1/24 Testors Ultra Detail T Bucket-Progress-02 December

[406 Silverado]

Okee dokee folks. I'm still working on the Ta-152 and am taking my sweet time with it to make sure that it turns out just the way I want it as well as not to rush something that I've spent the last 11 months building. In order to keep the urge to rush to the finish line down, I'm going to start a side build just to actually complete something for the year. A few weeks ago Mike Sharp completed one of these and it inspired me to buy one and give one a go myself. 

I will be replacing the wheels and tires with something of my own choosing and adding a couple of things here and there to make things a little more interesting. I have a set of Tru Wire wheel/ tire assembly's that I have been chompin' at the bit to find a project for and this one looks like the ticket. 

The kit: 

[keavdog]

Oh cool! Can't wait to see you work your magic on this one.

[406 Silverado]

Nov 23, 2024 16:03:45 GMT -5 keavdog said:

Oh cool! Can't wait to see you work your magic on this one.

  Thanks for the vote of confidence John. Hope I can live up to the expectation with this one. lol 

[arcticwolf]

Certainly qualifies as an open wheeler - T buckets should never have fenders.

[handiabled]

This should be good! I'll be following this one Joe.

[406 Silverado]

Nov 23, 2024 20:14:34 GMT -5 arcticwolf said:

Certainly qualifies as an open wheeler - T buckets should never have fenders.

  LOL!! Right on Paul! 

Nov 24, 2024 3:51:36 GMT -5 handiabled said:

This should be good! I'll be following this one Joe.

  Glad to have you onboard Brent.  I'm going to be extending the Butcher Bird GB by 6 months I think because there are still a good number of builds out there still going on (mine included). 

[bakster]

Hey Joe, looks like a cool project! I am following.

[moparman18064]

Popcorn bags waiting Joe! I want to see how you dress it up .

[kyledehart5]

I can’t wait to see this one. I love a hot rod T

[406 Silverado]

Thank you all for following along and for the encouraging comments so far. 


Alright gang. We start......

 Those of you who know me, know that I can't leave well enough alone.....even for a pre-painted kit. For starters, I had to do something with the wheel and tire arrangement on this. This is not to say that the ones that came in the kit were all that bad BUT.......I've been itchin' for an opportunity to use some wheels and tires that I've had in the parts stash for such an occasion. The wire wheels included in the kit are among the best I've seen in plastic, and I will keep them around for a future build. What's really going to help throw this build over the top is the use of Tru Wires from Minicurtr8zing. 


  




A quick side by side comparison will show that the kit wheels aren't all that bad but these Tru Wires are definitely "all that". 





Rear wheels in the kit were a Cragar SS design but I had something more in mind. I got these from Teds Modeling Marketplace and these IMO are the best wheels anywhere in being aluminum and PE.






I also had a set of 1/25 tires in the parts stash that these will fit perfectly in.

[bakster]

Hey Joe, using the alternate wheels will really dress this model up. When said and done this build will be something to see!

[406 Silverado]

Nov 26, 2024 9:19:14 GMT -5 bakster said:

Hey Joe, using the alternate wheels will really dress this model up. When said and done this build will be something to see!

I'm hoping so Steve. I've got a few other changes that I'll be bringing to the table on this one as well. 

[406 Silverado]

I also didn't like the rather predominant seam going right down the middle of the oil pan as well as the top and bottom of the transmission, so I glued the engine halves together instead of using the screw supplied in the kit to join the halves. Then I busted out with the sanding sticks and went to work removing all seams and primed everything in black.



Started here with the pre-painted long block freshly sanded with all seams and sprue joins removed. It was a shame to remove all of the pre-painted orange from the block but I think I've got just the right shade of orange to go right back on. 





Then black based everything. No more seam lines! 




And shot the engine color right back on. 

[keavdog]

Great start Joe. Those wheels are really something. Beautiful spokes. Great work on cleaning up the block - looks great.

[lyle]

This should be fun to watch!

[tcoat]

Well Joe you may actually have an internet first here! No matter where I look I can not find a single build thread on any of these Ultra series T buckets. Nothing. There are a few completed builds and a couple of YouTube videos but that is it.

[406 Silverado]

Nov 26, 2024 9:56:04 GMT -5 keavdog said:

Great start Joe. Those wheels are really something. Beautiful spokes. Great work on cleaning up the block - looks great.

Nov 26, 2024 9:58:22 GMT -5 lyle said:

This should be fun to watch!

Nov 26, 2024 10:16:24 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Well Joe you may actually have an internet first here! No matter where I look I can not find a single build thread on any of these Ultra series T buckets. Nothing. There are a few completed builds and a couple of YouTube videos but that is it.

