Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2016 5:16:44 GMT -7
This one only took 14 days and $16 to build, yet it is my best award winner and the one I get asked the most questions about. It does have 12 functioning LED lights and no external wiring.
I bought this kit several years ago because it was a clearance sale and very inexpensive. I probably thought I would give it away. I don't really like the Mach 5, however this one does not seem correct and therefore is much more appealing. For one thing, it does not have those weird Lamborghini style wheel openings.
Yes it started out as a snap kit, but I took all the snap out of it by drilling all mounting points. These points are originally hexagonal in shape so that there is an interference fit to hold the model together. I manually drilled them out so that I can take it apart in order to fit the electrical system. Once drilled I had to taper a few mounting posts for a true and complete fit. There would have been some significant body panel gaps if I had left it a snap kit.
I removed the over-sized rear view mirrors from the front fenders. I will not be installing the rear fins, so I used two-part Bondo to fill in the various holes.
I'm not sure where the tail lights are supposed to be on this car, so I thought I'd make my own. I started out by polishing up a piece of 7/32 OD aluminum tubing with steel wool. Then I cut a piece off with my X-acto miter box. Next I squared and deburred the ends. The LED is slightly tapered. It is larger at the wire end. So I had to use the rat tail file to enlarge one end so that the light will totally fit inside. That seemed easy enough.
Now comes the time in most of my builds where everything comes to a grinding halt. Puttying. While trying to make holes in the rear deck for the new lights, I discovered it was going to be a more radical surgery than originally thought. The holes had to be much larger and I have to remake longer tail light housings. Worst of all, my Bondo was destroyed.
After realizing what needed to be done, I made a jig to hold the tubing in place so I could Bondo around it. Then I put a light coat of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) on the tube, placed it in position, and Bondoed around it. Gratefully the tube pulled out with no problems, when the Bondo was dry. Unfortunately I needed to do some touch up putty work. It took four tries to get it right.
When my wife saw the tubing in the fixture when the Bondo was drying she asked, "Why did you make the hole so big, if you're just going to fill it in again?"
Being a real glutton for punishment, I slicked up the tube again and mixed up some more Bondo. Here are the results.
Next I drilled holes for the headlights and gauges on the dash. It was blank originally and no decals were provided.
I put some primer on it. I used my cardboard box paint booth, in the basement, while the wife was away.
While the body primer was drying I moved on to the interior. I wanted to try something new for me. I used self sticking medical tape to add some texture to the interior.
After adding medical tape to the seats and interior, I painted them with Folk Art 2225 Ocean Cruise acrylic paint that I bought at WallyWorld for under a dollar. I had previously drilled holes in the dash for instruments. I now filled the holes with Model Master Clear Parts Cement & Window Maker. I then shortened the shift lever, added some stick pins for dash, console buttons, and a turn signal lever. Finally I modified the dash and mounted one of the original fender mirrors for a rear view mirror.
This is a mock up of the chassis. The battery is in the rear. There is more room in the front, but the battery will not fit between the body mounts. Even the rear body mounts had to be modified to make the battery fit.
It's amazing what I notice after I post pixs. I noticed the tread pattern was wrong when I saw the mock up pix. They have been changed.
I sprayed some rattle can paint on it the other day. I let it sit for 36 hours and now it's baking on my improvised dehydrator, a floor heating vent.
As you can see, I used a trusty coat hanger to hold the body for painting. The front and rear lower panels are also in approximate position. See above pix of body in primer. This is so the paint will match when it is assembled.
I tried Testors One Coat Lacquer for the first time. I must admit I was impressed. It did cover in one coat and shined rather well. Since it covered so well, one of those little 3 once cans could do two or three bodies. First I used Dupli-Color gray primer sealer, because of some body mods. Then I sprayed one coat of Lime Ice #1835M. It has a lot of gold flecks in it. Then I sprayed it with a couple of coats of Dupli-Color clear. I am pleased to report there were no bad reactions between the paints.
