1/24 Testors Ultra Detail T Bucket--Completed

[mustang1989]

I'm still working on a Ta-152 and am taking my sweet time with it to make sure that it turns out just the way I want it as well as not to rush something that I've spent the last 11 months building. In order to keep the urge to rush to the finish line down, I'm going to start a side build just to actually complete something for the year. A few weeks ago Mike Sharp completed one of these and it inspired me to buy one and give one a go myself.

I will be replacing the wheels and tires with something of my own choosing and adding a couple of things here and there to make things a little more interesting. I have a set of Tru Wire wheel/ tire assembly's that I have been chompin' at the bit to find a project for and this one looks like the ticket.

The kit:

 

[mustang1989]

Alright gang. We start......

Those of you who know me, know that I can't leave well enough alone.....even for a pre-painted kit. For starters, I had to do something with the wheel and tire arrangement on this. This is not to say that the ones that came in the kit were all that bad BUT.......I've been itchin' for an opportunity to use some wheels and tires that I've had in the parts stash for such an occasion. The wire wheels included in the kit are among the best I've seen in plastic, and I will keep them around for a future build. What's really going to help throw this build over the top is the use of Tru Wires from Minicurtr8zing.

A quick side by side comparison will show that the kit wheels aren't all that bad but these Tru Wires are definitely "all that".

Rear wheels in the kit were a Cragar SS design but I had something more in mind. I got these from Teds Modeling Marketplace and these IMO are the best wheels anywhere in being aluminum and PE.

I also had a set of 1/25 tires in the parts stash that these will fit perfectly in.

 

[mustang1989]

Thanks for the "Likes" fellas.

I also didn't like the rather predominant seam going right down the middle of the oil pan as well as the top and bottom of the transmission, so I glued the engine halves together instead of using the screw supplied in the kit to join the halves. Then I busted out with the sanding sticks and went to work removing all seams and primed everything in black.

Started here with the pre-painted long block freshly sanded with all seams and sprue joins removed. It was a shame to remove all of the pre-painted orange from the block but I think I've got just the right shade of orange to go right back on.

Then black based everything. No more seam lines!

And shot the engine color right back on.

 

[mustang1989]

Alright fellas......I've gotta be honest......I've finished this one up in my time away, but I'll hit the highlights of the build starting tomorrow all the way to the finish.

 

[BarleyBop]

Welcome back! Is it tomorrow yet?

 

[mustang1989]

Welcome back! Is it tomorrow yet?

Oh what tha heck.......

Next update....

Here's after a couple of touch ups with some Tamiya Smoke applications over the kit chrome, painting a few details on the engine and adding some eye candy like a lettering decal on the blower drive belt and an AC Delco decal on the oil filter. I also spent some time picking out some of the details on the drive belt pulleys. I've still got some things to do in the clean-up department. Believe it or not, this kit comes with a prewired distributor and blued chrome for the headers right there in the box. Pretty cool feature and I'll be adding that coming up next.

 

[BarleyBop]

...I think your oil filter needs replacing

 

[Eagle-1]

Rob.

 

[mustang1989]

Thanks fellas.

Progress with the engine installed on the frame and the trailing arms and front radius rods in place. Also got the rear shocks in as well as the front brake rotors. The suspension on this thing has a TON of parts and most are visible once it's all finished up. I also painted up the intake butterfly center shaft which help set that all off a bit.

 

[mustang1989]

This one could be built up in just a few hours as it's all a prepainted kit. Some of it is snap together, some requires screws to assemble and a limited portion of the build needs to be glued together. There are numerous opportunities for detailing and tweaking on this kit and I'm doing my dead level best to take advantage of those. This is a SUPER base kit to work with and with some aftermarket additions and replacements, has LOTS of potential.

Progress continues on with this finicky steering linkage. There are mere pins that hold the steerable linkage in place with NO backings. I had to fabricate my own out of spare styrene to keep the pins in place. I ended up having to use a slightly larger sized needle on one side to be able to pose the front wheels in any kind of alignment as the OOB pins had the wheels toed in slightly.

Radiator and headlights were a bit of a trick too but managed to get everything lined up nice n square. The one thing I did NOT like about this kit was those stoopid "dots" in the middle of the headlights with the locating pegs sticking out of the rear of the lens. I simply cannot stand that feature on auto builds as it gives such a "toy" look. I sanded the rears of the lens and while there is a small half circle in the lens now, at least there's not a visible "peg" and they have a more modern clear appearance now.

On the sprue:

With the radiator/ grill and headlight bars in place. I also mocked up the car body for kicks.

Here's after quite a bit of progress with getting the radiator hoses installed, headers and piping installed and the distributor and wiring installed, routed and hooked up. It's made quite a bit of difference in the progress so I figured I'd share it.

 

[urumomo]

Is that common for the headlight lenses to be molded that way ?
I've only seen the gates at the edge of the lens in kits I've dealt with .

I was wondering if they were trying to recreate a specific lens like these :

Model A

1926 Model T

 

[mustang1989]

Those are indeed the way they looked in the past but I was trying for a more modern look out of 'em Keith. I usually eliminate the pegs from the back of all of my headlamps though as I never liked the look of the "dots" in the middle.

My Revell 1970 Challenger had 'em too and I cut them off and sanded the backs smooth and left the grid lines on the front of the lenses.

 

[urumomo]

So that type of molding is common .
I don't build cars so my experience with that is minimal .
Is it specific manufacturers that do it ?
I haven't seen that before .

 

[mustang1989]

So that type of molding is common .
I don't build cars so my experience with that is minimal .
Is it specific manufacturers that do it ?
I haven't seen that before .

Frickin' Revell is the worst by far on that.

 

[urumomo]

Ah , Revell . Say no more .

 

[mustang1989]

I'll look for before and after pictures on that Challenger and you'll see clearly what I'm talking about Keith.

 

[mustang1989]

Ah , Revell . Say no more .

Here you go Keith. This made a BIG difference in the overall look of the front clip.

 

[urumomo]

This convo compelled me to investigate , and now I'm sick of looking at headlights .

During the search , I was reminded that Dodge once built the best Challenger ever .
They should bring it back ,

 

[mustang1989]

 

[mustang1989]

Since interiors are one of my favorite parts of any auto build, I'm having a tad bit of fun with it. I got the floor painted a different color than the gray that it was, touched up all of the accelerator, brake and clutch pedals with a little additional paint work, cut the shift lever from the floor rubber boot and am fabricating my own from a bobby pin with a black "shifter knob" on it and am currently working on the instrument panel.

The IP, which is nothing more than a instrument panel bezel pressed onto the chrome gauges......simply aint going to do it.

I sanded the chrome instrument panel gauges down pretty close to the base of the IP backing plate. I'll either be painting the backing plate red or re-chroming it for some contrast.

and will cut gauges from this decal sheet in my stash to the back of the bezel for a LOT better detail.

Stay tuned.......there'll be some "fun" stuff going into the interior.