The 2014 Automotive Group Build

Haha, talentless, I was not serious about the name-change, but I see you've gone Misty-rious on us now...

Am I glad I'm doing this for a fun build - absolutely! I finished up some more on the rear section. In that process i dry-fitted the wings.fiddled a bit to get the major element to fit well enough. Then started with the smaller one. Depressed the oustides sliiightly just to make sure the guides actually seat into the holes... *click!* I nearly died ten deaths. Brittle plastic catching me out again! The element simply snapped at the slightest pressure. :( So I spent more time trying to get that back into one piece and straightish. Hmmm, and we all know it's never quite the same. Now assembled and I fiddled some more with it this morning. It will never be perfect or close to it, but it's looking a bit more decent. Work on the interior i about to start.

Also cleaned up that overspray of red on the cockpit surrounds and did a first layer of SGB inside the body work areas.

Oh, something to note. Some of the decals are simply too big. Support pillars for the rear wing and the rear lights. I ended up cutting back a lot on the support pillars decals, still not perfect. The rear light decals... well, I simply removed them in the end and painted the lights by hand. One came out better than the other, but I like it more than the decals. (Yes... despite nobody ever going to see it!)

On the Lotus 91, actually some progress at last. Though I'm not sure if it actually counts as part of the GB, but what the heck! Much delays and... more procrastination, but at last I did the rear suspension and added the brakes. Just came to a point where I simply told myself to sit down and do it - it's not going to do itself - and if I screw it up, then I must fix it as best I can. It's not perfect, but... let's see what we can do with it as is. From memory, some more engine detail up next... That is turning out to be a huge learning curve, but I'm enjoying it immensely.

Goody: that kit has been released in two different moldings, did you get it in red or white?

pyrman64

Goody: that kit has been released in two different moldings, did you get it in red or white?

I got it in white.  It said "for the serious modeller chose white" lol  I'm serious!  Why so serious?  I dunno.  I actually planned to paint it white with an orange stripe.

It's a nice kit, tons of flash.  It should be pretty awesome in some talented hands.  So far so good tho.

Gordy

Gordy, thats a pretty cool old van kit but the tooling is starting to show its age.  I remember building two or three versions when it was NEW and it had some issues.  As a tip, pay attention to the location of the rear axle and springs.  Seems on a lot of the later issues, and the originals too, the axle locates too far forward and crooked with the mounting pins.  A little modifying and test fitting and you will be good to go.  With some good "eyeballing" the rest seems to go together pretty well, after dealing with the flash!  LOL!  Good luck with this one and I will be watching!  

George

Thanks for the tip Rommel.  There doesn't seem to be any alignment pins on the rear susp., everything sort of drops into these channels, not much room for play.  I think it looks pretty good tho.  I dry fit the wheels/rims and they look to be fairly centered. Nothing is glued down yet. 

The front on the other hand was quite a puzzle.  The 8 step directions skip or only show one side of most stuff and the parts in the pictures don't look much like the plastic in hand.  The trouble I'm having is the distance between the sway bar link and the chassis link being too far apart.  I'm going to have to maybe bend the plastic a bit and see if I can get them to meet up. 

I'm not sure if you can see it in the last pic but the little peg sticking off the steering part should have a linkage between it and the sway but it's about an inch away with a 1/4 inch part to join them, one on either side.  I may just cut both pegs off.  I won't miss em much. 

-Matte black floor boards, Tamiya dark grey frame rail, and a light dry brush of Vallejo steel.  The silver bits are Vallejo steel as well.

-I have also sanded and primed the body, it needs more sanding and primer coats, and I've started stripping some of the chrome bits I want to paint white.

Pics are worth 1000 words so...

Thanks.

Gordy

Gordy, I dont recall a Sway Bar, just the steering link.  I don't know how much AMT has changed things on your new re-issue but it looks the same as some of the original offerings.  I don't know if it will help you any, but I am posting up a pic of a 1970 instruction section on the front suspension.  This is from the Open Road Camper kit and this section is also the same in my Candy Van version from 1979.  I do not have the latest offering so I can't compare them to see what AMT might have changed or left out.  Your looking good, keep going!

