109 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

Don't rub it in Don.... .....you know I struggle with the painting and detailing.    The good news for me is for this livery all I have to do is mask the windscreen and blow on blue paint. No stripes, multi-color paint schemes not even any headlights to mask.  I'll be doing "mechanical detailing".  

 

[don.siegel]

I'm like you Rick, so I empathize... the only difficult part here looks to be the blonde hair and highlights... 

 

Mr. Rick, a new profession! 

 

Don 

[dc-65x]

One of my favorite pictures of the restored car.   

[Isaac S.]

Seen the real car 2-3 times at SAAC and/or Shelby American Collection.

 

Yours looks GREAT! The bright red Weldun at the rear is my favorite part. 

[dc-65x]

Thanks Isaac. It's cool that you've see the actual car.

 

Here are some period pictures of the car in action (I think that's Ken Miles in the cockpit):

 

 

 

Vintage slot cars with urethane tires on a clean dry track are tail out drifted just like Dave McDonald is doing here:

 

 

The restored car today:

 

 

 

It's SOOOOOOO low:

 

 

The cockpit all aluminum and black and the steering wheels shows the cars Cooper origins:

 

 

It has a transaxle sticking out the back.....

 

 

......and a zillion pipes and stacks:

 

 

I'm tackling all those pipes and velocity stacks next..........

[Martin]

Great research pics. Love that Cobra painted on McDonald's helmet.

Attached Images

• 
• 

[dc-65x]

Hi Martin,

 

I use the photos for more for inspiration than research.

 

Dave McDonald had a very cool helmet indeed. My driver will have a gold helmet without a visor. 

[Martin]

Will it be Revell Happy dude or?? Whats your favorite drivers head?

[dc-65x]

Pipes and stacks first Martin.    I actually did them before I started anything else on this project. If I couldn't get them right I wouldn't have used this body for the build. I think they make the car.

 

My favorite vintage drivers head is probably a toss up between the Cox and second generation Russkit.

[Isaac S.]

I love that top picture.  Looks like Riverside '64 (due to t-shirts, desert like surroundings and expensive Ferrari's). And I am fairly sure I have talked to the guy pushing the car. He was one of the youngest guys on the pit crew and was on the cover of an issue of Sport Car Graphic. 

[dc-65x]

I think the second picture might be the turn 6 grandstands at Riverside. I spent a lot of time there.

[Isaac S.]

So sad it's gone. It's my favorite track from the period. 

[dc-65x]

"Pipes & stacks".

 

Here they are molded into the Pactra body. The plastic is thick, .030" thick and it isn't molded tightly around the exhaust pipes or velocity stacks. See how the exhaust pipes flow out of their recesses and into the body panels:
 

 
Also the thought of accurately locating and drilling 16 holes in the body, then aligning and gluing in 16 individual pieces wasn't appealing. I ended up cutting out the molded in areas:
 

 
I used to make all my velocity stacks as shown below. It was very time consuming (at my age I'm running out of time) and not at all fun to do:
 

I wanted to make up some velocity stacks out of aluminum tube. Here's what I used to make them:
 

 
I put a short length of 1/8" tube in a hand drill and squared up the end. Then I put a drop of oil on the end of a center punch and pushed it into the tube with the drill running slowly. This will flare the end of the tube:
 

 
This is what you end up with after a little polishing with 600 grit sandpaper:
 

 
To drill out the body for the stacks I started the hole by twisting a No.11 X-Acto blade. Then I finished them with a taper pin reamer. It really leaves a nice clean hole:
 

Now I use Detail Masters velocity stacks whenever I can. The exhaust pipes are still made from 3/32" aluminum tube but at least I don't have to flare the ends:
 

 

I used a piece of .030" thick sheet styrene and traced the body openings on it. In the milling machine or a drill press with a cross slide vise the holes are accurately drilled:

 

 

I could also choose the size of drill bit that made a nice press fit. Pressing the pipes and stacks into the plastic on a flat surface self aligned them and made them stand up nice and straight:

 

 

Here's the finished piece ready to tape into the body:

 

 

This sort of thing is what I'm calling "mechanical detailing". As a machinist it's what I'm more comfortable with. I envy the artists with their magic paint brushing techniques of shading and painting eye balls and eye brows....amazing but that's them and this is more me. 

