I need some good tips concerning a 1/16 funny car.

[brad4321]

I have a Revell 1/16 funny car. I didn't want to do the Jungle Jim Vega so I purchased a Mustang body from Competitin Resins, the Trojan Horse decals and the interior tin to go with it. Getting this body to fit with the Revell kit looks like it's going to test my current skill level and experience.

A) What's the best way to make a windshield? The body includes some clear sheet. I've made two attempts and both were close but neither were 100% perfect. And in this scale, it has to be perfect.

Anyone know where I can find some good reference photos of this car. Not much exists that I can find.

C) Any other tips you've learned putting the Revell kit with an aftermarket body would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance if anyone can help!

[AZ Boy]

Michael, try using some thin cardboard as a template for the windshield first. That way you can trim it to a perfect fit to the body before cutting more clear sheet. Once you're satisfied with the cardboard, you can trace it to the clear sheet. Not a lot of ref out there for the 72 ram air version, but I'm pretty sure it was a John Buttera chassis painted black, and had purple anodized chassis panels. Engine was standard Ed Pink hemi. Hope this helps.

[bytownshaker]

Michael You can go thru the 700 plus pages of this site.

http://classicfunnycarboard.com/CFB/index.php/topic,834.0.html

There are plenty of Trojan Horse pic's

[bytownshaker]

Here's some pic's

[Decal Art]

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 inst. 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 puntuation as I am going to buzz/type this up quite fast to save time...

Get some posterboard to make some templates and menu card for windsheild templates////.

stantard working mans hobby modeling supplies///ei:... a Dremel and cutofft rotory tips, knives, detail hand saw ect....

Before you do anything to the body you will want to make provision to move the engine forward about 4" scale, mount it to the frame using sprue 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 platemounts 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' scale..construct the front end per the kit instructions (the top mounting rods which can be added later in ther build).temporarally 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" scale above the level surface....you will now need to lenghten the drive shaft by the 4" scale amount that the engine was moved forward...Also you may want to trim about an1/8" scale 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 vey close crearance 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 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 desrve the most attention of all, because the fit really matters in how the windsheild 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 /firehousing section aside..

OK everything now is fairly critical to get a good fit and body height...cut the posterboard stock pieces the same shape as both the forward bulkhead and the rear body mount/bulkhead respectively sit the plastic peices aside...make sure the posternboard pieces are exactly the same shape as the bulk heads front and rear (especially make the shpe of the body hinge tabs to becuse you are going to mock this up later and youl want these tabs to mont the frame in),...now double the thickness of the posterboard by trimming it out the same size as the posterboard you just made as to make duplicates...these are your cardboard rough templates to be trimmed/tailored to fit!!!....be exact here as if you are off 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 cardbord 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 mont accordingly)...now carefully mount the mocked up frame on the body hinge plate and lower it...(sits too high in the nose and tail..right?). You just simply trim the posterbord on the top of the rear bulkhead/clear the lower notches in the front bulkhead and refit the peices until the bodies lowerd to your satisfaction take a look at the car photos you see of the car you wish to build and lowerit accordingly... don't worry about the interior fire tent tin asssembly 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 bulkheds are pretty much self explanitory..you trim the top of the rear bulkhead/bottom notches on the front (keep in mind on the front to leave plenty of clearance for oil hoses ect...Go ahead a permanently glue the forward and rear bulkheads in place...mount it on the frame 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 yoiur 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 posterboard and double it in thichness by tracing it out in the flat and then re bending it to shape and tackit for mock up adjustment...dont worry so much about the angled plates that surround the drivers cage as you do about getting the firewall to rer enginge mounting plate correct and get everything square with the body...then match the anglesd sheets on both sides of the cockpitand radius the rear i(and add the small radiused sction at the rear of the cage last....I know this is not politically correct with plastic modelers to us e poster stok fro the interior tin but I've pulled it off before and no-ones ever noticed.... IF I say IF... everything is cut convincingly well, primered, micro-surface sanded and painted to match body color...

if you chose, you may replicate it in sheet plastic....Remember...the bulkheads front and rear support the body on the model.... NOT the fire tent tin assembly...in my opinion this is a moot issue since that structure is for looks only...You'll want to remove the interior tent an paint it in the color of your choice seperate the body/paint tehe body and thouroughly let it dry to your final finish cats and repeat as necessary decal and dry/through your clear coat/ let the model completely dry before moving on to any next steps....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 ended toothpick in silver paint and your're ready too finish your detailing....note I always install the windshield and fit my chutes/abilical cord assms. last....

