66 Nova--Engine and Details

I have to remind myself that there are things everywhere. This silly hobby is no exception. Metalworking is something I want to know more about and what safer/easier way to learn a little about it than with a scale model.

So...this weekend, while some servers I was working on remotely were churning away on updates, I did some (very simple) metalwork to detail out the engine of the 1:25 scale 66 Nova, which I would now very much like to finish.

When I look at really good modelmakers, most seem to make pretty extensive use of metals (brass, tin, aluminum)....I spent many years working with electronics, so I am familiar with soldering, but I can't see how that would help with anything this small--at 1:1 scale even a really small solder joint is going to look like someone made a fist-sized weld. So I need to use glues. Epoxy works well for joining metals to all sorts of surfaces but mixing it is a pain, and the 5 minute kind isn't useful after, well, 5 minutes. CA glue works, and is especially good for metal to plastic bonds. The other glue you see here is "Cement for wood and metal" by good old Testors. I didn't know Testors made a glue for metal! It works well for metal, but is not useful for bonding metal to plastic.

Using simple bent brass and some small styrene bits, I scratch built this little fuel feed setup.....

Using CA I glued that to the intake manifold....Here's what I came up with so far.

Overall, metal (photoetch, wiring, brass tubing) does look pretty good for detailing out scale objects, but it's really hard toget the glue joints looking neat. And, getting the fit right on any engine has always proved difficult to me. I got some very small dremel grinding bits from Harbor Freight and put them to work levelling out the engine block so the oil pan and manifolds sit straight (or, straighter then usual, for me).

The carb assemblies were some of the smallest-scale detail work I've done--without really good magnification this isn't possible at all. I left the bend in the fuel feed to wrap around the radiator hoses (not quite sure how I am going to work that one out, but I will figure something out)....I left some of the plumbing long on purpose because at the moment I have no idea how any of this is going to "plug into" the firewall; that is for next time.

66 Nova Hiatus Continued--Now, a 68 GTO....

In my experimentation with two part polyurethane clear I shot a 68 GTO body I had lying around, so I figured why not finish the build....

Paint was Jacquard Acrylic, I mixed up a purple and kept throwing in red flake and red tint until it was a nice dark shade.

Overall, things were a bit rushed, although it seems it took a good 3 weeks to finish it, but just a bit of work here and there.....

There are lots of little sloppy things about this build--the Bare Metal Foil is a bit ratty in places (it usually seems to be)--next time I figure I will use some sort of guide to help this go on straighter.

I have always like GTO's--it was fun to build this but now it's back to the question--how much time am I really going to devote to this? To take this to "the next level" I'd need to spend more time....not sure I want to do that.

One thing about 2 part clear--it seems to amplify flaws in the color coat and makes careful sanding and finishing of the color coat critical. The danger though is burning through the color coat trying to flatten it all out. More time and effort are needed here.

The box stock stance was pretty bad--the tires for instance were way too big, giving the car a clownish look. I robbed some smaller tires from the parts box. I like the way the mag wheels came out.

I used more photo etch on this build, and it was a major breakthrough for me that photoetch looks good painted. However, after paint you have to apply it straight! Much harder!