New York Tour Modified: Dave Sapienza #36

[Vintage 1/24]

I have been meaning to add a bit more detail to the 'origami' bodies/cars that I make (and race, and sometimes sell) at nymodifieds.com.

This one was built with more detail in mind, being more of a "display" car rather than a beater/racer.

It was built up for "Wild Child Designs" - a company which does race car lettering on a host of local cars as well as operating as a sign shop and handling advertising out east on Long Island. They did the actual lettering/design/vinyl on the real #36 race car itself.

Ultimately they presented the finished piece to the driver of the actual 1:1 scale #36 Tour Modified.

It ended up being a unique and interesting build because I got to work with the actual art files that were used to create the full size race car graphics - I just shrunk them down and made them work in scale. No arguments about accuracy here - this one is right on the money. "Wild Child" is a good guy, known and respected in the racing community, and also a slot car racer who I have raced against in the underground network of home tracks on Long Island - See, it all comes down to slot cars!

R-GEO OFFSET CHASSIS BASIS -



I started with the R-Geo Chassis - one of two modern chassis that have been recently designed for offset oval racing, and are made to fit the nymodifieds.com bodies perfectly.

The key here was to eyeball the real race car and replicate the side crash bars and nerfs and bumpers as they appear on the the actual car.



TROYER STYLE CHASSIS -



The front uprights are a bit tall on the R-Geo, so I made them stand a bit less proud with the Dremel cutoff wheel - bzzzzzzt.

Once they were cut, I bent a simple upper A-arm and soldered it in place. Sometime a small detail or addition can fool the eye and give the impression of more detail than is actually present.

So far so good - looks a little like a Tour modified chassis.

More to come...

[GASSERMAN]

It looks good Ron. Bob......

[HomeRacingWorld]

Yes sir, nice work indeed .

[chrisguyw]

Well done.... :clap:

Cheers
Chris Walker

[Vintage 1/24]

Thanks !

I painted the chassis with Krylon Black to match the black of the real car.

PAINT IT, BLACK -



I also trimmed the width of the rolling-pin style Pro Tracks. Once I cut off the inside part - the part that is not mounted/supported by the aluminum rim itself - it left me with a tire that is a lot closer in appearance to the dimensions of an actual Modified racing slick; the type that they run on these Tour Modifieds.




NERVES OF STEEL, NERFS OF CHROME -



I tried out that new chrome paint and it really worked well - sort of looks like chrome.

A little paint makes it what it ain't!




ROUND THE CORNER BAR -



The rear corner bars are made to 'die' into the origami body work. If the car was for heavy track use, these corner bars would certainly be tied into the chassis for strength. I just used an xacto knife handle that was handy to bend these rounded shapes. When you are a scale modeler really nothing within reach or about the house is safe from getting pressed into service of the build.




STICKER TIRES -



I had made a few tire stickers decals for some display static model builders - a Firestone, Goodyear, American Racing, and Hoosier. I decide it would be fun to put some on the front runners. Again sometimes a small detail helps fool the eye and creates an illusion of reality.




THE KINKS -



Here I am working within the limitation of the simple origami. I added a few bends, a few kinks, improved some of the artwork and added a few pieces that are in-the-round.




CAGED -



I made up a 3D-printed cage and and added it to the soup. I feel it adds a lot of realism and dimensionality to these otherwise flat body panels. Also I changed some of the body shapes a bit overall.

The cars we race are more of a compromise, so with this body I tried to make it a bit more true to real life dimensions. I ended up tweaking quite a few of the measurements.




COKE -



The dash is more correct and even has the Troyer build tag. A can of Coca-Cola gave up some tin to form the racing seat and head restraint - and then there is a time worn classic slot car move - the round push pin used as a shifter handle/knob.

Clearly I can take this much further - and that will probably be done with more traditional modeling and a more 3D print heavy car down the road. For now this is a nice push for the origami cars to make them a bit more presentable.


More to come . . .

[Vintage 1/24]

I put the interior in place, trimmed and pinned the body to chassis . . .

#36 NEW YORK TOUR MODIFIED -



Here it is all together. The body has a few tweaks and the lettering art work is from the actual car. This is 2016 Troyer, and it can be identified by a two main details. First off the 'shovel' nose - You should be able to make out the concave/convex 'shovel' shape of the nose, and I included the radiator air opening as well. Second, the "sail panels" or "C-pillars" stop short of the rear deck panel - they don't quite make it to the end of the car.




RF ANGLE -



Check the windshield center upright support with a suggestion of 'lightening' holes. The Chrome paint looks shiny and helps pop the air cleaner, A-arms, and nerfs/bumpers.




RR ANGLE -



The RR slick is more to scale once it is trimmed and it kicks out completely clear of the right side bodywork, just like the real Modified. The headers were done in thin brass rod and some tube - a little solder and a bend round the Xacto knife handle and they help add dimension as well. Not just drawn on flat artwork - plus they 'collect' like the real cars in a tight grouping into the hood side panel.




INFIELD VIEW -



Some of the interior details start to pay dividends. The side windows are cut out like the real cars and not just a sheet of clear. The 3D printed cage and driver and aluminum seat all can be seen more readily and add realism. The aluminum seat was sourced from a Coca cola can with a rubber backing stuck on it - then it was snipped out with scissors to the right shape.




LR SHOT -



The dash detail can be seen in the car and the two wing support struts were added in spring steel. Again a few small details from the real car that help sell the illusion. The Wide-5 wheel inserts help to make the commercial style Pro-Tracks appear more scale as well. I still have a big big bag of these Wide-5s and they continue to sell from time to time - I think they really make the wheels look correct.




OVERHEAD -



The hood 'bubble' is just some resin sanded to shape - I think this is an area I will be improving on, and probably offering to others if they want. Those 'sticker' tires are another thing that just add some realism. if you nail polish the fronts, apply the decals and then nail polish over that they work pretty well and hold up on the track in real racing situations.




VIEW FROM THE STANDS -



Another overhead view which shows the offset a bit. Again I am pleased with how the A-arms pop and overall the little details add up to sometimes being worth more than the straight sum of the parts.





DELIVERED -



Just a hint of some Christmas glitter and wrapping paper in the background - got this one done just before the big day. Overall very similar to the race ready cars I usually make but the actual shape on this car is different; the tail is kicked back with more rear overhang, there is a 'bend' where the drivers shoulder would be in the left side sheet metal, the roof panel is closer to dimension, fore and aft, the nose is shaped different - lots of subtle cues to make this more replica than typical slot racer.

[GASSERMAN]

That thing turned out beautiful Ron. Nice craftsmanship. And good luck. Bob....................

[Vintage 1/24]

Thanks G'MAN!

It is lots of fun building up and running these things.