1979 Penske PC6 Rick Mears Indy winner WIP

[Deleted]

I started adding to a thread in the 1963-1978 forum section mb2501.proboards.com/thread/3285/building-accurate-penske-helpful-tips
and it was suggested that I start a new thread.  So here it is in the 1979-1995 forum section.  I will try and post weekly as I progress through the build.

This will be Rick Mears 1979 Indy 500 winner using the AMT Penske PC-6 kit.

I'm not sure if I will do a full detail build, a curbside or somewhere in between.

I followed chaparral2k's suggestions for building the tub and cowling, which were extremely useful for building a solid, squared up model.  However, I might not have left the cowling halves dry long enough because I still ran into fit problems with the cowling.

Before I glued the cowling halves together, I opened up the two side NACA ducts by grinding away the plastic from the inside.  It's much easier to do this before the halves are glued.



After drying for 2 days (should have been 3), I untaped the cowling and found that the top part had developed a concave section.  This was fixed with some 0.25 mm (0.010") styrene strip, followed by Tamiya white putty.  There is also lots of gel CA glue on the underside of the cowling joint to give it some strength.



Until next time

[Deleted]

This has always been a dreadful, and out of scale, kit.

[indy]

Looking good.

Hubie, I mentioned this kit might need a resin redo or at least a transkit. I'd buy some if they were offered.

Jordan

[Deleted]

Yeah, the width of the tub is wrong as well. I don't even display my build ups anymore. They have been banished to the "junkyard". A very significant design no doubt. Everyone had one it seemed.

It would be interesting to see a chassie log book as I have no idea what the production numbers are.

[Deleted]

As much as I enjoy building a kit that goes together without problems, there is also a satisfaction in taking a kit some consider awful and getting it to a presentable scale model. This kit isn't without problems e.g. almost every surface needs to be sanded square and flat, but with a moderate amount of work I hope to have something that was worth the effort. We shall see - it may be put back into the box and never finished.

[Deleted]

Here's this week's installment of this WIP. 

The side radiators don't have a lot of detail in grill area, so I thought they needed some work.



First the rad engraving was removed completely and the diagonal bar was removed with a really nice chisel tool I have.


However, the plastic is still quite thick and if I added some photoetch mesh, it wouldn't match the original part, which was flush.  So I set up my milling machine and milled a little step in the backside.  It's a bit rough, but will allow the mesh to sit almost flush with the surface.  I'll add an aluminum rod for the diagonal piece, after everything is all painted and assembled.

[2lapsdown]

Until we get a trans kit or resin version the original kit is all we have and this WIP already looks like it will help us build something presentable. I'm looking forward to it.

John

[Deleted]

This week'si installment

The side wing plates from the AMT kit were a bit too thick and the front wing plates were quite mis-shappen. I discovered by accident that Evergreen 0.40 mm (0.015") clear styrene is excellent for wing plates.  The clear seems stiffer than the white styrene and the .3 mm sheet is the same thickness as most photoetch replacements.  I traced the rear wing plate onto to some Post-it note, which allowed me to get the dimensions right for the rear plates.  Some white styrene was glued, using the tracing as a guide, so that the side plate would align correctly.  The plates were glued to the wing (which had a big gap filled in) and then primed with Tamiya white primer.



I also added a locating pin for the wing mount.  This will help to hold the wing for painting.





The front wing plate profile was 'eyeballed' from some online photos of the car.  Styrene rod (0.9 mm, 0.35") was glued to the plates, which will help with final assembly and holding the wing plate for painting.  The end plates are white and the wing is blue, so it's easier to keep them separate for painting.

[indycals]

FYI, something I recently noticed. In 1978 The Penskes ran the double element rear wing as depicted in the kit, but in 1979 they had a SINGLE rear wing.

[Deleted]

Nice wing dude!

Thanks for the tips on the clear sheet. Looks good.(and strong!)

[clm1545]

Impressive work, so far. Looking forward to more.

[Deleted]

hey, indycals, I never noticed in the reference photos that I found that the wing was solid.  This will be added to the list 'Things I would do differently if I was to building this kit again'.  I'll share that list at the end of the WIP.

