[Savage GT]

Hi all,

I know these are a kit bash, and not a scratch build, but as I don't have the talent for the later I thought I would document my progress as a man of at best average modeling abilities.
If nothing else it will keep me motivated to see them through if/when things go pear shaped !

Anyways, I wanted a little project to keep me occupied, and when I discovered that Pendle Slot had the Monogram/Professor motor 60's car bodies in my plan was hatched.
As I am building them for home use, a pair is my preferred option, so of the 3 kits the '63 and '65 Ford Galaxie's looked to be similar sized, and theoretically would make a fairly well matched pair.

An email to Anjelo of Amato secured me a pair of 3DP Chassis.
These are an inline only chassis utilizing Slot.It or Scaleauto pods.
Trying to use parts as much as possible form my spares stock led me the route of using some slot it 20k Flat 6 motors with a 0.5 offset pod.

As these are a home use build, I wanted to keep as much detail and close to scale appearance as I could.
I have seen a lot of people build these and have them look like a "slammed"/lowrider car. Fine if these were set to be ultimate performance slot cars, but for a change I wanted to go with a more period look.

As the Galaxie Nascars of the period ran 15" wheels, I have compromised a little, using the plentiful supply I have of slot it/nsr 15.8 wheels which scale to around 15.5".
On these I will use NSR ultra classic tyres, which will be around 20.5mm after truing, giving me a high sidewall look appropriate to the period.

So a quick mock up yesterday with the first 15.8 wheels I found, slipped on some 21mm NSR tryres and added 1mm spacers between body and chassis posts gives me this look:

   

I think I will add another 0.5 to 1mm and that will have me about where I want, but that can be finalized later :)

TBC...

[Savage GT]

So today was time to start in earnest.
After I spent some time at the weekend drawing up some custom decals, I fired off an email to "Wraith" to secure his services in printing them for me 

I am a messy worker, so I won't be matching the pristine presentation and execution many of you here do :p


The 65 and 63 bodies were weighed, minus bumpers glass and interior.
Both are pretty sturdy plastic, but one was about 2g heavier.
On the heaviest one the boot  (.. hold on, as its American, the trunk) lid was separate and there was more plastic than needed underneath. 
So I trimmed some out as far as I could without compromising the strength, and managed to get it down to around 0.8g difference, close enough for now, once everything is in place I will re-weigh and balance them if required.
This shows what I trimmed, sorry I forgot the before pic !

   

That done and all the body parts attatched that I can before painting, it was time to see what to do with the interiors.
As the cars were originally designed for a sidewinder configuration, and I am running a long inline something has to give.
Normally if a motor interferes,  I remove the interior and replace it with a lexan one, but as I already said, I wanted to retain as much detail as possible.
For some reason, the 65 Interior fitted as it should, but on the 63 I needed to Dremel some of the rear parcel shelf and edges of the dashboard to get it to fit in snug !


My plan is to make a shallow tray interior So the Dremel came out sliced off the lower section.

   

[Savage GT]

Measurements were made and the appropriate amount removed. This also shows what I had to remove from the rear parcel shelf.

   

A test fit proved my tray was only just enough to clear the motor with no wriggle room, and the driver was starting to look worried he was too tall !

   

More plastic removed to give better clearance for the motor and the driver was removed and readied for major surgery.

   

[Savage GT]

After having cut away the base of his seat and everthing below his ribcage, his head was back in the right place.
As his hands were not correctly on the wheel, I cut and bent one to the wheel, and amputated the other to reposition holding the gearshift.
I dirtied and darkened the floor with a thinned gunmetal paint to attempt to give a bit more depth to the tray, it didn't work but I like the look so it stays !
The interior now weighs 3.5g less, every little helps

   

And some pics with the interior temporarily in situ.

   

   

Some tidying to do next time, and the second interior should prove easier now I know what to do !

[Fluff]

Hi Tel ,next time we meet I'll bring my two over , although I think you'res will handle better  .They look good be interesting to see the finished article .

Steve

[Savage GT]

Only little bit done today.
Finished Interior 2, and as it was black, stippled/dry brushed the floor with silver to give some variation.

   

I was looking at what inserts to use to best replicate the steel wheels these cars ran in NASCAR and the ones used on the Policar Ferrari P4 looked similar, but not deep enough. As luck would have it they fit neatly inside an NSR 15.8 wheel, so a few minutes with a 3.5mm drill by hand to deepen/open out the hole fixing meant they could sit deeper. After the insert and wheel are painted I feel they will be a fair representation.

