Days of Thunder Group Build

[MetroRacing]

I got a bit distracted this weekend

Mine's the Black one. I call her Vera

Searching out a model shop turned out 1 shop on the other side of the city, in the middle of a housing estate lol. Drove by 2 Halfords on the way and thought both times should I just go and find a close match in their range? Got to the shop and because it's basically and old corner shop I couldn't find anywhere to park as the streets were chokka with parked cars. So I decided to pop into Halfords and see what they had. I did need to go actually as I needed a green for the Buick, for which I chose Ford Moderna Green and for the Pontiac I decided to go with Ford Maritime Blue which according to the Label colour is a lighter version of Ford's Wedgewood Blue. When I got back I realised that it was still too dark for my needs and when I tested it on the newspaper I'd been using whilst spraying the parts, I decided to test Wedgewood Blue too and as expected both were too dark but also both that and he Maritime Blue seemed to match

So today I popped into Halfords with the Bonnet to try and find a better match and all their stock is either metallic or too dark. The best I could do was Rover Pageant Mid Blue so here's the result:

And one comparing the body with the Chassis:

I think the Darkening effect of being on the interior will help but it's still a big difference in shade. Oh well on with the show haha.

I've been doing a bit of detail painting on the cage and Chassis:

Also got the engine mostly finished:

I'll be priming the Buick tonight and also spraying the Fluorescent Orange sections of the Pontiac body hopefully lol.

TTFN Ashley

Edited July 4, 2016 by MetroRacing

[shood23]

Wow just read through the thread and I have to ask are you just a little bit crazy lol I thought taking on 4 at once in a build was too much but this is on a whole other level. Ironically I was watching a mello yellow nascar on ebay yesterday and was very tempted until I saw my other half's face when I mentioned it.

Great work so far I'll be watching along the way

Shaun

[MetroRacing]

Wow just read through the thread and I have to ask are you just a little bit crazy lol I thought taking on 4 at once in a build was too much but this is on a whole other level. Ironically I was watching a mello yellow nascar on ebay yesterday and was very tempted until I saw my other half's face when I mentioned it.

Great work so far I'll be watching along the way

Shaun

I'm as crazy as a cracked nut haha. There might be some breaks between cars when I need a rest or get a bit bored. I have some later cars I like the liveries on and a NASCAR Super Truck, as well as all my other Rally and Race cars lol. But I'm hoping to actually finish this project as it's cost near £300 just for 12 of the 15 cars plus then the diorama and if I want a display case... Oh God I need to stop thinking haha.

I don't know what the one on Ebay went for but Kingkit have a Mello Yello Pontiac Grand Prix for £20. Other than the DoT Lumina the only other I know of is an AMT Thunderbird in that scheme. What the other half doesn't know won't hurt you hehe

Ashley

[kpnuts]

That is one epic diorama you've chosen there, I've built a few dios and that is ambitious even for my standards I will be watching this one

[MetroRacing]

Thanks for the comments guys Lets hope this dio doesn't end up like the old Top Gear then, Ambitious but rubbish. And then cancelled

Ok time for an update.

I wanted to test out the AMT decals so I chose to apply the bonnet one. I'd read about the glue AMT use on their decals remaining white or turning the carrier film white after application and I really thought it was coming true after I had it one as the carrier film was milky in colour. I also had to remove white blobs from under it which I assume were bits of glue that hadn't liquefied in the warm water. I decided to apply Microsol over the top despite numerous sources stating absolutely not too. The edges started to wrinkle and I used the opportunity to further smooth it out and once dry the carrier film is clear and barely visible, with the decal snuggled down nicely into the creases.

This pic was taken before the Microsol application and the carrier film is a bit milky especially around the top, and you can easily tell where I cut the white stripes as part of the 1990 Livery off. Now you cant really and once clear coated it should look painted on hopefully

The last couple of days I've masked and painted the Fluorescent Orange sections o the body:

Looks good right? Well when I applied the first coat I realised it needed a white base coat as the paint was basically like a clear orange

So once it was dry I went over with white primer followed by another coat of Orange. The orange paint crazed and cracked the primer

This morning I sanded it back and tried another coat of Orange but guess what? The areas I'd sanded back through the primer to the blue where still visible.

Just round in circles and whilst I still had some Orange paint left I felt the best thing to do was strip it back and so in the Dettol it sits:

I'm looking at getting a replacement to donate it's body just in case and my Friend is currently looking through his attic stash lol.

