Monday, April 23, 2012

of Projects Delayed, Looming Deadlines, & a 34 Ford

I started with a Revell-Monogram 1/32 Snap-Tite Wind Chill '34 Ford Coupe
Not bad on clearance at $3!

The plan was to use this model to make the first known 34 Ford Coupe SCXd slot car.  Ah but that was not to be.  The front is too narrow for a standard chip and I didn't have any luck with the SCXd F1 chips either.  She sat lonely in a box for over 3 years.

Then the second Super Little Open Proxy (SLOP) came along.  The cars are due when?!? The car that I planned to repaint wouldn't give up its windows without a fight.  I had no time for a fight.  I needed something fast.  The day had come for the '34 Ford slot car.

The Daedalian Waxworks set to work on what would be a true chop shop hot rod pulled together with spare parts.

SCX motor pod
SCX RX-42 motor
Hobby Slot Racing guide
brass tubing
Rear SCX NASCAR rims and tires
Front Bburago BMW Z4 rims and tires
Evergreen Styrene
Krylon Fusion for Plastic rattle can paints
a resin driver
ink jet water slide decals on Bare Metal Foil clear decal sheets

The model chassis was mated to the SCX pod thanks to some 5 minute JB Weld.
To keep the car within the SLOP box (2 1/4" X 4 1/2") the front and rear fenders needed to be Dremeled away.  This gives it a chopped look while staying true to the car's shape.  The front axle was moved towards the rear to keep the tire under the new shorter fenders.  The axles needed to be chopped to fit under the fenders - I was almost successful.  Due to space constraints the guide sits behind the front axle.  We'll see how that works for me.




A resin Danni O'Laisip driver was fitted to the new interior made from the model's parts cut to fit and glued to Evergreen Styrene.

Water slide decals - blue fire was made from flames found at:
cgtextures.com > Fire > Flames
The GIMPs color inversion tool changed the orange on black flames to blue on white.  Making a Hot Rod gave me the excuse to put a War Era pin up girl on the car.  There was a pile of other decals to slide on but after the #114 and sponsor decal I decided to keep her clean and simple.  BRSHobbies was added to the car because Brian is always a huge help and came through with awesome prizes for our SLOP Bucket.  It was the very least I could do in return.

This is the first successful scratch built chassis from the Daedalian Waxworks to be fitted to a car.  The others have been complete failures, or built without the body in mind.

There was a huge "OH FEATHERS" moment once the front wheels were attached.  The original SCX guide sat higher than the wheels giving me about an 1/8" guide depth.  Might be OK for a short drag race but not so good for turning.  Turning is pretty important in a series that runs on 2' X 4' tracks.  Everything was glued in place.  "Who do I fire?" or something like that was heard echoing in the Waxworks.  When no one came forward to take the blame I noticed someone's reflection in the glossy Ford.  "Oh - never mind.  We got this.  No problem."  Luckily for that guy an HSR chassis was willing to donate its guide.  Luck was compounded when the new guide actually fixed the issue.  Oh and the deadline for SLOP has been pushed back.  Now maybe I can get that track done.


Gallery Pix