Tidying up the display cabinet II: Past kitbashes

In trying to make room for new stuff, such as the recently completed 1972 Skyline 2000 GT-R, I've been looking through the cabinet and I've cleared out a bunch of junk, some of it dating back 30 years. However, while most of it is clearly at the rat rod end of the spectrum in terms of quality of execution, I came across some interesting engineering studies in the vault, and I thought it might be nice to get pictures and text out there, in case it provides some ideas for others. So over the last few months I've spent some time assembling this post, and a second one to come, as I've sorted through the collection and moved the real junk to the parts bins for reuse. So if you like something here and wind up building something better-looking on a similar theme, please let me know. So let's get to it!

First is a design study showing what a Honda version of a Toyota MR-S might look like. The engine is a 1.8 four with carbs taken from a Japanese kit of the Prelude, with the entire drivetrain transplanted to the rear. (The Prelude came to a bad end as a result of trying to shoe-horn a GMC Jimmy V6 into the back seat. I'll spare you the gory details; suffice it to say that it doesn't fit).

The front suspension is the former Prelude's rear, and thus lacks steering; at 1:1 you would get a second front subframe and steering assembly from a scrapyard. The chassis is scratch-built, and the body, which was painted by brush (can you tell?), is a significantly carved-up Dodge Stealth (a.k.a. Mitsubishi 3000 VR4). I cut up several of these AMT Dodge kits and both bodies and engines from this kit (which doesn't appear to be available any more) will reappear later. This is, I think, entirely feasible at full-scale from an engineering perspective, although arguably there are plenty of GM FWD V6 chassis out there to pilfer from, providing plenty of torque for a sports car weighing a tonne or so. The body just requires some inventive fiberglass, much as the Brits were doing starting in the 1950's. The compact drivetrain allows for a very long hood which might fool you into thinking the engine is up front, and at 1:1 it may be that the cowl should be moved forward to improve the cockpit.

Next is one of the Dodge Stealth drivetrains, turned around and inserted into the back seat of a Japanese kit of the Suzuki Samurai. The Suzuki has had a horizontal body section, and the cockpit has been moved forward to make room for the twin-turbo V6 in the rear seat/parcel shelf area. The chassis retains the AWD system from the Dodge, except the front subframe is now in the rear and vice versa. It is assumed that there is a gearset somewhere that can be inverted, otherwise it will have one forward gear and 5 reverse gears ... a minor engineering detail to be worked out by the builder, and one that is easy in some cases, such as with old Beetle drivetrains converted for mid-engine use. This is a little harder to do properly at full-scale; given the small amount of space available in the back seat of the Samurai, it would work better with one of the longer-wheelbase variants.

With all those leftover Stealth bodies lying around, what better than to shove in a big block and some drag slicks. The Stealth was sold as a high-tech device, and this is the brute-force conversion: cubic inches and solid axles. The mechanical bits all came from the parts bin. The top chop involved tilting the roof forward on the C-pillar, which was not cut; the cut came from the A-pillar. Yes, yes, the engine is not straight in the chassis. Crude but effective. Probably not worth trying at full-scale.

In the same vein (big-block brute force inserted into a high-tech Japanese GT), the Acura NSX acquires a Ford 427 motor and blower, again from the parts bin. The transmission is modeled with a quick-change Halibrand diff from the parts bin; it should really have a proper transaxle in this location, but these are hard to come by in conventional kits. All the chassis bits are from the NSX which would probably be turned to pretzels by the torque of the blown motor, so don't try this at home! The purpose built scoops for radiators and air intake are particularly nice. Having to move the cockpit forward by about a foot at 1:1 means this would probably not work at full-scale, unless you were prepared to stretch the wheelbase, as normal people would not likely fit.

The Fiero below has a Blazer V6 drivetrain turned around and inserted in the back. (This is the same trick which failed with the Prelude). The transfer case intrudes into the passenger seat area, which probably means a pretty thin seat cushion on that side. This is probably not completely unrealistic at 1:1. (Apologies for the lurid colour scheme).

So that's a first pass at the topic; like I said, it tilts towards the rat rod end of the spectrum when it comes to fit and finish, but from an engineering perspective much of it makes sense. Stay tuned for more as I get around to posting, there's probably another half-dozen of these in the pipeline.

