The Mustang and Corvette Group Build

Dale,

Lookin' good. I like the color.

fantacmet, thanks for the tip on the plug boots.

L8TR,

Eric.

I did come up with it independently a few years ago, but never did it as I never had a need for it and I wasn't building cars at the time.  Then the other day I saw a tip on it and remembered it.

I might add the firing order is correct too.

Hey all!

Fan, thanks for the links to the tip.  I'll definitely use that one.  super genius idea!

Dale, looking good!!!  Great color and the engine and interior look great as well.

Eric, how'd the powder work (if you had the chance to try it)?

I managed to get the foil on (per my pre-body paint technique I am trying).  I'm going to try to get the body painted tonight.  Here's just one pic.

My tape was too tacky for the interior black, but fortunately, mostly in places you will never see.

Everything here is iced over so I'm stuck in the house, gives me time to do some building!  Been getting the Chassis all roughed in and I think everything fits.  I am sure that when the body goes on for the last time something will surprise me---never fails.  Think I will give the chassis a break and do some on the engine.  I'll post a pic or two when I get something done with it.   Keep glooin guys, love the updates!

Looking good Rommel, that's going to be a fun one to watch.

I forgot to mention in my progress post I'm really starting to feel like a part of this GB. After spraying the last coat of clear on Sat. the body came off my homemade jig for painting and landed on the roof! Looks like a little sanding and it will be ready for decals, and more clear.

LOL!  Welcome to my world Dale!  I hope I didn't jinx this crew with my fumbling around at the start.  Seems the older I get the more of it I do.  I'm going slow, I have gone too far to throw this one back in the box!!

Ken - I'm really keen to see how your foil before paint technique works out, I'll be watching avidly.

Rommel - I've never experienced that sort of cold, I'm with you on the chassis, it never, ever fits as well on the final fit as it did on the dry run. Why is it so ?

The P/E set for my Corvette arrived yesterday, now I just need the gauge faces to come too.

Cheers

Tony

Ken- I know some guys that always foil before paint and get great results, I have never tried it, I'm too chicken!  Best of luck.

Tony- I have come to realize that nothing ever fits nothing!  I just end up doing the same task 5 or 6 times.  Good luck with the Corvette PE items.

This will be the last update until after the yearly feast.  I will have to fire up the old smoker and become a Chef for the next few days so no modeling for me.  After the big get together and listening to lies, B.S., and screaming kids I will be ready to get to the bench and drill my fingers and mess up parts!

I did some work on the Corvette fat block and I was happy to find that it still fits with all the dry-sump plumbing and detail items.  This is the stopping point as my eyes are protesting.  Fantacmet, the plug wire boot  idea is great, worked out for me.  That is some time consuming work but it looks cool.  Here is some pics, I gotta go find my apron.

Good luck with the feast Rommel, you'll be glad to get some glue on your fingers after that lot is done. Good progress on the 'Vette again.

Cheers

Tony

Rommel,

Love the engine work. I was looking st braided fishing line to use as braided line but the unbonded stuff is expensive.

Ken, I haven't tried the embossing powder yet. I haven't had much time this week due to work and Thanksgiving.

L8TR,

Eric

You can order shielded wire, which is all the braided hose is from detail master.  You remove the core and then stick some solder in it, stretch it, glue it, shape it, add fittings, done.

Well I thought I would give a reverse progress report. I got the roof sanded and ready for clear. I also buffed some dust spots to shoot with clear.

Some what to my surprise the decals laid down nice over the raised emblems. Got the hole body shot with a couple more coats of clear, and I was already for some foil. I had no luck with the foil, even with a brand new #11 blade the foil would tear. Apparently 3 strikes and your out with Bare Metal Foil. As I was pealing off the third attempt disaster struck. A chunk of paint came off well I was trying to peal off a stubborn piece of foil.

I did have it ready for primmer in about 20 minutes.

Hopfully I'll have some pictures tomorrow showing how it came out.

Oh man that SUCKS.  I've had that happen to me.  Though I didn't fix it the same way.  My solution was to reduce the length of the kit from about 7.5 inches to about 1.5 inches in about 0.68 seconds, with the aid of the wall.

fantacmet, I have used the "Mossberg" method.  It's VERY effective.

