Straightliner59 Posted May 13, 2024 Author Posted May 13, 2024 I made the tops for the inner door panels, and added a trim strip, to give it a more finished look. For the strip, I started with .060" half-round, and laid it on the benchtop, between two strips of metal banding I'd picked up somewhere, in one of the board yards I used to work at. Then, I only needed to sand across them all, until the top of the half-round was flattened. That made the half-round not just look like a strip of half-round. Also seen are the new axle and spindles. Finally, I wanted to look at the gold leaf over a paint color. Since I was curious whether those leaking Testors lacquer cans might still work, I shot some on a spoon that was primered. Seems fine. This can was Root Beer. It won't be this car's color. Comments, questions and critiques are always welcome. Thanks for looking! 3
David G. Posted May 13, 2024 Posted May 13, 2024 That's some impressive metal work. The plastic bits are coming along nicely too. David G.
Ian McLaren Posted May 13, 2024 Posted May 13, 2024 Straightliner59 said I made the tops for the inner door panels, and added a trim strip, to give it a more finished look. For the strip, I started with .060" half-round, and laid it on the benchtop, between two strips of metal banding I'd picked up somewhere, in one of the board yards I used to work at. Then, I only needed to sand across them all, until the top of the half-round was flattened. That made the half-round not just look like a strip of half-round. I like this approach very much, The rest of the interiour is coming along very nicely. 1
Straightliner59 Posted May 14, 2024 Author Posted May 14, 2024 21 hours ago, David G. said: That's some impressive metal work. The plastic bits are coming along nicely too. David G. Thank you, sir! At least I feel like it's getting somewhere! 12 hours ago, Ian McLaren said: Straightliner59 said I made the tops for the inner door panels, and added a trim strip, to give it a more finished look. For the strip, I started with .060" half-round, and laid it on the benchtop, between two strips of metal banding I'd picked up somewhere, in one of the board yards I used to work at. Then, I only needed to sand across them all, until the top of the half-round was flattened. That made the half-round not just look like a strip of half-round. I like this approach very much, The rest of the interiour is coming along very nicely. Thanks, Ian. It worked out, very well. Total control, complete uniformity! I'm hoping I can manage the same with the injector manifold. First off, today, I want to share a few photos of what's left of my first Badman. This is right about 50 years old. As you can see, I used fishing line for the plug wires. Even then, I hated the look of thread, for plug wires, and was already searching for a viable alternative. Fishing line wasn't it! At least it was smooth. If I run across more of the engine parts, I may reassemble it, to display with the new model... Two of the things that I think are requirements, in order to maintain the model's identity are the engine badging on the fender/door area, and the spoiler on the front of the car. The badging's handled, leaving the spoiler. I want that big ol' expanse of aluminum to look a little snazzier, so, I'm back to playing around with engine-turning...again! As you can see on the test piece, I had varying degrees of success. The best, most consistent patterns were achieved using a 3/32" dowel (the smallest I have), wrapped with fine steel wool, and superglued in place. The two lower rows were done with this. It really looks beautiful. It's about 50% larger than I want. That means I need to find 1/16" dowels, or skewers, to see if I can create a better-sized pattern. I had some untested Model Factory Hiro foil that's pattern is intended to replicate engine-turned aluminum. I applied it to the plastic kit piece. As far as I'm concerned, it's a pretty hard fail. The pattern is too easily damaged, and, it just doesn't quite look like it ought to. I forgot to mention, in my last update, that I had cut and test-installed the side "glass". Work continues on the manifold. Thanks for looking! 2
bobss396 Posted May 14, 2024 Posted May 14, 2024 Engine turning in scale, I saw that someone used a round pen eraser held in a drill chuck and it worked. I built my 1st Badman, I was probably 12. I thought that it was a GREAT kit... I recently got another.... hoo-boy does this take a ton of work to look 1/2 way decent. 1
AmericanMuscleFan Posted May 14, 2024 Posted May 14, 2024 We can't say that you don't make an effort to innovate Daniel, all your models always have something new to offer and your resourcefulness seems endless!!! ? 1
Straightliner59 Posted May 15, 2024 Author Posted May 15, 2024 22 hours ago, bobss396 said: Engine turning in scale, I saw that someone used a round pen eraser held in a drill chuck and it worked. I built my 1st Badman, I was probably 12. I thought that it was a GREAT kit... I recently got another.... hoo-boy does this take a ton of work to look 1/2 way decent. I've tried too many methods for engine-turning to keep track of! The one that most satisfied me, I don't remember. It was whatever I used to do the windscreen on my NTF car. I never had much luck with erasers--even coarse ones. As for the Badman, it just is what it is! A goofy, neat kit. You're right--I am certainly having to go farther out of the way to get it to where I want it to be, this time around!
