Custom Mike Posted August 29, 2011 Author Posted August 29, 2011 (edited) OK, we've got some progress people! The engine compartment is complete, Shaggy set me up with some great pics, and I got my breathers hooked up. I didn't make a breather cap for the driver's side valve cover, I just ran the line, it's too crowded in there already, and I felt lazy anyhow. Then I made up some new side windows and vent windows, getting all of the scratch-made stuff done except for my tailpipes. I also glued the grille in place. so all I've got left is the tailpipes and assembly! Here's the pics, enjoy! Edited August 5, 2012 by Custom Mike
Custom Mike Posted August 29, 2011 Author Posted August 29, 2011 (edited) And here she is, about 90% complete. Still need to make some tailpipes at this point, and the resin hood has some more issues, but we'll get to that in a minute... Edited August 5, 2012 by Custom Mike
Custom Mike Posted August 29, 2011 Author Posted August 29, 2011 (edited) These shots are just to show how far I've come in the last nearly 10 years when it comes to detailing. The red Road Runner was built as a replica of one of my Mom's friend's cars. Teri had a bare-bones '69 Road Runner we used to ride around in, and I built it for her, but lost track of her, so I've still got it, waiting for her address. Night and day, this is what happens when you stick with something and have some great people around to push your skills to another level! Edited November 10, 2014 by Custom Mike
Custom Mike Posted August 29, 2011 Author Posted August 29, 2011 (edited) OK, here's where I complain about this crappy hood some more. After doing an additional 7+ hours of work to get this thing to look decent and fit well, it's now got a warp in it. I thought maybe it was caused by the chassis, so I double-checked it with the hood from Teri's '69 Road Runner. Nope, it's the stinking hood. Does anyone know of someone who makes a '68 Satellite hood that can vouch for it's quality? Edited November 10, 2014 by Custom Mike
charlie8575 Posted August 29, 2011 Posted August 29, 2011 Mike, I am thoroughly impressed. And I mean that. This is a very, very nice model. As to your hood issue, check out Time Machine Resins. He may have something for you and his stuff is supposed to be pretty good. Motor City or Missing Link might also have something for you, or might be able to help you with something. As a last resort, try holding the hood over some warm water and see if that'll straighten it out. Charlie Larkin
Custom Mike Posted September 5, 2011 Author Posted September 5, 2011 (edited) As to your hood issue, check out Time Machine Resins. He may have something for you and his stuff is supposed to be pretty good. Motor City or Missing Link might also have something for you, or might be able to help you with something. As a last resort, try holding the hood over some warm water and see if that'll straighten it out. Charlie Larkin Charlie, none of those casters makes one unfortunately. If Kevin over at Missing Link had one, I'd buy it without needing to see it at all, his stuff is incredibly good. As far as warming it, I tried to get it out using that method...four times. It comes back every time. So now I'm making my own, let's see how well this works out! Edited September 5, 2011 by Custom Mike
Mr. Moparman Posted September 5, 2011 Posted September 5, 2011 Oh! Oh!! I get first dibs!!! I can make that 318 get down the highway!!
Custom Mike Posted September 6, 2011 Author Posted September 6, 2011 (edited) Alright let's get to work on a hood. I'm going to keep track of how log this takes me, just to see if I can do it in 7 1/2 hours or less. I figure I spent that much time on the crappy one I had, I'm willing to bet I can do this in at least that much time. Yeah, I'm kinda nuts, but hey, you're playing with plastic cars too, so what does that say about you? I started out with a hood I used to test the Wal-Mart paint on for compatibility. I figured it needed sanding anyhow, so it would be the perfect subject. I took my Trumpeter panel scriber and carefully scribed around the driver's side hood bulge first... This was slow and deliberate, I want to break the bulge free and push it flat. The reason for this is to remove the dip in the back side of the hood. It should make it easier to preserve as much of the under-hood detail as possible, and make it resemble a flat hood all at the same time. The bulge has been flattened as much as is possible without sanding, now to check the underside... Not too bad, some fine sanding and filing should get this to look like a stock hood with ease. I clamped the hood to my tubing bender, then applied some Ambroid Pro-Weld to the cut area. I left it like this for 12 hours to insure it was glued down solidly. Total time spent so far: 35 minutes Edited November 10, 2014 by Custom Mike
Custom Mike Posted September 6, 2011 Author Posted September 6, 2011 (edited) And onto the work I did today, so far, it's been very simple to do...I know, famous last words, right? The bottom is roughed-in, just a bit of filler for the ejector-pin marks, and a bit where the scoop was pushed down into the underside. So far, so good! The flattened top side. A bit of filler was added, and it's been sanded down smooth. Now to get the underside finished off and do the passenger side to match. A quick shot to show the new, flat side of the hood. I decided I'm going to add a small strip of styrene to the front edge also, since this hood doesn't quite fit down onto the grille in the first place. If I'm gonna do this, I might as well correct all the flaws from the original hood, right? Smooth, just like it should be! Total time spent so far: 2 hours, 45 minutes. Edited November 10, 2014 by Custom Mike
oldscool Posted September 6, 2011 Posted September 6, 2011 I never would have thought to do the hood like that. Very good solution. gus
John Teresi Posted September 6, 2011 Posted September 6, 2011 Mike......nice work.......coming along nicely.
