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More building; step 25 - fitting the 8mm balls to the front uprights:



Step 26 - lower wishbones:




It's obvious that the previous owner/builder had put the steering balljoints in the wrong holes - that can't have helped the steering lock I did think about cleaning the outer holes out to a nice shade of blue, but I wonder if I might be grateful to have thread in them in the future...






Step 27 - Upper wishbones, axles, and bearings - I used nice new rubber shielded, but the manual calls for a ball race on the inside, and a nylon one on the outside





Step 28 - fitting wishbones & driveshafts to the front gearbox:




After steps 30 and 36 - fitting the front gearbox & front shocks; note the plasticard shim on the front right upper wishbone - wear (I think) had made it very floppy & that stiffened it up no end:





Step 37 - fitting the front bumper; this is a re-re Boomerang one (I accidentally bought two for my last Bigwig build) - it's identical apart from the recycling symbols & an inexplicable hole ...



Step 38 is setting toe-in on the front - the wheel alignment was way out (some toe out on the right, _massive_ toe out on the left) despite following the instructions regarding the steering rod lengths earlier

Step 39 is fitting tyres to the wheels ...




Steps 40, 41 and 42 are fitting the hubs, wheels & antennas, since taking the photo I've moved all the shock spacers to the front as it was already sagging ...





The paint is drying on the subchassis, so that's probably it for today

Great work JR that will make a very tidy runner and will look great running quite a transformation

tamiya wrote:

Great work JR that will make a very tidy runner and will look great running quite a transformation

Oh, it gets better :;

Or worse, if you're a purist

Subchassis painted & fitted ... I didn't want to spray the whole thing, but may be I should have done - the repaired area is a different texture:




The "sub chassis" is quite important as a brace - it might not be that clear in this picture, but I've highlighted the edge of the retaining pin - the chassis is sagging 2-3mm under it's own weight





Refresher shot of the broken missing steering wheel ...





... and my fix - a bit of bent 2.5mm styrene rod. It's taller than is strictly correct, but I'm fairly happy with it:




Can you spot why this method is unsafe?



That's right - if it slips on the desk, the vice will land right on my Jacobs



I'm a bit behind on the driver comapred with where I've got to on the car, but I still want to do it properly - including filling & sanding.

It's not quite finished - but I'll go for the big reveal on the bodywork:





Decals are homemade (waterslide transfers), themed appropriately - "Penzzoil" becomes "Porkchops"...




... "D i c k CEPEK" becomes "Oink OINK" ...




... "BIGWIG" obviously becomes "BIGPIG", "MOON CRAFT" "DESIGN BY TAKAYURA YURA" becomes "BACON CRAFT" "DESIGN BY PORKY PIG" (I was struggling there TBH), and "WEBER" becomes the Danish bacon logo






A few shots on how I got there...

Pink paint ...



... white ...



... home printed waterslide transfers (2 set each, printed on white & clear), and lacquered before use:

strange but the pink sort of works

Being in Hog Heaven may have given some inspiration.
A transformation from a pork goulash into a delicate prosciutto.

tamiya wrote:

strange but the pink sort of works

It had to be a colour with a lot of white in it to cover up the cloudiness from the paint stripping ... looking in my paint drawer, I suppose I could have gone with a very pale grey/blue/yellow, or also mixed a pale minty green

Edou wrote:

Being in Hog Heaven may have given some inspiration.
A transformation from a pork goulash into a delicate prosciutto.

I think it was the whole wig/pig thing to be honest

Funny thing is i was eating a bacon butty while reading this this morning