'72 Skyline: glass with Micro Krystal Klear

A number of bloggers and correspondents have recommended Micro Kristal Klear glue, from Microscale Industries, for clear parts, so I got brave, picked up a bottle at the local hobby shop and gave it a try on the front and rear windshields on the Skyline. (Unlike a lot of hardtop models, the glass is 4 separate pieces, not a single big molding).

The glue is white, sticky and high viscosity; it goes on thick, a bit like the white glue that we give to preschoolers to use with construction paper; it sticks to the brush and does not want to run into crevices which is both good (no messes) and bad (no contact between parts unless you push it in with a brush or other implement). It dries very slowly so you've got lots of time to move things around, and excess can be mopped up with a wet paper towel until it's dry. I left it for 30 minutes and tried to remove some fog on the inside of one window with a wet tissue, but the fog kept coming back and eventually the window fell out -- it turns out I was dissolving the glue around the rim of the glass and spreading it around, making new fog. I cleaned up the glass, put it back in with more glue, and let it sit overnight (upside down so as to avoid gravity loosening it).

That seemed to do the trick; as it is 4 separate pieces of glass, there is a possibility one or more could fall in once complete, and I would really like to avoid that scenario. (Being a bit paranoid, I added a drop of the old Testor's glue at each corner of the glass, just to be safe ...).

I also used the Micro stuff on smaller glass bits, like headlamps and turn signals. For the first time, you can tell I didn't get the headlamp lenses in perfectly straight; normally they would have been all fogged up and it wouldn't have mattered.

Not knowing if it will adhere to paint or chrome, I scraped as I would have in the past, but maybe I'll try gluing without scraping on some scrap bits from the parts bin, just to see. The stuff seems too good to be true; not having to scrape would be mindboggling.

The rest of the finishing touches worked out well and the finished model is one of my better efforts if I do say so myself. All the little trim bits went on OK, the paint and glass survived the handling, and the engine looks good with the red wiring. The only real screw-up was the front license plate decal, which I fixed by the simple expedient of leaving it off. (Bet you hadn't noticed). So the approach of getting the bodywork out of the way early has paid off in that final assembly took an hour, not the usual frustrating full afternoon with the end in sight but all these annoying little details, like door handles, to get out of the way first. (Looking at the high-resolution under-hood shot, I noticed and fixed a chip in the heat paint on the exhaust manifold and some excess silver around the wingnut for the air filter. I also added a touch of silver to the three strut tower bolts on each inner fender. Time to quit futzing around.)

Next up: The matching '90 Skyline? Fresh from a success story, an alternative is to get to work on one of the six Profil 24 resin kits that have been sitting on the shelf for close to two years in some cases. Wiring up the 908 motor, with its 16 spark plugs and 8 injectors, is another option. Maybe I can even arrange an alternative throttle return spring mount, which has been the psychological holdup. Nothing builds confidence like success. Yippee!

Auto show highlights (1:1 scale)

Here are some interesting highlights at 1:1 scale from the recent auto show here in town, perhaps of interest to kitbashers as a source of ideas. Get your saws out and read on.

First up, a Mini tow truck. The poster claimed it has the 1275 motor but my recollection was the 1275 motor had 2 carburetors, not one. Or maybe only the Cooper versions had 2 carbs. Anyway it is very cute, and probably built on the Countryman chassis which had about 6" more rear overhang than the Saloon.

So what do you tow with a Mini? Easy, a shortened Mini. 'Nuff said.

The chopped & channeled Beetle rat rod, with '30 Ford front suspension and wheels, was pretty neat, as was the associated channeled shopping cart (with 911 cylinder head and wheel). The aircooled motor with downdraft carbs is period correct but the absence of a cooling fan means it probably doesn't run for long, unless it's in winter weather, in which case the windshield will be frosting over. (I learned to drive in a 1966 VW bus and know all about VW 'defrosters'). 

 

There was also a channeled Radio Flyer kid's wagon and a channeled skateboard. There is some guy loose with a hacksaw and he needs to be stopped. Or not.

Following on the VW's suicide doors, there was a vintage Fiat Abarth 600. Very cute, a lot cuter than the current Fiat 500. The poster claims it is a 1960 original with a 1-litre motor, but we couldn't see in the engine compartment to verify.

