassembled it several times, tweaking on it each time, it just doesn’t look quite right to me. I’m still considering other options. My hope is to get the assembly wrapped up in the next week and the body decaled in about 10 days. We’ll see how it goes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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