Mike, your work is amazing...especially at 1/25th scale! I’m curious, would a larger scale be easier to work on, or does this scale let you source available things like wheels/tires? Or are you scratch building those as well?!? Hope you will continue to post project progress reports. You’ve got a niche here!
@Shutter Speed, I've never fabricated a larger scale car, the most common of those being 1/16th scale, or better 1/3 larger than shown scale here. Tires and wheels are readily available from other normal kits, like Revell or AMT. Also motor parts. "Mag wheels" and the major motor parts are all from kits, I just cast them in metal using the "lost wax technique". Nickel alloy is my preferred material, it's dirt cheap and shines up like chrome if you stay with it, just very hard though, experience would be necessary. Almost like a steel. Chrome/cobalt is used too, even somewhat harder, just can't beat the look though. The only wheels I make from scratch are the wire dragster front runners, the 40 spoke, ultra thin wheels just like the big boys...here a look at ones I just finished these for this FED model using copper rims at 18mm, and silver plated copper wire at 0.20 and tires from a Revell dragster kit. All soldered together; Here also using same technique, just a 32 spoke wheel. I like the 40 spoke version better; Thanks for your interest! Mike..
@Dago88, many thanks, appreciated. UPDATE: I got ahead of things with the laced front wheels, so this update gets back on track. An aluminum seat was bent and added, and some individual zoomie headers were bent as well. For a car of this type, I like 3mm brass tubes, which comes out to a scale 3", a little too fat in real scale, but 2.5mm tubes just look too puny. This brass tube can't be bent in a tight enough radius without making pie cuts. All kinds of tricks won't help as the tube inner surface just bundles up and the outside curve collapses and rips apart, hence the 5 pie cuts, just as you guys would do with a dropped chassis segment on a hotrod. Same applies here as well. This way, the header pipes can be slipped into the tubes already positioned to the exhaust ports, and can be finely lined up and adjusted to be correct. I solder them up for the most part right as they sit, then pull them and clean up while off the motor. The tube lengths will be lopped off after the alignment is correct. Also added is the front axle, with steerable wheels, the axle being bent steel rod and given a high shine. The knuckles and spindles are brass. This will all be mounted as about the last unit, using radius rods from stainless steel hypodermic needles in the correct scale. I love the brushed shiny metal look! Also the rod ends are scratch built, they look almost real, and fairly correct in scale. One takes about 5 minutes to make, and costs about next to nothing. Aftermarket banjo fittings, which are actually a tick too large will cost you lots of cash....more fun to do them yourself. Thanks fellows for looking, I have a real good feeling with this project, and think it will look nice resting alongside The Old Master, later on down the road. Mike..
Here’s my recent build of AMT’s classic Double Dragster - a very HAMB friendly kit. I removed all the kit chrome playing using oven cleaner and re-metalized the parts by airbrushing Alclad aluminum, polished aluminum and magnesium over a gloss black enamel base. The molds for these parts are nearly as old as this old geezer so many hours were spent with X-acto knife and sanding boards to clean up flash and parting lines/ mismatch. Bodies were sprayed with rattle can lacquers, Tamiya Italian Red and Testors Emerald Metallic. It was fun to build a kit my big bro Dan built back in early 60’s. enjoy, John
Here’s another recent 60’s drag car build, AMT’s excellent ‘64 Plymouth 426 Max Wedge Super Stock, Al Eckstrom’s “Lawman”. This build really benefited from using Fireball Modelworks resin Carter AFB carbs and turned aluminum velocity stacks from Model Builders Warehouse. Orange was Viper Stryker Orange base from Scale Finishes along with base white, both clear-coated with Tamiya TS-13 lacquer. All other colors used were airbrushed Tamiya acrylics. Hope you enjoy my pics, John
Super clean build @John Barker, good looking car. Also very nicely presented, clear and well lit photos. I like this style.
I'd leave it as is if only they'd come up with a brass-colored solder. The stuff gets dark fast. The body will be blank though. Here's the cowl, already bent;
Be safe everyone, keep those models coming ! My scratch built wood body lakester, 1/25 scale, the rest of it from my parts bin.
Be safe everyone, keep those models coming ! My scratch built wood body lakester, 1/25 scale, the rest of it from my parts bin. A wood body lakester in 1:25. I'll repeat, a wood body.... Fantastic! Mike.. PS: An afterthought, do you build wooden ship models? Actually, these would be my first love. Historical wooden sailing ships. Big ones.
Thanks for the kind words, I am a hacker compared to the models on here. A far as Wooden ship models I built a Hobie Cat years ago but that is it. I have gone full circle 1:25 scale to 1:1 scale back to 1:8,1:16 & 1:25 scale in my silver years !
Blew it apart, gathered parts & whacked the roof. It is going to be an Orange Crate inspired build. Probably green cause I don't have any green builds. Finished the chop, not as much as the orange crate, wanted to stop wile I was ahead ! Bobbed the fenders, fit the grill shell picked the colors but not crazy about them, o well.
Great builds guys! Here’s a Hirohata merc I changed up a bit and built for a buddy. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Shure but I can't take any new ones, I sold it off 1/8 scale took up too much room ! Made those front fenders from a plastic container/ cover. Ho-Ho-Ho
The Jalopy Journal
