| This tip came about when Marv Smith asked whether Revell's modern top fuel kits could be used to create a modern nostalgia top fuel dragster. A few minutes with the razor saw resulted in what you see to the left. Essentially, the process involves removing 1/4"¯ from the upper frame tubes¯ just ahead of the chassis upright where the firewall mounts. See our chassis tips page for the best method of reuniting tube sections. Nothing in the pics is glued, save the engine block/heads. The engine is from Monogram's T'rantula kit--it was the first one that came to hand. As can be seen in the top left photo, the cockpit uprights will need to be re-positioned so that they are once again vertical (I ended up replacing mine with 1/16"¯ styrene rod). Also a rear end mount will need to be added. I simply cut the brackets/axle end housings from the kit's uprights and attached them to 1/16" rod. The rear end from Revell's Swamp Rat 30 kit should fit, and the later ones may, but I haven't tried them, yet. You'll also want to replace the slicks, as NFDs are limited to 11"¯ wide. The pics are extremely down and dirty, but provide an illustration as to how good a start can be made with a few simple modifications. |
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After
a couple of more hours' work, the body and canards and front wing are
mocked up. Cut down the fueler's wing, and make new end plates, or borrow
them from another kit (one for each side), and attach the new assemblies
as canards. The front wing from the Revell kit is shortened, and
the end plates reattached to make the nose wing. There is still
a fair amount of conversion to be completed, but this wasn't meant to
be finished, just to see if it would work. In order to make the
body look right, you'll have to trial and error¯ it. The fuel
tank from the top fueler can be used after filling the "trough" for
the steering shaft with Evergreen strip. The timer box from one
of Revell's funny car kits can be used to duplicate the same feature
on a NFD. Great idea, Marv--this is just the kind of idea that results
when you allow yourself to think outside the box, and it provides inspiration
that leads to innovation. |
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