1/16 scale General lee/trunk hinges made...update

[Tony]

Well Good luck to you Jim, like I said though mate, the proportions/dimensions of the bodyshell were what finally put me off (it is too wide in the body compared to a real one), and I really couldn't see how it was worth all the hassle of making the whole model narrower and leaner looking when I could just go out and buy one of the 1/18 die-cast GLs instead.

I'll keep my eye on your thread though mate, and see how you do it (I have another one of these kits in my loft, so maybe you'll inspire me again???? ).

Tony

[M0ParManJimF]

Well Good luck to you Jim, like I said though mate, the proportions/dimensions of the bodyshell were what finally put me off (it is too wide in the body compared to a real one), and I really couldn't see how it was worth all the hassle of making the whole model narrower and leaner looking when I could just go out and buy one of the 1/18 die-cast GLs instead.

I'll keep my eye on your thread though mate, and see how you do it (I have another one of these kits in my loft, so maybe you'll inspire me again???? ).

Tony

WellTony, as you can tell me and you are two different kind of builders then mate, I'm not taking an easy way out. I pick this project decided which way I was going to go and I'm going to stay on course with it. I know when it's done it not look like an 1/16 you all have seen yet .

I also wish David good luck on his build.

[Tony]

No Jim, we're not really 2 different types of builders, I'm just at a different stage in my life, and obviously now have a different opinion about where to draw the line on a build.

I'm still "Mr Perfectionist" when it comes to models, and if it's not good enough, it doesn't stay in my house for long.

The 1/16 "General Lee" was originally going to be built for my own collection, and if I thought that there was ANY way to realistically make that kit good enough I would have gone for it, but it quickly became obvious that I was NEVER going to be happy with that kit, so I did what I could to make it more presentable, and then put it on ebay and got equivalent of about $240.00USD for it.

I suppose my 2 recent close calls with the "Grim Reaper" may have given me a slightly different view on life Jim, and when these close calls happen they make you think about EXACTLY how you spend your time, and you view all time since the incident as a bonus (a precious gift of "Extra time" if you like) and you become determined not to waste it.

I thought I was effected badly enough after the car crash, but then having a Heart attack & surgery at beginning of Sept when I'm only 46yrs old and 83kgs in weight????!!!! THAT'S SCAREY!!!!!
Now I feel like I'm living on "Borrowed time", and I intend to use my time wisely.
It's almost like being in one of the "Final Destination" movies, and the "Grim Reaper" is on my tail because I didn't die when I was supposed to AND HE'S DETERMINED TO PUT THINGS RIGHT
That's when you start to think to yourself "Life's too short to worry about a bit of plastic!!!!"

I really hope that you NEVER find out what I'm talking about Jim,

[M0ParManJimF]

No Jim, we're not really 2 different types of builders, I'm just at a different stage in my life, and obviously now have a different opinion about where to draw the line on a build.

I'm still "Mr Perfectionist" when it comes to models, and if it's not good enough, it doesn't stay in my house for long.

The 1/16 "General Lee" was originally going to be built for my own collection, and if I thought that there was ANY way to realistically make that kit good enough I would have gone for it, but it quickly became obvious that I was NEVER going to be happy with that kit, so I did what I could to make it more presentable, and then put it on ebay and got equivalent of about $240.00USD for it.

I suppose my 2 recent close calls with the "Grim Reaper" may have given me a slightly different view on life Jim, and when these close calls happen they make you think about EXACTLY how you spend your time, and you view all time since the incident as a bonus (a precious gift of "Extra time" if you like) and you become determined not to waste it.

I thought I was effected badly enough after the car crash, but then having a Heart attack & surgery at beginning of Sept when I'm only 46yrs old and 83kgs in weight????!!!! THAT'S SCAREY!!!!!
Now I feel like I'm living on "Borrowed time", and I intend to use my time wisely.
It's almost like being in one of the "Final Destination" movies, and the "Grim Reaper" is on my tail because I didn't die when I was supposed to AND HE'S DETERMINED TO PUT THINGS RIGHT
That's when you start to think to yourself "Life's too short to worry about a bit of plastic!!!!"

I really hope that you NEVER find out what I'm talking about Jim,

I think I already have 22 years ago. But that is all I'm going to say.

[rdgracer71]

well i cant wait to start this build.....tony your car looks great....don't make excuses for it it looks great. i thought about making a exhaust like that for mine and try and make the mufflers as well...don't have anything to make the back seat with. gonna try and fix the body to make it look more right. kinda upset now though i stored all the pieces in a box saturday including the body, when i took it out sunday to look at it the body was all warped. i dont believe it was that way when i got it...dang now i gotta fix that....it was kinda warm in my room and it was closed up in a box..i wonder if it got to hot....i thought it would be ok it was only in the 60's here that night. anyways thats the only thing i can think of that could of happen to it, so guys watch for that....keep your models in cool places so they dont get messed up like mine.

