Lotus Type 79 1979 "Martini" Tamiya 1/20

[406 Silverado]

Oct 25, 2024 8:14:59 GMT -5 greg said:

 Hard to believe that was maybe 2 1/2 yrs ago. Actually, that's kind of scary.

  Your re-work of the front end yielded some very positive results Greg. I've had similar issues with the decaling before on other models and you're right. Sometimes we just need to know when to say "when" and call it. Looking forward to the next update. 

It is indeed hard to believe that it's been around 2-1/2 years ago that you were working on this one. Time does fly indeed.....sometimes way too fast. 

Oct 26, 2024 5:27:23 GMT -5 joelw said:

Been out of the loop for a few days with another round of eye injections that so far seems to have done the exact opposite of what I was told. So I'm trying to catch up the best I can.

Gregg, the strip, repaint, and re-decaling looks outstanding to say the least. From my point of view, the time and effort was more then well worth it.

joel

  Sorry to hear that as well Joel and I hope things get better for you on that front buddy. 

[greg]

Thank you, Joe. Great to have you keeping an eye on this thread, my friend.

[joelw]

Greg,
Thanks for the support as I can really use some now, as this is my last shot of saving what limited vision in my eye that I've got.

joel

[greg]

Of course, Joel. You are more than welcome.

[greg]

Just to show I've been doing something, a quick update (and a question below)

Finally got up the nerve to attach the engine. It was about impossible to test fit with any accuracy at this point, so I hope it is right. To refresh your memories, I had performed a bit of surgery on the attachment points when this build stalled a couple years back, and it didn't snap nicely into place as Tamiya intended. The grid on the cutting mat along with my old shop dial calipers came in real handy to square things up best I could.

This is where I'm at at the remaining body parts needing paint.

And finally, my question. How do y'all remove seams from tires? I've done it in the past in smaller scales by finding something that fit the I.D. of the tire, chucking the makeshift arbor in my drill press (1/2" chuck) and sanding. I can't find anything to hold these tires that will fit in the chuck.

Sockets from socket wrenches have worked for me as arbors in smaller scales. You can see below this 12mm socket is a perfect fit, but short of removing the left end of the extension I have there now (at the left end), I'm stuck. On the other hand, I've been thinking about buying a cheap extension somewhere, I'd have a chuckable holder for various sizes of bigger sockets.

So now that you know where I'm at and my thought process so far, how do y'all remove tire seams? I see Paddy removed his and almost asked over in his thread, but I didn't want to hijack it.

 

TIA

PS, please excuse the crappy out of focus pictures.

[arcticwolf]

That looks great. Almost looks 1/12th

Tire seams I just take a sanding stick to them, pick a grit depending on how scrubbed you want them to look.

[joelw]

Greg,
So far it's looking real good. Hopefully you won't have any issues matching the paint and clear coat, which has been a nasty issue for me at times.

As for these jumbo tires I did use a large socket. If you have one that's close, just wrap it with masking tape it it's tight enough not to spin the tire while sanding it.

joel

[greg]

Nov 2, 2024 9:54:13 GMT -5 arcticwolf said:

That looks great. Almost looks 1/12th

Tire seams I just take a sanding stick to them, pick a grit depending on how scrubbed you want them to look.

Thank you!

And thanks also for your tire seam removal technique. Maybe I am overthinking this, which is my norm. A part of why I do everything so slowly.

[greg]

Nov 2, 2024 9:58:48 GMT -5 joelw said:

Greg,
So far it's looking real good. Hopefully you won't have any issues matching the paint and clear coat, which has been a nasty issue for me at times.

As for these jumbo tires I did use a large socket. If you have one that's close, just wrap it with masking tape it it's tight enough not to spin the tire while sanding it.

joel

Thank you, Joel. This is going to sound strange, but I almost hope I do have issues matching the clear coat. I believe I laid it down way too thick so it has that 'too thick' look plus it looks funny around the perimeter of the decals. So if they all match, I'm not going to be happy and if not, well, I will have learned something but they won't match.

So what do you chuck the socket in?

[bakster]

Hey Greg, your Martini (shaken but not stirred) is looking great! I’ll leave the tire seam question to the experts here.

Enjoying your build, Sir. Keep at it, good work.

[kyledehart5]

As for me, I have a 3/8 drive drill bit that I put into a drill. Pick the socket that fits, Chuck the bit into my drill and happily spin away while holding a sanding stick on the tire until the seam is gone. Nice update Greg!! Looking good

[greg]

Nov 2, 2024 12:37:10 GMT -5 bakster said:

Hey Greg, your Martini (shaken but not stirred) is looking great! I’ll leave the tire seam question to the experts here.

Enjoying your build, Sir. Keep at it, good work.

Thank you, and thanks for checking in, Steve!!!!

[greg]

Nov 2, 2024 14:35:03 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

As for me, I have a 3/8 drive drill bit that I put into a drill. Pick the socket that fits, Chuck the bit into my drill and happily spin away while holding a sanding stick on the tire until the seam is gone. Nice update Greg!! Looking good

Thanks, Kyle! And thanks for passing along your method.