The pix shows just one coat of paint. No clear. It was done in a cardboard box in a chilly basement.
I bought this kit several years ago because it was a clearance sale and very inexpensive. I probably thought I would give it away. I don't really like the Mach 5, however this one does not seem correct and therefore is much more appealing. For one thing, it does not have those weird Lamborghini style wheel openings.
Yes it started out as a snap kit, but I took all the snap out of it by drilling all mounting points. These points are originally hexagonal in shape so that there is an interference fit to hold the model together. I manually drilled them out so that I can take it apart in order to fit the electrical system. Once drilled I had to taper a few mounting posts for a true and complete fit. There would have been some significant body panel gaps if I had left it a snap kit.
I removed the over-sized rear view mirrors from the front fenders. I will not be installing the rear fins, so I used two-part Bondo to fill in the various holes.
I'm not sure where the tail lights are supposed to be on this car, so I thought I'd make my own. I started out by polishing up a piece of 7/32 OD aluminum tubing with steel wool. Then I cut a piece off with my X-acto miter box. Next I squared and deburred the ends. The LED is slightly tapered. It is larger at the wire end. So I had to use the rat tail file to enlarge one end so that the light will totally fit inside. That seemed easy enough.
Now comes the time in most of my builds where everything comes to a grinding halt. Puttying. While trying to make holes in the rear deck for the new lights, I discovered it was going to be a more radical surgery than originally thought. The holes had to be much larger and I have to remake longer tail light housings. Worst of all, my Bondo was destroyed.
After realizing what needed to be done, I made a jig to hold the tubing in place so I could Bondo around it. Then I put a light coat of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) on the tube, placed it in position, and Bondoed around it. Gratefully the tube pulled out with no problems, when the Bondo was dry. Unfortunately I needed to do some touch up putty work. It took four tries to get it right.
When my wife saw the tubing in the fixture when the Bondo was drying she asked, "Why did you make the hole so big, if you're just going to fill it in again?"
Being a real glutton for punishment, I slicked up the tube again and mixed up some more Bondo. Here are the results.
Next I drilled holes for the headlights and gauges on the dash. It was blank originally and no decals were provided.
I put some primer on it. I used my cardboard box paint booth, in the basement, while the wife was away.
While the body primer was drying I moved on to the interior. I wanted to try something new for me. I used self sticking medical tape to add some texture to the interior.
After adding medical tape to the seats and interior, I painted them with Folk Art 2225 Ocean Cruise acrylic paint that I bought at WallyWorld for under a dollar. I had previously drilled holes in the dash for instruments. I now filled the holes with Model Master Clear Parts Cement & Window Maker. I then shortened the shift lever, added some stick pins for dash, console buttons, and a turn signal lever. Finally I modified the dash and mounted one of the original fender mirrors for a rear view mirror.
This is a mock up of the chassis. The battery is in the rear. There is more room in the front, but the battery will not fit between the body mounts. Even the rear body mounts had to be modified to make the battery fit.
It's amazing what I notice after I post pixs. I noticed the tread pattern was wrong when I saw the mock up pix. They have been changed.
I sprayed some rattle can paint on it the other day. I let it sit for 36 hours and now it's baking on my improvised dehydrator, a floor heating vent.
As you can see, I used a trusty coat hanger to hold the body for painting. The front and rear lower panels are also in approximate position. See above pix of body in primer. This is so the paint will match when it is assembled.
I tried Testors One Coat Lacquer for the first time. I must admit I was impressed. It did cover in one coat and shined rather well. Since it covered so well, one of those little 3 once cans could do two or three bodies. First I used Dupli-Color gray primer sealer, because of some body mods. Then I sprayed one coat of Lime Ice #1835M. It has a lot of gold flecks in it. Then I sprayed it with a couple of coats of Dupli-Color clear. I am pleased to report there were no bad reactions between the paints.
The pix shows just one coat of paint. No clear. It was done in a cardboard box in a chilly basement.
