211 replies to this topic

[Lone Wolf]

Great stuff and I applaud AMT for the improvements. Thanks to you too for fair and accurate reporting. My only gripe this time is the body color. Way back in this thread I suggested a molded in color body for the younger set and a "body in white" for the big kids. Perhaps they can offer the white body separately or as a Hobby shop/raceway only kind of deal. Might stir up interest as well if people have to hunt a little in the local store for one.

[Jairus]

Finally made some progress on the project this evening. Mounted the body on the chassis and have a plan...

 

Yeah... decided to build the first version of the Hurst Hairy Oldsmobile built in 1966!
Here are two views.

 

I'd like to be able to afford to pay Chris Clark to lay down the glassy clear coat... but money is pretty tight.
At any rate, the next step is removing some of the molded in chrome trim, priming and then laying down some paint. (My worst thing)
Rather go to the dentist... just saying.

 

 

"Can't take the sky from me...."

[Champion 507]

Jairus,

Thank you for passing on my suggestion back on page 3 of this thread for them to add Ford and Mopar to their production. I would have thought they would have chosen their '66 Mustang rather than the '61 Galaxie for the reasons listed below:

1. The '61 Galaxie was a year before all the 1962 model year cars they built for the Authentic Model Turnpike sets. I guess their thinking was that on the '61, it is made from ex-promo tooling and there is no engine, so the hood is molded closed.

2. To me the logical choice would have been the '66 Mustang, since one of their original line of post AM Turnpike cars included a '65 Mustang. AMT can't make the '65 again (without NEW tooling) since they changed the tooling to do the '66 when it came out.

 

This second round of cars is also supposed to have the set screw wheels and all the improvements that your 442 has.

 

By the way, nice job on both cars so far. Am anxious to see the finished products.

 

Does Linda come with the kit or did you have her hidden away somewhere?

[Joe Mig]

 

 

 

Say hello too Linder for me .   It is a great plan I cant wait to see it done.

 

 

Does Linda come with the kit or did you have her hidden away somewhere?

 

I think he only takes her out when doing an Hurst/Olds type kit then she goes back on the shelf.    

I have a great photo with her and I from back in the early 80's  .

[Jairus]

 

Does Linda come with the kit or did you have her hidden away somewhere?

 

Doug,
sorry that I forgot to mention... all the Hurst Hairy Olds bits come from a limited production kit released by Revell in 1998. The kit comes with a cast figure of Linda and a cast giant scale hurst shifter, both pre-painted.

The Revell kit is a re-pop of the 1967 car (now wrecked) and molded in 1/24th scale making installation of the interior impossible.

[slotcardan]

I signed up because i wanted to Thank the OP for turning me onto these new AMT kits.

 

I used Jairus's advice to build a one off Digital AMT car.

 

I don't want to hijack the thread but.

 

 

 

digital controller

 

led lighting

 

Modifiications i made:

 

Added a hoop to the rear motor mount to strengthen it

Made the front tires independant instead of spooled

cutout the frontend for a parma Guide flag setup.

I changed the body mounts for slotdoctor repop body mounts as well

I added lead as the OP suggested as well.

 

 

i wanted as full an interior as possible so i cut around the motor.

 

I can't wait to grab one of these new kits and start making more

 

thanks again!

Dan

[slotcarone]

 That's a beautiful build Dan!!!!  Even has Magnum 500 wheels!!!

[Jairus]

Dan, that looks BOSS!   

[TuscoTodd]

Jairus -

Thank you for putting together this posting!  I purchased the '57 Chevy kit for my father for Christmas - however, he hasn't had a chance to put it together yet.  After seeing some of the notable improvements in the second round of kits, I am tempted to purchase one of them to use as a donor to address some of the short comings of the original release kits, and give that to him as a follow up gift!

I have been looking at the 442 kit, as I am an Olds fan and seeing the improvements, I think I may just need to order one of these up!  

Thanks again!

[Jairus]

Welcome to the forum Todd!  Please feel free to post your build up on this thread.  John Greczula of AMT has a link to the thread and he is quite interested in what we have to say about the kits.
Also thank you for reminding me to get some paint on that 442!  Working on some other artwork today but shooting some color sounds like a nice distraction on this overcast Saturday....   

[Horsepower]

Dan, that looks BOSS!   

Seeing that car brings back some full scale memories, doesn't it?  

[TuscoTodd]

Jairus - Thank you for welcoming me to the site!  I started to do some searching for a source for the 442  online since my local shop doesn't carry them, and found on the Tower Hobbies website that apparently there are another 6 models being released in the coming months! 

