The 2015 /16 Red Hot and Rollin Automotive Group Build--Ended

Mustang, Really diggin' those rotors and calipers.

Misty, you and Tony are gonna convince me to build one'a those someday hehehehe.

Thanks Pawel.

Here's a shot of it with the tape off the roof. I took some 8000 and 12000 sandpaper and worked the trunk. It polished out nice for the few minutes I worked on it so I think I'm good. I did try some 6000 on the sides but it's still to soft so it rubbedthrough in a couple of spots. Once it dries hard enough I'll smooth it out and spray another wet coat on it. I also see in the photo where I got just a little bleed over on the roof but I put 3 good coats on there so it should sand out.

L8TR,

Eric.

The doors and trunk and cut out and hinged.  Now I gotta work on how I'm going to mount the door panels.  Trying to figure out if I should mount them and fill the voids with styrene and then paint, or paint everything and then join them after paint.  

I worked a little on the mockup stance with the wheels I'm going to use.  The front is as low as I can get it before I started digging into the fender wells in the engine bay.  The wheels in the back are a little bigger, but I think this stance will work.

Here is the stance with the doors and trunk open. I'm excited to plugging away on this one.  I'm hoping to get some paint on it by this weekend.

Lookin' good Tim. Say did you pick up on that article about hinging in the last issue of Scale Auto?

Taaron - Don't know what colour you are doing it but it even looks good in white plastic!

Joe - I didn't see it, but I don't subscribe to any magazines.  Doh!  I googled and looked at pic, etc.  Dr Cranky has some good videos on hinging.

Misty - Metallic black exterior and dark gray/light gray interior.

Tim

More progress today as I finished up the trunk.  I cut some styrene out and glued a piece under the trunk lid and to the bumper.  I drilled out a hole for the magnet on both sides to keep the trunk closed.  I also glued some styrene to the insides of the trunk area to keep it level.  Works perfect!

Tim

I like it Tim!!!

Tim, That is slick!

I finished painting the interior. I have a few little touch-up areas to do where I didn't get it masked. Then I'll hit with some mat clear to get rid of the shine. Also painted the final coat on the body. I like this color but don't care for lacquer paint hehehehe. Hope to get some more bench time today.

L8TR,

Eric

Nice there Eric!!! What color is the top gonna be?

Thanks Mustang.

It's Ivory. It's the same shade as the ivory on the seats.

L8TR,

Eric

That's gonna look swell!!!

Some really great work here, guys! Wow... I feel honoured to be in this company.

No pics, but the P34's front suspension is going, the interesting bit on the car, of course! Will add pics during the week, I hope.

The Lotus has had hid "Back in Black" layer added - and some stripes! The stripe decals are woefully designed and it gave me a couple of heartaches already. Mostly the sidepods and now I see the rear wing one has sagged a bit after applying microsol. Not much I can do about that now.  Sponsor decals to follow... 

I hear you on the decal blues Seabe. Still lookin' good though! Hang in there pal!

I got up yesterday morning and since I'm still lacking all of my necessaries for the brake lines and linkage I figured I would resume progress on the motor. I got the R/H bank of spark plugs all wired up. Still gotta do the coil wire but that aint nuthin'.....

Yeah Mustang, I nearly died a couple of deaths already. Started with some sponsor decals, hope they're better designed. The one that gave me the absolute heebie-jeebies... actually came out best! Incredibly, the decision was made to design all these line decals... with clear in the middle! The Silvering Elves must have had an absolute wet dream at that.

So, the obvious mare: look at the car. From the nose to the back runs two lines on the bodywork - one from the nose tip, one just beneath the top of the cowling, joining (well, the top one does) at the rear end. That... with clear inbetween!... is ONE decal, covering both sides. BTW: The same for the rest. Rear wing area, front wing, end-plates front and rear... all clear decal between those lines. :( Silvering Elves and their dreams!

One of those that looks easiest - the sidepod! How difficult can that be?! Just looking at it, you.ll see its not as simple as that. Firstly, the radiator intakes adds curvature. Secondly... oh sheet... yes, the IS actually radiators! Thirdly, the top line is straight, the bottom is... ehhhrrr.... yes... running around the curve, into the radiator from the rear, disappearing... and doing the same from the front. Now the fun part... it's designed as a single rectangle! Of course, clear joining EVERYTHING in the middle. No wonder it came out as crappy as it did. I realised some of the trouble and tried to cut out the center transparent decal and "break" the lower line. But yes, it was.... interesting.

I really do hope my decalling surprises are over - for this one, at least! The F1 experts (Misty, for one) will/might notice I am still to add the rear mini winglet (used in Portugal - at least!) which also has a line. It's painted, but still to be decalled and added...

Man, I must sound awfully frustrated. But it looks such a simmmmple kit, if raw. But some of the things left out are amazing. Decal design is one. RAIN TYRES?! FFS... of al races! Amd no seatbelt hardware, but seatbelt decals included... Seriously? BUT... I am taking it as a challenge and.... I must say, really enjoying this build! It does not fall together. It WILL have flaws in the end. But it is a really fun build, learning me a bit more. Isn't that what it's all about?!

Seabe. pinstripes are a pain but TBH yours look absolutely fine in the photo so dont beat yourself up!! I have a1/12 lotus 72D stashed for the future so any tips on getting them right are much appreciated!!!!

The fluid bottles, side plates and front suspension are on. The rear suspension arms do not look like carbon fiber but the front does, so it was out with the cf decals again.
The sideplates were a pain. they are photo etch and needed to be bent to shape before spraying/decaling. only when you glue on the silly pe attachment arms do you find out if its right. Needless to say the plates and arms needed tweaking to get the bu!%ers to fit somewhere near right.
then you need to fit the suspension arms through them, (there is literally no room for error or the arms will not go through and line up.) Again this meant a bit of re-positioning and a lot of praying (swearing) hoping the plates mounting points didnt become un-glued.

