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

Well I'm off today (as I am every Friday) and I'll be putting in a couple of hours at the bench like you.

I started work on the chassis this morning and am still sorting out the wiring issues. I also added a hose to the windshield washer reservoir. It's coming along sloooowly but I'd rather take my time and only have to do this once. lol

Will post pics in a bit.

Update: I just started over with the chassis because I'm going to have to change the ride height on it to accomodate the wheel/ tire combo.

 Still have to do a little touch up (don't I always?) but she's started...........

mustang1989

Dan: I forgot!! Nothing sticks to teflon tape. Crap! Scratch the teflon tape idea........but I think I have another idea. We'll see. Spare tire looks great in there!

Rob: Man do I ever understand that! There are times (far and few between) where I feel like I've overcommitted myself with GBs but then I remember that I'm handling it ok and only building in one GB at a time. Our paths may yet  cross again down the road. I will say that your input is welcome here anytime pal.

A Mustang...........?  COOOL!! Lemme know and I'll get you on the roster Rob! Oh and thank you so much for the tires. They came in yesterday!

Ok it's update time. I spent alot time this morning on the chassis detailing and painting the brake and fuel lines, removing all the seam lines and flash from the differential and the front suspension (this was enough to drive a sane man crazy)  and test fitting all the parts. I also broke out my spare kit that's molded in white and the spare tire set that I have for my 66 Mustang and put every thing together in a mock up to see if I could get the stance and the tire / fenderwell clearances I needed....particularly at the rear of the car. I had to mess with the spacing of the wheel backing a little but I got everything together and the mock up/ test fit yielded promising results.

 Here's how the stance will look:

Nice aggressive stance...and it was my pleasure sending you those tires!!

Hello!

I'd like to join with a VW Bus from Hasegawa - this one:

I plan to drop the suspension here - put in the ssuspension and wheels from a BMW like this:

I got this kit (BMW) on a yard sale, years ago - there were actually ona and half kits and have cost me 2$ - so now I've found out what to do with the leftover parts :-)

Here's a photo for a good start:

Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Welcome aboard Pawel!!! I'll get you on the roster pronto!! Nice start BTW!

Update: You're added Pawel! 

Today's update: I got started painting the front suspension and rear axle/ suspension. Not much in the way of overall progress but another step added onto the 2000 steps I've gotten through so far:

Welcome Pawel to the auto GB. Looking forward to seeing progress on your VW Bus.

Nice work on the chassis Joe.

Thanks Dan! Still need to paint the driveshaft and all but I'm looking forward to getting this thing on wheels finally!!

Joe it's going to look good with the wheels. 

Finally found some time to get the red paint flowing. I hade 2 oz of paint decated and still ran out. Here are the progress shots of where I'm at. The trailer is where I ran out of paint.

Great work guys...HEY, a VW bus...epic!!

Thanks Rob

Man what a job on that paint Dan!!! Wow! I see an award winner in the making here!

Hey fellas!  Man, you guys have been churning out some amazing stuff!  Can't help but feel a bit ashamed that I've made so few contributions to the GB so far.  Believe me, I've been hard at work at the dragster, but being a 15 year old re-pop of a 42 year old kit, the cleaning up has been most tedious.  I am happy to say however, that I finally have something photo-worthy.

The basic engine is almost complete, minus the plumbing, wiring, and weathering.  I had to scratchbuild the breathers on the valve covers as the kit ones were un-usable.  Cleaning up the headers was a 3-hour job, but necessary as no AM ones could be found. They were hand-painted with a Testors silver / black artist oil mix. All the chrome was stripped and different Alclad finishes were used to re-coat.  One slick is sanded (about a 45 minute job) and I left the other one as is to show that nasty seam I'm dealing with. Also, all the rims have been stripped for re-finishing, the blower drive belt (made from styrene strip) is ready for paint and the fuel pump is finished, ready to go on once the belt is mounted.  Sorry for the wordy post. Think I'll let the pics say the rest.......

Man that engine looks fabulous Mike!! Just the right amount of weathering and a ton of detail! Can't wait to see it all plumbed up and ready for action! The tires look great as well. What's your method of scuffing the tread part of the tire up?

Wicked Mike!!

Thanks Joe

Mike nice HEMI

Joe, Dan, Rob - thanks a lot for your kind words!