Straightliner59 Posted May 15, 2024 Author Posted May 15, 2024 18 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said: We can't say that you don't make an effort to innovate Daniel, all your models always have something new to offer and your resourcefulness seems endless!!! ? Thank you, Francis! See, what happened, is I've eventually become pretty good at solving self-created problems!? Sometimes, thinking about how to do something, or make something actually keeps me lying awake, when I go to bed in the mornings.
bobss396 Posted May 15, 2024 Posted May 15, 2024 I got one on sale at Hobby Lobby. I was supposed to do a '55 Chevy gasser build-off with my brother, but he bailed on me. Truth be known, I'll be using the AMT kit over the Badman. 1
FoMoCo66 Posted May 15, 2024 Posted May 15, 2024 9 minutes ago, bobss396 said: Truth be known, I'll be using the AMT kit over the Badman. Yeah me to it's better proportioned than the badman. Also a hard top has less strength than a post car.
Straightliner59 Posted May 16, 2024 Author Posted May 16, 2024 15 hours ago, bobss396 said: I got one on sale at Hobby Lobby. I was supposed to do a '55 Chevy gasser build-off with my brother, but he bailed on me. Truth be known, I'll be using the AMT kit over the Badman. That's definitely the way I would go, if it was just about a '55 Chevy! This is all about the Badman! 15 hours ago, FoMoCo66 said: Yeah me to it's better proportioned than the badman. Also a hard top has less strength than a post car. See above!? 1
Oliver77 Posted May 19, 2024 Posted May 19, 2024 Might I respectfully suggest using round, pointed wood toothpicks instead of dowels for engine turning. Depending how long you trim the point, you can get different diameter tip. There are so many good ideas in this 'simple' build! Regards, Jeff Oliver
Straightliner59 Posted May 19, 2024 Author Posted May 19, 2024 4 hours ago, Oliver77 said: Might I respectfully suggest using round, pointed wood toothpicks instead of dowels for engine turning. I think that may have been what I use on the dragster windscreen, now that you mention them. I think I used a mild abrasive, of some sort, with them, too. Don't recall what, though. I will have another look at them!
Straightliner59 Posted May 19, 2024 Author Posted May 19, 2024 18 hours ago, TopherMcGinnis said: You are an ARTIST. Beautiful work. Thank you, Topher. I appreciate that! I think with these old Monogram kits, you have to exercise, and accept some artistic license? They aren't at all perfect, but they're hella fun! 1
Straightliner59 Posted May 20, 2024 Author Posted May 20, 2024 I got the new front axle made. Once I installed the steering arms, I put the spindles in the mill vise, and drilled through the arms. Now, the kingpin holds them in place! I soldered tiny washers to the axle shafts, on either side of the spindle body, to secure those. This axle is narrower, and everything looks better! It operates very smoothly, too! Here it is, sitting back on the wheels. Your comments are always welcomed. Thanks for looking! 2
FoMoCo66 Posted May 20, 2024 Posted May 20, 2024 4 hours ago, Straightliner59 said: I got the new front axle made. Once I installed the steering arms, I put the spindles in the mill vise, and drilled through the arms. Now, the kingpin holds them in place! I soldered tiny washers to the axle shafts, on either side of the spindle body, to secure those. This axle is narrower, and everything looks better! It operates very smoothly, too! Here it is, sitting back on the wheels. Your comments are always welcomed. Thanks for looking! Amazing straight axle, just amazing?.
