The 2014 Automotive Group Build

The Rescue van is going together quite smoothly, too smoothly as it would turn out.  I've run into the problem Rommel had mentioned about the rear axles being a touch too forward in the wells.  Other than that it's been fairly trouble free.  So here are some more pics of the progress;

Too forward as Rommel warned...

Naturally everything is already welded in place.  Only a couple spots to divorce and realign and she should be good to go.

Look at that detail.  lol  The van doors will be all buttoned up and I wanted it to look like a delivery van so no benches or air tanks or any of the other rescue specific equipment provided is going in.  I may make up some mock product boxes to fill the back up as if it's on a delivery. 

I will also be adding seat belts, maybe a clipboard with papers and a deck of butts too.  I also don't think a delivery van in Canada would be complete without at least one Tim Horton's coffee cup rolling around on the floor so I'm gonna see what I can do about that too.

Note the front steering is installed and connected.  :)  It wasn't as hard a fix as I assumed it was going to be.  This pic makes the front wheels look worse toe out than they actually are.  Even the back look a bit clocked in.

Grill and hubcaps.  Not sure these are accurately painted hub caps, all the 1975 van caps I find are quite different so I just made them look as good as I could.  Painted them matte black and cleared off the raised parts.  It looks nice assembled on the painted wheel.

and the colour I was trying to match.  My bidniz cards tend to be lighter than this sample.  I think I may just stick with the base orange colour.  I like how vibrant it is, almost florescent.  This pic doesn't do it justice.  It looks almost close to the card but it is actually way more vibrant.  The card being a burnt orange.

So the base is complete now aside from the correcting of the rear axle position.  I'm giving the body a few more days to dry before taping off and painting the orange mid stripe.  Then I can make my custom decals, add the finishing touches and she's done.  Thanks for looking.

Gordy

Nice, a personalised van, B-) cool.

I really like the van Gordy.

I did make a little progress on the 71 Cuda.

Got the body prepped and the mirrors mounted. Thanks again for that tip Rommlkiste, it's slicker than melted butter hehehehe.

I welded in the rear panel. I think it would have been a pain as it just sits between the fenders with nothing to hold on to. a definite nightmare to glue without messing up the paint.

It was a little to cold today but I want to finish this one by the end of the weekend so took a chance and primed it anyway.

Also have most of the engine done.

L8TR

Eric

Sorry guys, I've been away on a business trip that tooka bit longer than expected. I'll catch up on everything over the weekend.

Cheers

Tony

Eric, sorry if I missed it but what color is the 'Cuda going to be? I'm determined to make a purple one one of these days.

Gordy, you have the old van looking good!  I have seen those dog dish caps in black, white, and red.  I have no idea what years or color combos they came with so I figure yours work just fine.  I am inclined to think they were done in what ever color the "wheel cover guy" at GM felt like that day!  LOL!  It also looks like you nailed the front suspension.  Looking good!

Eric W, Good luck with the Cuda.  I have a couple of those but have never built one.  I have a Johan cud a in a box half finished somewhere but not one built example in the whole collection.  I guess I should get off my duff and build something.  The only thing I have done since I finished the Vette is build a Revell Visible V8.  It was very enjoyable.

when i was a young'un i wanted a purple '69 DODGE DART with a 340.

Raven728,

I am painting it Testors Purple Metallic Flake. I used red primer to make it a little darker shade. We're supposed to have decent weather tomorrow so I plan to paint it then. This kit only has about 64 parts but it is well molded with very little flash to clean up.and a great motivator to get back in the groove with after all this darn cold weather and, IT'S A HEMI! hehehehe

I also picked up a Gremlin and a bottle of lime green metallic flake to do later after I get caught up with my other builds lol.

Rommel, don't feel bad, I haven't finished any for either group yet, why that's really unlike me hehehehe. I guess I need to go into turbo mode. I found a propane wall heater for my shop so i shouldn't have this problem next year hehehehe

L8TR,

Eric

That Cuda looks great.  Not sure if you saw the article in the current edition of scale auto or if it's even the same version/model but what I read of the article he does a pretty detailed explanation of the build.  It turned out really nice, over the top details too.  Anyway, it looks awesome so far, purple is a great choice. 