Dan - your truck is a real beauty! I had to put the build of my truck on hold because of the move to another town, but hope to finish it some day. Here's the link to the build: cs.finescale.com/.../127400.aspx

Joe - that Challenger is lookin' good! I love this car, even built this kit like 20 years ago. The front suspension is pretty detailed while the rear was bugging me - no shock absorbers! I added them in my model - how do you feel about that detail in your kit?

Mike - that engine sure looks good! Sanding those tyres does them good, the sanded surface looks much more realistic than the cast one, even if it was smooth.

I've been working on the chassis of that Bus - did some cleanup, filled some gaps and I cut up the front wheel wells to meke some room for the drop:

You can also see some parts of the sport Beemer front suspension that will work in my bus - after some mods.

Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

Mustang,

Could you add the 1/24 BMW M3 E30 to my roster? I'm going to work on this first for my Son-in-law's birthday.

Steve

Pawel

Joe - that Challenger is lookin' good! I love this car, even built this kit like 20 years ago. The front suspension is pretty detailed while the rear was bugging me - no shock absorbers! I added them in my model - how do you feel about that detail in your kit?

Lookin' good on the start up there!

Modelcrazy: You're build is added to the roster man! BTW that's a nifty looking build in the works there.

It's starting to show some promise.

BTW does anybody know what I should use for BMW OEM red? I realize they use a few different shades, I just want something that will match the most common shade. My son-in-law is no help. He just says "it was red". And he's a Beemer salesman too  

That engine rocks, Mike!

Wow! Amazing stuff going on. I'm hoping for some warmer weather so I can get out in the shop. Startin' to have plastic withdrawals hehehehe.

Modelcrazy,

I found a reference for your BMW on the red paint. It seems there was only one color (only one I was able to find) offered on the E3/M30. It is called Misanorot, and the code is 236. It is a nice red ( I googled it). You may be able to get some touch up paint from a dealer if you want to match it. :) It also looks close to the Wicked Red from Createx. May not be exact but it does look fairly close to me. HL carries it.

L8TR,

Eric

Thank you ewheeler.

I sent my  son-in-law, the BMW salesman, a text to see if he could pick up a bottle of touch-up for me.

One of the things that I find most surprising about the chassis of this kit is that despite the accuracy of detail spent on the basic chassis piece ( fuel and brake lines, contours and shape of the fuel cell and other details that I haven't seen on a lot of other kits) is that Monogram totally dropped the ball on the rear suspension/ axle area. Where's the shocks? I had to go to my donor newer Revell Challenger kit for those and they where way too long.

 This is how long they are....

So I went to work again. We start here:

and cut it at the shock sleeve area like so:

 I cut a little over an 1/8" off of it and drilled into the two halves

 Then took a pin that I had laying around and glued one end into the lower part of the shock

and cut the other half of the pin off to leave about 1/8" protruding out of the lower half and slid the top half of the shock onto the pin and glued 'er in place...

and presto! Shorter shocks..

I think I can live with the length now. A little more clean up tomorrow on the shocks and some top side mount plates and it's off to the painting process.....

Yup, super shrewd...coolio!

Looking forward to this build and seeing these wonderful cars.  I'll be adding a 1966 Shelby.

Tim

Hi Mustang,

Could  I join this GB please. I am in progress with a Tamiya 1/24 Porsche 911 GT1 EVO. I bought the kit some years ago with the pre-finished body, and it's been annoying me ever since, so I thought I might as well build it. As the body is pre-finished, it looks to be well advanced, but there is a lot of detail inside and on the chassis and engine assembly to get right. I'll post photos if you like.

If it's too far gone, no problem, I'll be into the next kit soon enough. Hopefully I can get back to double figures again with completions this year.

I'd also like to sincerely apologise to those who noticed my absence from the last months of the 2014 Automotive GB. I had some significant and unexpected  life changes and I guess I dropped the hobby for several months. Good news is that  I am back into it now. Thank you to everyone for supporting that GB, and the ones that I ran previously. I am very glad that this GB looks so successful.

Cheers

Tony

Hey Tony, glad to hear that things are on the upswing. No need to apologize, there are more important things in life than hobbies. That was an awesome GB, and one of my favorite badges. It's great to have you here, looking forward to whatever you build.