THE NEW! 1/25 1984 March 84C Resin kit thread

[Calvin]

This will be the NEW official 1984 March 84C resin kit thread. All my updates on this re-issued kit will be here.
It's crazy to think that almost 12 years ago I started on this full resin kit and didn't have a clue what I was really doing, even though I did produce the 1982 Wildcat and 1983 March before this project.

Late 2011 I was like, hey let's build the 84 March. LOL Literally no planning



at this point, I felt I was really onto something! LOL




After knocking myself out silly for a couple of months I finally presented a final product that actually looked pretty good. All my mentors gave me enough constructive criticism that it finally had the right look.




Right after this I got very sick and didn't know what was going wrong with me, it was January 29th 2012. Little did I know I developed Ulcerative Colitis. I was unable to continue offering this kit anymore as I was bedridden at this point. I tried my best to fulfill orders but I had to completely stop as I didn't have the strength. I never offered this kit ever again.

Until now....

[Calvin]

I've been learning 3d drawing and printing for the last 9 months and improved enough to start feeling comfortable in replacing my need for white metal on my full indycar kits. Indycals and myself have got this 3d printing down to a science.

So with that said, for the first time in 12 years, I will be re-issuing the 1984 March/Penske March/Mayer March kits with new upgrades over the origin Resins. I actually don't think anyone ever got a Mayer March kit from me or not 11 years ago(?) So it might be 100% new.

No more white metal as if the settings and process is done correctly the 3d parts are strong enough for the job. 3d parts don't bend very much like white metal. White metal has its place in the hobby, but in order for me to grow in this hobby it was time to move on and grown in a new space which is WAY cheaper than getting white metal parts done. Which will mean I can keep my prices down and produce kits faster. I'll be able to produce two 3d parts sets in one hour. (Takes me one hour to cast a complete kit)

The only thing I'm doing with my kits is replacing the need for white metal, I will still be using the same resin for all the other parts, the resin I've been using since 2018 has been very good to me and everyone likes it as it's the easiest resin ive ever worked with and has proven reliability with treating paint jobs good and doesn't crinkle up 3 year old paint jobs like other resins.

[Calvin]

The 1984 March 84c versions I plan on offering:

Pennzoil Z-7 Spl. - Rick Mears
Miller High Life Spl. - Al Unser Sr.
Coors Light Silver Bullet - Al Unser Jr.
Texaco Star - Tom Senva
Jiffy Mixes - Howdy Holmes
Gilmore - AJ Foyt
Interscope - Danny Ongais
Machinists Union - Josele Garza
Skoal Bandit March - Teo Fabi
STP - Gordon Johncock
WIT Promotions - Emmerson Fittipaldi

Of course, every March has its own unique characteristics. (I'm going to have my hands full! LOL)
I will spread this out over the next year.

[kyledehart5]

Outstanding. Look forward to building some of these beauties.

[1961redlegs]

You work hard at providing the best product to the modeler and you are always improving your craft. The photos you shared of the 3D printed pieces were beautiful.

I’ll be buying a Howdy Holmes car for sure, and probably a Rick Mears as well. This is great news for the hobby.

[Calvin]

Some may be wondering, why the suspension parts look "blocky"....Well they are "blocky" in real life with a short radius

[Calvin]

Nov 27, 2023 7:51:57 GMT -5 1961redlegs said:

You work hard at providing the best product to the modeler and you are always improving your craft. The photos you shared of the 3D printed pieces were beautiful.

I’ll be buying a Howdy Holmes car for sure, and probably a Rick Mears as well. This is great news for the hobby.

Thank you, Im looking forward to the Howdy Holmes car too!

[Calvin]

My intentions is this will be very simple kit to build. Plus, I'm going to keep the price down. Since I don't have to spend a crazy amount on white metal, I can spoil you guys. 😏

I will NOT be including decals as it just causes me too many cashflow problems on my side of things, nothing to do with Indycals
You're all big boys you can order from Indycals separately and will actually be cheaper because of it.

[Calvin]

If you noticed I added a windscreen lip to the edge of the cockpit, like it should be and this should make it 10x easier to glue on the clear windscreen. And it won't be the biggest cause of anxiety, ever 🤣

[Calvin]

The Coors Light Silver Bullet Al Unser Jr. rear wing is extremely difficult to draw, I know what I want to see but I'm still not familiar enough with the tools to do what I'm trying to do. This is my third week into my 3d drawing education. I'll have to re-draw it as it's too messy. I'm going to go ahead and print one for a reference for me to see in real life.


My intentions is to print this part for each coors light kit. I really dont want to make a mold and cast this complex part.

It's also a tricky situation to design indycar parts with the lack of detailed reference pictures. (The most time consuming part of these kits is research)

Also, note I MUST make these thin parts thicker than to scale just like regular plastic kits have to do.
I'm not getting into photo-etch 😝 but I'll try to push the limits of thinness with this part, since it doesn't have to hold anything up

[kyledehart5]

Nov 27, 2023 16:19:39 GMT -5 Calvin said:

If you noticed I added a windscreen lip to the edge of the cockpit, like it should be and this should make it 10x easier to glue on the clear windscreen. And it won't be the biggest cause of anxiety, ever 🤣

I'm still going to be anxious   lol

[kyledehart5]

Nov 28, 2023 0:09:24 GMT -5 Calvin said:

The Coors Light Silver Bullet Al Unser Jr. rear wing is extremely difficult to draw, I know what I want to see but I'm still not familiar enough with the tools to do what I'm trying to do. This is my third week into my 3d drawing education. I'll have to re-draw it as it's too messy. I'm going to go ahead and print one for a reference for me to see in real life.