[greg]

Meanwhile, that went surprisingly well. A quick trip to our friendly Ace Hardware (....Joe Rix, oh Joe Rix, where fore art thou, Old friend???) for a 1/4" male to 3/8" female socket adapter which allowed me chuck the socket I needed, and viola, I have four tires with no seams. They even have the look I was hoping for. I'm surprised how coarse paper it took to get the desired look, and how fast the process went.

Thanks for all the input, it all led me to the solution, albiet a bit indirectly.

[kyledehart5]

Nov 2, 2024 16:25:45 GMT -5 greg said:

Meanwhile, that went surprisingly well. A quick trip to our friendly Ace Hardware (....Joe Rix, oh Joe Rix, where fore art thou, Old friend???) for a 1/4" male to 3/8" female socket adapter which allowed me chuck the socket I needed, and viola, I have four tires with no seams. They even have the look I was hoping for. I'm surprised how coarse paper it took to get the desired look, and how fast the process went.

Thanks for all the input, it all led me to the solution, albiet a bit indirectly.

excellent!!

[handiabled]

The chassis and power train look great! Your doing a great job with the detail on this!

[greg]

Thanks, Handi!

....and thanks for commenting on my tire sanding success, Kyle.

[joelw]

Greg,

Nice going on the tire sanding success.

I literally live less then 2 miles from our local shopping center that has a Home Depot. I try to avoid it as much as possible and do most of my hardware shopping at my local True Value. Same prices, a owner on the premises, and a small staff that all know what they're talking about, and know your name.

joel

[406 Silverado]

I hear you on getting the engine assembly in there as securely and as true as possible Greg. To me that is the most daunting part of any build like this as things could go sideways at a seconds notice. Looks like you've got everything in there all good though.

Kyle hit on the 3/8 socket drive that can be purchased and chucks right up. Then you can use a larger socket. Try not to use an extension if you can get by with it as it's an additional wobble point when turning the tire on the socket. You want as little up and down movement as possible to avoid the "chatter" effect which will give the potential for irregular surfaces on the scrubbed tire.

[greg]

Nov 4, 2024 9:01:51 GMT -5 joelw said:

Greg,

Nice going on the tire sanding success.

I literally live less then 2 miles from our local shopping center that has a Home Depot. I try to avoid it as much as possible and do most of my hardware shopping at my local True Value. Same prices, a owner on the premises, and a small staff that all know what they're talking about, and know your name.

joel

Thank you, Joel. And I'm with you on Ace Hardware. I turned my back on them for some time with the rise of the big box stores, but I'm back now. For all the same reasons as you have for your loyalty there. In defense of the big box stores, they seem to be awaking after decades of non-service and have improved quite a bit, IMO.

[greg]

Nov 4, 2024 10:38:39 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

I hear you on getting the engine assembly in there as securely and as true as possible Greg. To me that is the most daunting part of any build like this as things could go sideways at a seconds notice. Looks like you've got everything in there all good though.

Kyle hit on the 3/8 socket drive that can be purchased and chucks right up. Then you can use a larger socket. Try not to use an extension if you can get by with it as it's an additional wobble point when turning the tire on the socket. You want as little up and down movement as possible to avoid the "chatter" effect which will give the potential for irregular surfaces on the scrubbed tire.

 Thanks, Joe.

And am I ever glad you elaborated on Kyle's input, because I managed to miss his point. So what I need is socket sized for the tire, with a step down at the O.D. of the 3/8" drive end which will fit in the chuck. I think now I understand. Thanks Kyle and Joe.

You are very right about the wobble using an extension or the 3/8 to 1/4 adapter I bought. The wobble is much worse than I had anticipated.

[kyledehart5]

Pictures!! Should’ve done this first. Apologies. 

this is the tool I have. It is just a driver bit for an 1/4 impact or drill chuck with the driver end being a 3/8 drive socket attachment. I’ve had it for 100 years. 

[greg]

Nov 5, 2024 2:45:15 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Pictures!! Should’ve done this first. Apologies. 

this is the tool I have. It is just a driver bit for an 1/4 impact or drill chuck with the driver end being a 3/8 drive socket attachment. I’ve had it for 100 years. 

Now I get it for real. I didn't even know this adapter existed. Never owning an impact drill, the only adapters I've ever looked for are the ones in the socket section of whatever store. I will add on of these to my arsenal for sure.

Thanks, Kyle!!! (and a k for the pic)

[kyledehart5]

Nov 5, 2024 10:15:12 GMT -5 greg said:

Nov 5, 2024 2:45:15 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Pictures!! Should’ve done this first. Apologies. 

this is the tool I have. It is just a driver bit for an 1/4 impact or drill chuck with the driver end being a 3/8 drive socket attachment. I’ve had it for 100 years. 

Now I get it for real. I didn't even know this adapter existed. Never owning an impact drill, the only adapters I've ever looked for are the ones in the socket section of whatever store. I will add on of these to my arsenal for sure.

Thanks, Kyle!!! (and a k for the pic)

I thought a photo might help!! I just Chuck this little guy into my tiny 12.5 Volt drill that I use for hobby stuff, grab a sanding stick and voila. Sanded tires.