Intersection Replicas Forums

I still have a few things to do before this is complete.

I have to add the decals to the front ear panels, swap out the wheels and tires on the left side, and add a few more random decals that i didn't get to today.

It's getting really close now!

I'm still not happy with the nose shape.. I'm going to work on the mold some more..

Michael,

Wow, it's coming out great! The photos look like a real Chub Frank late model, not a replica. It looks so damn realistic. You amaze me.

You mentioned you weren't quite happy with the nose piece. You know what I see? -- the nose corners look a little more squared off than the actual car. It has a slightly more "pointed" look to it than the real car. You probably know that already, but that's the only thing that I see and it took looking at a Chub Frank photo to notice it. I hope you don't mind my critique.

Thanks for taking the time to upload photos as you go. It's really interesting to watch you build these a little at a time.

Scott McKee
HPD
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Thanks Scott.

It really has been a long time coming, I've spent a big chunk of time trying to get these as realistic as possible... The nose is the final part that needs to be tweaked.

I have to carve the mold by hand.. so it might take a few goes before it's where i want it.

I don't mind critique at all, i do what i can to adjust the cars when something comes in.

I'm definitely going to adjust the nose mold on the cars i build for customers.

This is still just a prototype, and things will improve on future cars. I learned a lot building this car.

I really look forward to going through my notes on this build and starting the next one with all the little changes i've jotted down.

hiplainsdrifter wrote:Michael,

Wow, it's coming out great! The photos look like a real Chub Frank late model, not a replica. It looks so damn realistic. You amaze me.

You mentioned you weren't quite happy with the nose piece. You know what I see? -- the nose corners look a little more squared off than the actual car. It has a slightly more "pointed" look to it than the real car. You probably know that already, but that's the only thing that I see and it took looking at a Chub Frank photo to notice it. I hope you don't mind my critique.

Thanks for taking the time to upload photos as you go. It's really interesting to watch you build these a little at a time.

Scott McKee
HPD
[/img]

The car really looks great but have one question,will the wheels be polished and have the mud covers,and will they be fixed or removeable? Thinking about getting one of your cars with no decals and getting it done like our first car. What kind of time frame are we talking to have one done. Thanks Chuck.

combsfan wrote:The car really looks great but have one question,will the wheels be polished and have the mud covers,and will they be fixed or removeable? Thinking about getting one of your cars with no decals and getting it done like our first car. What kind of time frame are we talking to have one done. Thanks Chuck.

Thanks for your post.

The wheels will be painted in a special modeler's chrome called Alclad, that gives a very realistic chrome finish to them.

It's hard to photograph though.. If you look at this pic, you'll notice the wheel itself is quite shiny (it's been painted with the Alclad), but the Beadlock and Wide-5 hub are both painted a flat aluminum..



On the images i posted yesterday, the wheels and tires on the driver's side of the car are just the first run ones. Those wheels were simply spray painted aluminum, and were really only to test the fit and look of them. I still need to swap them out for finished versions.

The wheels are removable. The Black 'hub center' is just a cap that cleverly disguises a 00-80 Stainless Steel Socket Head Cap Screw that keeps the wheel on. You have to gently remove the cap, and you can take off the wheel.

I do have Mud Plugs for them.. very convincing ones with the three screw heads molded right in.. right now i'm trying to figure out a way to have them removable.. since right now if i put on a mud pug it has to be glued in place.. which would mean the wheel wouldn't be removable. I'm looking at some different options to remedy this.

In regards to your time-frame question. It's really difficult to tell exactly, but I likely have enough orders pending right now to last through the rest of this year, and into early 2010.

I do have the pre-order form that you can fill out, and it will put you in line. It's a no obligation type deal. I put it in place to get an idea of the order volume, and lets people reserve their spot. We confirm the orders before production begins, so you have a chance to change your mind before any payment is required.

Michael...

First of all, I had to join just to tell you I hate your guts!

Ok, actually, I had to sign up so I could add my $.02 to the accolades you're receiving. These Masterpiece Series replicas that you've created are unreal. I've been a fan of dirt late models for a long time, and I've been building my own models for even longer than that. I have to say that your cars are the most amazing thing I've seen in replicas in quite some time... if not ever. I'm so jealous! The talent you have is the talent I always wished I had. I don't know which is more impressive... your artistic design ability or your attention to the mechanical and construction details.

On a more technical note, from one builder to another and all gushing aside, I can totally sympathize with on the whole 'nose' deal, and how you feel it's not quite right. That is hands down, far and away the trickiest area to nail on a late model replica. It's a nasty little convergence of complex curves that can drive a person mad for 10, 15, or even 23 years (but who's counting!). I've long considered it the holy grail of late model replicating, and you have done by far the best job I've ever seen. Kudos! I'm almost to the point of spending the $400 and buying a nose combo from Performance Bodies, and taking the time and constructing a 3D point cloud and surfacing the damn thing.