Ahh it just wouldn't be one of my builds if I didn't mess up the body. Hopefully is doesn't happen to any of the others as there's a lot of them to come lol.

Anyway the build marches onwards to good news:

The Buick has its coat of Ford Modena Green and aside from looking a bit Tractor-ish (Hello deer )

It's a good looking green. Not a perfect match but a good substitute I think.

The Thunderbird has made headway too:

I've left it so the cage and chassis separate down into these parts:

The fuel tank, swirl pop and rear cage brace and Kicker bars:

The front frame and Radiator mountings:

And the main cage structure:

Now this little piece is fast becoming a mortal enemy lol:

The way it mounts means that when the main cage structure is fitted correctly it's near impossible to separate them again. I know because I broke it back off when doing so. I haven't even tried to fit them back together again. I think the next time I do that it'll be one finally assembly lol.

I have a day off tomorrow so I should be able to get a good bit done. I'm going to continue building up the chassis for the Pontiac and get it to a stage where its ready for the body, whenever that gets done haha. Looks like the Buick will be the first to get finished then. I'm also hoping that my order for the majority of the rest of the cars will come over the weekend. It's currently in transit

TTFN Ashley

[MetroRacing]

Ok so last night I made my usual start on the chassis and cage of the next kit and I thought I'd show the build process of it. As far as I'm aware there's only 2 designs of cage for these monogram Stock car kits. The GM stable cars and the Ford's. As I still have 1 Thunderbird unstarted I'll do the same show build for that as well but this one will be for the GM chassis.

The kit I've started:

So tempted to steal the body for the STP car but I'm managing to restrain. For now

The first thing I did was to go through the instructions and locate all the parts needed. When that's done you should end up with a pile like this:

I start with the Frame and the Upper A-arm assembly. (Names courtesy of the Instructions lol)

And assemble as so, making sure its the correct way round. Big problems later if you get it backwards lol.

Next I tackle the main cage structure, deviating away from the Instructions way of assembly.

You'll need the cage sides and the firewall piece.

And boom! things are starting to come together

Next up the Roll bar:

Like so:

Again you need to make sure its the right way round. This one features a padded head rest so it's easy to get right but the Buick cage doesn't as it's a later year.

Next is the Petty bar.

A right faff this is. First you need to turn it over and feed it through this gap in the bars:

As you're feeding it you need to turn it so its the right way up again at the same time. Eventually you get there and have it lined up like so:

This is where superglue comes in handy as you can glue each attachment point separately and quickly be able to move to the next.

You need to make sure where the bar passes through the cage it's located to the right (Viewed from the back) of the slot. The next part fits in the same place but on the left lol.

The next piece is the Stiffener:

Again make sure you have it the right way up. I does only fit one way but can be confusing if you have it wrong lol. It fits like so:

The front bar goes through the firewall so it has to be fitted from there first.

Finally for the main cage structure is the Brace which is the fiddly blighter.

I recommend a slow setting glue for this one. Also test fit the cage onto the frame to get to know how to bring them together and get and fettling out of the way if needed. Once that's done glue the Brace to the Stiffener bar and once it's set enough to hold itself in position, mount the cage to the frame and use Tape to secure it.

Now prod the Brace into the depression in the floor and leave to set fully.

It should look like this once done:

Finally we can move onto the final pieces. The Fuel Cell and Kicker bar:

Mount the Fuel cell to the Frame but don't glue it down. The fit should be tight enough to hold it in place.

Also noted is that the main Cage is fitted to the frame. This stage can be carried out whilst the 2 are taped together from the last stage.

Line up the Kicker bar and glue it to the fuel cell piece and hey presto you have a NASCAR chassis lol

The Dashboard piece is best left separate, so your finished sub assemblies will look like this:

Hope that proves of interest to someone lol. I'll be doing the same for the Zerex Thunderbird Chassis when I get round to it.

TTFN Ashley

[Hamden]

Looking good so far - me I would end up getting bits mixed up between models and ended up with a Frankenstein monster!

Roger

[MetroRacing]

I only 'build' one at a time but I can prep the rest as I go. Then they go back in the box till its time for them lol.

I've had a bit of a mishap this morning

I'll explain later with pics.

Ashley

[MetroRacing]

Ok so I reported a mishap. And here it is:

Yep the clear coat wrinkled the decal. So aside from a new body, as the Dettol doesn't seem to be doing anything; I now need a new decal sheet

I tried sanding it in a vein hope I could flatten it out and re apply the clear.