The m80 method also works!!!! I've given up on foiling dont have the steady enough hands for it anymore!!!!!!  And that really sucks

Well I got the roof painted again. I think it came out ok.

Well I was waiting for paint to dry I was surfing the net, trying to decied what I was going to do with the Mustang II. I decieded to go with these decals from slixx.

I'm not sure if their made to work with this kit. I hope they will be ok. Well at their site I ordered a hood scoop that was closer to the one that was on the car from the pictures I was able to find on line. I also ordered a seat, and a parachute. Well on the net I also ordered a Car Craft from the 70's that had a Feature on Shafiroff racing with a picture of that car on the cover. I hope it has a picture or two engine compartment, and interior, as I can't find any online.

I started on the kit. Where to start, I've put together to many modern kits, The detail on the kit is pretty soft. If I had the skills I think the only thing I would use is the body. That being said I started putting the engine together, and getting the body ready for paint.

I also sanded all the detal off the fire wall, and inner fender wells.

Dale, is that the old MPC Firefighter kit?  I have one in the box that I didn't finish because I wasn't pleased with what I was creating.  I will PM you a pic so you can see the stance of the kit on wheels.  That might give you a chance to change something if you don't like the looks.  The suspension has not been altered its box stock.  Good luck with it.   Your re-paint looks great on the Vette.  Got mine in primer and some front suspension work done and that's it.  Been on an Alka- Seltzer diet the last couple of days.  Glad there are only two get-togethers a year with the group.

Rommel, Yes it is the old Firefighter kit. Thanks for the pic. I have been really brief with my comments on this kit for a reason. I will say I almost thought of not starting it.

I understand that.  There are some nice Stang kits out there that won't give you as much of a Kopfschmerzen as this one.  I wouldn't blame you if you hid it in the closet and chose another.

HI,

Builds are looking good. I've got a Chevelle I need to finish for the other group build that ends DEC. 31 so I will be concentrating on that one. I'll work on the vette as time permits.

L8TR,

Eric.

Reminds me I have to finish my Jaguar XJR-9 for that group too. I seem to be doing a lot of masking lately, and that one needs heaps. Might try to get it done next.

My '53 Corvette gauge faces arrived. Must get on with it.

Cheers

Tony

I got to get back to the peace and quiet of the work bench after the big gathering.  I got some body work done on the Vette and got it in some primer.  I did a mock up and I'm happy with the stance after all the mods and I guess I will keep the kit tires, they seem to work well.  I haven't yet decided on a wheel choice but will work on that.  I think it looks kinda crappy in primer but maybe it will look like a racer when I get the white on and the blue graphics.  This is it for now until I can grind out more.  Good luck with the gauge faces Tony!

Looking good boys. 

I don't have any pics to share yet but I did have 2 days off this weekend and was able to get the under carriage sorted out a bit. I also made solder headers.  What a pain that was.  Not the best, but it's done and I learned something new.  Mostly never to do solder headers again.

I have also been trying a few methods of weathering the frame -I'm not too sure how well they turned out but I did a coat of rust, that chipping stuff, then matte black coat, then chipped the matte away and dry brushed some silver, rust, and finally some black, focusing on what would have been metal under the fibreglass flyer.  I also gave it an "oiled earth" wash.  I've never used that before so I wanted to try it out.  I think it's passable. 

The body is cleaned up and primed ready for the final squirt as well as the interior pieces.  That's about it for me. 

I'm going to try to upload my limited pics with apologies for quality, and quantity.

Gord

Gord if that was your first solder headers I am sure you learned to say a few new words.  The next will be a little easier just by what you learned from the first try.  With a little practice, you can make em lots better than what comes in the kit!  Don't give up on em!!

Rommel,

I really like the look and stance. Were the fenders already flared like that??

Got my molding compound today, so I have 2 wheel molds and a tire mold going right now.  Tomorrow I have to get some wax to keep the two pieces of the mold from sticking together and then pour the other halves of the mold.  Then I can cast my wheels for this build, and get a move on.  I also gotta figure out what int he world I did with the radiator.  I don't feel like scratchbuilding one.