 

1949 Ford Coupe - Late May

1969 Plymouth GTX - Late May

1980 Chevy Monte Carlo - Late May

1962 Buick Electra - Late June

1970 Dodge Coronet Super Bee - Jan 2014

1966 Ford Mustang - Jan 2014

 

Any idea if these models will incorporate any additional upgrades over the second release kits? (Not sure if John Greczula of AMT has shared any info on this?)

 

At any rate - definitely happy to see more of these coming out! 

 

Now, just need to pull the trigger on purchasing my 442 kit! 

[Jairus]

All news regarding new releases can be found on the AMT web site.

 

Also there are news blasts from many on-line sources. I would sign up for one of them.  It's easy... mostly just a click and fill in your email address.  My source is Model Roundup.

P.S. I don't believe the new releases will have any updated chassis parts.

[TuscoTodd]

Thank you for the note about Model Roundup - I will have to sign up there.  I had checked the AMT site  but apparently, I must be looking in the wrong area there - as I couldn't find anything about the upcoming releases on the slot offerings in their news releases - just the models that are currently out...  

 

Still stoked about it either way though and if all goes well will have my 442 inbound by the end of the week! 

[manitouguy]

great stuff and great posts all

thanks Jairus for continuing this

 

question - re the use of body mount screws (i too like them - keeps it somewhat 'period' feeling)

 

but is there any theory about the positioning of the pair of screws each side ?? of course they match to mounts on chassis

 

but in looking at your pics of the olds - was just thinking that placing the pair centered on the body panel side is quite static - could they be positioned closer to front wheel well for a more agressive 'balance' ?? or one just foreward of rear well, the other just behind front well

 

i know it is subjective and all, but doesn't seem anyone has played around with positioning to 'pretty' it up a bit

 

just a thought

 

can't wait to see more !!

 

cheers, Ron

[Jairus]

Ron, The ultimate body mounting is not on the rockers at all but by rods attached to the hood and trunk(boot). That way the rear screws can be loosened to help in tuning the chassis.  With the side screws there is no way to allow for tuning at all.

Update: Got the body painted a nice gold color. (Tamiya)  Masking and painting the gloss black stripes this evening. Later decals.
 

[Jairus]

 

Can you believe it?  I actually painted a hard body?
(Hate painting on the outside)

Note to self: Must finish two other, no... three other bodies now.

The plan here is to get this thing looking decent and then start testing the chassis on the local drag strip noting the times with each modification. The ultimate goal is to use as much of the AMT kit as possible while converting the chassis to 4wheel drive.  Crazy?  Oh yeahhhhhhh....

[Joe Mig]

Wow Janus I might be able to give you a tip,when you have the masking tape on give it a coat of clear to stop bleed thru it gives you a real sharp line.

[TuscoTodd]

Well I haven't gotten to the 442 yet, as I am still debating what color I want to go with on it (currently leaning toward a metallic black) - HOWEVER, I did put one of the other AMT kits I purchased together and have some insights and photos to share. 

 

First off, a couple items of note....

- please note that while the axles being supplied with the new aluminum wheels are a great improvement over the serated ones offered in the early kits, they are 3mm not 1/8".  So standard axles/axle bushings are not a drop in adventure (they are approximately .010" smaller)

 

- the front of the chassis has been revised - but I was still not happy with the range of movement with the stock two piece guide.  I ground the chassis back as can be seen in the photos following which improves the situation - but I think I need to upgrade to the Parma guide to get the range of movement I would like to see. 

 

- the motor adapter in my kit, thanfully did not need the step drill mod Jairus had to go through above - but did require attention as I torqued it down, as mine had enough variance in it that uneven torquing would pull it out of line slightly.

 

- the crown gear supplied in the new kits is a notable improvement, however, since I had a Parma unit sitting here, I installed that as an alternate.

 

- I followed Jairus's mod with soldering the leads, as I think that will be much more reliable. 

 

- I have kept the stock motor in it for the time being as I want to see how it performs - but have a spare Death Star sitting here that may find it's way in there if the need for more power comes along (I am guessing that will happen in the second outting as I'd rather have tooooo much power than not enough as it makes for a lot of fun fish tailing off the corners on the flat track!) 

 

- For body mounting I picked up 2" wide Velcro brand "Industrial Strength" velco and have to say, it definitely appears to live up to it's name in how well it both stuck to the body and body supports!  I think it may be a viable alternate to using screws, since you need to roll a phillips screw driver between the layers to seperate the two halves.  Time at the track will tell if this option has the required strength to keep the body from rocking front to rear without the solid locking of through body fasteners.

