1959 Johnny Thompson Pole Winner WIP

[kip]

Next up is Johnny Thompson's pole winning Racing Associates Spl. #3. Another pink car. I built the Union Vac version about 20 odd years ago. The clear coat has yellowed and it has less detail than I want. Homemade decals were also used.





This time I am using Gary Ducette's resin kit. Going to use American Racing Miniature wheels/tires instead of the ones provided with the kit. Ed Mautner was kind enough to send a bunch of photos of the restored car. Shots of the suspension and interior as well. No excuse for skimping on detail. Many thanks to Ed.



kip

[Calvin]

Another fun WIP to watch!

[kip]

Finally some progress. Working on the cockpit before closing up the belly. The photo of the restored car is courtesy of Ed Mautner.





This is the frame for the cockpit. The side rails are from Gary's kit. The rest had to be made.



The frame is in the cockpit and the drive line is in. In this photo, the drive shaft is crooked. That has been corrected--I just didn't feel like taking another photo.



I'll hold off on the rest of the cockpit for a bit. Next up is the belly pan, I guess. I'll have to do that before painting because the belly pan to upper body fit is miserable. I sanded it smooth so the parts are tight but the panel seams on all sides of the belly pan are not even close to being crisp. So I will glue it up, fill with putty, and then cut new panel lines with my trusty razor saw.

kip

[indy]

Nice work, Kip. Really neat seeing your making this kit better.

Jordan

[IndyCarModels]

Very Nice!

[jamesharvey]

Glad to watch this. I have Gary's kit and want to build it so you are paving the way.
Jim

[sandysixtysfan]

You're off to a great start, looking forward to this WIP.

Sandy

[Calvin]

Cool! I like your WIPs! They are very entertaining!
I think more people should be doing WIPs to entertain us all!

[kip]

The belly pan did not fit very well. It was about 1/8 inch too short, was too wide, and the panel seams--when joined to the body--were very rounded. Puttied the belly pan seams on all four sides.





Cut new panel seams with my razor saw. Used Dymo label tape along where the panel line should be, then leaned the saw against the tape.




In primer.




Just noticed the flaws along the seams; showed up in the following photo better than in person. Old eyes. Will have to fix those. I opened up the vent next to the cockpit with a drill and small files.




kip

[Calvin]

Jun 4, 2014 12:29:51 GMT -5 kip said:

Cut new panel seams with my razor saw. Used Dymo label tape along where the panel line should be, then leaned the saw against the tape.

Brilliant!

Your WIP's are so good that you could do a pay per view for them!

[kip]

Finally, Its been so humid here that I couldn't paint. (Too cold to paint in the winter--too humid in the summer.) Leaves me about three days in between seasons). Finally got a break a week ago and put the pink on. Let it sit for a week. Spent all day today polishing with 4000, 6000, 8000, and 12000 grit. Actually didn't sand through the paint to the primer--for a change.

Last post, I said I drilled out the air scoop by the cockpit. You can see it better in the first photo.

[clm1545]

Looking real good, Kip.

[1961redlegs]

This is an excellent WIP of a very pretty car!

[Calvin]

Clean Pink!

[indy]

Your Union Vac build was really good, and extra kudos on that one for the really good looking homemade decals. However, this one is totally outclassing your previous build. Really enjoying how you are methodically building this car.

Jordan

[jamesharvey]

This just looks great. I appreciated your approach to getting the panel lines to pop out. Very smooth paint job.
Keep up the good work.
Jim

[kip]

Decals and clear coat are on. Didn't like the kit decals. They had blemishes and--based on the photos I have--weren't the right size, especially the nose number. So I made my own. I scanned the "3" from the Etzel Kuzma decal sheet and resized it. The kit has no accessory decals so they mostly came from left over Indycal sheets.









kip

[indy]

Looks great with the clear coat on

Jordan

[sandysixtysfan]

Jun 26, 2014 8:37:33 GMT -5 indy said:

Looks great with the clear coat on

Jordan

Ditto!

[Calvin]

Incredible!

[kip]

While most of you were enjoying a summer weekend, I was in my dark basement working on the oil tank for this build.
(Thanks to Ed Mautner for the photos of the real car).  This is what I am trying to duplicate.


This is the kit oil tank. The “tray” under the tank is sorta molded in. The straps around the middle are super thick. And the cap has a huge air bubble in it.


To model the bottom tray, I made a mold of the bottom of the oil tank and cast it in resin. I used that to vacuum form the tray.  Sorry about the picture quality.


I cut the tray to size and glued it to the oil tank bottom. I sanded off the straps around the middle and replaced them with silver and black tape and put a new cap on top.



kip

[indy]

Impressive scratch building. Really great looking piece worth the effort!

Jordan

[clm1545]

Very nice work, Kip.

[lance]

WOW! I love how you detailed this so far and can't wait to see it finished, LOVE the oil tank!

[Calvin]

Just a very enjoyable WIP!

[kip]

I've been slowly working on the cockpit. Finally finished. This is what it supposed to look like.





And this is my version. Sorry for the focus, its the best I could do.



I used the kit's frame (better view in an earlier post) and that is about all. Used my spare parts box for the seat (did not like the look of the 4 piece kit seat), steering wheel (rough resin finish) and tranny. Scratch built the instrument panel (kit panel did not fit) and the leg/knee brace/cushion (see yellow arrow in following photo). Plumbing was also added (better view in an earlier post). Added the elbow guard.



Have not done much to the exterior. Axles are in. Gas cap and rollbar added. Also added the silver disk at the lower rear (which I think is a fuel drain??? If not, does anyone know what it is)?

[Calvin]

Holy smokes! I scrolled down, but I just saw all real pictures but then realized oh! The bottom pics are the model!

[kip]

OK. I have some better focused photos of the cockpit. The actual interior is in my last post.







kip

[indy]

It really looks great, a nice payoff for all of your hard work.

Jordan

[SWT500]

Lovely model. I believe the item in the cockpit is a knee/leg/thigh brace/support to help hold the driver in place and eliminate fatigue over a long race, Even at those speeds, the fellows were subjected to a lot of forces, which were dealt with in a variety of ways. This is just one example, IMO.