"Revellution" funny car by popeye the sailor - FINISHED - Revell - 1:16

[CDW]

1 hour ago, popeye the sailor said:

I'm bumping heads with the hose and wire dilemma

That particular technique by Revell has probably caused quite a few good men to cuss. (me included)

[popeye the sailor]

more like spatter CDW...........the caps are likely no good anymore.   i'll likely sand it down in that area and shoot it again.  I've been mess'in with the hoses.......being all balled up for as long as they have,  kinked it terribly.  still working with it........gonna try some hot water......it might help get the kinks out.

 

I need to fit it on the pins J........this hose stuff just doesn't want to stretch over them.

[popeye the sailor]

well........I'm still fumbl'in with the hoses and stuff.......trying to get this stuff to stretch over some of these pins is near impossible.  I find I need to work fast because it will go back to it's normal size,  if it takes me too long to attach them.   not all the pins are the same though.........the brake line tee seems to be alright.

now to get them on the calipers....that's the next feat     in the meantime,  I devised a plan for the wires.   after a few failures with those black boots I was supposed to use,  I thought to cut the pins off and drill a hole for them.   the magneto was my test......seemed to do the trick.

the distributor will be the bigger task.........I removed it from the engine with no problem.

after cutting all the pins off,  the same drill was used to make these holes.  being so close to the edge of the cap,  I started on an angle,  straightening the drill out as it dug in.  took time......being very careful.........got 'em all drilled out.

the distributor was cemented back on the engine...had to wait until the distributor was dry enough to run the wires.  for unseen reasons,  the freshly cut wires wouldn't fit in the holes..........too tight a fit    went up a drill size and started to drill them out again,  but the distributor came loose and had to be removed again to finish the job.  once back in place....and more time was wasted,  it's back to square one.

it was touched up with flat black.  once starting to run the wires.......which was working much better,  I got to thinking about the main fuel rail.....I really should get that in place first.   there was trouble getting it to fit,  as you might recall....and then the breakage.  fitting it at this time,  there was success,  and it was cemented in place using the needle tip nozzles that can be bought separate,  comes in a two tube pack,  or in some model paint sets.  I use them also to extrude filler,  in tight areas and gaps for my wood projects.

just for fun,  I dry fitted the rear slicks on the chassis.

what a messy garage........ before long though.......all the wires were installed.......the electrical part of the model is done    now to get to the plumbing parts.

once done using the needle nozzle,  here is how I clear out the remaining glue........I just stick a long pin in it.

give it time to dry...twist......and pull it out.

it's ready to use again      hope to get more done today!

[jct]

Wire look good Denis, seems you've finally beat her into submission!

[popeye the sailor]

not quite......now I have to deal with the black and gray hoses.......and they're a bit stiffer.   hot water does do wonders with getting the kinks out of them.

    it does tend to come back though after a while, so I have to work fast!  

[jct]

Just wondering if your wiring material is hollow, looks like small tubing in the pics, if so you may be able to get it to conform to shape by inserting a small diameter solid wire into it and then bending, I've always scratch built my plug wires from small diameter solid core electrical wire and found that leaving the wire in the insulation makes them much more manageable, minimizes the memory factor, if you will.

[Canute]

Denis, sounds like my gyrations trying to plumb the brake rigging on assorted HO scale railroad cars. Many holes are too small for the locator pins or assorted rods and piping. I end up reaming out or going to larger drills to assist the fit. I'll get some pictures later today to show you.

 

I use fine plastic rodding and similar brass/phosphor bronze wires. Getting the tubing over plugs and distributor heads is frustrating; we need a mandrel to spread the tube end.

[popeye the sailor]

the ignition wires are just that J........very thin electrical wire...the kind of wire you would find in toys and such.   I actually could have substituted red wire.....I have some in my electrical box.   I have other types of wire that would be suitable.   the problem here was that being very flexible and needing to have a boot added to them,  it would have been very hard to put the wires on the distributor

 

exactly Ken........I'm sure you've used this type of thin tubing.  it's very tiny.  the pins on the engine parts vary in size....just enough to make life miserable. 