Yeah that went well. I think the carrier film must have started to separate from the actual colours a I was making progress once I'd sanded through the clear and the carrier film. But then it's all too easy to damage the colours beneath.

Been making some progress on the rest of the car but I'm a little deflated and will probably switch to the Buick full time now.

TTFN Ashley

[shood23]

Shame about stripping them back. I actually thought the orange and blue body looked pretty good all roughed up, mist would have looked not too new after a race with Cole trickle lol

Shaun

[MetroRacing]

It has been nagging me that I could have used the paint mishaps as part of some weathering. Well I still could. The body is very clean but still firmly blue and orange lol.

But I think the decal mishap on the bonnet would be tough to incorporate. Then again in the film there is a crash where Burns uses the pit manoeuvre on Petty's car. One of the screen caps at the start of this thread shows the start of it. Maybe I could bash up the Pontiac a bit and have it crashed as part of the dio. Hmmm...

Ashley

[MikeGTC]

S$$t happens

But not fun when it happens on the models we build!

Did you use decal set/sol? How long did you wait to clearcoat it once the decals were on?

Mike

[MetroRacing]

S$$t happens

But not fun when it happens on the models we build!

Did you use decal set/sol? How long did you wait to clearcoat it once the decals were on?

Mike

I have a plan for the Pontiac. Sort of lol.

I only used warm water for applying the decal. Then a bit of decalfix under the carrier film around the edges when I saw it had white blobs under it. After I dried it off I then applied microsol over the whole decal and smoothed it out and left it for just over 24hrs before clear coating.

Usually that's plenty if time. What I think happened was my spray technic for the clear was mist from a distance and gradually get closer until it was a full wet coat. The clear would probably be quite 'hot' by then and I think that's what wrinkled the carrier film up.

I'll explain my plans for it better tomorrow when I post a full update.

Ashley

Edited July 9, 2016 by MetroRacing

[MetroRacing]

Ok What do you guys think?

I'm going to get another donor kit and decals for a pristine body, but I'm also going to try and build a wrecked version.

What happened here is when Shaun mentioned the body looking like it had bumper scuffs, and me then remembering that this car was involved in one of the early crashes in the film. I'd had the bonnet in a bath of white spirit for about 30 minutes. I immediately retrieved it and whilst drying it with a paper towel the Paint started to come off. Strangely only the Halfords paint and not the Tamiya underneath Luckily the decal didn't come off and my rubbing the rest of the paint off helped create a decent damage effect.

I'm planning on doing the same with the body but am unsure whether to decal first like the bonnet or after. I Think I'll need to invest in some weathering powders too. All I have at the moment is a brown wash I use for mud.

So what I've done now is to switch over to the Buick as the main build at the moment and I've swapped over any parts that were painted or partly so, so I don't have to repeat myself and drag my already deflated mood down further. It must have worked as I'm feeling motivated to get on with this.

Some parts that I've swapped over are the Shocks:

The radiator, Water bottle and Steering wheel:

The Engine and Exhaust:

And the Suspension and Transmission parts:

Detail painting of the chassis and cage was done rather swifter than on the last one lol.

The seat for this year car is a little weird:

I'm still working on the dash and the body now needs the White and Gold stripes painted on. I would use the decals for those if I hadn't have changed the body to a later shape lol.

I've also primed and painted the Thunderbird chassis. Though looking at the pic I've forgotten a piece

TTFN Ashley

[MetroRacing]

Ok here's todays progress.

Dash fitted:

Seat, Extinguisher, Shifter and Water bottle fitted to chassis:

Suspension fitted:

The rear suspension was fitted too, but I've forgotten the prop shaft so that'll have to be added later lol.

Engine and Radiator fitted:

Chassis complete:

The exhaust will need a touch up and the Goodyear logo's painting white, which I'm not looking forward to lol.

At the minute the body has been masked and the white sections painted. Once they're dry I need to mask for the gold stripe.

I'm probably going to decal the bonnet first like the Pontiac but I'm going to leave it for a week before clear coating. don't want to ruins these decals too :/

TTFN Ashley

[shood23]

Glad to have inspired in some way with the bashed up car. With the bashed up cars it would be a perfect opportunity to try and simulate dents by heating up the body a little and pushing it in in places with something. But again this is just me spit balling ideas lol

Shaun

[MetroRacing]

Shaun that's exactly what I'm planning to do. My friend told me he used to do it when things didn't go to plan with his. So I'm one step ahead of you this time lol.

