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Post by Fletch on May 20, 2009 9:14:12 GMT -8
I know not all of us are members on Traditional Rods and Kustoms so I thought I'd post this over here as well. It's something I ran across when I was doing some research for an upcoming Belly Tanker project. The video is a little over 9 minutes but it has some gas powered model racing I never even knew existed plus midgets racing at the LA Coliseum and SCTA footage from El Mirage. video.yahoo.com/watch/12221/1578900The things that amazed me were the guys holding on to a rag to trip a lever to kill the ignition on the gas powered race cars. The idea of sticking my hand even close to a 7-8 pound model going around a circle track at 120+mph is insane. Then to watch guys run out on the track in the midget races to turn a car while the others fly by at speed is unbelievable. At Sunset Speedway we have to wait until ALL the cars take the yellow or red flag before we even consider venturing onto the track. If one of us did as they were doing back then we'd be thrown off the track and never allowed past the pit wall. How things have changed. |
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Post by Kit Karson on May 20, 2009 10:27:32 GMT -8
Have you gotten your latest copy of MCM? There's picture of a very cool Belly Tanker in it! KK
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Post by Fletch on May 20, 2009 12:06:13 GMT -8
As far as I know I have the latest edition, I'll have to go back and look through it. I have found that there were 3 different versions of drop tanks on the P-38. They are all different dimensions depending upon what they were made of. The first versions were made of plywood, then they changed to steel then the final versions were aluminum. They seem to have been the choice of the salt/dry lake racers. They were 36" wide by 13'1" long. The drawing is good enough quality that I think it could be used to make a buck to use as a mold or vacu-form blank.  Hosted on Fotki |
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Post by Fletch on May 20, 2009 20:52:33 GMT -8
The belly tanker in the current issue of MCM is from California Model Works. I've looked at it in the past but the price is a bit steep. But, when you're the only commercially available source you can pretty much charge what you want.
Here is the link to Inland Collectibles the tanker is the first item on the page, it retails for a paltry $79.99.
Fletch
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Post by Kit Karson on May 21, 2009 0:23:52 GMT -8
The May/June '09 issue of MCM - pictured on page 20 in the NNL WEST article - you're right, it is from California Model Works. I'm not sure it's worth the $80 bucks plus shipping, when you could turn a master out on basic any lath. And, vacu-form the tank body for a lot less than $80 dollars. KK
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Post by Fletch on May 21, 2009 8:14:01 GMT -8
I don't know what it would cost to have someone set up the pattern on a CNC machine and machine an A and B master that pinned together. Have the A master the outside of the tank and the B master .060" smaller to allow for resin casting. I would think .060 would be thick enough to make a good usable body. Might be worth looking into. It would seem that you could amortize the cost of the masters over a reasonable amount of time. Not that you'd ever get rich but at least produce a quality product at a reasonable price. I did find these though, they are from Rod N Race Fiberglass, they are 18" long and are suppose to be for Slot Car use. Must be 1/10th or larger. They run $40. It could be a fun build, I need to check the Parma website and see what LARGE scale engines they still offer.  Hosted on FotkiRod N Race has some very cool glass cars available, if you were going racing it would be worth checking out. www.rodnrace.com/index.cfm |
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