Jesper,
Thanks so much for stopping by and liking how the engine compartment is turning out. It’s greatly appreciated.
joel
1 Like
Joseph,
Dead on assessment for sure. I’ve never gotten around to building another 956 or a 962c but they won’t be Tamiya detailed kits but rather the curbside Hasegawa kits as I want the engine cover on this time.
joel
1 Like
Well, I’ve finally found the time to finish the driver’s compartment. Just way to many medical and family issues lurking in nearly every corner to hijack me away from the bench. Fortunately, most issues especially my personal health is now on the right but very expensive course. Getting old and then older truly sucks.
the driver’s cockpit’s 1st issue and it’s a major one is that Monogram has the instrument panel on the left side as well as the seat, which is usually correct for USA race cars, but in this case the IP and wheel (plus the seat of course) is on the right side.
so I had to flip the IP, wheel, and seat. None of which was particularly difficult to accomplish. The instrument bezels were painted in the came carbon fiber color as the rest of the dash and interior rather then the more traditional chrome as it’s function was to hold the plexi lens in place without creating a glare effect when the sun streamed into the pit. The seatbelts are actually Indy Cal decals that I thought were a dark Blue, but as you can see they’re more of a Purple. But being buried in the Pit, no one is going to really see them once the body is put on. The shift lever was molded with the shift linkage and was grossly out of scale and the knob wasn’t round, so I cut it off, and went with the very old technique of stretching sprue. The knob was just the sprue being dipped into white glue over and over again after the previous coat had dried enough for the next. The following day the knob was dipped a few times once again but this time in Enamel Gloss Black paint. The final result is a round gloss black knob. Now for me that’s pretty amazing. Added the 3 pedals and the fire extinguisher bottles painted in Testors Gloss Red.
I did manage to add two electrical wires to what I believe is the alternator located over the rear diff. I couldn’t find a single picture to verify this as accurate or not, so I left it as is.
joel
11 Likes
Great job on switching sides with the steering wheel and IP Joel. Good to hear about your health issues taking a turn for the better. Hate to hear about the expense that goes along with that but that seems to be “usual and customary” these days. lol.
Good to see you back at the bench bud.
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Joseph,
Thanks buddy so much for stopping by, it’s always greatly appreciated.
joel
2 Likes
Always alot of fun to look in on your builds Joel. Looking forward to more pal.
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Very neat L-to-R swap there Joel, looks great! Interesting that the alternator should be way back there, maybe just an “available space” decision.
Great to see you back at the bench, and especially good to hear that the health is improving.
Cheers, D
1 Like
D,
Thanks for stopping by, and your thumbs up for what I’ve accomplished to date on the Mustang GTP car. As always it’s greatly appreciated.
I guessed the same as you as there just wasn’t any room on the engine for the alternator, which is strange in itself. But up until I ran across this application, I’ve never heard of one being put in the back by the rear end.
joel
1 Like
Looks seriously good Joel.
Happy birthday 
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Jesper,
Thanks so much for stopping by, it’s always greatly appreciated. And of course for the B’day wishes. Turning 75 still feels like I’m 74.
joel
2 Likes
LOL!! If we could only turn back the hands of time!!
Hope you had a great Birthday Joel.
1 Like
Joseph,
always glad when you stop by and check out my current build.
As for a great birthday, it was one of the better ones, and I’ve got 75 of them to choose from.
joel
1 Like
Oh, seems like I missed that. Happy (belated) birthday, Joel! Hope, you’ve had a great day!
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Torsten,
Just the fact that I reached my 75th Birthday, makes it a great day.
joel
3 Likes
Alright potna! Where are we with this build now? Hope you had a great Christmas and New Year Joel.
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Joseph,
At 75, just making it to the new year is another major accomplishment. Although, for the last few years we haven’t quite made it to the magic moment of the dropping of the New Year’s Ball at Times Square.
Other then all the truck issues, hope that you and your family had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. As for your truck and engine issues, knowing you, I was rather shocked to read such news, but I’m more then confident that the truck and the big block will once again meet your expectations, and be on the road once again.
As for my Ford Mustang IMSA GTP build, it’s been on hold for about 3 months now. After nearly one model build right after another for the last 35 years or so, of which I’ve been here for more then 25 of them, the old mojo tanks were getting rather empty. Between personal and family major health issues, and trying to resolve endless dealings with Medicaid for my special needs brother in law (he’s 60), it’s taken a toll on us. And as I confessed to D in his Vette thread, I’ve been a closet Model Railroader for the last 35 plus years.
The 3 needed parts to a layout are space, time, and funds which never really aligned until a few years ago. But I never took that opportunity until 3 months ago when the drained Mojo tanks and just picking up the Mustang, looking at it, then putting it way again just caused the bulb to light and the bells to finally ring. I just decided that at my age, there’s no more tomorrows, it’s now or never, so I took the plunge, and after 3 months I have a 2 x 24 HO layout in the basement to the point of I’m able to actually run trains in a some what realistic manner. Benchwork, trackwork, wiring, DCC/Electrical done. All of that takes tons of time and tons of money. Way more then I thought for sure. I’m now at the stage of scenery, structures, weathering, etc, which now leaves me time to also get back to building car models even if it’s at a reduced rate.
And last night I actually did some prep work on the 'Stang. So I’m back, but just not as much.
joel
3 Likes
Enough talk Joel, we need to see some pictures of your layout mate!
Really glad to see your mojo is still well and truly alive and kicking, even if it’s diverted away from your beloved race cars.
Best wishes to you and the family.
Cheers, D
1 Like
I worked for Ford SVO back in '86 driving the custom show trailer around to races, car shows, etc. and the Motorsports version was one of the cars we carried around and displayed.
Well, I’ve finally gotten back to the bench with full mojo tanks, and my 35 years of being a arm chair model Railroader turned to a real Model Railroader now has a working HO scale layout with the benchwork done, track laid, DCC wired, basic OPs worked out for realistic point to point operation, and basic scenery well under way. So now it’s basically at the point where I can equally share my hobby time between both hobbies, and start spending more time here as I’ve done in many year’s past.
With that goal now in mind, the IMSA Ford Mustang GTP car was back on my bench, and finally crossed the finish line. While by no means a perfect build, I’m more then happy with the results. Here’s some pictures of the finished build.
joel
7 Likes
Looks great Joel and glad to see you now having time to get to cars. Post a picture of your rail layout - I’d like to see your skill there too.
cheers
Michael