The Coupe

[Rick]

My 8th scale MF fibreglass coupe arrived today. This is a mockup of where I'm going with it. With this body style, you gotta go pro street or gasser, and I'm doing both.

First to the bench is the pro street style coupe. Running gear will consist of a TDR Hemi, trans and rear end and inside will be TDR bucket seats. After following Ken's tutorial, I'm going to attempt a brass chassis with a four link in the rear and IFS up front.

The MF body is new to the market and its done in fibreglass. Its correct dimensionally and built extreemly strong. This is a very high quality body with no disappointments. It can be ordered in several configurations, including with a seperate nose.

This is the first in the new line of MF bodies and more will follow in the next few months. I know lots of you are looking for something new, thats not a cousin to the deuce. This
is it.

TDR is the authorized dealer for MF bodies, so if you want one, E me at rick21142@shaw.ca.

[Don Garrett]

Cool beans....I know first hand the quality that is built into MF bodies. Some of you guys are probably thinking fiberglass? Yeah buddy, it's stronger, more stable and thinner than than can be even attempted in resin . If you are into scale, glass (in my opinion) is the way to go for bodies. Some stuff still needs to be done in resin as there are pluses in minuses to both. Some of you guys are familiar with resin and I'm sure glass is a whole new ball game to most. Call it progress or another toy for us guys that are getting burned out on the tired old Monogram Deuce and T kits.

So Rick, you old designer coffee drinking dog.....do a tute on working with a glass body....no running for the shelter of her mothers little helper......build it, find the bugs and perks and show the rest of us how it's done on your side of the island. Step by step dude, we expect you to teach and educate mister.

I just got one of the first OFFY DIY kits today for evaluation and my usual mother hen gig. I'm still fondling the parts but I'll say this much now....WOW! Close to fifty parts for this 4 banger requiring very little finishing and.....more later, time to get excited guys, the new wave of large scale affordable modeling is gaining momentum.

[Tage]

Don,

When will the Offy be available to us mere mortals?

[Rick]

Its available now Dan. I'll E you shortly.

[Don Garrett]

I'll be posting pics of the RP version DIY kit very soon, but just as a teaser, I'm a happy camper. For you resin guys that prefer that medium.....yeah buddy, smile. There's a resin version in the can. You'll have to bug Rick 'bout that one. TDR rules guys, we're baking the cake and frosting it too. Bring your own coffee.

[Don Garrett]

Back to the thread....you going pro-street Rick? Or maybe one of those glitzy Boydsters?
If it were me...it would be a pure bare bones gasser. Hee, hee. C'mon man....give us a clue. Is it talking to you yet? If you listen it's whispering to you.

[Rick]

Here's the deal Grumps. I bought two bodies from MF. One is the coupe shown here and it will be a full on pro street version, just as it should be. The second body is gasser style with a removable nose. For the time being, the gasser is on the shelf with the roadster and the woody.

I've spent today putting together a TDR pro street/drag coil over rear end and practising my soldering skills (thanks Ken!) in anticipation of building a full tube pro street chassis. I've got a TDR hemi on the way and when it comes I'll mock everything up and continue building the chassis.

Photo's to follow as soon as I get going on the chassis.

[Rick]

Before building a chassis, I need a rear end, and when building a pro street Willys, one needs a very special rear end. So, where did I find one? Well, I went to the TDR parts catalogue.

This rear end kit is designed for use in a drag racer or a pro street car. Its big, its tough and its got disc brakes and calipers. It comes with four bar brackets but no bars or shocks. I've added some bolts for detail and the shocks are from the parts box.

[Rick]

A pro street car has to have big fat rear tires and deep dish wheels. Fortunatly, I have some fat rear tires from an old R/M T kit. The wheels are a mock up useing a combination of RM outter rims and some of Dan's American Raceing wheels.

After I'm satisfied that everything will "work" together, I'll break it all apart and paint all the pieces.

[Rick]

I've had some enquiries about this body so need to clarify something. The MF fibreglass body can only be ordered in one of TWO configurations. It can be ordered with a one piece tilt front nose clip OR a two piece (seperate hood and fenders) nose clip. This body cannot be ordered with the nose clip attached.

Interested purchasers are also reminded that bodies comming from the MF factory will require some surface finishing and primer .

[Rick]

This build is going to be powered by a TDR Hemi and it arrived yesterday.

Yup, I'm a partner in TDR but that won't stop me from bragging about our kits. This is the first I've seen of the TDR Hemi kit and I'm very impressed. I ordered the complete kit and it includes everything from the fan to transmission tail shaft. Its a complete engine and the fit is excellent. The photo does not show all parts in this kit.

I won't be doing an engine tutorial. TDR has asked Jeff to do that for us along with an honest evaluation of the kit.

Now that I have an engine, trans and rear end, I can start on a chassis mock up.

[Don Garrett]

Hey there Rick....I know you are not doing a tute as a partner in TDR , but being you have that elephant in hand...please pass on your finishing tips along as you build it. HFC will be doing a full blown tutorial and not being involved in D.I.Y TDR stuff it will be his honest and unbiased opinion from a modelers point of view.

However....everyone has their own tastes and building styles. Some folks will want to sand the parts baby butt smooth for things like valve covers etc. Others will want to take advantage of the texture left by the manufacturing process.

The TDR Elephant is a perfect example.......we have minimized the texture as much as possible while keeping the prices acceptable to the hobbyists.

I've found that light sanding or even a good coat of primer surfacer produces a realistic cast iron look on blocks, heads etc. Even the trans, no biggie for that real world scale look.
The surface of the valve covers if done in the period black wrinkle finish is a given.

As far as the parts that do need to be smooth and shiny....I've found that a few sanding sticks, a sheet of 400-600 and finer grit paper, a blade with the tip broken off as a scraper and a wire brush in Dremel get the job done.

[hot ford coupe]

As far as the parts that do need to be smooth and shiny....I've found that a few sanding sticks, a sheet of 400-600 and finer grit paper, a blade with the tip broken off as a scraper and a wire brush in Dremel get the job done.

Exactly right, Don. This is what I found from my own experience plus a few tips from Tim. It's made all the difference in the world. As far as my own tut will go, I'm still waiting for my computer to get back from the fix it shop. They've had it for almost a month now. It should come home next week and when it does, I've got several things I'll need to post. Sorry for the delay guys.

[Don Garrett]

Jeff, no need to apologize...that's not nessary, just go slap your local pocket protector wearing guys around and tell 'em you need your machine or you're going to swell up 3 times your size,turn purple and set lose the rath of Super Modeler. I'm looking foward to seeing how you deal with these new toys and your first hand impressions.

[hot ford coupe]

I did that Don. The guy tried to slap me silly with his tie. Supermodeler superglued his thumbs together and drilled a hole in his pocket protector. Then he threw dirty paint thinner on his white socks.