full detail 1/16th Gordie Bonin BubbleUp Trans Am Funnycar

[dragcarz]

Really Sharp looking Ian!

[Ian McLaren]

Finished the wheelie bar assy tonight.

 

 

[Ian McLaren]

Ready for the engine and pumbing, firebottles and lines, steering arm and rods plus a few other odds and ends. The front suspension is the stand out feature of this Swindahl design

[Ian McLaren]

I have gone as far as I can on the Bonin Swindahl chassis, the body is just waiting for some refinements and the final graphics. I also encountered a issue I have never dealt with before, once the chassis was assembled there is almost no ground clearance at the rear motor plate. I had checked the angles and every measurement I could be sure of but couldn't find the issue. A message for another modeler about a funnycar with what appeared to be a similar chassis led me to some further research. The article was an acount of the restoration of a well known funnycar that pretty much covered the complete car. When they assembled the car they found exactly the same problem I was facing (no ground clearance). It turns out that the car was originally designed around the taller Top Fuel slicks of the day. This probably should not have come as a shock as Al. was always primarily a Top Fuel guy. It also seems to have contributed to the unusally large rear wheel openings these cars had. Long story quick measurements confirm if I print a set of taller tires my problem will also dissappear. Sometimes the answer just comes from a source you never considdered I will be concentrating on the 57 Corvette Super Gas car for the forseeable future.

 

[BK9300]

Incredible work - just amazing.  Will the taller tires mean any changes to your interior tin?

[Straightliner59]

The chassis is a work of art! If I wasn't sure the body will be just as gorgeous, I'd say it would be a shame to cover it up! Excellent work, my friend!

[Ian McLaren]

11 hours ago, BK9300 said:

Incredible work - just amazing.  Will the taller tires mean any changes to your interior tin?

Thank you Brian, thank fully it won't, but it will raise the back end a bit.  This era of cars were fairly high at the rear anyway. As far as the tin goes, I had to make some modifications to accomodate the added details on the chassis, so it requires some additions refinishing regardless, so any additional changes to restore the body ride height would not be as painful were it fully completed.

Edited October 12, 2024 by Ian McLaren

[Ian McLaren]

18 minutes ago, Straightliner59 said:

The chassis is a work of art! If I wasn't sure the body will be just as gorgeous, I'd say it would be a shame to cover it up! Excellent work, my friend!

Thank you Daniel, coming from you that means a lot my friend. Yes the chassis is turning out to be close to what I envisioned and as a result the body,  which I thought might be ready for final finishing will be getting some additional work to better compair with the chassis.

[Ian McLaren]

This is still on hold however there was a major break through.   Ever since the start of this build we have been searching for high res photos of the Firebird graphic on the hood but to this point nothing suitable has been found that could be used in a photo rendering format.   I had pretty much given up and had made one last request to a few of the historic drag racing groups I belong to a couple of weeks ago, and the numerous replys that I got  didn't product anything significantly better to work from.   A couple of days later I got a PM from a gentleman (David Ferrin) offering to draw and color the emblem for me. At this point I had nothing to lose so after a couple of emails I send him the dimensions of the hood area and wheel blisters and began the wait.  Three days later I recieved a message with two different line drawings and some questions that all of the photos did not really answer.  After some discussion I was confident we made the right decisions and David  felt so as well.   He said he would get back to me in a few days.  Four days later I recieved a fully colorized proof photo of the emblem that blew me away.  I have every confidence this it is perfect, or so close it absolutely won't matter.  The proof is now being added to the rest of the decal set that has been done for a bit. Once printed they will be sent to me.  I can now go back and completely strip the body, refining the surfaces on the way and put the final gloss white finish on in preparation for the decals arrival.  The lower green will also be removed and re applied once the decals arrive so I can match the angle of the stripes perfectly.   David you have basicly saved the whole project, you are a gentleman and an extremely talented graphic designer and artist in the truest sence of the word! Thank you again so much!