I've never been a mopar guy but I think I may see a cuda sometime in my future.

Stay warm fellas, were almost through this winter. 

Gordy

Thanks Gordy.

This kit is a fast fun build. At this rate and if the weather holds up I may have it done by Tuesday or Wednesday.

I did get it painted today. It was a great day for spraying, almost no humidity. Hopefully I can get the Hemi decals on and clear coated in the next day or 2.

Not a lot to the undercarriage, so I just did a little dry brushing with steel and left it at that.

Mounted the wheel to the undercarriage.

Also have most of the small parts and interior painted so I can start putting that stuff together tomorrow.

I do have to repaint the Shaker hood scoop. I used metal foil to mask the small script on the sides so I could dry brush the script but when I peeled the foil off the black paint on the scoop came with it.

L8TR,

Eric.

thats a lovely purple metal flake

Great looking Cuda Eric, that purple is ideal for it. The Rescue van and the Audi are coming together really nicely too.

Cheers

Tony

Hi Everyone,

I think I've caught up. If I've missed anything, please let me know. The completed builds have all been updated too.

Cheers

Tony

Thanks MIsty and Tony.

I was hoping to have it finished but we got hit with an ice storm so it slowed me down some hehehe.

Tony,

Can you add the 71 Cuda to the build roster? It is a REVELL 71 Plymouth Hemi Cuda.

Thanks.

Eric,

It's updated.

Cheers

Tony

can obviously be resized smaller

generic

personal

So there I was, continuing my decalling... when I realised I neeever re-checked the fit of the engine cover after gluing the front section. FWIW, it fits, but there is a bit of a crater.

That's not the worst news. You guys with this kit in stock might want to be aware of this. When I added the name decals, I sort of got the feeling that the red on the one section was a bit high. There are no guidelines for masking, esp on that side... Watch out for this! Because now that everything is painted - and 80% decalled... - I find there's a discrepancy in height of the engine cover and the front section's red!  It simply somehow never occurred to me to (as I always do with F1's) do the painting of the two areas as a unit. Very rookie mistake. Maybe I was having too much fun and... yeah well... 

Only way past it is hand-painting. At the moment I am unsure whether that may even ruin it more. But it's the only option I have. Not very impressed with myself right now, esp since my usual technique would have had this covered. 

Ken, that is one cool looking old race car

Seabe, The progress is looking good-sorry about your painting mishap.

Misty, That Merecedes is one sweet build. And the paint job is way cool!

Gordy, The van is looking good, I think I may have built that kit when it was first released.

Eric, The Cuda is looking good, I want to do a Plum Crazy Mopar one of these day's.

No real progress on the KISS Monster Truck. Lots of flash and seams to sand!

Hey guys, some quick progress notes. I realised after my last post that I lied - I was way further in decalling. Only had to do some smallish ones, but quite a number of them.

Yesterday did the red by hand after work. Looking at it this morning, it came out okay. But slightly more dull, so I just added some clear over that entire section, hoping to even out the glossiness.

So basically done. I will wait for the clear to dry and then start on adding some race effects. Haven't done that in a while.

Hmmm... maybe while I wait I should progress a bit on the shunned child - the Lotus 91. Need something to keep my mind and fingers busy - big bike race tomorrow.

Looking good boys.

I peeled the tape off and snapped a quick pic last night.  I got some over spray on the hood area and the rear doors so there is some touching up to do.  I added a touch of black to the vibrant orange to tone it down a bit closer to the company colour.  I think it looks pretty good.  I probably should have cut around the wheel wells but it looks fine.

Gordy

i think it looks pretty good too  :-)

I agree looking good!

Gordy,

I like it. Those colors go good together.

Here's my progress on the Hemi.

I added the decals and the final coat of clear today. I also have the engine almost done. I decided to try and wire this one. It's not perfect, but it's not to bad. I misplaced the flippin' pulleys/fan-belt part.  I painted the pulleys and set it off somewhere so I wouldn't lose it and danged if I didn't forget where I put it hehehe.

I also got a lot of the sanding done on the 69 Chevelle. May have it ready to repaint by Tuesday.

L8TR,

Eric

AUGH!