Sorry about the multiple photos.  I went to add the one photo by referencing the URL but it didn't show up.  So I tried again and it didn't show up.  Then I repeated again.  (definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result )

Then I realized that I hadn't uploaded the file to my website so I did that and then added the photo link again, not realizing that the forum software now found the original links were now active.  So now we have 4 photos of the front wing plates.

As I say 'To err is human, to really screw up you need a computer'

[indycals]

I think I just noticed it myself this year. It's amazing how the mind sees what it wants to see until it is pointed out that it's not the way we have been seeing it.

[Deleted]

I meant to provide an update on Saturday, but I only had access to an iPad.  Although not impossible, it is extremely frustrating and time-consuming to do a posting using an iPad.  And at this time of year, I don't need to increase my frustration level any more than it needs to be - my relatives do that quite well.

I've got just a few smaller items that have been worked on.




Above is the tank which sits between the engine and the cockpit.  As you can see, it's not very square and needed a lot of Tamiya grey putty.  The edges needed a lot of sanding in order to square up as well.   It probably won't matter as you won't see much of it when everything is assembled.


The instrument panel has engraved numbers, which are not very realistic (but typical of an early 1980's kit.)  The instruments were drilled out and the backside was thinned with a rough sanding block.  The instruments will be Model Car Garage items.


This is the intake to the turbo charger.  I drilled a hole through the middle, force fit a plastic rod from the bottom, enough to hold the part steady, put it in my miniature lathe and then sanded the bore to give a smooth curve on the inside.  Not quite sure how (or if) I'm going to do the impeller.

[harveythedog2]

Here are some engine detail shots from SWT500 that might help.

[dusfincher]

If you think posting from an iPad is frustrating try doing it from an iPhone. I'm just glad I don't still have one of the tiny ones. Good progress though!

[Calvin]

This WIP is brilliant stuff!

[racerbrown]

WOW!
more!
duane

[Deleted]

Thanks for the photos, they are very informative.  Just one question I have about this car - the rear suspension does not seem to have an anti-roll bar anywhere.  Does anyone know if this is the case? 

I've got all three colours on the bodywork and here they are ready for clear coat:
- white is Zero Paints pure white
- red is Tamiya Bright Red
- blue is Tamiya blue with a bit of light blue
The Tamiya paints are lacquers, decanted and airbrushed.

I have some photos of some of the masking process and will post later.  I won't have anything for next weekend as I will be at the Toronto Motorcycle Supershow where I will be manning a booth for three days, displaying built motorcycle models and demonstrating model building techniques.

[clm1545]

Looking Great! Outstanding work.

[2lapsdown]

Certainly not a criticism as this WIP is top notch, just an observation. Is there going to be a filler on the cowl behind the seat? Everything so far has been very helpful and well executed, thanks for all the tips, this car is on my rebuild list.

John

[Calvin]

Beautiful!

[2lapsdown]

Jan 4, 2016 9:03:45 GMT -5 2lapsdown said:

Certainly not a criticism as this WIP is top notch, just an observation. Is there going to be a filler on the cowl behind the seat? Everything so far has been very helpful and well executed, thanks for all the tips, this car is on my rebuild list.

John

I was inspired to get my kit out and noticed the large naca ducts on the cowl sides need opened. Now that you have painted yours I wish I'd asked sooner if you planned on opening these. Again, please don't take these questions as criticisms, my re-build will benefit greatly from your efforts.

John

[indy]

Paint looks great and enjoying the scratch building on this one. Excited to see what comes next!

Jordan

[Deleted]

2lapsdown (John)
Yikes! - it looks like I missed another detail on the car. From the one photo I have, it looks like it is part of the removable cowling. It's an important detail that I don't want to leave out, so I will have to figure out how to add. I really don't want to repaint the cowling, but I may not have a choice.

I did open the NACA ducts, way back in the first post and I'm glad I did, it makes the model look much better.

Another detail I missed was that there is another fuel filler on the lower body that is missing from the kit. Again, there is no way to add this without having to repaint.

