SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - A new 1/18th scale die-cast journey begins..

ET2SN · 05-06-22, 02:47 PM

Well, this project is almost wrapped.

I got the clear plastic polished out and cleaned, detailed the dash by filling-in the speedo and tach with clear parts glue and letting it dry (this gives a clear plastic cover look and protects the graphics underneath), fixed the rear axle, added the missing radiator/oil cooler and even added some dark grey wash to the brake rotors to get them to "pop" a little. The "A pillar" gage cluster worked out better than I planned.

I used an aftermarket 1/25th scale white background gauge set and used a 1/8th inch hole punch for paper to cut out the gauge faces then cut and filed the metal trim rings and glued everything in place with clear parts glue. The glue will also give the gauges a more 3D look while forming the "glass" covers. I'm just waiting for the glue to fully cure before I use some really thick "glues all" plastic cement to re-attach the gauge cluster to the A pillar (this stuff is like tube glue but thicker and you can find it at most discount and hardware stores).

One thing that's neat about 1/18th scale die cast, you can just screw everything back together to check your progress or when you're waiting for parts to arrive.

Stuff I'll probably do later when I get bored-

Flocked carpet. I have the jet black flock on my parts shelf. All I need to do is find a large shoe box and throw down a tacky layer of either black paint or clear glue then sift the flock onto the "glue" and let it dry. There are two problems, flocking is a VERY messy process

and I'd need to break the glue joints that hold the seats to the floor pan.

Seat belts. Once again, 1/25th scale aftermarket parts come to the rescue. I have a black seat belt "kit" with p/e buckles and it didn't take long to figure out how to thread the belts into the buckles. The only thing I need to figure out is how to get the belts to hold a tight "fold" so they look natural.

So far, the one "curve ball" in the project has been one door hinge. On older-styled die-cast, the door hinges are rather large and thick and they get screwed into a post in the body. What would usually happen is that the driver's side door hinge would get loose due to the screw getting turned slightly when you open the door. The die-cast companies "fixed" this by adding a washer but the screw will still get loose over time. After I picked out some detail on the inner door panels, my plan was to use some "lok-tite" on the screws when I re-assembled the doors. The driver's side door came back together with no issues but, and this is why you need to take some breaks during a project, I couldn't get the passenger side door to "bind down" to the post. The screw is super tight and the "lok-tite" is doing its job but the hinge is loose as a tooth.

If I had to guess, I lost a small washer or plastic shim when I took the door apart. Making a new shim isn't that big of a deal, getting the screw back out will be a weekend project.

I should have just stopped and thought things out before I broke out the "lok-tite" but the end of the build was in sight and I got impatient. Dammit..

I can fix it but its just adding another "pain in the ###" layer to this project.

05-06-22, 02:47 PM	#10
ET2SN ET2/SS Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,513 Downloads: 58 Uploads: 0	Well, this project is almost wrapped. I got the clear plastic polished out and cleaned, detailed the dash by filling-in the speedo and tach with clear parts glue and letting it dry (this gives a clear plastic cover look and protects the graphics underneath), fixed the rear axle, added the missing radiator/oil cooler and even added some dark grey wash to the brake rotors to get them to "pop" a little. The "A pillar" gage cluster worked out better than I planned. I used an aftermarket 1/25th scale white background gauge set and used a 1/8th inch hole punch for paper to cut out the gauge faces then cut and filed the metal trim rings and glued everything in place with clear parts glue. The glue will also give the gauges a more 3D look while forming the "glass" covers. I'm just waiting for the glue to fully cure before I use some really thick "glues all" plastic cement to re-attach the gauge cluster to the A pillar (this stuff is like tube glue but thicker and you can find it at most discount and hardware stores). One thing that's neat about 1/18th scale die cast, you can just screw everything back together to check your progress or when you're waiting for parts to arrive. Stuff I'll probably do later when I get bored- Flocked carpet. I have the jet black flock on my parts shelf. All I need to do is find a large shoe box and throw down a tacky layer of either black paint or clear glue then sift the flock onto the "glue" and let it dry. There are two problems, flocking is a VERY messy process and I'd need to break the glue joints that hold the seats to the floor pan. Seat belts. Once again, 1/25th scale aftermarket parts come to the rescue. I have a black seat belt "kit" with p/e buckles and it didn't take long to figure out how to thread the belts into the buckles. The only thing I need to figure out is how to get the belts to hold a tight "fold" so they look natural. So far, the one "curve ball" in the project has been one door hinge. On older-styled die-cast, the door hinges are rather large and thick and they get screwed into a post in the body. What would usually happen is that the driver's side door hinge would get loose due to the screw getting turned slightly when you open the door. The die-cast companies "fixed" this by adding a washer but the screw will still get loose over time. After I picked out some detail on the inner door panels, my plan was to use some "lok-tite" on the screws when I re-assembled the doors. The driver's side door came back together with no issues but, and this is why you need to take some breaks during a project, I couldn't get the passenger side door to "bind down" to the post. The screw is super tight and the "lok-tite" is doing its job but the hinge is loose as a tooth. If I had to guess, I lost a small washer or plastic shim when I took the door apart. Making a new shim isn't that big of a deal, getting the screw back out will be a weekend project. I should have just stopped and thought things out before I broke out the "lok-tite" but the end of the build was in sight and I got impatient. Dammit.. I can fix it but its just adding another "pain in the ###" layer to this project.