I got antsy and started doing the chrome foil, problem is the clear wasn't completely dry. I'll fix it tomorrow.

Frustrated,

Eric :)

Hi Everyone,

Great work guys, I'm really enjoying this. It's finally got me going, I've been working feverishly on my resin Ferrari F186, should have  some photos soon. Maybe it's cos the F1 circus comes to town this week too, and I'm going to all four days :)

I thought we should adopt Misty's proposed generic badge for this group build . It's pretty spectacular.

I've repeated it here for your ultimate convenience.I'll also put it on the front page.

Cheers

Tony

I'm not jealous, I'm not healous, I'm... obviously not kidding anybody! Enjoy it, Tony! Daaaaarn... must be an awesome experience!

I'm basically done with the R10. Took some very quick shots this morning before work, will post them tonight. From first look the quick-take flash did not make for nice shots, will most likely do a proper shot later. Just wanted to see what it looks like.

The Lotus 91 is also coming to semi-completion. Wheels done there and skirtings attached, thyink I must actually just attach wheels, roll bar and rear wing. Then decals! (Except for rear wing, which I have already done.)

I have no idea what my next build will be. Very likely back to F1, after having had (and enjoyed!) this diversion. I tend to stare at the cupboard and take one on... what I feel like at that moment!

Hi Guys!  Been a while so I thought I would post up some pics of my latest project for this group build.  This one don't have "Wheels" but it is Automotive.  I am working over an old Renwal Visible V8 kit I have had in the stash.  I built one when I was about 11 years old and made a real gloo-bomb out of it and have wanted to do another for years.  For those of you that have never seen one or built one, it was quite a piece of engineering for 1959-60.  After some research, I have found the engine was modeled after a 289 cu in Studebaker.  It has been identified by many as other engines but I found an article where the Studebaker  engineers did a study of this in 1961 and gave it a thumbs up with the the exception of the right cylinder bank being forward instead of the left.  Revell has issued a re-pop of this kit with the working spark plugs and starter motor deleted.  You turn the engine with a hand crank and it still makes a good conversation piece for your desk or display case.  I built one of these first just to get a feel of the assembly and get some ideas on what I could improve.  Here is some progress:

This is the kit I will be building.  

This is the Revell Reissue I worked up to get an idea how it goes together again.

On this kit, you assemble the crankshaft in sections along with the piston rods.  It is hard to get the crank straight when you do this and I will try to do it as in a 1:1 engine.  I completely assembled the crank without the rods and took my time to get it straight---or at least as straight as I could.  Here I have the first sections together while getting a good fit on the main bearing saddles.

How do I get the rods on you ask?  Well, the next pic shows a kit rod on the right and a modified rod on the left.  My Idea was to drill and tap the big end for 2-56 nylon screws, saw the big end in half and bore the center.  That gives me a rod that assembles like a 1:1 rod.  It works, but when you run the tap all the way it will split.  My next move is to drill the holes, saw the rod and THEN tap only the top half.  I will then bore the center to give the clearance needed for the rod journals.

I will have more later on my progress.

Really like that idea, Rommelkiste! 

Here's my quick shots. Taken with flash, so a bit... as the young people will say... "meh". Maybe will get some decent natural light over the weekend. And will then also shoot it with it's sibling, the long-build and already somewhat broken (life happens) R8.

A note before the photos: as usual the camera exaggerated. Those mirrors looks perfectly even to the eye from all angles - how the heck the ended up looking like that on the pic, I won't know! Looks like there's a huge "step" to the (not glued) engine cover. IRL it's there but... phew, hardly noticeable! 

Top view:

seabe that turned out nice. the silver turned out great. what did you use?

the camera will do that but will also find little boggers some of which are not noticeable to the normal MK-1 eyeball. i missed weathering the entire side of a KV-2 until i took some pics. the camera can also exaggerate red, not in this case and usually with rust weathering.

Thanks Wayne. Used gloss aluminium spray from Tamiya (TS17). Way back when I did the R8, I used a more silvery colour, which in hindsight is maybe not spot-on for accuracy... but an awesome silver! Think it will be quite a difference when I shoot them together. I started off with this one as more silver, but that went grey when I clear-coated it, so went for the already glossy alu.