96 replies to this topic

['08SEAL]

COOL!

[62rebel]

i'm so stunned by the improvement you've done on the kit contents... dudes; don't dismiss ANY kit with generic or low detail anymore; this is the tutorial on how you FIX that stuff.

[Rdkingjay]

I have been dreading doing this modification because it required cutting a large circle in the body. This kit does not provide a gas door of any kind, so you are left to your devices with this one. I recently built a 1/25th Ford Styleline kit into a Mass State cruiser. It came with custom tail light bezels, that I thought closely resembled the outer ring of a Charger gas door. The scale difference looked right, so that combined with a 1/25th tachometer housing from the parts box and a 1/43rd '40 Ford hub cap and I was off. First, I dremeled out the tach housing so the hubcap/gas door would fit in it flush. The tach housing was used to raise the gas door slightly above the outer ring, similar to the real thing. After gluing the three pieces together, I painted the gas door black and added a fuel decal from a Nascar detail sheet. After drilling out the mounting hole, I final sanded it at a bit of a taper, so the door housing would not fall through, but sit slightly above the quarter panel, like on the real car. I don't have the hands to add a hinge or lifting tab to the gas door itself, but the finished product is pretty close to the original and I am very happy with it.

Edited by Rdkingjay, 08 December 2011 - 05:10 AM.

[Rdkingjay]

Short of some final sanding, primer and paint, this is the finished scratchbuilt engine bay. The last time you saw it, was in my initial post. It has gone through several tweaks since then. I based it from pics on line of the real thing and other 1/16th General builders that have built the same car. Obviously it is not exact and I wanted to keep the dual shock set up. So I gave it that "cut out shock tower" look that is often seen on Mustangs and Chevy II's. I have a coolant over flow and wiper bottle ( yes, this car will have wipers too), as well as an ignition coil and MSD box which are coming from Pro-Tech.

Edited by Rdkingjay, 13 December 2011 - 05:02 AM.

[plastikfreek]

Your attention to detail is amazing...I'm really loving this build..!..Please keep us updated with pics....

[Dominik]

cool builtup Jay! There i can learn a lot for my "Duke", if i want to build em. Looking good! The work on the fenders is perfect.

[Mr. Moparman]

Not that i real big into 1/16, this is coming along nice enough to kinda inspire me to get one of them Street Charger's

[Rdkingjay]

While I am awaiting some mail-order detail stuff from Pro-tech, I made/modified some of my own. Pictured are the following, four scratchbuilt window cranks. A steering shaft with U-joints, that started out as a 1/25th drive shaft. Slightly modified wipers from my 1/18th scrap heap. Modified washer fluid and coolant over flow bottles, also from the 1/18th scrap heap and finally , the modified steering wheel with its new spokes. These are by no means done, they still need some final sanding paint etc. prior to installation. Moving right along...Thanks for looking

[Mr. Moparman]

Man this is just getting better and better.

[crowe-t]

Jay,

Outstanding work! I can't wait to see this one done.

Will you be using the kit's decals?

Mike.

[Rdkingjay]

Actually no. Your timing is perfect though, I just sent them off to a friend of mine who makes scaled police decals. He will be using the original decals to make new ones that won't allow the bright orange paint work to bleed through, as I recall them doing when I built the original 30 years ago. He is also doing emblems for the car as well.

[Rdkingjay]

Just some quick shots of some detail items that will be hard to photograph when the engine compartment is buttoned up. The engine bay/wheel wells are not glued in yet, because I am waiting for a spun aluminum coil and MSD ignition box from Pro-tech, that still need to be mounted and wired. The photos depict the passenger and driver side rubber brake lines going to the front wheels. The third and fourth photos are the wiper washer tank and over-flow coolant tank. Only one end of each hose is attached at this point. The last photo shows the steering shaft and if you look closely, you can see the hard brake line, then fitting, then the rubber brake line going to the drivers wheel. Thanks for looking.

[Mr. Moparman]

Man, I bookmarked this, you work is amazing, you made me order that Street Charger! I'm going to use a bunch of techquichs for that car.

[Mr. Moparman]

BTW, what are those little silver things going from hard line to rubber line as in this pic?

Edited by Mr. Moparman, 17 December 2011 - 03:06 PM.

[Rdkingjay]

Brandon,
They are reffered to as Crimp Tubes. You can find them in any arts and crafts store, like Michaels, Joann Fabircs, A.C. Moore or the like. They are commonly used in the making of beaded jewelery bracelets, earrings etc. They come in a variety of sizes and are dispayed with all the other supplies for making beaded jewelery. When you find them, take your time and look around, you'll find a lot of other goodies there that can be used for detailing a model car. In fact all the hard lines on this car, also came from the same aisle.

[Mr. Moparman]

Oh ok! Thank you for clarifying that. I'll be paying a visit to Micheal's then...

[Dirkpitt289]

There is an amazing amount of detail going into this build. Fantastic stuff

[Rdkingjay]

With the ride height set, the fender openings done and the engine bay mocked in, it was time to check the body and see if there were any clearance issues. Thankfully there were not. If you look closely, the scratch built roll bar is also in place, as are the wipers and gas door. As of this post, I am finishing the wiring for the MSD box and ignition coil that came from Pro-Tech, plumbing in the coolant over-flow hose to the over-flow bottle and locking down the whole engine bay to the firewall. The body is all that is really left and aside from prep for paint, all I have left to do on that is add a very fine strip of styrene to the rear valence. It will be the chrome strip that seperates the flat black from the orange, near the tail lights.

Edited by Rdkingjay, 21 December 2011 - 09:28 AM.

[Mr. Moparman]

You have a PM.

[crowe-t]

Jay,

This is an incredible build! You haven't missed any details and turned this NASCAR based kit into a nice General Lee street car. The fender wheel openings look bone stock as they should look. Absolutely beautiful.

I can't wait to see the body painted.

Mike.

Edited by crowe-t, 23 December 2011 - 06:21 PM.