 

The photo posted is intentionally blured and the ink used on my printer ran when I wet the paper (normal bond) to make is conform. Trust me the final product will be outstanding!

Edited October 27, 2024 by Ian McLaren

[Ian McLaren]

 

 

Sometimes you have to back up to move forward. Such is the case of my BubbleUp funnycar model project. I knew going in the only body available had some proportion differences to the Bonin car (not errors just based on a different slightly newer original). I made all the adjustment I thought necessary and started the graphics assuming adjustment could be made to get the correct look. This turned out to be the wrong approach. I contacted a proffesional decal manufacturer and together we came up with an acceptable solution. This however has resulted in removing most of the graphics I had previously done. Now if Canada post could just get their act together and get the decals here (plus everyone elses mail), I should be able to enlarge the green lower panel at an angle to match the decal stripes touch up the existing white area (some adjustments and repairs in this area have also been done) I should be able to finish and have a much better model that is much more accurate. Here are the photos of the step backwards

.

 

Edited December 8, 2024 by Ian McLaren

[AmericanMuscleFan]

Great job Ian!  I'm with you, I can't wait for the strike to end at Canada Post, I feel even more isolated these days as if I wasn't already isolated enough in my little country village! 🙄

[Codi]

Hi Ian, I too am looking forward towards your next post....you're so close now and I can't wait to see her all together. (as I'm sure you are).   cheers, tim

[Ian McLaren]

On 12/26/2024 at 4:46 AM, Codi said:

Hi Ian, I too am looking forward towards your next post....you're so close now and I can't wait to see her all together. (as I'm sure you are).   cheers, tim

Thanks Tim, I have a friend in the Canadian Postal Service and we were talking yesterday ( he's far enough up the chain to have a viable opinion) he guesses that I can start expecting the decals arrival in the second week of January given they were coming in from the states.  Fingers crossed and mean while I keep working on the Pinto.

[Ian McLaren]

At long last the decals have arrived after an epic battle with USPS and Canada post and the battle is not over completely yet.  That however is besides the point as the decals have exceeded my every expectation and the project can now be brought to a conclusion.   That conclusion will have to wait a bit longer as I wrap up the Pony Express BB/FC which is in the final assembly stage at the moment.  The Bubble Up car should be back in progress within the next ten days or so.

[Ian McLaren]

While waiting for the clear to fully cure on the Pony Express, I spent some time on the BubbleUp body and paint, recontoured the green to fit with Chucks decals, as well as fixing some body issues and re doing the white areas.  I have also applied the first clear coat to give the decals a proper surface to attach to.

 

[Ian McLaren]

Sneek peak at the progress since the Pinto is completed and the decals were here. just needs clear coat, polish, Windshield and parachute added.

 

 

Edited March 6 by Ian McLaren

[dragcarz]

Amazing work Ian! What is it about you guys in Canada that make you such craftsmen?

[Ian McLaren]

6 hours ago, dragcarz said:

Amazing work Ian! What is it about you guys in Canada that make you such craftsmen?

Long cold winters with nothing to do but shovel snow and model, plus we are on the metric system so more time available

[AmericanMuscleFan]

Nice collection of warriors Ian, your long wait to receive the decals for the Trans Am seems to have been worth it! 👌

[Ian McLaren]

1 hour ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

Nice collection of warriors Ian, your long wait to receive the decals for the Trans Am seems to have been worth it! 👌

Thank you Francis, and yes still clear and polishing to go but it hasalready exceeded my expectations

[Codi]

That was a great idea to put the 3 cars together in one shot.   That'll make ya' smile on a bad day.   Cheers, tim

[1320]

On 3/7/2025 at 3:23 AM, Ian McLaren said:

Long cold winters with nothing to do but shovel snow and model, plus we are on the metric system so more time available

Bahahaha I'm stealing that! 

Jim