At the other end of the spectrum, in every imaginable way, was the latest Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith which sports suicide doors as well as a very '60's roofline. The picture isn't very good, given limited sightlines, but I saw one of these on the street in Vancouver recently, with the same two-tone paint, and it looks really good. As well it should, given the half-million dollar price tag.

The roofline is, what, '66 Chevelle? Or maybe closer to the '68 Bonneville. The proportions are excellent, with the enormous size masked by the equally enormous rims. So this opens up all kinds of opportunities for '68 Bonneville rooflines. Anyway if I sell my house and cash in all my retirement funds, I might be able to afford it, but then the cats and I would have to live in it and share tins of cat food, and we couldn't drive it anywhere because of the insurance costs. Plus the cats would likely ruin the woodwork with their claws, just as they have ruined most of the furniture at home.

Finally Ford put together a Hot Wheels off-road buggy, dubbed the Rip Rod, to show off the 1-litre Ecoboost motor. The video of it pulling wicked powerslides in the desert somewhere was quite neat and can be found online. I suspect the sequential shift transaxle is not part of the new Ford lineup.

Oh, yeah, there were some regular cars too, you can read about those in the paper, or see them at your local dealer. Same old, same old, except that a BMW 3-series now comes with a 2-litre turbo-4. That lovely inline six used to be the best reason for picking a 328 over an Audi A4, but it's hard to see the difference anymore. Overall I saw no good reason to give up the Golf.

Updates: Honda Mugen, Porsche 908

For those interested, the Honda has been complete for a while now, and is frankly not one of my better efforts. (I picked a slightly out-of-focus shot so you can't quite see just how bad it is). The self-imposed pressure of completing something in a weekend was probably too much. If you want to do this, I would say follow these steps:

1. Get the body prepped and painted first, so it can dry;
2. Do not get carried away with anything not in the box or instruction manual;
3. Pick a simple kit;
4. Don't stress if Sunday comes along and it's not finished.

I probably violated Rules 2 and 4. Fortunately I observed Rule 3 so at most it is a waste of time, not money or of an obscure, unavailable kit.

As for the 908, I posed all the existing bits and put it front and centre in the display cabinet as an incentive. Looks just about done, right? Right.

Hopefully this will be some motivation to get moving again here. Meanwhile back to the Skylines ...

'72 Skyline: Rolling chassis

Being stuck at home with a bug of some sort, I made some progress on the '72. (Not that I really needed an excuse).

The body has all decals in place, and has had a coat of clear to set it all; it's ready for final assembly next weekend. The hood is actually hinged and opens quite nicely, which is a bit annoying as I didn't finish the underside of the hood as well as I might have.

The chassis worked out well, just the exhaust doesn't quite line up with the headers which point too high up. The upper radiator hose, which makes a bend around the distributor, may fit in the real world but my Detail Master wires mean the hose doesn't quite reach the head. A minor quibble, and only I really knew about it until now because you can't really see it. 

Next steps: glass and lights, then we're done. It will be a week as I will be out of town again, unless the bug keeps me home, in which case it will be sooner.

Mecom Lola T70

I came across this one on the InterWeb and it wasn't cheap, but it is one I still regret not buying as a kid. So it turned up, still in the original packaging, with a price tag showing $2.00 (marked down to $1.83).

So do I open it and build it? Or save it in the factory original wrapping? Augh! A real cake-and-eat-it challenge.

'72 Skyline motor

Just back from a week hopscotching across the country. Five nights, 2 different hotels, 5 flight segments, 5196 air miles and a brutal sinus cold that is now moving to my chest. At this rate I'll easily make Elite again this year, assuming I don't get pneumonia first.

So anyway to relax I assembled the motor on the '72.

I got carried away using plug wire from Detail Master; my only comment would be that the instructions tell you to use a #80 drill but what you need is the #78 which is the required 0.016". (The #80 is 0.0135"). This is a good thing because I broke my #80 bit off in the head. Finally I have a stock of #78 bits since it is the same as 0.40 mm (to within 0.0025", anyway), which is much in demand on the 908.

 

All looking good, time for some decongestant and bed.