     I have found that heat can be a friend in this dilemma.......I use my pick to spread out the ends.   the thing here is that the tubing tend to go back to it's original size rather quickly.  also from being balled up in the kit for so long,  it has taken the shape of a balled up bundle of hoses   I've already broken one pin off........to fix it,  I did the same as I did with the left rear caliper,  drilled out the broken pin and fitted a new pin made of brass rod.  then I got a brainstorm......made me feel like a dunce..........why don't I drill the hole.......insert the pin in the hose while it's off the model.......and THEN insert the pin in the hole.....duhhhhhh     I took the black tubing and ran it under hot water........most of the kinking came out,  but some are coming back.  I wonder if a repeated hot water spritzer would be helpful {I just did it to the black and the gray tubing......it seemed to do more to straighten it}.  perhaps using a heat source,  besides my fingers,  will help in spreading the end to keep the shape longer.  if you have some insight for this Ken.......by all means,  add it.  I'm sure this won't be the last model anyone will attempt........and I do enjoy these large scale cars.  I'm positive that the information will be very helpful.   there are some aspects in the model railroad medium that work quite well in the other mediums.

 

I got a little done yesterday.......ooofff.......darn!  some of my keeys arsticking!   man......I gotta lay off the jelly sandwiches and coffee rolls,  eating over my keyboard........I think the added sugar is making my keys fat........as well as my fingers!      perhaps saran wrap over my keyboard will help..........>or a bib<  

 

the slicks are cemented on finally...........before I did that though,  the brake lines were plumbed in.

I'll get the cookie crumbs off the tires later  

[popeye the sailor]

does popcorn leave less crumbs? 

[jct]

21 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

does popcorn leave less crumbs? 

Ya but the caramel is really sticky!!🤣

[popeye the sailor]

ooooohhhhohhohhhhh......that my other poison! 

[jct]

Hey Denis...does your car have the parachute cords?  I'm gonna have to scratch mine but I wondered if they show where to mount um under the chassis??

[mtaylor]

J,

The parachute cable, per the regs at the time, will route outside the chassis such that it's' not exposed to any blow up of clutch, tranny, or engine.   Gives you a bit of latitude on where to mount the D-ring.  Some drivers liked it over their head, some on either the left or right side and others like the pull to come up at the front of the seat.   Pretty much your choice, IMO.

 

Footnote... same for the electrical switches to control the fuel and ignition and the fire bottle cable and ring.  Drivers had them put where it most comfortable and easy to reach. 

[jct]

Thanks Mark...great to have a resident expert in the house, much appreciated!

[popeye the sailor]

for this model,  they just show the cable going from the chute to the rear deck.   if I wanted to do it {per Mark's suggestion},  I'd have to make it from scratch.  I think it odd that they didn't include it......the model is certainly big enough.   I'll see about making one  

 

thanks Mark!   

[mtaylor]

31 minutes ago, jct said:

Thanks Mark...great to have a resident expert in the house, much appreciated!

Not an expert since I'm working from memory here and since the stroke, not always right. I do try to check my references though.

22 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

for this model,  they just show the cable going from the chute to the rear deck.   if I wanted to do it {per Mark's suggestion},  I'd have to make it from scratch.  I think it odd that they didn't include it......the model is certainly big enough.   I'll see about making one  

 

thanks Mark!   

Denis,

It just hit me... what I spec'd out above was for rear-engine cars.  The front engine didn't need to run outside the cage/chassis tubing unless it went next to the tranny.  My bad..... 

[cog]

37 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

Not an expert since I'm working from memory here and since the stroke, not always right. I do try to check my references though.

Denis,

It just hit me... what I spec'd out above was for rear-engine cars.  The front engine didn't need to run outside the cage/chassis tubing unless it went next to the tranny.  My bad..... 

A stroke of genius!