That's looking pretty good Gordy. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Cheers

Tony

Ha, that's wiked.  Thanks for holding onto those for 40 years for me.  You knew they'd come in handy some day.  lol

I am calling the parts by the wrong name, part number 13 (tie rod) on your directions is the part I'm referring too.  It looked like a sway bar to me. lol    

My directions are pretty much exactly like that with a few more confusing dashed lines running all over the place.  The parts appear to be the same tho. 14 and 7 are one piece on my directions.

So it would be part 11 (steering box) to part 13 (tie rod) with part 12 (idler arm) between them.  The steering box peg and the tie rod peg aren't close enough to use the idler arms between them on both sides.  If I bend it to meet I think it will stand out too much as a mistake.  Snipping them both off might be my best option.

The rear directions seem to be identical.  I hope I don't run into the problem you mentioned.  

I'll snap a pic of my directions when I get home.  It'll be neat to compare them.

Thanks again,

Gordy

*edit-Thanks Tony.

LOL! Gordy, I have some around here a heck of a lot older than those!  Here is a pic of the front suspension on my 23year old stalled out Candy Van Version build.  It will show you where those pesky little idler arms go or give you an idea how to leave em off or scratch something.  

Tony: Sorry for the delay, but how's this for a badge?

Yup, that's it.  At least I know it can be done :)  Thanks Rommel, that 's a fine example right there.  I must have done something to mis-align the parts, thanks again for that pic, I'm gonna have a closer look at home.

Ignore those red circles, I was mock showing my nephew how to go through the directions reading and finding the related parts.  He had no interest until I described modelling as a 3 dimensional puzzle.  Maybe time for one of those painted snap kits.

The directions are near identical aside from that hub part 8. 

Gordy

That's some nice chassis work Gordy.

I was able to get out in the shop and get a few things done.

I got the Chevelle primered.

Got the 40 Ford Primered. This kit has issues with hood alignment as the molded on hinges will not let the hood sit center of the body. Finally just cut them off and will add new ones later.

Here's a mockup of it while I was getting the hood to sit right.

It came with two engines, so I'm building both to see which I like the most. I'm leaning towards the flathead . :)

L8TR,

Eric

The Audi is moving on slowly but surely. After the masking horrors, I completed the rear, started some work on the interior bits. 

Pics: The rear end - despite my efforts, you can still see the break in the top element. :( 

Center console:

Seabe - thats a fine looking rear end you have there  i cant see the break

Eric -  those diddy little engines look like they will need a lot of eye-crossing detail painting, looking forward to the results!

elass0wyp0

I must have done something to mis-align the parts, thanks again for that pic, I'm gonna have a closer look at home.

I think I may have figured out where I went wrong.  It looks like the 2 steering end bits needed to be further towards the top of the frame rail.  I may try to snap them off and re align them closer, or skip it altogether and just chop off the mounting points. I think they might be too fragile a join if I move them higher up/closer.

Anyway, moving along.  I got a lot done this weekend but only one pic to share.  The base minus wheels is almost complete, the very simple interior is waiting for placement and glue and I've primed and sanded, and primed and sanded and laid down the first coat of white and sanded. 

I'm not sure how many coat of white it's gonna need.  It's white plastic, white primer and white top coat.  I didn't have any grey primer. 

Next is taping off for the stripe and matching wheels.  Then it's onto making the custom decals for it. 

It's a really sharp model, the body lines are so nice and crisp.  I already have plans for a second and possibly third van project.  I really like this body.  I'd like to try a fire support truck with open doors, or a police 'paddy wagon' with open doors.  Maybe even a shaggin' wagin' with the doors open.  Either way I want to do one with open doors. lol

PS - I can't see the break either Seabe, your good to go :)

Gordy

That is a extremely nice build there, Ken! Great stuff...

R10 is progressing a bit. Some more work around the cockpit and that was installed... Front decals added, not too visible on pic. Dash in progress, no pics of that. From memory next steps are some bodywork detail. Now very happy that I've already done the painting and it's dried properly, can just continue on my merry way! 

Anyways - as it stands now, cockpit added to chassis:

kenjitak,

That's a most excellent build!

Seabe,

Can't wait to see it finished.

Now,

Sit back and let me tell you a funny story (well it wasn't funny at the time hehehe).