The only kit kit parts used here are the very bottom suspension arm and the two diagonal arms.
I could see no way to fit the bottom arm in place without ripping off the side plates.
it was cut into two at the bottom where it glues to the main body with a .005" razor saw, and a .005" shim was fitted to one part to maintain the right size. it was easy ( sort of) to slide them ointo place then.
to be honest i am surprised it all works.
And i have just realised i forgot to snip one brass pin to length.
next is a couple of wires, the brakes. then it is all but done!!!!!!

Misty and Seabe, those builds look great to me. We're always so hard much harder on ourselves than we deserve I think.  Joe, looks like another great engine from you. Some day I'll get up the nerve to wire one of mine.

Got this bad boy in the mail yesterday. Two Street Demons down....4 to go.

Hey Joe... If its OK with you I am finally able to start my build.

Afternoon all... I have been watching the amazing work here since the start and seeing these beautiful cars and trucks coming to life! This past winter I built the first car I had done in probably 10 or 12 years. Having known Joe for awhile he convinced me that I need to build some more cars, lol... So, I will give it a go and hope I can keep up with you all. I've chose an AMT 1956 Crown Victoria, as was with many AMT kits it could be done 3 ways, Stock, Custom, or Drag. I'm going to do it somewhere in between stock and custom, One you might see cruising the So. Cal roads or maybe just out on a nice day for a spin any town USA.

I guess being a car I need to get the body work done first and get the paint od so as to be able to allow a lot of drying time before assy.

Lots of flash and cleaning, filing, and trimming, finally primered.

Well first problem... I didn't notice this until primer was applied, its in the mold, not the paint, I'll just keep working the primer and wet sanding and see if it will conform.

That's about all I have for now, The blemish is getting better, I've applied the 3rd coat of Mr Surfacer 1200 and its drying now. Thanks guys...

Doug (Rigidrider)

That really is a rough old moulding   I think I would have been tempted to sand the door flat first..... or even bin it, but then I am an impatient waster  . I am sure you will sort it no problem.  

Hey Doug, welcome to the madhouse.  Don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that before, hopefully the primer does the trick.

Joe, I got my next build in the mail as well. I'm currently resisting the urge to open the box, but I don't expect that to last.  However, I've been working on the 'fiddly bits' of the Challenger and should be able to finish her up this weekend.

Alright!!!!!!!! Doug's here!!!!!!! Waaahhooooo!!!  Let the partying begin!!!!  

Heya Steve I'm looking forward to seeing pics dude!!!!

mustang1989

Heya Steve I'm looking forward to seeing pics dude!!!!

I was thinking I didn't really have enough done from the last pic till now, but I realized I do. Plus this is the last time she'll be in pieces like this.

Thanks guys... I've been with the forum for a few years but usually in aircraft. Misty and Raven, you know when I first looked at it it felt smooth and was barely visable... until the paint (primer ) went on. And yes, little by little the mr surfacer seems to be doing its job. Its almost gone , I had a 5th application before leaving for work this morning. Thanks again guys.

And Thank you Joe! Can always count on you for a fanfare greeting! Lolol...

Doug

Steve: Man that's looking great. Can't wait to see it all together!!

 Doug: No prob bruthaman!! Glad you're here!!

I haven't had much bench time lately, just piddling here and there.

Some down time in between helps me formulate some ideas, like do I want to throw in a roll cage and the fuel cell from one of my NASCAR un-builts.  It also give me time to order a few things here and there. 

I redid the trunk hinges, the first set was too big to incorporate any styrene and it wouldn't close right.  I also added some sheet styrene to the underside of the trunk to clean it up a little and hide the hinges as best as I could.  It may not look like the factory, but it will do for the first build attempting to hinge anything.

I will probably flock the trunk floor and throw in a factory spare tire, unless I use the NASCAR fuel cell.  I might relocate the battery to the trunk as well...  I haven't decided yet, but here is what I have so far.

Here's a mockup of the NASCAR fuel cell.  The hard part will be moving the filler hose to the rear, versus the side if I decide to go that route.

Hey Doug, welcome! That's the thing about gray primer - it highlights errors... somehow. A lot of auto guys tend to prime with gray first just for that reason. Sand the rough areas lightly and re-prime... not a complex curve, so should work out great.

Misty - that Mac is looking super! Which Top Studio set was it you've used again? I have that Japan version release - and looking at this result, it may be worth giving it that treatment... I think I may have a TS wheel set for that one, but that's it.

Tim: I like the idea of the spare tire, maybe a tool box with a couple of accessories like tools or the like if you're gonna flock it. The NASCAR fuel cell sounds good too but I dunno if I'd flock the floor in that case. Maybe aluminize the floor in that instance. Just my  That hinging looks good to me and the build is coming along nicely.

Here's a more clear picture of what I want out of the brake linkage and pedal setup to my brake booster/ master cylinder. I think I can pull most of this idea off really. The actuating rod will be longer on mine just because my brake booster/ mstr cyl. are mounted further back due to lack of room around the transmission to frame area.

taaron -  nice neat job boxing in the boot

seabe -  md29008 what it adds is mostly worth it, but it can still take a bit more busying up.

Front brakes have ben added and wired up.

Rear wing and cameras added.

Finished!! took much longer than I thought, but then I couldnt stop adding bits so its my own fault.
I'll take some pics of the whole thing tomorrow.