Revell 1:24 Funny Car Dragster Model Kit (plus Scratch-built Engine)

Happy New Year!

A boyhood daydream (at age 7) was to own a Funny Car Dragster. Coincidentally a family member recently found a model kit second-hand with:

• Missing parts, including no engine.
• No box cover
• No plans/ assembly instructions

I decided that building this kit would be a fun Christmas holiday project.

First things I did:

• Started studying the parts to see if I could figure out how it was to be assembled
• Looked for any labeling on the parts to tell me what brand the model kit was, what year it was created,… and if it told me what vehicle it was. I found the brand info (Revell) and the year it was created. This was a good start.
• Started learning about Funny Car engines.
• I found this 3D print of a Hemi Funny Car engine. I thought about buying it (if it came at 1:24 scale) but decided to scratch-build my own, since that would be more fun.
• I have a feeling the model kit may actually be this Moonseyes model. I thought it might have been a McDonalds vehicle, however the moulding at the front isn’t the same.
• I then started doing research on Google and YouTube to view model kits like it, and to see if I can could find some assembly instructions. Amongst things, I found the below video. It is not the same vehicle but the frame, engine, fuel tank, etc is the same.

 

Thank you heaps to hpiguys Workshop for creating the above video. It made figuring out how to assemble the model very, very easy.

I also studied many videos and images of Funny Car engines, including this video:

 

There were of course heaps of other Funny Car Model Kit build projects being showcased on YouTube too. I spent a good few hours watching these videos.

The model kit build so far:

• Clean up the parts: washed them and removed flashing
• Assembled the frame and painted it with semi-gloss black paint
• Painted the Differential and Drive Shaft.
• Started painting the shell (only one coat of colour so far). I am not sure if I’m happy with the colour, so I may change it.
• I started scratch-building the engine yesterday

Here are some pics so far:

 

I don’t have tires for this model. I’ll see if I can buy them online. If not, I’ll see if I can make some out of EVA Foam.

I also haven’t researched to find what decal packs I can find yet. I’m thinking of simply painting the vehicle bright yellow and buying a generic decal pack for it,…. or designing and printing my own.

Side note: If I ever need to make tires wider, this video will be helpful:

 

I also found this video very interesting:

 

While building this Funny Car I was also watching past drag events posted to YouTube, including these two:

 

 

Imagine being strapped into one of these vehicles, and it flips, rolls, catches fire, blows up, etc. Check this out:

 

I also learned about the changes to the rules, to make the sport a little safer:

 

I’ll watch this video soon too: