A/Fuel Front Engine Dragster - Enderle Injected BBC Power - 13-06 Update

There are certain subjects I keep returning to repeatedly as my skills and techniques evolve. One is the ’32 Ford, in particular the various Revell Deuce kits, and the other is the classic early to mid-sixties front engine dragster, in particular the super-light, super quick Junior Fuelers. In the second case my preferred base kit tends to be the MPC Ramchachargers Dragster kit. I like the ultra-low legs-under rear axle stance and the just-right proportions of its 160” wheelbase chassis.

I’m always thinking about my next dragster but these days I only seem to build one every 12 months or so. Now is that time, and this one won’t quite be a Junior Fueler, although I’m using the Ramchargers kit. This time I’m running a Big Block Chevy instead of the small block motor that was de rigeur if you were running a Junior Fueler back in the day (310 c.i. limit). This is because of a really pretty Enderle fuel injector setup I bought from Speed City Resin a while back. It only fits the Chevy Big Block so, BBC it is!

With this project I decided to experiment with large area decals to create a fogged panel style paint job. The underlying color is DupliColor Metalcast metallic Ground Coat which is a near perfect 1/25th scale silver metalflake. If you print homemade decals on an inkjet printer you will quickly realize that the colors are very transparent and the base color shows through strongly. So inkjet color decal + silver metallic base coat = kandy color. Using Photoshop I made decals to create the fogged panel paint job I was thinking of. It took some experimenting but the technique works quite well. This one is very simple but now that I’ve figured it out I think I’ll be using it some more.

Below are a couple of composite pictures. The first one shows the Western Manufacturing Special body shell from Altered States Models I used, and the Enderle injectors from Speed City Resins. The second shows the decal layout I made and the decals applied to the silver body. All that remains in the bodywork area is applying trade decals and clear coating everything. The chassis is about half done and I’ve begun work on plumbing and detailing the motor.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

Sittin next ta Allan !  

All the major assemblies are now done. As I write this I’m in the middle of final assembly. Below are some pictures showing the Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland photo-etch wire wheels I used with a breakdown of the various parts in the system and final result. Beautifully detailed with some incredibly finely detailed parts (check out the hubs…), they are a tremendous improvement over the kit wheels.




The motor is finished and fitted to the chassis. Not shown in the pictures are the injector stacks and the zoomy headers. Much of the rest of the build is straight out of the kit. The one change I have made is to run the steering tie rod outside the body, again not shown because it’s a one-shot deal during final assembly and doesn’t lend itself to a mockup.




I’m shooting for completion this weekend… Hopefully the Gloo Gawdz will cooperate.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

Very nice!