 

It would be nice if AMT would upgrade from the phillips screws to standard allen head screws for future kits as it would GREATLY ease setting up the body mounts and securing the two halves of the chassis together.  (I will be exploring getting the appropriate allen head screws for use on my next build)

 

Speaking of screws, anotherr thing to note - I attached my bumpers with screws - not just glue as directed in the instructions - I figured since they were kind enough to provide the provisions to do this, I was going to take advantage of it, independent of the fact that the kit did not include the screws or note that option in the instructions.

 

With all of that said, I am fairly pleased with how the kit turned out.  The only painting I did on this one was adding black in the recessesed openings of the grill and rear filler panel piece.  I wanted to leave the body in the "molded" color to both see how it would look, and since this is the first of these kits I have assembled, it is going to be serve as my test mule for modifications for the 442 model and any of the other kits I look to do in the future. 

 

OK - with that said - here are the photos prior to it's maiden voyage to the local track!

 

 

 

 

(shows a pair of the bumper screws and you can see the velcro attached on the body side in the back ground)

 

(another shot of the Velcro - this one including the velcro on the mount)

 

(general shot of the bottom of the car, with the body attached)

 

(Parma gear installed)

 

(shows modification to the front of the chassis to allow more movement of the guide - sorry I didn't take a before shot)

 

 

 

[Jairus]

Hey Todd, that looks GREAT!  You just need some hub caps to complete the look.  Or 5-spoke inserts..., but it's a sweet looking Ford!

 

Question, did you have problems tightening down the guide nut like I did?

[TuscoTodd]

Jairus -

Thank you for the kind words - I am definitely happy with how it looks at this point.  I haven't done anything with hubcaps yet as I figure that I will be working on "tuning" her for a bit - but the kit did come with two different sets - so I have some options right out of the gate I can explore if I end up sticking with the factory wheels / tires.  (I also have three different types of H&R Racing tires to try - silicon, fish and foam)

 

On the guide flag - yes, I had the same issue with the nut being a little too loose for my liking as well.  I put some thread locker on it to see if that would help - but it doesn't seem to be having the desired effect, so I may try wrapping the stud with plumbers tape as a stop gap, or may even look peening the nut to simulate a lock nut, to see if I can't get that one to work.  If not, I will snag a Parma guide (need to get a spare of two any way) on my next trip up to Mark's in Canton.

 

Speaking of which, I picked up one of the older kits ('66 Chevy II) from Mark's this last Thursday and plan to go a little farther with that kit (converting to 1/8" axles and wheels, soldering or at least upgrading the screws used to bolt the chassis / mount on, possible motor / gearing change, etc) 

 

But before I go too crazy -  I am going to try to get the Galaxy sorted out so I know what works and what doesn't.  Should be a good time no matter how you cut it though! 

[TuscoTodd]

Here are a couple shots with the much wider H&R silicone tire/wheel combo in place. 

(gives it a nice 60's hot rod look with the 5-slot aluminum wheels and white letter tires)

 

 

[Champion 507]

Nice job Todd! Looks like a Holman-Moody hot rod in the making. Now where's Fred or Fireball?

 

According to your earlier post, AMT will do a 1966 Mustang. That's the one I'm waiting for. My first slot car was a 1965 Mustang from them in late 1964. Too bad that car is long gone. I think it would be cool to have both of them side by side for a photo session...50 years in the making.

[TuscoTodd]

Champion 507 -

Thanks for the kind words!  She is going for her maiden voyage on the commercial track tonight at Mark's in Canton - hoping to be able to sort out what tires it likes and shake out any short comings with the guide flag, body mount, etc. 

 

On the Mustang, it will be nice to see the '66 come out - should make for a fun short wheel base kit.  The Galaxy body requires the chassis to be stretched to it's max to fit the body, so I imagine the handling dynamics will be completely different between the two. 

Speaking of short wheel base kits, I would love to see them come out with a '67 Cougar kit.  My father has a set of, Revell I believe, 1/32 Cougars that we raced when I was young and I always loved that body style!  (the detail on those cars isn't what these kits have - but still had a lot of fun!)

[TuscoTodd]

Following is a bit long - but is there for those that are interested! 

 

The short version though, is that I am happy to report that the new kit design, coupled with a couple mods noted, proved for an enjoyable experience at the track last night!   

 

And now for those interested - here is the loooong version... 

I spent quite a bit of time with the car last night, getting in roughly 1.5 hours of run time in without so much as a hiccup.

The motor, while not a screamer compared to the 16d based units in my Parma cars had sufficient torque and braking power to task the factory tires coming out of the corners (will say it's fun to see that Galaxy swinging it's tail out while powering out of the corners!)  I attribute some of the "tail happy" action likely being due the overall length of the Galaxy body and the fact that you run the chassis at the max length to match the wheel base, and then, that most likely wasn't helped with the addition of the two stainless steel screws (in the factory holes) to further secure the rear bumper.  (a little belt and suspenders effect there).   