[popeye the sailor]

above and at the base of the seat sounds like logical places to have it.......I just might try for the seat.  toughest part will be making the handle   

[Canute]

Sounds like the placement for ejection seat handles in fighters. Over your head, on the sides of the seat or between your legs. My preference was the overhead handles since it pulled a restraint out and over the top of your helmet and forced you to keep your arms pulled in tight to your body. Luckily, I only used it in simulations. Safety has to be a habit.

[popeye the sailor]

I wish this car was a Chevy............... 🏁

can you imagine this in the rear window field { don't tell Olive.....I'da gone for Jessica,  but Roger can be a tough customer}    

 

any...who......I did a bit of work on the body.....gluing in the front partition panel first,  with the two truss rods.

I did a test with gunship gray,  to see if it would match.   I used Model Master and saw it was much too flat and the hue was a tiny bit off.   so,  I'll need to decant some touch up paint.  the interior is rattle can primer gray.  as can be seen,  I have the roof sitting on my mouse pad.  next was lining up the master cylinder with the brake lever,  which is located on the passenger side cockpit panel.

the windshield was in a sandwich bag.......meaning that before the folks at old model kits acquired this kit,  the windshield was likely loose in the box.

     there are a few very minor scratches.   the frame around the windshield was masked off and painted flat black.

I only need just enough gray paint to do touch ups..........obtained a small bottle and did the touch ups.

I also touched up around the inner part of the windshield opening,  so no blue would be seen........the masking did quite well around the wheel wells and such.......only some minor touch ups in the corner of a side window opening    the cockpit / firewall shroud was added next.

we took off to go shopping..........when we got back,  the rear deck partition panel was installed,  gluing the back part of the cockpit shroud in place,  seeing that it sort of locks in with the rear partition.

originally,  I was going to paint the bottom of the cockpit shroud gray,  but later figured that it didn't matter.  there are two braces that need to be added after all this is dry.  the masking was removed from the windshield........

it's not perfect,  but it doesn't look bad either.   I assembled the drag link,  but haven't installed it yet.  I've begun to paint the fire extinguisher.  once it's painted,  I can assemble the steering.  all this can then be added.  but here is how the movable steering works....we start with the drag link,  which is connected to the left side spindle.  this joint moves freely.....

near it is the cross bar that the steering box sits on.   there is a pin,  that will be inserted through the drag link linkage,  through a mount on the frame,  and cemented into the hole in the steering box.  this will leave everything free to move,  except the pin and box.  the linkage also moves freely............I've successfully done it!   I usually have a hard time.......something or other usually gets too much glue.

it is held in suspension further down the frame {towards the front end} by a U bracket,  to keep it from sagging.  you'll see it when I finally get it assembled.

[jct]

Nice bit of progress Denis...she looks real good

[Omega1234]

Hey Denis

 

She’s looking mighty spiffy.

 

Nice job!

 

Cheers

 

patrick

[popeye the sailor]

thanks J and Patrick..........appreciate the good word      thanks also for all who hit the like button!   wish I could give another update,  but I haven't gotten any more done.   it'll give the body more time to dry,  so I guess it's a good thing.  should have more soon     

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

good morning all.........reporting in from a snowy Manchester N.H.!   not totally sure,  but I think we got 6 inches of fresh powder last night.  so,  I gotta contend with that after taking Gibbs out {he'll be happy to see it}.  sitting here last night,  I did play around a little with the model......    the steering wheel assembly has been assembled.....just got to touch it up and paint the brackets.

the chassis is partially rolled out from the garage.....I'll tow it out the rest of the way,  when I get back from snow blow'in the driveway.

the masking tape was removed from the back window......gonna paint it with clear lacquer.  I'll make a decal for it,  to dress it up a bit.  now turned right side up.   oh darn..........gotta get moving....

I'll be back!