Hope this written tutorial helps in correct body /chassisheight mounting for model 1/16f/c's....

Art ChiliDog Loveland

[Decal Art]

I really apologise folks for the poor spelling and punctuation in the tutorial...I was extremely tired when I typed this up and it was late before I finished...read it carefully and you will be fine....

Hope to be of help...

Chili

[Casey]

Michael,

Are you wanting to use the Revell chassis (and specifically the rear body mount points/pivots) are they come in the kit, or do you want to start modifying the chassis? As it comes in the box, the two rear chassis pivot points are not totally accurate, but they're not horrible and can be left as is if you don't want to get further into modifications.

Can you post a pic or two of what the underside of the Mustang body looks like (especially in the rear pivot area) and what the interior tinwork pieces look like?

For the windshield, start with some heavy paper or card stock and a pencil. You may be able to hold the card stock in place on the outside of the body while tracing a rough window opening shape on the bottom side of the card stock from inside the body shell. You can slowly trim it with a scissor, test-fitting it often in the windshield opening, until you re happy with the shape...or need to start with a new piece of card stock. You rarely get it perfect on the first try, so don't give up if it takes a few attempts to get a windshield shape you are happy with. Once you have the shape, you can trace around it on the piece of clear plastic you want to use for the windshield. Then there's installing the windshield into the body...not easy, either, but we'll help you once you get to that point.

[brad4321]

Thanks everyone! I posted this question and didn't get a response for 2 months so I had given up on it. I'm not real worried about the windshield. Each attempt is close ... but never close enough. I'll eventually get it. My big worry is building a system to get the body to connect to the chassis and do it in such a way everything lines up and the ride height looks good.

[brad4321]

Casey, I'll do whatever is necessary to make the revell chassis work - using the existing and innaccurate part or sawing it off... There is going to have to be some scratchbuilding under the body, so a little more wont hurt so long as my skills allow it. Knowing what to do is harder than executing it sometimes. For now its off to the side while I do a couple of quicker builds. I have to see something complete or close to it occassionally to keep my spirits up.

[Mooneyzs]

Hey Brad... you can take a look at my 1/16 Army Vega build and see how i moved the rearend up to get the ride height down. I dont remember which page its on but I did rework the chassis by cutting the rearend mounting.tabs off the kits chassis and moving them up. then I renforced them with a small piece of sheet plastic behind them. it wasnt too hard of a modification and really helped with the stancd of the car.

[AZ Boy]

Mike, here's a simple illustration of what I do to lower the chassis height. I hope this helps.

Edited January 29, 2012 by AZ Boy

[brad4321]

AZ Boy: Thanks! I made adjustment #2 you show, but not number 1. Maybe I will? But let me better explain my issue. I have an aftermarket body from Competition Resins. There is no piece included that fits inside the rear of the body that attaches to the chassis. The kit piece doesn't come close to fitting.

Chris: I follow your build closely for ideas, believe me. You should know that everything I know about drag racing I've learned in the past 6 months. I used to hate it, lol, until I went to an NHRA event. I've built tanks, F1 cars, planes, jets, etc. and nothing is more sexy than a drag car IMO. Anyway, I rely heavily on you guys for reference. So thanks.

[brett]

Just make up a few cardboard templates based off the kit body mounting panel and cut (or make bigger) as needed, once you have one that fits alright adjust the actual swivel point on the tin till you get your desired ride height

[brad4321]

Edgar; Great photos and thanks! Would you guys say thats dark blue or black?

Brett: Yhanks. Sounds simple doesn't it? I'm in the early stages of my scratchbuilding career. This build is on the 2 year program me thinks. :/ But I'll get it done ...somehow. Or it'll go under my bed with the other "to finish" projects.

[AZ Boy]

Wow Mike! What a hornet's nest you're stirring up with that question! I'm part of a yahoo funnycar group, and that very question was deliberated forever it seemed. IMHO, it looks like a VERY dark blue. I say that because on many pics of this car, it seems to reflect back something less than true black. There seems to be a bluish-purple hue. Again, that's just my perception. Just wait for it, and you'll get an opposing answer in 3...2...1

Aaron

Edited January 29, 2012 by AZ Boy

[brad4321]

Thanks. The decal sheet says metallic black if I remember correctly. But Slixx has been wrong before.