Building Shelf Queens

[nintendoisbest]

G'day guys, have recently bought a few vintage kits and wanting to build them up as eye candy. just wondering if it's best to build them up dry or should i grease the boxes and fill the shocks as normal? thanks for any help.

[TamiyaDan]

.

[tamiyoman]

That all sounds like good advice to me!

Some people also have problems with decals peeling over time on shelf queens so you may need to consider what to do on that front althopugh i dont think its a HUGE problem.

Cheers

[NJhopper]

Run em' around that helps everything!

[Hibernaculum]

When I build a vintage kit, I don't like dry builds I actually like to build it to spec, including all grease and oil. This may just be a personal idiosyncracy but I like the idea that even though they will never be driven they are "ready" to be driven and set up correctly. Correct weight and behaviours - if you pick up the model and hand-turn the wheels, press the suspension etc, it's all set correctly.

Some of my new builds are now 16-20 years old, and haven't leaked any oil. This includes some with old style dampers like a Super champ, Wild One etc.

Cheers,

H.

[nintendoisbest]

awsome, thanks for your help guys

[larbut]

When I build a vintage kit, I don't like dry builds I actually like to build it to spec, including all grease and oil. This may just be a personal idiosyncracy but I like the idea that even though they will never be driven they are "ready" to be driven and set up correctly. Correct weight and behaviours - if you pick up the model and hand-turn the wheels, press the suspension etc, it's all set correctly.

Some of my new builds are now 16-20 years old, and haven't leaked any oil. This includes some with old style dampers like a Super champ, Wild One etc.

Cheers,

H.

I'm with H.

I also build according to manual, and have not had any problems with leaking oil etc. (up to 8 years on the shelf) And grease/oil makes the model feel right.

Lars

[muratti]

I'm with H.

I also build according to manual, and have not had any problems with leaking oil etc. (up to 8 years on the shelf) And grease/oil makes the model feel right.

Lars

Can only agree with H and L- i also build my cars according to the manual and have never had any problems with leaking shocks.

[HunterZero]

Odd timing, this thread! I was actually thinking about to take a couple of 'dry built' shelfers apart to put oil in the dampers, clean them up and treat the tires.

I used to 'dry build', but the recent few models I've done I have put oil in the shocks and at least greased the ball diffs.

Some greases will dry out and deteriorate after a while, and there really is no need to grease the plastic gears. If I do grease them, I use the tiniest amount of ceramic grease on plastic gears, even in a runner.

But there's no harm putting oil in the shocks, and if the shocks are hardly ever being compressed, you will never have a problem with leakage. Infact, the silicon oil in the shock may even be better for the seals in the damper in the long term. A light coating of silicon oil while assembling them will mean the shock is easier to put together, and a film of silicon oil protects the seals.

- James

[simondo]

Still not got round to building a kit from new, all mine have been second hand project cars, even back in the day. I think i might treat myself to NIB kit later in the year and see what it`s like to build a brand new car.

[slimmy]

grease the gear box, don't fill the shocks.

i would lightly oil the shock shafts before inserting them into the shock bodies to oil the seals a little.

but don't fill them with oil over time they may leak.

the gear box i would grease, so later on if you want to run it you won't have to take it apart.

Perfect advice. also i would fully bearing the car just in case it ever gets ran. Oh, and i always rotate my tires to keep them from flat spoting and use armor all on them ocasionally to keep them from dry rotting.

[Hibernaculum]

1. Best way I find to avoid flat spots on tyres is to suspend cars high, to take weight off tyres completely. Like put a paint tin or some other object under the chassis.

2. Never use Armor All on rubber parts. It contains petroleum chemicals which will actually degrade rubber over time. Search the forums here for extensive analysis of this right down to the chemical science level. The best thing to use (we all agreed years ago) on rubber is 100% pure silicone oil. An example of this is shock oil, like GS Racing shock oil or other - preferably the thinnest wt available.

Cheers,

Rob.