I decided it was warm enough today to paint the Chevelle. I grabbed my air brush and it won't spray. Then I remembered I left it the last time I sprayed Alclad intending to clean it the next day but due to bad weather I never got around to it. No problem. I didn't really feel like cleaning it now so I dug out an old external airbrush I used to use for spraying military models. I had a can of compressed air so I figured what the heck, it'll work just fine. I got the paint mixed and started spraying. All I can say is thank god for sandpaper hehehe. I didn't have any runs but the paint looks like a very rough eggshell. I think I can sand it out without having to strip it. I cleaned my good brush and sprayed the two engines for the 40 Delivery and they came out great. I was too mad to take pictures but maybe I will tomorrow hehehe. Lesson learned lol.....

Oh man, that sucks! Good luck with the sanding, hope you get sorted...

Me...? I just dropped a part. Mat-monster is apparently alive and well. Not too small... but clear! I am calming down reading here before I search again. Apparently, that lesson still isn't learnt! And my mat-monster still has a healthy appetite, despite having been fed regularly.

LOL!  EW, I won't even go into some of my painting nightmares.  I keep a large plastic Coffee can full of the Purple Stuff handy so when I barf up a paint job it goes in the vat right away!  If that don't do it I give it the old oven cleaner treatment.    Seabe, if I could find all the parts in my carpet, I think I could build a complete kit.  There might even be a body in there somewhere.  I know its holding at least $50 worth of PE!  

having to strip a bad paint job is the worst :-( i feel for you.

the carpet monster ate a whole sprue of clear parts for my hawk!! (more likely the wifes over-enthusiastic cleaning)  but airfix are sending a replacement.

love the little red firebird. its a beauty!

Seabe

Oh man, that sucks! Good luck with the sanding, hope you get sorted...

Me...? I just dropped a part. Mat-monster is apparently alive and well. Not too small... but clear! I am calming down reading here before I search again. Apparently, that lesson still isn't learnt! And my mat-monster still has a healthy appetite, despite having been fed regularly.

I haven't had to try this yet and I'm sure it's nothing new but if you take your wife's old panty hose and use a rubber band you can use your vacuum (ask your wife for help with this machinery) to find those tiny runners.  That was a terrible description so here's a pic that explains it all;

I hope you find them parts Seabe.

Kenjitak, I saw that Ford posted in another thread, it looks amazing.  First place must have really been something.  Well done.

Gordy

taxtp

i took some outside pics but they were a bit naff. (i suck at photograpy

could you make this into my GB badge plz?

Misty, great build and love the dark reflections picked up from the environment - menacing look! Very nice photo as well, like the natural background and it seems quite natural. No expert, but if I may, the only thing I'd have done differently was to ensure the rear of the car is in and not clipped.

Very little progress here. Did the lights and the wheels and some tidying up. Next up some decals which must be done before some parts are added. Also saw something that irked me... the vents are on the kit, yet the made the decals solid with black markings for the vents. This is where I draw a line, even in a fun build. I will open those up, which may also take a while!

Slug type progress here.  Not enough to post a picture of.  Buttoning up a couple of other projects, and started a quicky weekend build which it's only been about, 6 hours and that one's 90% complete.

Misty, That's sharp!.

MY whole weekend was a bust. I got the "It's such a nice weekend let's go to Nashville". Had to do a lot of running around again today and by the time I got home, it was cold a raining again. I did pickup a REVELL 71 Hemi Cuda in Nashville Saturday so it wasn't a total wash I guess hehehe. Tony, can you add this one to my list.

my weekend was a washout too, decorating the kitchen is for some reason more important to the wife than modelling ! go figure!

Shouldn't the completed models HELP with the decoration process?  My house the decorations are all patriotic, military, guns, or automotive stuff.  It's not all mine either.  

Well,

I couldn't help myself, so I started on the 71 Cuda hehehe. It just kept staring at me while I was trying work on the others. I think this one is what need to get motivated lol.

L8TR,

Eric

Hmmm... when I touched the wheels I started thinking.... when I did some panel lines I started thinking some more... it's dangerous when I actually start thinking... I'm thinking about a word auto guys hate. Weathering... how about a more post-race version of this R10?! Hmmm.... I'm scheming...