   

That left me some time to prep and prime the bodies.
Painting is the bit I get most nervous at, as there are a multitude of things that can happen to set you back !
It's been a while since I did any, and in the past I have found a method that usually works out for me.
I am not saying its the best way, or the easiest, but its what I know so I will share it and you can draw your own conclusions   
I use acylic auto paints as I:  1. don't have the skill to set up an airbrush.  And 2. can't be bothered with having to clean said airbrush !

1. Fill sink bowl with warm water and a dash of fairy liquid.
2.Immerse body (and parts if any) in water and rub (or "key") the body/parts with 800 or 1000 grade wet and dry paper. (I actually used 2000 this time as that's all I had).
3. rinse under warm or mildly hot water and shake and pat dry with kitchen towel.
4. Place body on something to hold it steady and allow full access to all areas that need painting. I use an old CD "cakebox" base with spindle, a good sized blob of blu-tack on the spindle and press the body on (at the roof) so its firmly attached. Use kitchen towel to avoid touching with you fingers as this can leave body oils behind which can react with paint.
I also have an old pespex box lid that I place over the body and CD base to lower the risk of dust getting on. (Carrera ones are the best as they are biggest).
5. Warm oven to 50 deg C using separate temp gauge as oven may not be accurate or marked that low.
Place cakebox/lid/body assembly in the oven for 5 mins, in the meantime place spray can stood upright in a bowl of hot water, for a few mins, and remove and give a good shake.
6.Remove body from oven take too spray area, remove "lid" and spray a couple of light dustings of plastic primer all over from 5 directions, then one light solid coat.
7. Carefully place Perspex lid back over the base and body and return to oven for a few mins.
8.Move to airing cupboard and tell family not to go in there for the next 12 hours 

Repeat steps 5 to 8 for the colour coats. Some people will then clear laquer the body before decaling, I don't usually but will try it this time as it can apparently help make the transparent film on decals less noticeable.

Once dry, decal car and allow to dry and repeat steps 5 to 8 for clear acrylic laquer. 
Some people use Kleer/Johnsons floor polish as a protection instead, just whatever you prefer, but that doesn't need the oven method as its pretty fast drying.
I usually use acrylic laquer but some decals can react with it.
I recently had a painted car that came with separate decals (licensing issues probably as it wasn't fags or booze) and as I didn't want to risk reaction or taking apart the body, I used a fine sable brush and "Kleer" to protect them.

[Savage GT]

Pics of the Spray jig / dust protection device, AKA CD spindle and perspex box lid.
I must have thrown the olds ones I had out, as the largest I could find were Ninco ones, not the ideal Carrera.

   

This was taken a yesterday morning just before I sprayed the colour.
This morning was time for the laquer coat, and in true form it went a bit pear shaped 
While spraying, the can dripped some drops onto one car, So I went a bit heavier with my coating in the hope it will self level and sort itself out.
Co-indecently, all the other cans were sealed, this one wasn't ...
I usually use Halfords cans, but because of the lockdown I had to order from ebay and got Hycote. it was going very smoothly until now.
I can do nothing but leave it to dry and hope for the best now, this is why I hate painting 

[Savage GT]

Well spots visible but not as bad as I feared. Also a very satin finish overall not the gloss I was hoping for. Probably more correct for the scale, but I like gloss :P
So I flattened the spots down as much as I dared without taking off the colour, and then sprayed the cars with a known quantity, the remainder of my Halfords laquer.
Fingers crossed for a good smooth gloss finish 

[Savage GT]

Well that didn't work   
Every time I try and fix something, something else goes pear shaped, so I have given up and decided to leave as is and move on.

I drew up the decals in paintshop, and when I sent them to Colin (Wraith) to print, he mentioned it was 5 years since I last had some decals from him. 
If you read this Colin, you will see why I shy away from painting cars   

I always planned these to be representative of the era paintjobs, not a particular car, and although the red wasn't quite the colour I thought, I think it looks good.


Colin's decals were superb, as usual, and went on with no probs.
Windows surrounds are "painted" with POSCA pens, but I think I need to be careful as I will be brushing on "Klear" to seal decals in and I have a feeling it won't play well with the posca pens 


Anyhow, this is were I am at now, will build up my courage overnight for "Klear" tomorrow. 

   

[Top Down]

Nice. Certainly evocative of the era.