[rdgracer71]

well i cant wait to start this build.....tony your car looks great....don't make excuses for it it looks great. i thought about making a exhaust like that for mine and try and make the mufflers as well...don't have anything to make the back seat with. gonna try and fix the body to make it look more right. kinda upset now though i stored all the pieces in a box saturday including the body, when i took it out sunday to look at it the body was all warped. i dont believe it was that way when i got it...dang now i gotta fix that....it was kinda warm in my room and it was closed up in a box..i wonder if it got to hot....i thought it would be ok it was only in the 60's here that night. anyways thats the only thing i can think of that could of happen to it, so guys watch for that....keep your models in cool places so they dont get messed up like mine.

[rdgracer71]

sorry double post....

[M0ParManJimF]

sorry double post....

Double? more like thriple if you ask me.

[Tony]

well i cant wait to start this build.....tony your car looks great....don't make excuses for it it looks great. i thought about making a exhaust like that for mine and try and make the mufflers as well...don't have anything to make the back seat with. gonna try and fix the body to make it look more right. kinda upset now though i stored all the pieces in a box saturday including the body, when i took it out sunday to look at it the body was all warped. i dont believe it was that way when i got it...dang now i gotta fix that....it was kinda warm in my room and it was closed up in a box..i wonder if it got to hot....i thought it would be ok it was only in the 60's here that night. anyways thats the only thing i can think of that could of happen to it, so guys watch for that....keep your models in cool places so they dont get messed up like mine.

Thanks for the compliment about my 1/16 scale General Lee, I was fairly pleased with the way it turned out (considering how bad the kit was to start with) and I didn't mean to put you off with my moaning about the kit, it all depends upon how accurate you want the finished model to be and just how much work you are prepared to put into correcting it's many faults.

I'm sure that Jim will probably back me up when I say that when you've been doing this hobby for a long time you start to get "Fussy" about the standard of the finished model, and although others see a nice model, the builder will usually only see the faults/errors in the model that he didn't fix, so that is why I feel the way I do about the build .

I hope you get the warping issue sorted, and as for the back seat I chopped up an interior tub from the 1/16 MPC "Street Charger" kit (1970's shaped body), and used the back seat from that.


Hope this helps.

[rdgracer71]

gonna post some pics soon...i got some pics of the body and i am working on posting them.

[rdgracer71]

well here are a few pictures of my 1/16 scale general lee body....in a few of these pics you may be able to see the warpping that i spoke of a few days ago. it looks much better today but there some work still to be done. here take a look...



in this picture you can see the warp area. notice the cowl area on the driver side of the car is bucked up. much higher than the passenger side.....



ive edit that picture and circled the area i'm speaking of..here check it out...











i know the warpping is minor and can be fixed...i guess a little warm water and i will be ready to go...john has told me that warpping can be fixed with warm water and once you have it fixed apply a little cold water....is this the best way to fix it?

[M0ParManJimF]

On something like this, I'm not sure warm water will do the trick or not, you might have to take it to the next level which is very very tricky to do. I had to do it on mine in the lower trunk area. talk about twisting the backhalf back into shape.

[Tony]

Another similar method I've heard of is to heat the warped area with a hairdrier to make it pliable, twist it back into shape, and once you are happy that you have the correct shape plunge the whole thing in a bowl of cold water to harden the plastic back up. (just make sure you keep the hairdrier far away from the bowl of water though ).

[M0ParManJimF]

Another similar method I've heard of is to heat the warped area with a hairdrier to make it pliable, twist it back into shape, and once you are happy that you have the correct shape plunge the whole thing in a bowl of cold water to harden the plastic back up. (just make sure you keep the hairdrier far away from the bowl of water though ).

Tony, look's like me and your are on the same page here, what you just said is what I said above also, this is the next level up from warm water is hotter heat, It is tricky to do. I wish I would have photograph mine before I started working on it. When you look at it now you can't even tell where I did the work at on it in the rear.

[Tony]

Another similar method I've heard of is to heat the warped area with a hairdrier to make it pliable, twist it back into shape, and once you are happy that you have the correct shape plunge the whole thing in a bowl of cold water to harden the plastic back up. (just make sure you keep the hairdrier far away from the bowl of water though ).

Tony, look's like me and your are on the same page here, what you just said is what I said above also, this is the next level up from warm water is hotter heat, It is tricky to do. I wish I would have photograph mine before I started working on it. When you look at it now you can't even tell where I did the work at on it in the rear.

LOL, see Jim, I told you we weren't two different kinds of builders