 

The motor ran reasonably cool all night long which was pleasant to see, considering I was pushing it (and my novice skills) to the limit trying to identify possible issues while trying to improve my lap times.  

 

As can be expected, handling in the corners was the biggest challenge due to where the center of gravity resides.  Between the raised frame rails and weight of the body, too much speed in the corners was typically met not with a spin out style deslotting, but rather with going up on two wheels or rolling over. 

 

I did try a number of things to improve performance, some successful - others, not so much... 

With that here is a break down:  

 

- Frame modification for the guide flag:  (This was done prior to going to the track) This mod involved cutting back the sides of the bottom of the frame to allow more angular movement of the guide.  With the tail happy driving I was doing last night, I could have used about fifteen degrees more movement, but with the stock guide design and axle location, that is not possible.  But the added movement the mod allowed proved to be adequate 95% of the time with the only times it's short comings being readily apparent were when running the inside lane on a tight corner and drifting the rear out too far due to momentum.  

 

- Guide flag retaining nut:  I was not happy with how the factory nut fit the threads of the guide in that it seemed as though the stud on the guide was slightly undersized.  I looked at two options here, but only tried the first one - as it worked.  I was going to distort the nut slightly to tighten the fit, however in searching through my spare parts pile, I found a nut that fit the guide post nice and snug - so I went that route.  If that wasn't going to be effective, I did have a set screw collar that I was going to utilize as an alternate.  

 

- Guide flag depth:  I found the front wheels to hold the guide flag a bit too high for my liking.  To counter this, I added a second washer between the bottom of the frame and the top of the guide.  This allowed for the guide to be kept snug, while keeping closer to the track.  (this could also be tackled with smaller front tires - but would ruin the "look" in my eyes)  

 

- Gears:  As noted in a previous post, I opted for a Parma 31 tooth spur gear verses the aluminum one that is included in the kit.  While the set screw aluminum one was a notable improvement over the plastic one in the original kits - I was concerned about longevity and went with the Parma unit.  (it also runs nice and quiet that way as well!)  The 31 tooth gear was a good match for the large flat track and the stock wheels/tires as I was topping out (rpm wise) just prior to needing to get on the brakes for the curve at the end of the long straight - and that was with spinning sliding out of the corner.    

 

- Tires:  I ran the majority of the evening with the factory tires on the car.  I did not glue or true them to the rims - which may have hindered their performance some - and is something I will be looking at doing with an additional set prior to the next outing.  I will say though, after all the running, sliding, spinning - the factory rear tires are now "worn in" as flat and true!   In addition to having this set, I want to try gluing up an alternate set and rounding the corners slightly to see if that makes any difference.

For alternate tires, I had three different sets of H&R Racing tires and one set of Parma Tuna tires.  The H&R tires were foam, fish and silicone all 27mm OD versions - which are about .050" or 1.3mm larger than the tires in the kit - not helping the center of gravity, but giving the effect of a taller gear ratio and being wider, more traction.  The Parma units were .850" (21.6mm) - these lowered the center of gravity and gave the effect of having a shorter gear ratio.  

The best performance of the four at this point were the H&R foam tires, these tires cut my best lap times from 10.79 with the factory tires to 10.20.  Traction was notably improved with 50%+ more width over the factory rear tires and the effect of a taller gear ratio.  These tires did not allow for "tail out" exits from the corner unless you purposely tried and then it was just a short side step before they would hook up and go!  Even though these tires were taller and acted to cut the gear ratio, the lack of wheel spin exiting the corner on the long straight resulted in topping out the motor about 2/3's the way down the straight and due to the higher traction, braking could be done later as well, so it may be possible to go slightly taller on the gearing with this combo to get some additional speed on tracks with long straights (I am itching to try this combo out on the King track next time I go!)

In regard to the other three tires (Parma Tuna, H&R fish and silicone) - I think these tires were hampered by the fact that the wheels are designed for a 1/8" axle and I am still running the 3mm factory axle.  (I would love to see this changed on later kit releases).  The difference in bores resulted in observed run out on these units and due to them being "firmer" than the foam tires, resulted in reduced traction over that observed with "softer" foam tires.  I do have some old 60's vintage wheels set up for 1/8" axles that are the same OD as the factory aluminum wheels, so I may look at doing the upgrade to 1/8" axles to allow for use of the aftermarket wheels without encountering run out issues. 

 

But as noted - I am very happy with the results thus far and look forward to both taking this kit back to the track and building my next one!