Eric, the kit comes with some gloo on flares for the rear.  I had an extra set and found if you swapped em side for side and glooed em on the front they fit.  I just molded em in with some putty.  I wasn't sure if I was gonna flare them at all but all the pics I have of the really cool ones are.   Soooo… thats what I ended up with.  Hope all this still fits when I get to the last part!!!

I apologize for the crap pics, but an update just isn't the same without them.

The kit box;

This is my brother's 1:1 '78 Corvette engine bay for reference.

The photoetch parts.  I've never done PE before and I think it's for a big block but I'll make it work.

My fail-headers.  I got some crimp marks from the pliers I used and I'm going to have to get creative to make them look like they attach to the exhaust pipes but I did learn quite a bit and have picked up some smooth pliers for the next time.  I won't give up.     

So this is my frame weathering.  I assumed that the rails were metal and the floors were fibreglass coated wood but my brother tells me that most of the panels and coverings under the '78 are actually metal and that he has "way more rust than that".  I think the 'rusty' sections seem appropriate enough to get the point across. 

So that's me up to date.  Keep glooin!

Gordy

Gordy, the rusted up chassis looks pretty darn good!  Even if you roll under a good looking vette that is what you will find most of the time.  Good weathering job.  Try some solder in .062 Dia.  Most of what you get when you buy street headers is 1.675 and maybe 2.00 in 1:1.  The .062 solder is pretty close in 1/25 and 1/24 and I think you will find it a little easier to work with.  I tried it and found that a piece of heat shrink tube makes a nifty collector when attaching to the exhaust system.

I once again have freezing rain and ice so I am indoors and bashing on the Vette.  I got the body painted before the weather moved in and will add the graphics in a day or so.  I got the chassis painted in flat gull grey and FINALLY have it on all fours. I have a start on the racing dash and can now start plumbing and wiring up for the end.  I have only one pic for an update but will add more later.  

Hi all.  Been working on bits over the holiday and this week, but didn't have time to post.

Comments:

Rom - Great work and I am loving the customizations.  Looks awesome and I agree with other on the flared fenders. I'd have thought it came that way, so that is a testament to the great body work you do.  Another fine job on the dials!  I struggled with mine, so below I have a couple questions for you.

Dale - Great recovery on the roof job.  Nice work.  Great shade of BLUE!!!

Tony and Eric - good luck finishing off your other GBs.  Look forward to more of your work here, but I completely understand.  I have put my M1A1 build on hold (not intentionally) but think about it a lot.

Questions:

Rom - What do you use to pipe in the 5 min epoxy?  I used a disposable pipette.  1st 2 dials went great, 3 and 4 gave me some fits, but I know it is because I didn't work fast enough.  Fortunately, it's pretty hidden once it's all together.  You will likely see it in the update pics below.  If there is a better tool for this, I'd love the tip.  I was thinking a disposable syringe would be a quicker tool to inject the epoxy into the well, but I look forward to hearing from you.

Rom (or anyone) - any good pointers to wheel decal suppliers?  I am getting ready to get some Vette details and thought some tire lettering would be great too.  I don't think I am going to worry about it for the Stang.

Here is my update.  It is starting to come together, but haven't done the body yet.  I got really wrapped up in the other details.

Here is the dash with the interior showing the pedals.  You can see where I bunged up a couple of the dials, but the other detail came out decent.  I did PE pedals, knobs, dial centers and the glove box lock. I also got the PE on the steering wheel a little messed up.  I since got some of the crud off and it looks a bit better in other pics.  I am learning the difficulties of working with micro parts and having big fat polish fingers!!!! LOL

Coming together:

With seats and belts, I think I am calling it done:

Undercarriage with the beginnings of wear/weathering. I'll likely do a bit more when finishing up:

That is just dry brushed Tamiya Fl Aluminum.  I am thinking some small amount of rust and grime later, but not yet.

With the engine (last one):

Anyway, That is it for now.  

Keep up the great work everyone and sorry if I missed anyone's good work, as I am a few days behind.