 

Edited January 30, 2019 by popeye the sailor

[popeye the sailor]

...and it continues     all this talk about decals today got me all peckish.  considering that this kit is a 1988 production...and the decals look good,  it still got me thinking.   everything is beginning to hinge on the engine being in place.......I don't want to put the steering assembly in place....might be in the way.......you know,  that sort of thing.   so I braved putting some of the hoses on.........the oil pump first.  I hope they are long enough....some of them weren't and I resized them {cut new ones}.

the upper ones are the fuel rail feed and return lines......disaster there.....the pin for the rail broke,  and so did the one on the pump.  I thinned down the wire I was using to replace the pins.......small gauge brass and they go on much better.  to spread out the ends of the hoses,  I used a short piece of that mig wire.......I was also using it to make the pins.  by thinning down the wire,  I can drill smaller holes.........for places like on the fuel pump,  there's not a lot of meat there to drill in the first place     I got them in place after the repairs were done.

I spent some time making the decals.......the Accel decals and the back window dressing...I'll paint some clear lacquer there before it's put on.  as for the Accel decals,  I'll just fit them in somewhere.   I should have taken a picture of the decal sheet,  but for some reason or another,  I didn't.  as like what happened to J.........if it happens here,  I'm pretty sure I can come up with something.....the Testor's decal program includes many images and car body designs.  they's work best on 1:25 scale........but I think I can enlarge them to work for me.   there is a nice big dragon,  that I'd love to fit somewhere    after cutting up the decal sheet,  I started off with the front grille and the rear deck.  everything was going fine,  until I got a bit too aggressive with the blotting.....yea,  these decals are borderline....another year or two,  and they'd be trash.    the body was on the main table...... before I started with the decals,  I did a dry fit of the windshield.......fits really good.

I had to take a double take around that passenger window.......don't recall seeing those white blotches.  it's just the camera trying to make me look worse than I really am       here's the front grille....you'll see the chip   maybe I can blot it out with some black wash or something.

the rear fared a bit better.....I was a little more careful with how I smoothed it out.  I cemented the chute in place,  but I held off on the cable routing {it's just black hose}........I may run it up to the driver seat..........although,  I could also opt to run it along the roof.   I'll need to make brackets from some flat brass......easy enough.  it'll give the chute time to dry too.

after touching up all the exhaust ports on the headers,  they were added to the engine.

once they were dry,  the exhaust overflow lines were run from the headers to the fittings on the front of each head.  I already am seeing a potential problem......the two oil lines.  that darn tubing is so stiff,  I'll never get them to connect to the oil filter housing without breaking them.  they are also going to interfere with cementing the engine in place.  I need to pre shape them somehow........if they break off with the engine in place,  it going to be tough to fix them.  I'll figure something out   

 

[mtaylor]

I see what you're saying about the decals.  A bit of paint touch up might just work.

 

On the chute... the release cable wouldn't be mounted anywhere on the body but only to the chassis.  On the bottom of the chute package, there were two nylon lines (flat as I recall) that ran from the package, down, under the body and attached to the chassis.  Those fiberglass bodies had no strength whatsoever.  IF the body flies off (and they did) you wouldn't want your chute and control cable going with it.

[CDW]

You did an amazing job with the kit stock wiring and plumbing. That stuff is a real challenge. Everything coming along so nice. 

[jct]

Hey Denis...just catching up the engine and body are looking really good, this is gonna be quite the show piece

[popeye the sailor]

hey there folks.  I've been all over the place today........but I managed to do some work on the car.   thanks for the info Mark......but they already have a hole in the body for the chute cable.  just so there isn't an unsightly hole there,  I'll route it that way.  in looking at the logic here...... if the body goes flying,  so does the chute...it's attached to the body.  I get what your saying.....I've seen it myself....don't know why model companies make mistakes like this.