My intentions is to print this part for each coors light kit. I really dont want to make a mold and cast this complex part.

It's also a tricky situation to design indycar parts with the lack of detailed reference pictures. (The most time consuming part of these kits is research)

Also, note I MUST make these thin parts thicker than to scale just like regular plastic kits have to do.
I'm not getting into photo-etch 😝 but I'll try to push the limits of thinness with this part, since it doesn't have to hold anything up

Very cool. I've always loved the black liveried Silver Bullet. Definitely one I plan on building.

[schix5150]

Why drive yourself crazy trying to perfect a one off part for a car that didn’t win? Even with what you have in that rendering is still 10x the effort a manufacturer would put into it. Aside from personal skill improvement, I think you should just roll with what you have from a business standpoint and let the individual modeler take it to the level that they want to. Most of us are just happy to have the cars and parts you and everyone else have been able to offer and fill voids that weren’t considered in this niche hobby of ours.

So I thank you,
Mike

[IndyCarModels]

Great work Calvin.

[arcticwolf]

Calvin, just a suggestion on that rear wing assembly. It would be easier to make it out of plastic. Why not just 3D print the wing itself, and maybe the lower mounting block, and supply templates for the uprights and end plates so the builder can cut them out of sheet styrene themselves?

Save you a lot of time and trouble and make the kit a wee bit less pricey?

Alternatively, you could buy a fancy Cricut machine and precut the parts out of sheet styrene and supply them with the kit?

cheers  Paul

[Calvin]

Nov 28, 2023 10:53:08 GMT -5 arcticwolf said:

Calvin, just a suggestion on that rear wing assembly. It would be easier to make it out of plastic. Why not just 3D print the wing itself, and maybe the lower mounting block, and supply templates for the uprights and end plates so the builder can cut them out of sheet styrene themselves?

Save you a lot of time and trouble and make the kit a wee bit less pricey?

Alternatively, you could buy a fancy Cricut machine and precut the parts out of sheet styrene and supply them with the kit?

cheers  Paul

Any other way besides 3d drawing and printing would be WAY more of a burden on me.
I'm thrilled with my progress with 3d drawing. I have zero issue with re-drawing this part, as doesn't take long, plus I'm being easy on myself since I'm learning.

I'm enjoying the process

[Calvin]

Nov 28, 2023 6:03:39 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Very cool. I've always loved the black liveried Silver Bullet. Definitely one I plan on building.

It's a very cool scheme

[Calvin]

Nov 28, 2023 7:24:51 GMT -5 IndyCarModels said:

Great work Calvin.

Thanks, I'm very excited about the learning process

[Calvin]

Nov 28, 2023 6:43:47 GMT -5 schix5150 said:

Why drive yourself crazy trying to perfect a one off part for a car that didn’t win? Even with what you have in that rendering is still 10x the effort a manufacturer would put into it. Aside from personal skill improvement, I think you should just roll with what you have from a business standpoint and let the individual modeler take it to the level that they want to. Most of us are just happy to have the cars and parts you and everyone else have been able to offer and fill voids that weren’t considered in this niche hobby of ours.

So I thank you,
Mike

I'm actually not driving myself crazy as I'm enjoying the process, building this by hand would not be fun at all.

It's important to me to get it as accurate as possible because if I don't, less people buy my kits.

[Calvin]

I just want to make it clear, I'm only in my 3rd week of 3d drawing. I've been learning the 3d printing process for the last 10 months.
I'm completely thrilled about the entire 3d process. It's such a HUGE advantage to know these skills. I'm currently going through the heavy learning curve and complex parts seem very tricky right now. But luckily I have life experience and know if I keep plugging along, the difficulty will decrease.

Being able to replace regular resin casting of complex parts and completely replacing white metal is the greatest de-burdening process I've ever had in the last 12 years of my kit maker career

[indycals]

I don't think some people realize how quickly some of these simple parts (and this wing is a VERY simple part) can go from sitting on your screen to sitting on your desk, and how economical it is.

[Calvin]

This is the current state of the March 84c kit. It's mold day 😃

[Calvin]

Got the 2nd half of the mold poured.



Plus other molds

[pje]

I just finished reading Al Unser JR’s book A Checkered Past. In the chapter about the 1984 season, he describes how they decided on their Indy set up. They gambled on race day being very warm, so before qualifying they went with their road car so to have a higher down force setup. The gamble paid off as race day was quite warm.

Paul Erlendson

[Calvin]

Dec 10, 2023 11:06:24 GMT -5 pje said:

I just finished reading Al Unser JR’s book A Checkered Past. In the chapter about the 1984 season, he describes how they decided on their Indy set up. They gambled on race day being very warm, so before qualifying they went with their road car so to have a higher down force setup. The gamble paid off as race day was quite warm.

Paul Erlendson

That's interesting. It would be interesting to know all thr differences between their cats back then.

[Calvin]

Production

[woody5418]

Bring it on!!!

[illeagle10]

Looks like you're just about there Calvin!

Jim