Whether you are working on a scale model or restoring a 1:1 real car, pictures are what we all live for when we want to get certain details right.
I agree with you there Jon.
So if you run across a new publication or images, and see some new detail, do you go back and change a car you may have been finished with?
Yep. I suppose I tend to my small collection as if I were running a private vintage racing research and fabrication facility with the capacity and desire to improve upon matters if discoveries reveal I could do something better. As more than a few Trans Am racers won't strictly be restored to their first season configuration or be assigned driver identification that reflects who most often piloted this or that car, in a manner of speaking I can pretend away without destroying latter 1:1 history (i.e. the '72 ARA/RWR Javelins will never be returned to '70 Penske specification, whereas the 'junkbox' development hack is only an approximation of what was run in '70).
We've all noticed that the standard of restoration and the accuracy of presentation on the 1:1 racers continues apace, while such efforts are considerably informed by resources availed to enthusiasts here on the CRG Trans Am subpage. 1:1 vehicles may pass from owner to owner to reemerge from shops in finer fettle, whereas if I can mimic this progression in scale, I'll do my best to act upon new developments given I've chosen to focus upon the old SCCA Trans Am O2 category. A considerable degree of pleasure in obviously taken by me to rectify errors short of wholly stalling my builds. That anyone at all would provide reasoned feedback in relation to my projects means much to me, whereas the social aspect of the hobby wasn't something I suspected could yield one such enjoyment and satisfaction.
As to my efforts, it helps greatly to have spares in excess, hence what I try at a later time may well be worked out off of the original build entirely, substituted in only when all interference issues and quality concerns are seen to. If I roundly fail in relation to altering something for the better, no trace of my efforts so-directed need ever be seen! Diecast models tend to come apart quite easily, whereas some aspects of my models (i.e. wheel mounting systems in particular) profit if you will for better techniques and materials I can apply to them only years later. Others things I'm working on aren't strictly hinted upon across this very long thread, but should they work then what seemed clever might be considerably reconfigured if I can carry off intended improvements without great issue. By way of example, the flare work on the 1:18th Sun Star '64 Pontiac GTO-based Team Trans Action Gray Ghost was redone again and again until I judged it acceptable. This said, plastic models in other scales are considerably less forgiving in terms of tolerating repeated disassembly, hence what I'm willing to do with them is less bold by way of contrast.
With regards to the Autodynamics Challenger, for a very long time I didn't feel I strictly had enough basic period photographs to properly comprehend the configuration of the odd three-link rear suspension the team employed. Only late last year (2014 then) did I come to understand what lurked beneath the Challengers irrespective of what substantive clues I had in hand. Continuing with this topic, other materials have floated to the surface that include the configuration of the lateral bracework forward of the front seat differing in detail from the original #77, as well as perhaps four or five underhood photographs I was floored to discover via the Stanford University Rev's Digital Library. Karl Ludvigsen entrusted his photographic archive to Rev's, whereas no less than about sixty images hitherto unseen from the Sports Car Graphic coverage of the Watkins Glen T/A date in '70 versus the two or three that were published back in the day.
Short personal resources effectively prevent me from more substantive participation in the vintage Trans Am scene, although for concerted efforts in scale I can, in a manner of speaking, actively pretend away to the extent of 'calling the shots' in relation to how matters will be configured, what paint finishes will be applied, what race might be reproduced, choose to employ what would be nonexistent in 1:1 (i.e. perhaps doing my own blue line Goodyear Blue Streak Sports Car Specials), or insist upon the use of assemblies and quaint engineering ideas that were discarded in period as inoperable and since never refitted to be run in anger on the vintage circuit (i.e. the aforementioned Autodynamics three-link rear suspension). In essence my ambitions have been rescaled to better match my modest financial capabilities, while being taken seriously by the 1:1 community has been an unexpected bonus.
All I know for certain is that my actual'74 BMW 2002 didn't offer such enjoyment on a per dollar basis as contrasted to 'unlimited' expenditure directed towards scale topics of choice, namely the Trans Am topics glanced across the expanse of this now very lengthy thread. The social contacts and informed discussion availed for focus on a single make and a single model too is dwarfed by what I've been so kindly availed across this scene by way of comparison. Thanks for your interest...
Mike K.