 

that's only part of the plumbing CDW....the wires are done    what I'm experiencing with this model.....I had the same go around with the English Leather.  this time though,  I've gotten a bit smarter.  the hose tubing is soft,  but very stiff....and doesn't want to forget how it was packed in the kit.  I will be covering more with this next update........whether my idea worked or not  

 

I hope so J........I've done much more than what I did with the English Leather.  thinking back to those days,  I can see how much I've learned......without the visual aides {models in front of me}    I used to do minimal painting.......just detail work on some;  but that depended a lot on how drawn to the model I was.   the Revellution won't be perfect,  but I do hope it will show the effort I'm putting into her   

 

as always........thanks for the likes!  glad to see folks are look'in in  

 

so......anyways.......the admiral went to bed last night........and I was getting creamed in my video game {just couldn't gt my hack 'n slash together}.  to get a breather,  I tinkered a bit,  attaching the drag link to the steering arm.   the little cap that was to be cemented on took a fly from the tweezers,  so I spent a few moments looking for it.  I had a spare........I'll continue the search in the morning.  these are a little blurry........but you can see the U bracket that the drag link runs through.......and how the steering linkage pin goes through the frame bracket and how it looks.   the pin won't be moving once it's cemented into the steering box,  but the rest of the assembly will have full mobility.

when the outer cockpit panels are added,   the lower part of the linkage and drag link will be hidden.  so,  with the completion of the steering,  being movable is a complete success     earlier in the afternoon,  I made up and printed the decals I needed.   meet Fred..........

[popeye the sailor]

today,  as I mentioned,  I was around quite a bit.   .......and as I said earlier,  I got some work done.   I need to find a remedy for that hose problem,  that I feel will impede the installation of the engine.  hopefully,  it will make the hose routing look neater too.  I was using some really thin brass wire from one of my boat projects.   it fits easily into the gray tubing,  but I found that CA had traveled down one of the oil hoses,  so the wire couldn't go the full length of the hose.   not having a drill that was that long,  I resorted to clamping a piece of the wire in the chuck of my drill,  and tried to ream out the hose.   that went over about as big as flatulence in a frat house,  so I gave up that idea....I might as well as used a wet noodle!  here are the hoses with the brass wire inserted.

they bent well,  but not as good as I would have liked......seemed to have some 'give' to them still.   the exhaust overflow line can be seen in the picture above.   I must have something stiffer,  I thought..........then it hit me!  I have some copper colored wire from past billing's kits....I have a lot of it too!   taking the length of gray tubing I have left,  I inserted the wire into the full length.........holds the bends a lot better  

I replaced the clogged hose........no way to clear it out.   bent up and out of the way,  I'll be able to install the engine,  and route them the way I want them.

here's another shot of the steering assembly,  now that I have it under better lighting.

I may cut off the pins on the oil filter housing and drill holes for the wires to go instead.  the other hoses assembled well doing it this way.   the drive shaft tunnel has to be aligned with the tranny and differential....it was cemented into the splatter shield {gearbox shroud},  and then fitted on the pin of the differential to dry.

there is to be a clutch pedal,  which locates on the bell housing,  and the hole you see in the side of the tunnel,  is where the bracket part of the shifter,  will locate.   once the engine is cemented into place,  I can finish the steering assembly.  I've done some painting to it,  to get it ready.  so, this is how the beast is shaping up.  I like the looks of her with the gray headers.

I forgot to mention.........there is some 'toe out' with the front end.....   that's what one gets when assembling only part of an assembly,  and then letting it dry.   most of it is because I keep moving it around,  but once I set her up,  it fairly small.  haven't checked how much,  but there is some play in there too.  would be a good name if I had to change it...........the Loose Goose    I also got the driver side logo decal on there too today..........yep,  confirmed........another year or two,  and these decals would be junk!  I even used warm water and decal set,  and I still ended up with a couple of areas to touch up.  overall though,  it's not as bad as it looks...the decals for the Jukebox Ford were worse than these.  I really shouldn't show this.....I would think you'd like to see her in ALL her glory,  but I did dry fit the body on the chassis.   she has a few thing hang'in up the body,  so she's not sitt'in at 100%.......but I like the way she looks in this picture.

did you think it would be that easy?