Straightliner59 Posted May 20, 2024 Author Posted May 20, 2024 2 hours ago, FoMoCo66 said: Amazing straight axle, just amazing?. Thanks, Ace! I like it much better than the first one!
Pierre Rivard Posted May 20, 2024 Posted May 20, 2024 The front axle and steering system looks so sweet. I imagine you'll add a functional steering box right? No pressure of course...?
Straightliner59 Posted May 21, 2024 Author Posted May 21, 2024 17 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said: The front axle and steering system looks so sweet. I imagine you'll add a functional steering box right? No pressure of course...? Thanks so kindly, Pierre! I think I'll save the actual working steering box for the dragster. Not sure I would be able to reach the wheel, in this one!? I'm pretty happy with the new axle. I failed to mention that I shaped the ends of the steering arms by tapping a small pin punch with a ball peen, while the brass rod was resting on an anvil. I little filing cleaned the ends right up. I then drilled them with a .6mm carbide bit. Today, I moved my clamping setup to the mill, and prepped a new piece of aluminum flashing for engine-turning. I used the same tool (3/32" dowel, wrapped with fine steel wool, and superglued in place). The mill works much better, due to the fact that I can run it at lower RPM. I now have a new spoiler! I plan to try it with the previously-mentioned toothpick, with the steel wool, before I dismantle the fixture. The pattern is still slightly larger than ideal, but it is uniform, and it looks beautiful! Comments are always welcomed. Thanks for looking! 3
David G. Posted May 21, 2024 Posted May 21, 2024 The front suspension is fantastic! Also the engine-turned panel! It looks like you found a good method for doing that. David G. 1
Straightliner59 Posted May 22, 2024 Author Posted May 22, 2024 18 hours ago, David G. said: The front suspension is fantastic! Also the engine-turned panel! It looks like you found a good method for doing that. David G. Thank you for your kind words, sir! I think the technique works well for the engine-turning. Next, I'll try it with a smaller dowel. I'm really happy with the new axle! I still need to solder on some shock mounts.
Straightliner59 Posted May 29, 2024 Author Posted May 29, 2024 Here's some of the stuff I have been working on: I found a grille from the Monogram '55 Chevy Street Machine (the black kit), and started milling the back side, to open it up. Still haven't decided if I will use it, or not, but, if so, it needs to be open! Finished up the brakes. I made the lug nuts using .060" hex stock (maybe a little large, but, the .040" looks too small). I bored it to accept .025" rod. I'm pretty happy with the results! I'm going to print some Summers Brothers tags for the axle ends. Also seen are the rear shocks, in both unpainted and painted states. These were really quick and easy to do, and will work perfectly for this project. Finally, I printed and painted the lettering for the spoiler. It's named after a Rory Gallagher song, and i thought it was fitting, given the way the thing sticks out, low, like it does. I should get it trimmed up and applied, tonight... Comments, questions and critiques are always welcomed. Thanks for looking! 1
Ian McLaren Posted May 29, 2024 Posted May 29, 2024 A guy is away for a week and you have advance this project greatly, the front suspension and axle a great and I see you've rediscovered the engine turning secret. Your well on your way to another great model. Well done! 1
Straightliner59 Posted May 29, 2024 Author Posted May 29, 2024 2 hours ago, Ian McLaren said: A guy is away for a week and you have advance this project greatly, the front suspension and axle a great and I see you've rediscovered the engine turning secret. Your well on your way to another great model. Well done! I'm glad to see you back, my friend. Especially after your health "scare"! I've re-discovered one way, at least! Thank you, Ian!
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