Mike Kucaba Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Hey all. Wayne Stevens Jr. e-mailed me his tutorial on correcting the ride height on the Revell F/C.wayne stevens jr FC chassis mods.pdf
whale392 Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Somehow, I think this could/should be stickied in either the Drag Race or Tips section, as the material presented here is of great value to those who build these vintage funny cars. Thank you for sharing this!
Hoosierfarmboy Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Neat and informative tutorial. Have not built anyy funny cars yet, but who knows. Therefore I saved this tutorial.
ffreak Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Thank you very much for sharing this. It will be very helpful to me when I start on all my funnies !!
Decal Art Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 Hi I'm Art "ChiliDog" Loveland...Here's the "Ultra Quicky" method for lowering the body and chassis ..... of 1/16 F/C's....(though not the most accurate way, it will work, rivet counters need not chime in at this point as this instruction is for entry level 1/16ers),... If you do not have previous experience lowering these kits,... this may be the easiest way for you...You will need a much more advanced method tutorial, that I may do later or pass on to another gracious builder of experience,... to verbally illustrate////should you decide to build a show quality model and not just a nice convincing collectable....please excuse my spelling and punctuation,.. as I am going to buzz/type this up quite fast to save time...and won't have much time to proof read. Supplies needed.... Get some poster board to make some templates and menu card for windshield templates////.ie,/// standard working mans hobby modeling supplies///ie;... a Dremel and cutoff rotory wheel tips, knives, detail hand saw etc.... Before you do anything to the body you will want to make provision to move the engine forward about 5" scale, in the chassis. Mount it to the frame using sprue or sheet styrene (look at reference engine photos here for correct mounting), cut and filed to shape while making the chassis..test fit the engine block in the frame to make sure your mounts are are almost level with a slight forward tilt..a tiny bit does it here.. The frame: Before you mount the rear end differential in the frame do one of 2 things either flip the rear end plate mounts on the frame upside down or create new ones from sheet plastic Being very careful not to lengthen the wheelbase from front to rear any),...the idea is to lower the chassis on the differential so as to reduce the overall height between 1/8" to 3/16" ..Construct the front end per the kit instructions Note that when handling any chrome plated parts be sure to have cotton gloves on..this stuff finger prints easily),(the top mounting rods are added later in the build).temporarily mount all the tires on the wheels and brakes (just to tack fit the parts for height adjustment of the frame)...you want the frame clearance from the level surface the model sits on to clear the frame about 3/16" where the engine plate was located at the frames lowest point...test fit the engine with oil pan so the pan sits 1/16-3/32" above the level surface....you will now need to lengthen the drive shaft by the 5" scale amount that the engine was moved forward...Also you may want to trim about an 1/8" from the four corners of the roll cage if you feel you may have clearance problems later...All this sounds a little tedious... but its not hard as you make think...go slow and be patient.....a special note here to make sure the magneto cap spark plug boots are cut very low and the wire tucked in tightly (or right angled)at that point as the body will have a very close clearance there in that tight magneto area... OK the body... After you've entirely constructed the frame and engine, you can now move on to the fun part....he-he ......find all the bulkhead pieces front and rear///and fire tent that the body mounts to on the bottom side Locate the firewall section of the fire tent...on top of, and in the center of the forward dash area is the rear injector blower/shroud this area will deserve the most attention of all, because the fit really matters in how the windshield will mount in the body, and the shape of the shroud will be reduced to more of a pie shape that will surround the rear of the injector hat and blower rear... take note of these locations and set the tent /fire housing section aside.. think about this relationship in shape as it will shift later when a new tent is made. Also keep in mind in a later step that it is much easier to paint and detail the top side of the tent when it is unmounted and separate...just put it aside for now. OK everything now is fairly critical to get a good fit and body height... Cut the poster board stock pieces the same shape as both the forward bulkhead and the rear body mount/bulkhead respectively (including the shape of the hinge pins in poster board),...Sit the plastic pieces aside...Make sure the poster board pieces are exactly the same shape as the bulkheads front and rear (especially make the shape of the body hinge tabs to because you are going to mock this up later and you will want these tabs to mount the frame in precise),...Now double the thickness of the poster board by trimming it out the same size as the poster board you just cut out, as to make duplicates and glue the poster board pieces thoroughly back to back to strengthen the shape......These are your cardboard rough templates front/ rear, to be trimmed/tailored to fit!!!....Be exact here it terms of cut/ shape/squareness... as if you are off in the slightest, the body will tilt irregularly),..now temperarily tack (being careful not to destroy your cardboard when you remove it again... you'll do this a few times),.. the poster board in the same positions that it would be mounted to the original body (if you are using a resin body and you get lost refer to the original body mounting bumps and mount accordingly), (remember resin body shapes vary depending on model so adjustments must be accounted for in each case)...Now carefully mount the completed chassis on the body hinge plate and lower it...(sits too high in the nose and tail..right?). You just simply trim the poster board on the TOP of the rear bulkhead/clear out the LOWER notches in the front bulkhead and refit the pieces until the body is lowered to your satisfaction over the chassis and tires,,,take a look at the reference photos you see of the car you wish to build and lower it accordingly... don't worry about the interior fire tent tin assembly until your front bulkhead and rear bulkhead mount and hinge are modified to match the paper templates...