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I was wanting to do a quick build so I started this Dodge A100. I want to do the van version but I don't have time to get the body in and I also wanted a truck anyways. I am doing this stock with the 273. I was thinking about finishing it in grey primer but I haven't settled yet. I opened the doghouse and hinged it. Since the back is not visible, rather than build a hinge I used a small piece of rubber and shaved the top rear so it would clear the back of the cab.

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Thank you to those that have followed along so far. Yesterday I scribed the panel line at the rear of the bed side and adjusted the doors. The right door was a mess but with some encouragement from some heat I got it pretty close and got the rest of the body cleaned up and ready for primer including narrowing the center windshield post. Chassis is done and engine installed. I was going to use a pre-wired distributor but even with opening the doghouse it's not visible enough to warrant the time and expense. The next one of these I think is going to get a slant six so more of the engine should be visible. Not pictured yet is the spare tire bracket and I painted white walls. Also, I lowered it by what would amount to about 1 1/2 to 2 inches.

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So yesterday I got the doghouse insulated. I'm not sure how they came stock but I had a 63 ford van years ago that was insulated like this so I assume they would be similar. I remember the Ford was loud so I couldn't imagine how loud it would be without insulation in there. I used some material that came wrapped around a bike stand we recently bought for the sides and foil from a yogurt lid for the top. I also wet sanded the body and got it ready for paint. This morning I sprayed it, I don't have an airbrush yet and I usually use Tamiya spray paints but I found the colors I wanted in Model Master. I don't really like the Model Master spray paints, they seem to flash off too fast and then take forever to dry without really flowing out like I like want. But that's okay, I have plenty of 1200 grit paper and some water so whenever it dries I will wet sand it and spray the second color.

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The orange peel from the second coat of the first color was pretty bad around the dodge letters on the tailgate and on the front. Since I didn't want to spend the day sanding and I don't want to obscure the letters, and I really wanted to go for a ride down this amazing road called Mines road that runs between Livermore and San Jose, I put the body in brake fluid this morning, put Tom Waits on my mp3 player, and commenced to grinding foot pegs off on pavement. I don't think it is but there is an observatory along that road that looks just like the one in Rebel Without a Cause. Anyway, when I got home I cleaned everything up and just hit it with some primer and maybe tomorrow I can get some color on it,

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I like your project, especially the way you opened the lid on the engine bay cover. Here's mine, the Jimmy Flintstone van has a slant six in it, you wouldn't see the plugs on it either! The van is since completed, the pickup continues to tick me off!

As you mentioned, the windshield splitter is an issue. It was solved on the resin van, but I actually removed it and replaced with Evergreen on the pickup. Don't forget to add a gas filler on the drivers side!

Edited by Tom Geiger
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Last night I got the body primed again, you can't see how bad the orange peel really was from the picture but the first coat went on nice and smooth, after about twenty minutes on a cool day the second coat just wouldn't flow right. The color is going on okay this time for now. I added a little bit of weathering to the engine and chassis, and since the kit didn't come with a brake or clutch pedal a made some and added them along with a normal gas pedal. Tom, thank you, I did forget about the gas filler and that meant also making a cover for the fill hose that would be on the inside of the bed. I couldn't find a reference picture online so I assume it would look something like this. Also pictured is the retainer bracket for the spare tire.

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Thank you for all the kind words and encouragement. My ship was supposed to sail a couple days ago but due to some generator problems we are stuck pier-side for a bit longer so I am going to wrap this one up for now and call it done. In trying to go from out of the box normal builds to something approaching some of the works of art I see on this forum I have been setting goals for myself on each build and my goal here was to improve my body and paint work, scratch build small details, and get some practice with BMF. I think it's time to move up to an airbrush, rattle cans are just too unpredictable and the available color choices are too limiting. I need to get a good magnifier, my eye's aren't 17 anymore. I like this kit and plan on picking up a couple more including the resin van body, and a slant six. My plan for the van is to build a machine shop delivery van and open at least the back doors to show an engine and other parts in the back. The issues I had with this kit were miner and easily corrected including the lack of a brake and clutch pedal, no gas filler cap, and the windshield center post being too thick. Tom Geiger got it right by replacing it with styrene, I think a small half round piece would do the trick but the windshield is made for a thick post. The only correct way would be to make a new windshield. Again, thank you for looking.

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Very nice Mark! I especially like the colors you chose. Very typical of the time period on that truck! And a gas filler too!

I will warn you that the Jimmy Flintstone resin van body is pretty thick, which is what kept me from opening any panels. I did cut windows into the doors and small portholes in the side panels. You will need to thin down the kit door panels a bunch to have them fit and clear the seats... I did a combo of that and positioning the seats inboard a bit. With the doors fixed in place, I just glued the engine cover in place too. Mine has a slant six from the Deora in it, but just visible from below.

The good part of the van body is that it's nicely done, the top is done right and other details are thought out. It has the gas cap, the Dodge scripts on the doors (The larger IMC Dodge trucks that share the A100 cab had those) as well as correctly scaled hinges on all the doors. The working ones on the pickup kit are grossly out of scale.

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Tom, thank you for the information. Would you advise just opening the back doors, or putting windows in the back instead? My plan is to detail the engine on a crate in the back along with some other parts. Have you looked at the Ross Gibson slant six?

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The resin body does come with the rear windows as shown here. See how nice the hinges are on the doors?

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I added the windows on the side doors. Again, see how nice they did the molded in hinges. The working ones on the kit are probably 3 times this size. The messy paint lines are due to the fact that this is a replica of a 1:1 truck a friend drove back in the 1970s. We brush painted it so those lines are as good as we did!

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And yes I have a Ross Gibbons slant six. I wouldn't use it in this model since it won't be all that visible. I'd be using the one from the Lindberg 1964 Dodge and Plymouth kits, since that's the best one ever done in our scale. The one I used in this model was from the Deora because I had a few extras and for the limited view from underneath. You will need to use the A100 kit transmission since it mounts in a unique way in the 1:1

Edited by Tom Geiger
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Tom, I thank you for all the information and advice. On your recomendation I ordered the resin body, another little red wagon kit and a lindberg dodge kit. Of course the plymouth is a good looking car so I had to order one of those also. I'm thinking of doing one as a stock 6 cylinder and the other as some sort of high school kids hot rod from the 70's with jacked up shackles on the rear and maybe some cragers and cherry bombs and the obligatory thrush stickers in the rear quarter windows. But I might want to put a blower on one so I ordered a Revell Tony Nancy 22Jr double dragster kit. While I was at it I picked up a 70 R/T challanger for a vanishing point build (the first one), and a 69 barracuda to see if I can turn it into a 67 like one I had when I was younger. I don't know how all this happened, I just wanted to build a van.

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