Thank you guys for the votes of confidence and encouragement. That's funny that you mentioned that about being a first. Maybe I need to change the thread to reflect that. lololol 

I just got through ordering the lugnuts and studs for the rear wheels and the center caps for the front wheels. 

[keavdog]

Tellme about these lugnuts and studs. Also, I have a set of similar rear wheels for my Garlits Challenger. What's the process of mounting them to the axle?

[406 Silverado]

Nov 26, 2024 17:48:36 GMT -5 keavdog said:

Tellme about these lugnuts and studs. Also, I have a set of similar rear wheels for my Garlits Challenger. What's the process of mounting them to the axle?

I had my aluminum sleeves cut to only go halfway through the tire John. That leaves room for me to use the OOB wheel backings to attach them to the axle in the rear and shave off some of the rears of the front wheels. You could have a machine shop cut those down for you like I did with mine. 

[handiabled]

Great work on the engine block seams! Man oh man those spoke rims looks awesome!

[406 Silverado]

Nov 27, 2024 6:12:11 GMT -5 handiabled said:

Great work on the engine block seams! Man oh man those spoke rims looks awesome!

  Truth be told, this model could probably be built in just a few hours given the fact that most of it is snap together, held together with screws and only a miniscule amount of glue is needed. It's all pre-painted and ready to go and doesn't look half bad right out of the box after it's all assembled. 

You just can't go wrong with the Tru Wires. I'm going to have to order another set now that I'm using these. lol 

[kyledehart5]

Wow!! Those wheels are incredible. A good set of wires can make all the difference. I’ve bought some seriously nice aftermarket’s for a couple early Indycar builds and it really elevated them. Your Tru wires will undoubtedly do the same. Those rear wheels look amazing too!! Great start on the engine.

[mattilacken]

Nice build there! will be following!

[moparman18064]

Ooooh, those wheels are sweet! I’m with you, I can’t stand seam lines down the middle of oil pans and transmissions. Great work.

[406 Silverado]

Nov 27, 2024 19:46:40 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Wow!! Those wheels are incredible. A good set of wires can make all the difference. I’ve bought some seriously nice aftermarket’s for a couple early Indycar builds and it really elevated them. Your Tru wires will undoubtedly do the same. Those rear wheels look amazing too!! Great start on the engine.

  You're right about the Tru Wires making the difference Kyle. You should see these things in person. Thank you for the encouragement bud. 

Nov 28, 2024 8:03:05 GMT -5 mattilacken said:

Nice build there! will be following!

 Looking forward to having you on board Anton and thanks buddy. 

Nov 28, 2024 8:24:58 GMT -5 moparman18064 said:

Ooooh, those wheels are sweet! I’m with you, I can’t stand seam lines down the middle of oil pans and transmissions. Great work.

 'Preciate that Rich. Glad to have you tagging along as well. 


Today I decided to post a little progress on the engine. Here's after a couple of touch ups with some Tamiya Smoke applications over the kit chrome, painting a few details on the engine and adding some eye candy like a lettering decal on the blower drive belt and an AC Delco decal on the oil filter. I also spent some time picking out some of the details on the drive belt pulleys. I've still got some things to do in the clean-up department. Believe it or not, this kit comes with a prewired distributor and blued chrome for the headers right there in the box. Pretty cool feature and I'll be adding that coming up next



  

[bakster]

Joe, your engine looks awesome! Nice work sir, I love it. This car is going be awesome.

[kyledehart5]

Neato!! That’s one great looking mill right there

[handiabled]

The engine looks great so far! I'm looking forward to seeing your detailed touches to it.

[406 Silverado]

Nov 29, 2024 23:28:53 GMT -5 bakster said:

Joe, your engine looks awesome! Nice work sir, I love it. This car is going be awesome.

  Thank you Steve. I'm having a good time with this one and it's giving me my modeling mojo (did I just say that??!! LOL) back. 

Nov 30, 2024 5:24:51 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Neato!! That’s one great looking mill right there

 Thank you Kyle!! 

Nov 30, 2024 6:11:08 GMT -5 handiabled said:

The engine looks great so far! I'm looking forward to seeing your detailed touches to it.

 Thanks Brent! Aside from addition of the decals there's not a whole lot that I'm either going to have to add or that I'm willing to add. lol 

[406 Silverado]

Continuing on with this one. I managed to get the front and rear axles into place and still have some work to do to the brake rotors to adapt the Tru Wires to this car. I've already cut the stubs/ axle mounting bosses off of the front hubs and drilled holes for the new axle / wheel retainers. Engine is all mounted up as well. That was a feat in itself and required grinding of the "engine mounts" to slide the engine into place as it wasn't fitting into the mounts at all. 




Lug nuts came in the mail yesterday so I can start working on the replacement rear wheels at any point now.