My latest attempt (and did I mention it's been in development for a long, long time?) is an HO scale slot car. I'm doing it all (body, chassis and wheels) in Pro/Engineer (3-D CAD software that I'm fortunate enough to own), and I have a really strong version complete, except for the nose. The chassis is done design-wise, and the body is 90% done. I could probably send it out for prototyping as it is and no one would really say anything bad about it. But I know it's not quite right, and the devil really is in the details. That last 10% takes 90% of the time. Right?

Anyway, I just had to tell you how cool your cars are, and keep up the amazing work. I'm sure I'll take a Moyer off your hands at some point. They're just too cool to not have one! But in the meantime, just know that I'm designing and building vicariously through you.

BTW.... I have a more business related question. Do you sell, or would you consider selling, decals? I thought mine were good with my big, bad Alps printer, but whatever process you use... it just kicks my decals' ass! I can tell you have just copious amounts of spare time to deal with dumbasses like myself, but if you'd at least think about it that would be cool.

Welcome to the forums.. and thanks for joining! The community seems to grow a little every week.

I really appreciate the compliments, rest assured the cars are a result of a great many hours (lots of them in frustration trying to figure something out).

I think you're on the right track using PRO/E to do the design work. There have been lots of people that have thrown together a frame out of styrene that looked close to the photos, but the projects seem to fizzle when they started putting all the components on.

Dirt Late Models are very complex under the sheet metal, and most people don't realize it until they try to build one themselves.

Having a perfect 3D model that you can tweak on and get everything right is definitely the way to go.

If you're going to buy a nose, i'd look into some of the 3D laser scanning services out there, and put the problem on them to figure out.. i almost did the same thing myself, but the costs involved with not only getting the nose and service, but the cost to have the mold cut out made it prohibitive.

I think the mold i have is close.. i'm going to make a few tweaks to it and that should just about do it.

As far as decals go? I use an ALPS too, but i've learned a few graphic tricks over the years to expand on what it can do. I recently adopted silkscreen technology so i could get fluorescent decals too. The setup cost a pretty penny, but I really wanted them on the cars since the Masterpiece Series is all about adding all the details I can.

I won't be selling my decals, mainly because (as you probably know owning an ALPS), the printers are very delicate, extremely hard to find, and the pool of printing supplies shrinks every year. I want to make what i have last as long as possible for orders.

I do hope you'll stop by and visit often, as i try to keep adding new media to the website and forums so there's always something new to look at.

Michael S. Crowley
Intersection Masterpiece Replicas

harske wrote:Michael...

First of all, I had to join just to tell you I hate your guts!

Ok, actually, I had to sign up so I could add my $.02 to the accolades you're receiving. These Masterpiece Series replicas that you've created are unreal. I've been a fan of dirt late models for a long time, and I've been building my own models for even longer than that. I have to say that your cars are the most amazing thing I've seen in replicas in quite some time... if not ever. I'm so jealous! The talent you have is the talent I always wished I had. I don't know which is more impressive... your artistic design ability or your attention to the mechanical and construction details.

On a more technical note, from one builder to another and all gushing aside, I can totally sympathize with on the whole 'nose' deal, and how you feel it's not quite right. That is hands down, far and away the trickiest area to nail on a late model replica. It's a nasty little convergence of complex curves that can drive a person mad for 10, 15, or even 23 years (but who's counting!). I've long considered it the holy grail of late model replicating, and you have done by far the best job I've ever seen. Kudos! I'm almost to the point of spending the $400 and buying a nose combo from Performance Bodies, and taking the time and constructing a 3D point cloud and surfacing the damn thing.

My latest attempt (and did I mention it's been in development for a long, long time?) is an HO scale slot car. I'm doing it all (body, chassis and wheels) in Pro/Engineer (3-D CAD software that I'm fortunate enough to own), and I have a really strong version complete, except for the nose. The chassis is done design-wise, and the body is 90% done. I could probably send it out for prototyping as it is and no one would really say anything bad about it. But I know it's not quite right, and the devil really is in the details. That last 10% takes 90% of the time. Right?

Anyway, I just had to tell you how cool your cars are, and keep up the amazing work. I'm sure I'll take a Moyer off your hands at some point. They're just too cool to not have one! But in the meantime, just know that I'm designing and building vicariously through you.

BTW.... I have a more business related question. Do you sell, or would you consider selling, decals? I thought mine were good with my big, bad Alps printer, but whatever process you use... it just kicks my decals' ass! I can tell you have just copious amounts of spare time to deal with dumbasses like myself, but if you'd at least think about it that would be cool.