(it's a good tip at this point to really check everything for squareness so that the body is mounted as straight as possible BEFORE you modify the bulkheads to fit..at this point both bulkheads are pretty much self explanitory.....you trim the top of the rear bulkhead/bottom notches on the front bulkhead(keep in mind on the front bulkhead to leave plenty of clearance for oil hoses etc...Cut the plastic bulkheads front and rear to match your templates......Now's the time!!!..Go ahead and permanently glue the forward and rear bulkheads in place...mount it on the frame notches again with the mounting hinge in the rear....wha-lah///....It should sit right.... If it doesn't, you missed a step...backtrack until you find your mistake and fix if need be, at this point,... before moving on. Now on to the interior fire tent stuff... Try to replicate the shape of the fire tent as closely as possible in poster board and double it in thickness by tracing it out in the flat and then re bend it to shape and tack it for mock up adjustment...don't worry so much about the angled plates that surround the drivers cage, as you do about getting the firewall to rear engine mounting plate correctly aligned in height and frnt./rear location... Get everything square with the body...then match the angled sheets on both sides of the cockpit align and radius the rear(and at this time, add the small radiused section at the rear of the cage last and sculpt to fit.......I know this is not politically correct with plastic modelers to use poster stock for the interior tin but I've pulled it off before and no-ones ever noticed....lol IF I say IF... everything is cut convincingly well, primered, micro-surface sanded and painted to match body color and detailed...(remember orgami modelers use paper all the time and believe me, their stuff is convincing).. if you chose, you may replicate it in sheet plastic....Remember...the bulkheads front and rear support the body on the model chassis.... NOT the fire tent tin assembly...In my opinion this is a moot issue since that structure is for looks only in a model...You'll want to remove the interior tent and paint it in the color of your choice... separate the body/paint the body and thoroughly let it dry to your final finish sets up and repeat as necessary /decal it and dry/thoroughly examine everything on the outside of the body /your clear coat/ let the model completely dry before moving on to any next steps....and then paint the underside of the body and detail it with trusses and supports. Make a menu card template for the front window / cut it out of sheet clear plastic..trim it in flat black from the inside...add some scale rivets or carefully place silver dots of paint with a smooth sanded blunt ended toothpick in silver paint and you're ready too finish your detailing add spoilers ect.......note:... I always install the windshield and fit my chutes/ambilical cord assemblies..ect... last.... Hope this written tutorial helps in correct body /chassis height mounting for model 1/16 70's era F/C's.... Art "ChiliDog" Loveland
oldscool Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 Thanks for taking the time and effort to post this but it would be much easier for me to understand if it had some pics to go with it. gus
Decal Art Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 Just take it a sentence at a time..work slow, do it in order and don't jump to the next thing without completing the step you're on and you'll be fine. This is just a quick outline, but it is complete...I'm sorry it takes a lot of time to do the photo's and only 15 minutes to type up..I chose the 15 minutes..Hope it helps...Art
oldscool Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 I understand the time it takes to post pics so I get where you are coming from. It would have taken me longer than 15 mins. to type the text . Actually I am wanting to apply your method to the Revell 1/25 funny cars as they have the same issue. gus
1320wayne Posted January 24, 2012 Posted January 24, 2012 Art, not trying to toot my own horn here but I created a PDF how to for the 1/25th scale funny cars a few years back that I have provided for anyone that wanted it and it has plenty of pictures to illustrate the changes needed to adjust these kits. Everything that I spelled out for the 25th scale models will also apply to the 1/16th scale versions. Not that our techniques are the same by any means but the ultimate goal is the same regarding making the neccessary adjustments to these builds and pictures will definately do your tutorial justice especially with some of your terminology used. This is just my opinion of course.
Decal Art Posted January 24, 2012 Posted January 24, 2012 Yep it could be improved upon with pics or drawn illustrations, but as i said I don't have time at least at this point in my life to do so...How would one obtain your PDF file Wayne...I would find that helpful to me as well i'm sure... Art
1320wayne Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Simply send me a PM with your regular email address and I can email it to you.
Mike Kucaba Posted January 25, 2012 Author Posted January 25, 2012 I thought I posted Wayne's tute to the forum,but danged if i can find it. What is a Fire Tent?
Decal Art Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Michael...The term 'fire tent' has been used as a description of the entire interior tin (aluminum) barrier that sparates the drivers cockpit from the engine and surrounding elements under the funny car's fiberglass/or in later years carbon fiber shell. The critical components of the fire tent include the engine shroud which spreads the upper area of the engine under the windsheild, the firewall with its observation windows on each side so the driver can see a fire as it starts and the cockpit surround that protects the driver from the elements/smoke, debris and fire from below, to the sides and rear. The side debris panels on the chassisalso protect from fire and smoke, etc.. as well as the floor debris panel....Hope this helps....I know now of days most guys call it the interior tin,...which I suppose is ok too.....The fire tent also may have gussets and supports integrated for the body to attach to.... C.Dog
oldscool Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 I also would like to thank everyone for sharing their knowledge. gus
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