[macsparty]

Some black decal paper and a hole punch are your friends.

[2lapsdown]

Gosh I'm so sorry. I completely missed the first post!! I opened my NACA ducts too, it makes a world of difference as you said. I've added the filler behind the seat, it isn't the best but better than not. I'll have to see about that fuel filler. Thanks

John

[Deleted]

Thanks everyone for the comments and extra photos.  Not a whole lot of progress to share this week as I was battling a bad cold - so bad that I didn't even set foot into my hobby room on Friday or Saturday!

I realized during this build that I have once again forgotten a lesson I thought I had figured out - in a detailed build like this, with lots of modifications and scratchbuilding, I need patience to do all the fabrication before starting to paint.  This was the one thing I learned from the "American Chopper" TV show.  They did all the fabrication of all the parts, fitted everything together, then tore it all down and sent out parts for painting and chroming.  In my anxiousness to get a model finished, I often rush to get things painted without having all the parts built up.  This often mean details get missed or a painted part gets damaged as it is being handled when test fitting something else.

A case in point is the cowling.  I missed the detail that it was filled in just behind the seat. I also think that I should open up the fuel filler detail and build a connecting pipe to the tank.  If the cover is removed, it is a pretty noticeable omission.  Still haven't decided.  I did fill in the seat area with some sheet styrene and will leave the gap, pretending that the real car had a joint there.


I added some web detailing of the transmission, using some 0.75 mm (0.030") styrene strip.  The strip is oversize, but it matches the thickness of the ribs in the sides.





Once these dry overnight, I will carefully sand them down and reshape them somewhat.  These don't match the actual transmission exactly, but are better than leaving the top plain.  The best option would have been to remove all the webs and replace with 0.5 mm (0.020") strip to be more in scale.

[chaparral66]

The build-up of the styrene strips on the sides and top of the transmission are exactly what I want to do to the IMC Lotus 29s and Ford GT 40 Colatti Trans for the Mecom Hussein (AMT slot body) and Mecom Lola GT MK VI (Pactra slot body) in my projects. Thanxs for the shots of what it will look like. Anybody out there doing a BMC 4-speed like on Dave MacDonald's King Cobra (Cooper-Ford)? That will take MANY thin styrene strips.
Thanx, John
P.S. My real MGTD replica kit car (Prisoner #6 tribute) is ALMOST ready to roll, 3 years is a long time to build but at least it will happen shortly! Between the MGTD and my 27 foot Catalina sailboat the model cars suffer but I still work on something every week (eBay loves me)!

[Deleted]

Here's this week's installment.  After letting the styrene dry on the transaxle for 2 days, it was carefully sanded down.  Below is the result.  Not super accurate, but better than leaving the top flat.

Below are the in photos where the same thing was done to the transaxle of the AMT Lotus powered by Ford (Lotus 29) model.  More photos at www.eajonesgue.com/scalemodels/Lotus29DGurney.html

Before


Being built


After - painted and mounted


This week was spend mostly on the rear suspension.  Here is how it mocks up from the kit parts, looking from the front towards the rear of the car.  The shocks definitely need some work.


The shocks were removed, then cut apart just above the bottom of the spring.  The spring, body and top was replaced with parts from RB Motion shocks (I'm pretty sure it's the shorter one he makes).  This allowed me to use the bottom mounting for the shock on the upright.




Slots were carefully cut in the kit pieces for the upper shock mounts.  The top link bars were removed and replaced with 1.2 mm (0.45 ") diameter styrene rod.  The ends were flattened in a pair of flat nose pliers to simulate a rod end.  Some 0.52 mm (0.20", 24 gauge craft wire was used to pin all the parts together.  I might redo the link bars with better ends.  The most realistic solution would be to use some RB Motion rod ends and metal tubing.  However, I can't see myself spending that kind of money on this particular kit - it's like putting REALLY expensive lipstick on a pig.

The lower arms will be replaced with the same diameter styrene rod and I'm working on a number of engine parts - trying to get the exhaust and turbo plumbing fitted together.


Until next time