[skinned]

i build my shelf queens to where....all i have to do is .....install a radio and batt and drive it(you never know).full bearing,motor and everything..and i sit them on their chassis...right above my bed..never had a prob with the leaky shocks..i read somewhere that someone clear coated the body after applying the decals..to prevent the curling...i dont have the guts to do that

[Malakite]

When I build a vintage kit, I don't like dry builds I actually like to build it to spec, including all grease and oil. This may just be a personal idiosyncracy but I like the idea that even though they will never be driven they are "ready" to be driven and set up correctly. Correct weight and behaviours - if you pick up the model and hand-turn the wheels, press the suspension etc, it's all set correctly.

Some of my new builds are now 16-20 years old, and haven't leaked any oil. This includes some with old style dampers like a Super champ, Wild One etc.

Cheers,

H.

Hey mate, just wondering how you manage to never run them, it must be difficult?! Also, do you have them all in a showroom we can see on here??

[Mad Zero]

I learned something today then - people actually build shelf queens.

Thought they were either good condition rare/delicate/vintage models that lucky people find at flea markets or ones people have spent so much time and/or money restoring that they daren't run them.

[loaded]

I read this thread with a Super Sabre in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. The Super Sabre is half assembled and the recently defiled box is to my right. The model is greased, oiled and will soon be ready to run, but I have 3 more Super Sabres which are used, so I guess this all answers a few questions:

Yes people build cars from boxed kits (I am doing one now, although I needed to put down both the car and the screwdriver to type this!), some people fully lube their models even when they know they are unlikely to be run (well, I can't see me selling this and I have 3 working used models, so I can't see a good reason...)

You can't clear coat lexan bodies, however, what I have done when restoring older 'new builds' when the decals are peeling is using very carefully cut clear sheet decal from the edges to 'tape' down the edges of the decals that are peeling. It is invisible even to a very picky modeller unless you get extremely close.

My good friend Radek (Rad22Rad - The Alloy wheel chap and builder of the Tamiyaclub.com community Scorcher) has every single model with batteries and radio ready to go at a moments notice and he is not afraid to run any of his models! He is very brave!

Paul.

[Deanej10]

I build static models to put on the shelf and build RC cars to run, thats what they are for.

[casethejoint]

My good friend Radek (Rad22Rad - The Alloy wheel chap and builder of the Tamiyaclub.com community Scorcher) has every single model with batteries and radio ready to go at a moments notice and he is not afraid to run any of his models! He is very brave!

He's not alone...

[slimmy]

1. Best way I find to avoid flat spots on tyres is to suspend cars high, to take weight off tyres completely. Like put a paint tin or some other object under the chassis.

2. Never use Armor All on rubber parts. It contains petroleum chemicals which will actually degrade rubber over time. Search the forums here for extensive analysis of this right down to the chemical science level. The best thing to use (we all agreed years ago) on rubber is 100% pure silicone oil. An example of this is shock oil, like GS Racing shock oil or other - preferably the thinnest wt available.

Cheers,

Rob.

Thanks for the info rob. I've been using the wrong thing all this time.

[Hibernaculum]

Hey mate, just wondering how you manage to never run them, it must be difficult?! Also, do you have them all in a showroom we can see on here??

Not running? Try: not building either Not that difficult when you have no time Mine are not in the showroom here, but I'll get them online one day.

All I ever seem to do is accumulate, and I don't really stop to assess or photograph them. e.g. this year I've added 7(?) cars to the collection, and about 100 spare parts, and neither played with nor built any of them so far. I think in the back of my mind, I just save them all for a rainy day.

So when I talk about shelf queens, the last one I actually completed was last year sometime. And that was a Monster Beetle I first assembled in 1994 (and never got around to finishing until last year). Actually this all prompts another thread I could start, called "How much time do you actually spend on your models?"

H.

[BruiserBrew]

Seems like its been forever since I posted!

The last true shelfer I built was back in 2001. That being said, I've always left the grease and oil out when fully knowing it will sit in a case.

To prevent flat spots on the tires, it is important (as already mentioned) to suspend the tires from directly touching any surface.

Great topic.