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Making some drivers

PostPosted: Sat Jul 02, 2016 9:08 pm
by HomeRacingWorld
Or as my Grandson says: "Dudes".

I took the Monogram classic NASCAR driver to start. I prefer a "half tray" type interior, so I needed to modify him. I trimmed off the bottom and removed the arms.

I then sanded the arms flush so I could adjust them where I wanted. I super-glued them and filed as best I could to conform them.

Finally I added some Squadron green putty to fill the seams.

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As a final coat, I sprayed primer and sanded with 1000 grit where I could. Then a good coat of clear gloss to seal.

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To make sure we had a flush base, I used a old paint brush and brushed some resin on our setup board. Then pressed the driver into it. This created an almost perfect base.

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When dry we trimmed away the excess and we were ready to make a mold box and pour our silicone.

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Our goal was to try and create a mold that did not need a second part, or needed air pressure. Not everyone has a tank and thought we could make it work.

We poured the resin and used a toothpick to "poke" the resin up into the hands and to remove the air bubbles inside the head. We then tilted the mold slightly towards the hands as the resin has to go over the elbows and back into the hands.

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Here is my master caster grandson inspecting his work. Yes, looks dry :)

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And it came out ok. Now we can more for our future builds.

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Sat Jul 02, 2016 10:15 pm
by dreinecke
Looks pretty good to me! Glad to see Cameron is keeping you on track and out of trouble. Make sure you punt him off the track for me - I still owe him!

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 1:14 am
by munter
great stuff

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 5:56 am
by dge467
That looks great!

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 7:01 am
by mattb
That really soft Alumilite rubber is good for a one piece driver mold. I find that getting the hands full is usually the hard part. Sometimes you can use a sharp exacto and open up the arm and hands opening. You don't cut all the way thru the mold to the outside, just cut the opening so you can spread it apart, fill it and then let it go back to it's natural shape. If this makes the mold too flexible, you can put a rubber band around it. Sometimes it is better to just cut your mold all the way thru with just a "hinge" left at the bottom or on the bottom and a side. Use a rubber band to keep it closed after pouring it full. I can dig out some stuff and put up a couple pix if needed.

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 8:20 am
by HRWJim
They look really good. Nice work

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 12:39 pm
by waaytoomuchintothis
The Dude abides... (your grandson will understand it- take my word for it, its very funny.)

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 2:10 pm
by HomeRacingWorld
My grandson better not :) Now myself and my oldest son? Of course.

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 2:52 pm
by RazorJon
dude! great job on the dudes

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 3:27 pm
by Z-carfan
Dude....

Looking good.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2016 8:45 am
by TuscoTodd
Great tutorial and results!
:text-bravo:

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2016 10:30 am
by Broman62
Priceless family time and that came out awesome looking...nice work!!

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 3:55 pm
by eAddict
I am really surprised these haven't been scanned/created and then uploaded to a 3D printing site like shapeways. Then you can get them printed at whatever scale you need. If I only had the talent...

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 5:06 pm
by HomeRacingWorld
And then they would cost much more too. And that ability to use CAD/Software is of course the big stumbling block for many.

But yes, anyone with those skills could easily do this and make them available.

In this case, it's just fun to create and produce by hand.

Re: Making some drivers

PostPosted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 7:17 pm
by Retro Racer 44
I have a couple of driver moulds that I use with the slow curing JB Weld epoxy. I tried this with fast epoxy, but it is not fluid enough. The slow setting type works best.

To make sure the resin gets to the bottom, I squeeze the mould between my fingers and then release it again. I do this from different directions. The resin bulges up when I squeeze and usually there is a bubble or two that pops when I relax the squeeze.

When the driver is hard and out of the mould, I slide him back and forth over a sanding block to level the bottom.

I know the resin is probably better, but it gets old before I can use it all up. That makes the epoxy a better option, at least for me. If you do end up with a bubble, you can always fill it with modelling putty.

Keith