Custom Mike Posted September 7, 2011 Author Posted September 7, 2011 (edited) Gus, I've always found a strange way of doing things, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. This time it worked fine, but I had two other hoods waiting just in case! John, Tonio, thanks for the compliments, nice to know I'm doing something people enjoy watching! Now onto tonight's work, I got my piece of styrene added to the lower edge of the hood. I need to do a bit of reshaping on the driver's side, but it's a big improvement over the original kit piece. My new strip of styrene added to the front edge of the hood, now to see how it fits... Much better than it was before, but I need to reshape the hood on the driver's side near the inner headlight a bit. The new piece trimmed up to fit the edge of the hood, a bit of sanding to make it all look good and this part will be done. The new filler piece sanded to match, this is a major improvement! I also got my under-hood detail added back in, a bit more work and it'll be all set! Edited November 10, 2014 by Custom Mike
RodneyBad Posted September 7, 2011 Posted September 7, 2011 Nice work and some great Ideas. If ya need another hood, I'm sure I got a spare or 3 laying around ya can work with.
Custom Mike Posted September 7, 2011 Author Posted September 7, 2011 (edited) Thanks for the offer Rodney, but I've got two more of my own just in case this one doesn't work out! Now onto flattening out the passenger side. Once this side is done, I get to add the detail onto the top of the hood. I still haven't figured out how that's going to happen, but I'll come up with something! The passenger side bulge has been cut loose and pressed into the bottom side. A bit of Ambroid Pro-Weld makes it all stick together nicely! A shot from the topside before the filler was added... And a quick shot of the passenger side, smooth baby, smooth! Putty applied, now we wait until tomorrow. Total time so far: 4 hours, 45 minutes Edited September 7, 2011 by Custom Mike
Tonioseven Posted September 7, 2011 Posted September 7, 2011 I like the progress on this! I just might find my Roadrunner kit and get to work on it!!
charlie8575 Posted September 7, 2011 Posted September 7, 2011 I am now thoroughly impressed. Wait...I was before, anyway. I'm more-so now. Charlie Larkin
Custom Mike Posted September 12, 2011 Author Posted September 12, 2011 (edited) Thanks guys, I'm happy with how well this is going so far! Time for more updates. My internet connection has been flaky the last two-three days, so I'll try to get these in before it goes away again! I took a few days off from this, but now we're back at it, and the hood is now flat... I added some .010" strip styrene to the cutout in the back side of the hood, a bit of Ambroid Pro-Weld and we're good! Once the glue dried, I carved the excess strip with the good 'ol X-Acto knife. I'll let this sit for 24 hours or so to cure, then we'll finish of the underside of this hood! Edited November 10, 2014 by Custom Mike
Custom Mike Posted September 12, 2011 Author Posted September 12, 2011 And now onto the part I've been dreading, adding the stamping to the top of this hood. I took a slightly different route, nothing unusual for me, right? But there is a reason for it, read on and be enlightened! I decided to add some .010" sheet styrene to the top of the hood. There were two reasons for this, the first was to give me something to carve into that was a bit softer than the existing plastic. The second was when I clamped the hood to my tubing bender, I flattened it out, so the back of the hood was lower in the opening than the front. Yeah, this will make it a bit more difficult to smooth out, but I think I can pull it off....I hope! The Satellite detail has been carved into the sheet styrene with my Trumpeter panel scriber (If you don't have one of these gems, get one, you won't regret it!). Now to deepen and widen them a bit... The lines have been deepened and widened using a bent riffer file first, then some 220 grit sandpaper folded in half. I need to deepen the peak at the front of the hood a bit more, but the rest is perfect. You can also see where I blended the sheet styrene into the hood. A lot of work with the sanding sticks and sand paper, but so far, it's coming along nicely! And here it is in place on the model. We'll see how good it looks once I sand a bit more and throw some primer on it. Total time so far: 7 hours, 15 minutes
RodneyBad Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 WOW!! I still Dredd having to do that one day. It's looking good!!!!
charlie8575 Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 Great job with that hood. A very inventive way to cure a quite vexing problem. Charlie Larkin
Custom Mike Posted September 19, 2011 Author Posted September 19, 2011 (edited) Thanks guys, it's coming along very nicely, I should have done it myself to start with. I'm at the point where I ask Kevin how he wants it finished for casting, so these will be the last two updates until I get it back from him (And send one off to Tim over at Scale avenue so he can make a mold for me!), so enjoy! Oh, and I'm still waiting on my Photo-Etch GTX set from Detail Master (It has Satellite scripts in it!) too, so I don't know when I'll get this one done now... A bit of putty added to make the transition between the hood and the sheet styrene a little smoother... Almost ready to throw some primer on and see how it all looks! The underside all cleaned up too, looks like we're ready for that primer now! Not too shabby! I've got a few trouble spots you'll see in the next couple of pics, but it's looking really good so far! Much better than the warped resin one I had, for sure! Edited November 10, 2014 by Custom Mike
Custom Mike Posted September 19, 2011 Author Posted September 19, 2011 (edited) And now onto the trouble spots...grrrrrr! These two areas keep getting tiny bubbles. I believe they're areas of the sheet styrene that didn't get fully glued down. As I've been blending the sheet styrene into the hood, they've popped up repeatedly... The underside is not perfect, but it's much better than the resin hood I bought. Adding more putty is not going to happen, since there is a thick blanket of hood insulation that will cover all the small flaws. Besides, I've got to get this cast and back before a contest in Fayetteville, NC on November 5th! It looks perfect from this angle, but it's not... Here you can see the "bubbles" I was talking about in the first pic. I've decided to have it cast as-is, then sand the bubbles out on the resin hood. Then I'll send one of the repaired resin hoods off to Tim to make a new mold from, fixing the bubble issue permanently! Now I just need to find out how Kevin wants it finished before I send it off for it's first casting. Total time so far: 10 hours, 45 minutes. Edited November 10, 2014 by Custom Mike
Terror Posted September 19, 2011 Posted September 19, 2011 Nice work Mike.Reminds me of the old saying,When you want something done right you have to do it yourself.
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