[KensRedZed]

GTO eye candy.

   

[KensRedZed]

Somewhere back on page 2 of this silly thread, I discovered my worst AW T-jet car was a black Vega with a very floppy cluster shaft.

It sounded like a chainsaw as it slowly made it's way down the track. I also said the driven and pinion gears flopped around like a dead fish.

I recently took the car apart. The cluster shaft measured 0.058", and the knurl was poorly made. The shaft was also scratched from the factory. I had a cut-off from an axle that measured 0.0615" diameter. I just needed to trim the length.

   

It was actually too tight in the chassis at first. I had to face an axle to a razor edge. Then inserted it several times into the cluster shaft holes until it shaved enough material to spin freely. Then re-assembled the chassis with the new home made cluster shaft.

   

Wow! What a difference this made! The car runs smooth and silent down the track now. It went from the noisiest to one of the quietest chassis I have with this one small change. You can see that the gears sit closer together. A lot of the backlash is gone. The car picked up speed. This was well worth NOT throwing the axle cut-off in the garbage. 

   

The Vega is sitting in paint stripper tonight to eventually get turned into eye-candy now that the chassis runs so well. To my eye, black doesn't suit that car.

   

[KensRedZed]

The Vega is almost ready for paint. It went back in the paint stripper for one more night to get all the small spots.

   

I took the time to remove the flash from a 1966 Corvair. Cool looking little car.

   

Before and after.

   

[KensRedZed]

One AW Vega, and two MEV Originals drying.

   

Vega body was dry enough to set on the bench. Porsche 904 and 65 GTO drying between the MEV bodies.

   

Ken

[KensRedZed]

I decided to take my least favorite car and improve it's rank. I really dislike silver on a car. The poorly designed flames don't help.

   
   
   

Tamiya metallic pearl green looks much better on this old car to me. "Sea-foam green".  

The paint spree continues...

[935 fan]

Good work there Ken. If all were sprayed with a Tamiya cans, I need to learn your technique! I use Tamiya cans too, but
always seem to end up with a thicker layer of paint. What is the approximate distance between can and target? Thanks for any info. Iain

[KensRedZed]

Hi Iain,

Thank you very kindly. I am happy to help any way I can.

I hold the pre-heated can 6 to 7-inches away. But also move the spray can across the body much faster to avoid runs.

There are a few short-cuts that help the body lines to come through. One is avoid primer unless it's a resin body. 3-tack coats, and one wet coat does the trick.

I hope this helps?

Here's the 62 Chevy with clear coat.

   

Ken

[KensRedZed]

Here's a Porsche 904 in Tamiya Candy Lime green before clear coat.

   
   

After clear coat.

   
   

[935 fan]

Many thanks for the detailed advice Ken   I'll try your technique on an unwanted Micro Scalextric bodyshell
and see if I can replicate your results!
Iain

[KensRedZed]

My pleasure Iain.

Choose wisely as you may end up liking your unwanted car. 

That's what happened to my 62-Chevy.