[Isaac S.]

Much easier than gluing little pieces of chrome on a piece of cardboard in my book. I also have to add that a piece of a scrap credit card works just as well as styrene. They come in the mail all the time so I just use that. 

[Martin]

Stumbled on this magazine cover and thought it might be of interest. Bob Braverman build I believe. 

 

Love that blue. I painted my first bike build that color 1967ish. Then it was called Blue mink.

Attached Images

• 

[dc-65x]

That's probably the best use for all those credit cards that come in the mail Isaac. 

 

Bob Braverman is probably my favorite "dawn of time" slot car builder Martin.

 

Next up in my mechanical detailing is that transaxle sticking out of the King Cobra's butt:

 

 

I decided to "kit bash" a model I know I'll never build. It's Tommy Ivo's 4 engine dragster. Rather than let my heirs send the kit to the landfill with the rest of my stuff I'll enjoy at least part of it now. As much as I love that dragster I know I'll never tackle all those individual velocity stacks and exhaust pipes for the 4 Buick motors.     

 

 

The kit's rear end is glued up, cut down, mounted to another piece of sheet styrene, and sprayed with Tamiya light gun metal paint:

 

 

The body gets a notch cut to accept it and the tail light got a dot of Testors ruby red paint:

 

 

 

[SpeedyNH]

that's pretty inventive!

[dc-65x]

Steve, here's something invented in the slot car dawn of time that I've always liked. They reproduced the Monza or racing style quick fill gas cap like the one on this King Cobra....

 

 

....with a straight pin and slotted head screw:

 

 

The Pactra body has a big blurry wart that's supposed to represent a gas cap. Time for more mechanical detailing. 

 

The pin is soldered in place with a good amount of solder to fill the slot and blend things together:

 

 

After some shaping and a coat of Tamiya gloss aluminum paint I have an old school gas cap to cover up the wart in the Pactra body:

 

 

OK, I'd better explain that rusty vise picture.        I don't want the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Cheap Miniature Drill Press Vises (ASPCCMDPV) knocking on my door.  

 

I have 2 of them. One I solder on, the other one I don't. I know after soldering I could wash it with soap and water or baking soda and water and blow it dry or heat it in an oven, then treat it with oils and preservatives but I don't. I just wipe the vise off and carry on with my project. 

 

Over time my 2 vises look like this:

 

 

To show that no cheap miniature drill press vises were destroyed during my projects and prevent the wrath of the ASPCCMDPV, I spent a few minutes with a wire brush and voila! 

 

 

Now it can slowly start rusting all over again and I can work on the wheel inserts.  

[don.siegel]

Thanks Rick, got a good laugh out of your comments on the vice squad... 

 

Don 

[SpeedyNH]

works for me! you're the inventive master. 

[Dave Crevie]

The color was called Viking Blue.

 

Nice rendition of the Hewland gearbox. Originally, the Cooper-Fords, as they were properly known, had Colotti boxes, but because the input shafts of those broke easily, some of the teams went Hewland. 

[Isaac S.]

Mine sure doesn't look that good!  I have had to weld mine together twice! Your cap looks great as always!

[Martin]

I painted my first bike build this color. Always loved it.

Did find this. Sorry about the screen shot.

Hope it helps.

Attached Images

• 

[dc-65x]

I think it might be time to share what paint I'll be using. I only use Testors enamels to paint butyrate bodies. It's what works for me and I enjoy using it. I did a spray out of their metallic blues:

 

 

I like the lightest one on the right #2968 for this car so I'll be using it. I have to spray paint outside and it's to cold and rainy right now. Time to get my shaky paint brushes out and tackle the interior........

[Martin]

#2968

Last night it rained a little down here, first time in 8 months or so. Sun is back out now.