Revell '30 Ford Coupe

[Mr. Metallic]

Nice tip on the coil. It looks like a kit part.

Welcome back!

[chepp]

Cool beans! You made it all come together beautifully.

[ckourouklis]

Thank you very much, Craig and Charley. The project has had its frustrations, so your encouragement is especially appreciated.

SO. Did I really have to tempt Bitch Goddess Fate by waxing so effusively, so early on about the WW decals?

I'm showing this angle because it highlights the one whitewall that hasn't turned to flypaper over the past few months, the passenger rear. That's right, three of these four decals have behaved so much like paint, they're apparently reacting with the tire vinyl now after several months. They were perfectly dry up through, like, July, then started turning.

Why that sole exception? Best I can figger: 'member from the opening post how I wasn't even sure I got the first decal sticky-side down? I'm wondering now if I did reverse it, and the outer surface of the carrier has formed enough of a protective barrier to prevent the reaction afflicting the other 3 decals.

Annoying, and now a caveat for anyone who might want to use these. I'm hoping you'd be alright giving the sidewalls a a few light coats of flat or semigloss acrylic after the decals dried, or maybe, installing them outside-in might be an actual answer - but this BS is a shame after they conformed so nicely at the beginning.

You might notice an oddity or two at this angle. Fluted tailpipes, by way of f'rinstance: I looked at the intended exhaust tips, found them a bit underwhelming. Not terribly defined, nor even particularly centered for their openings. But lucky me, I opted for those nice, busy carburetors over the fuel injection... the stacks of which I found vastly superior as tailpipe tips!

The Semple mirror paint has proven to be a nice chrome touch-up for handbrushing, especially if you're sure you won't be handling the area. You might see it made a nice effect for the inner grill shell area surrounding the radiator and WAAAAAIIIIIITAMINIT, waitaminit, wait. a. minute:

Okay, well, first I'll be coming back around to redo that alternator bracket now that I've extolled the virtues of Semple touch-up.

But second, yes! You're seeing an orange radiator hose. Did some online research to see just what kind of color spectrum might be covered by silicone hoses and orange was indeed included - more in the motorcycle and diesel world on the first sweep, but why should two- and eighteen-wheelers have all the fun?

[Mr. Metallic]

it's looking mighty fine, Chuck. and i appreciate you injecting a little enthusiasm into your writeup.

If you want to try the decal thing again I have a set of the decals I can send you.

[ckourouklis]

VERY generous of you, Craig, and I may take you up on that. Much appreciated in any event!

Another forum has mentioned that Tim Boyd made sure to shoot a little clear acrylic on the tire first. I'd be inclined to try that but also to see if wrong-side-down has any preventive effect. Probably not going to use all the whitewall decals for all of the three roadsters/three coupes of these I have, so there's that possibility too.

[ckourouklis]

Of course, it only occurred to me after the fact that silicone hoses might not strictly be TRaKable. Stepped on that rake again.

Uh... maybe it's a rubber hose sprayed with orange interior dye? Maybe some genius bent a hard tube on a mandrel and painted it?

Well. The NEXT project I'm planning will be strictly between the lines, I'll promise that.

[HotRodTom]

Jan 22, 2023 14:30:09 GMT -5 Dave from Pleasanton said:

Love it Chuck.

This question is for the long-time Trakers. I certainly remember rods in the 60's with XKE independent rear suspension and coil-over shocks. Did nobody do 4 link suspension? Not stirring trouble just curious.

Dave, I think there were plenty of folks running Jag rears and even a few 'Vette units. I believe it was mostly the "show boys" doing it, as it required a lot of engineering to make it work instead of just stick welding a set of pads onto your volunteered solid axle housing of choice that didn't come from Henry with the original car. Not saying there weren't those that have the bolts to run them on the street and make it work. Tons of Olds/Buick/Caddy and even truck housings were sacrificed for the Hot Rod flavor of the day (as well as stronger bearings/axles and better gear ratios.

Four-link rear-ends I think were an influence by the straight-line runners trying to get more bite and less spring wrap-up at launch. Slapper bars, snub-bars, whatever you wanted to call them started appearing to address that. Hooker, Lakewood, B&M, and several others grabbed on to that one and started offering said items for "the look of the big boys", even though some of those kits resulted in a car sitting on its back bumper after a catastrophic failure at launch and everything broke.

So, after a long-winded side-road to an answer, Yes. SOME 4-links were around, just not that common yet until the late 60's early 70's.

There is my 2 pence. Been here a couple minutes. It is almost a shame that R/M put that particular rearend into the kit along with a usually more modern 289/302. A nice nailhead or Caddy 331 would have been GREAT! Or, an FE engine. But, alas, Make do with what you got, or make what you don't have yourself. That is one of the joys of modelcrafting.

And by the way, That Nailhead looks TASTY!!!! 👍 Tom

[HotRodTom]

And your choice of color is, well, Just JULIUS!!!! Tom

[ckourouklis]

That made me laugh out loud, Tom!

Much appreciated.