Nice surgery Doctor D !
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Why thank you sir!
I always throw the unusual and interesting sprue off-cuts into a tub because you just never know . . . .
If I recall correctly, this piece is from a 1/350 Dragon destroyer kit, but the size and shape fit nicely and it even has short legs on the bottom for me to fit some scratch-build casters!
Add on a couple of posts for the engine mount points, and a saddle for the transmission at the back, and I think this will do the job nicely!
Now to decide what colour to paint the stand. I want something to contrast with the bright blue of the engine, but still a bit industrial. Maybe yellow or orange.
Cheers, D
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At GM’s, heritage center, the engine sits on a black motor stand.
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Black it may well be then, I suppose it might be best to not draw the eye away from the engine itself.
Some paint work begins!
Cheers, D
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Thanks @Hwa-rang, the stand is now black!
The exhaust and intake assemblies are permanently fitted now, time to dry-fit the pulley assembly and fan and see how it all sits. Of course, I still need to deal with that ever-present magical floating alternator.
Cheers, D
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This really is a great fun little diversion project while I work on the body clean-up on the '55 Corvette and the 2-Mad.
I would never have been able to get such a neat delineation between the carb body and the intake manifold by masking. This was definitely a worthwhile exercise.
I cut a little curved bracket from some styrene stock and painted it metallic grey, then fitted it to the alternator and the front of the engine block behind the fan base. I will add a drop of black paint to represent a fixing bolt on the front, and maybe a mounting plate at the back. I also applied the decals to the rocker cover. Once they have cured I will give the whole thing a light shot of Alclad Aqua Gloss and then a pin wash of engine oil colour.
Looking at the reference images, I will need to shape up a piece of sprue and fit it to the top water connection point, and also drill out the hose connections on the auxilliary water tank. Both circled in yellow in the image below.
Cheers, D
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Looks great D. your, quite impressive, surgical procedure, certainly paid off.
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I’ve been really struggling with mojo levels for the past month or so. Being made redundant at work for the third time in 2 years (due to COVID shutdowns in the construction industry) has really sapped my enthusiasm for anything.
I figured if I sat at the bench and knocked over a couple of simple tasks things might start to flow again, so I put some time into the Blue Flame display and got it finished.
And sitting beside one in its natural environment!
Hopefully I can get some other projects moving again soon.
Cheers, D
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The engine looks great Damian and I hope it gets your mojo back on track.
I am sorry to hear about your work woes, I went through a similar phase in the early 2000s, it can be a tough road but I am sure you’ll get through it.
cheers
Michael
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Thanks for the feedback Michael, much appreciated.
On top of everything else, I just qualified for idiot of the month!! I went to throw some SMS Red on the body of the '55 Corvette (#3 in this trio) and discovered that I forgot to clean out the airbrush last time I used it. Leaving SMS Midnight Blue in the cup for 3 weeks or so isn’t the ideal course of action !
Anyway, I stripped it down, cleaned it up, and here we are!
Cheers, D
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Sorry to hear of the job woes, D.
It’s not easy being a Melbournian at this time without the added stresses of job security.
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Same about the job. Y’all seem to doing things different over there for covid.
On the plus side the engine looks good. Question for idiot of the month, is that last month or this? When the action happened or discovered. 
The vette is looking good also.
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I will put a claim in for both, might double-up on prizes! 
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D,
So sorry to read that once again Covid layoffs have found you once again. I thought that Australia and New Zealand had a firm grip on the pandemic and things were returning to semi normal like here. Guess the news got it wrong once again.
As far as the Air brush dried paint issue, how hard was it to completely cleanout the air brush? It’s my worst painting nightmare for sure.
The display engine looks fantastic. Parked next to the classic Vette it adds so much to the presentation.
As for the Red color coat painted body, looks darn good from my perspective.
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The truth is stranger than fiction, Joel 
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Russelle,
Sorry to hear that. Here, it’s Red vs Blue states. Just seems like it’s never ending.
joel
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Joel, we did have for a while but then the Delta strain threw a spanner in the works and our slow vaccination program meant that we went right back to where we were last year. Things have turned around now and we are hitting vaccination targets and hopefully starting to open back up in early November.
Anyway, on to more important issues, I managed some bench time and got some clear gloss on the '55 shell.
Some roughness and a few greeblies to knock back but I like the colour and depth.
Cheers, D
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D,
Glad that Australia is making good progress. We’ve reached basically where everyone that wants the vaccine has gotten it, and the rest of the country doesn’t.
The Gloss coat looks great. Can’t wait to see it after you work your magic on it.
joel
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Well it’s been a few months break on this build, but now that the DB5 is off the bench and on the display shelf part of my goal for this year is to whittle away at the WIP list (which is extensive 
) before I crack into anything unstarted. Well, that’s the plan anyway, let’s see how it works out 
The '55 Corvette has been sitting patiently and I have been thinking about how to re-jig the front end to support the V8 being transplanted in, and all the while just on the other side of the bench has been sitting the box of chopped up spares from the 2-Mad conversion project. A few minutes with the razor saw and sprue cutters and I had extracted the main cross-member providing support under the front of the Nomad’s 283 engine. A bit of fettling and shimming and it fitted in place quite nicely.
It’s not completely accurate, but it does the job and really won’t be seen beneath the engine block, so now I can tidy up the chassis and give it some primer and semi-gloss black paint.
Cheers, D
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D,
Sure looks like it works just fine. Would the motor mounts have been on top of that cross brace in real life back then? Still great to see another 2 seater/2 door sports car on your bench. It’s my favorite type of car since I was like 15 or so.
joel
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