Ashley

[MetroRacing]

Just like Christmas lol:

Just what I've always wanted

TTFN Ashley

[Deadman Disciple]

Thats some awesome progress indeed.

Especially with the rollcages & from previous experience they aint easy.

Nice work, keep it going.

Wayne.

[MetroRacing]

Thanks Wayne.

Tbh I don't find building them a challenge really. They certainly aren't the best regards fit engineering but once you've thrown out the instructions and figured out your own build order, it all goes together very quickly lol. Its the paint and decals that'll get ya haha.

Ashley

[Nick Belbin]

Wow - you're certainly cracking on with this project!!

[MetroRacing]

Haha yep. Although detailed they are simple kits. Plus nearly all having the same chassis underneath, you quite quickly end up getting a production line going lol.

Like I've mentioned it'll be the bodies that take up all the time in the end.

A quick update on my order from the US. Looks like I've been hit by customs charges according to the Parcelforce tracking If the postage was $80 why didn't that include the import duty? Oh well I'll just have to see what the costs are. I'm hoping not too much as I've just made an impulse order with Amazon and Jadlam racing I wonder what's behind the sofa lol.

Ashley

[MetroRacing]

Ok I have an update coming but I thought I'd get this out of the way first.

This is my build method of the Ford Thunderbird chassis which is different from the one used under the GM bodied cars.

First all the parts needed, save the one piece I forgot

First I start with the main cage section and these 3 parts. The cage sides and the firewall:

Again I used the Main frame to help align them and when done you should have something that looks like this:

Next up is the Roll bar:

Pretty simple so far:

Now you need the Stiffner bar, the one I forgot earlier lol:

This bit is very important. The rear of the bar needs to sit in the right notch next to the diagonal bar:

The bar fits into the hole in the firewall like so:

Again using the Frame will help align the downwards bar correctly.

Next up is the Cross Brace:

Again like the GM chassis it needs to side through the bars at the back, however its an easier job as it doesn't need to be rotated at the same time:

It all fits together like so:

Ok will me so far. That's the main Cage section complete and now we move onto the Fuel tank and Kicker bars:

Yep I got a little carried away and forgot to take a before pic

It fits onto the Frame like so, Shown with the Cage fitted too:

Next we move onto the Frame and the Axle Brace:

And together:

See easy isn't it

Ok now's the hard bit. Shown here is the Shock Brace fitted to the Frame. The cage is fitted to aid location:

Now try and get the Frame and cage apart without breaking it back off

Anyway while it's all together you can use it to help glue the next parts, the Front Frame and the other Shock Brace:

First fit the Front Frame like so:

And when you've glued the Shock Brace it should look like this:

Ok final bit of assembly here, the Frame and Nose Brace:

And on it goes:

And if you've taken you're time you should end up with these main pieces:

That's the Floor, Main Cage, Front Frame, Fuel Cell and the Rear Shelf

Excuse the pics, My Phone Camera's been playing silly Buggers with the Lighting and Focus since an Update

Right proper update on progress is coming so bare with me.

TTFN Ashley

[MetroRacing]

Oh boy look what happens when my Camera behaves itself lol.

The Quaker State Buick has it's decals on:

The last pic shows the only downside of using the Decals designed for the '89 car. the edge of the Diehard logo is cut to follow the line of the Aluminium light panel for that year car. The decals are definitely strange. Due to their age the glue has turned brown and I assume it's supposed to, but when submerged in water peels off in the water. the remaining glue sort of dissolves into a white cloudy mess. luckily it dries clear otherwise the large clear sections in the Q's would be milky lol.

The Body is being left for about a week before I attempt to clear coat it. I'm not hoping for a repeat of the last endeavour with Decals. I'm hoping that was because they were AMT decals and not Monogram. whether that actually makes a difference lol.

I've been working on the Thunderbird now and the Body has it's two tone colours:

See what I mean about My camera? The Second shot it chose to adjust the White balance as if it was an indoor night scene And if I turn it onto Manual mode so I can adjust the white balance myself, the Auto Focus decides it's on work to rule

The dividing line for the White and Black was done by eye and I actually got both sides level with each other. I just hope they're in the right place for the decals lol.

Anyway that's it for tonight. I'll post an update either tomorrow or the day after as my large order is being delivered tomorrow

Had to pay a £33 Duty and 'Handling' charge on it too

TTFN Ashley

[marc]

Looking good Ashley. My one and only attempt at a nascar ended abruptly when I found I had the clear spruce for a thunderbird as opposed to the Monte Carlo I was actually building