TOPIC:

eddrick wrote:

...
What would be really helpful though, if you could take a pic of the thing in the middle of the bonnet & give me a measurement to scale it by, that would be handy

Ok ... I couldn't get the lens low enough to get a proper side on shot

Raised bit of the bonnet is very low... really needed to measure that with feeler guages, but I couldn't find mine With verniers the average I got was 0.35mm rising to 1.61mm for the lower "hinge" end. Height of the catch at the front is also 1.61mm from the flat of the bonnet, so actually 1.26mm? Not sure if the "base" moulded into the bonnet is completely flat or if it has cutouts for the catch? Rear end is 2.28mm from the bonnet, so 1.93mm high?

Width is 2.93mm, length is 8.05mm.

eddrick wrote:

...
Do you know any tricks for making cloudy clear bits clear again? (Someone filled the headlight lenses with glue) - first thought was to give them a wipe with celly thinners (Usually works getting scratches out) but I'm not sure that it might be a bit too aggressive for the fine detail in them...

Honestly no idea - I've only had one lens across 5 shells & that one is heavily clouded on the outside thanks to being left on while I stripped this shell .... from what I can see though the lens lines are moulded on the inside in fairly heavy relief, 0.25mm or so? Not sure if that helps or not

I did try making my own lenses out of thin clear sheet - can't remember what for, but they looked quite good with a pattern etched on them, but I failed when it came to putting a curve on them - the heat distorted them unevenly & "healed" up the etching

Smashing, pics/dimns are exactly what I was after!
I seem to have 5 lenses, but I've only recently realised that there's 2 different types (For inner & outer lamps) so I'll have to go back & look to see if I've got a set or whether they're all the same...
CD jewel cases seem to work quite well for clear stuff, bonus is they're polystyrene, so they'll glue well. Haven't looked, but they might be thick enough to profile into a dish shape too (Rather than try to bend it). OR, make a suitably shaped dimple in a lump of wood, lay your clear disc over it & warm it up in the oven? Clear acrylic sheet works with poly cement too, & that comes in all sorts of thicknesses

I'm thinking I'll go with 10mm LEDs again to keep some sort of family resemblence with the snot green Cheetah

I did find some more body parts though - an external rear view mirror & an internal mirror & bracket - I'll post pics/dimensions later

Cool, got an internal mirror & bracket, still attached to the shell surprisingly! Undecided whether or not to have external mirrors, the fragility of the model is making me nervous enough as it is! Just finished carving out some front indicators from a lump of red acrylic (Already got 1 to copy) & got some of the smaller bits painted. Rapidly coming to the conclusion that it's gonna stay beige, masking otherwise is looking to be a nightmare & I still haven't found a colour that I think really suits it

Just been having a read of this topic, looking for clues on why the driver is such a poor fit & what you might have done to sort him out! I've been staring at him & trying different poses etc, but none of his body parts line up as they should - left arm's way too short & the angle's wrong, right arm's way too long & the angle's wrong, torso wants to be sitting on the right side of the seat, or slumped down in the footwell. Gonna have to do something serious to sort him out...
RE NOT M3s - yes I discovered that when doing the F2 chassis, & yes they're supposed to be like that. Interestingly, the M2s ARE M2(?!).
Seems to be a heap of mis-labelled fasteners in the manual too, the side pic calls up a screw reference, but the diagram calls it something different eg they need to make their minds up whether they're using M2s or M3s for holding the windscreen in!
Oh well, back to arms & legs....

eddrick wrote:

Just been having a read of this topic, looking for clues on why the driver is such a poor fit & what you might have done to sort him out! I've been staring at him & trying different poses etc, but none of his body parts line up as they should - left arm's way too short & the angle's wrong, right arm's way too long & the angle's wrong, torso wants to be sitting on the right side of the seat, or slumped down in the footwell. Gonna have to do something serious to sort him out...
...

Can't really help you out there as the closed cab rendered a driver a bit pointless ... I do seem to remember that the driver was held in with industrial quantities of glue though - where he touched the seat, that is

The driver figures didn't fit too well in my XR311 either - especially not the passenger

Sorted it now - gave him a hiding with the blow lamp & twisted his limbs until he submitted.... Just waiting for the gool to set, then I'll tidy up the sticky-out bits - looks like he's got a busted collar bone & a dislocated shoulder at the mo!

Jonny, what's the status on the second Cheetah?
I noticed you made an index in the initial post which is great but the links don't seem to work...

Edou wrote:

Jonny, what's the status on the second Cheetah? ...

Not so good - I done scuffed my vee-hickle beyond repair - I'd done some more filling & was ready for a guide coat of primer ... then stepped on it The roof, sides & front "just" shattered so are theoretically fixable, but the inside/underside & rear end twisted & bent _then_ broke so really aren't.

I'm on the look out for another body so I can maybe make one good one out of two bad ones ... not much of a priority though.

Edou wrote:

... I noticed you made an index in the initial post which is great but the links don't seem to work...

They did at first ... TBH I can't be bothered to fix them ATM.