TurboKitty

I'm looking for 2 each of these, unbuilt & complete only. The Ram is the mid 90s reg cab long bed, and the TBird SC is the red car on box version. Have kits to trade, will post pics later Thanks!

I was watching "American Gangster" (the 2007 Denzel Washington movie), and at about 1 hr & 5 min into the movie there is a silver 2dr fastback, I know it's a Pontiac but I'm not sure what year or model. I thought it was a '67 Impala (because you see the roof first, the bottom part is blocked by another car). It's the part where the cop & his team are on the street and an orange BMW pulls up, a guy gets out of that and talks to another guy on the street, then leaves. The guy on the street then runs into the building and comes out with a bag, then runs across the street and gets into this car. The cops tail it for a little bit and then it parks. The grille is definitely a Pontiac grille (center divider with quad headlights, chrome, sort of like a '68-'69 GTO). The taillights were "L" shaped (but laid horizontally). I thought it was a Grand Prix but I'm not sure. I snapped a pic of it with my phone (sorry for the non HD quality):  Lastly, is there a kit of this? I love it!

 

I am impressed by those of you that toss box stock suspensions & other chassis/drivetrain components aside (even crisply molded ones) in order to scratchbuild a much more realistic & convincing one. Some of these are actually functional. My question is, how do you go about doing it? My hurdle in doing this is the lack of knowledge when trying to make something that would actually be seen on a real car. For example, I have a hard time identifying different rear differentials. They all look very similar to me (the OEM ones, anyway). If I wanted to make a beefier rear diff for say, a '68 Charger, how do you get the proportions right? Or if I wanted to make a modern suspension for an older muscle car, how do I find out what would be correct and realistic? Right now I just kitbash parts from similar makes, but I would love to learn how to do all of the above and then some. How do you do it? Reference material is a given, but with that its hard to know the correct size for each component when trying to replicate it in scale. Any help with this will be highly appreciated, and pics are a plus

I've been working on this off and on since about 2009, but I wanted to finally make a WIP thread for it in an effort to help myself get motivated to finally finish it LOL. It's about 90% finished as it sits, but I need to buy some more paint, flocking material, and a few other things before I can finally call it done. The first pic is from 2010 when I was trying to choose the wheels and paint color for it. I remember it was going to be either Pearl White or Black, but I decided to go with a GM Blue Metallic (can't remember the exact name but it is part of the DupliColor line and I bought it at Advance Auto). The NISMO decals are from Hobby Design, and the sheet I bought has the stripes and hood decals in 3 different sizes. They are very nicely printed and easy to work with. On with the pics: 

 

 

After primer and 1st coat of paint, (with wheels from the Nissan 350Z NISMO kit. Apologies for the blurry cell phone pics): 

 

Fast forward to last year, the interior was painted using Krylon Fusion in Khaki Tan. I still need to mask parts of the seats and door panels to finish them with Satin Black. The floor will be getting tan flocking material added, and once I get them, photoetched interior accents. The decals were applied, turn signals and other accents were painted, and the "glass" was masked off and painted where black areas are on the 1:1 car. I used clear blue on the backs of the projector lenses to make the headlights appear as if they are fitted with HID's, and used a black permanent marker to trace the outside of the headlight lenses to give them a more realistic look. The exhaust tips are cut from metal tubing as well. Yes, the model is a little dusty since I don't have that many display cases, but the pic doesn't do the paint justice! 

 

 

 

I need to add some more black weatherstrip detail, paint the marker lights on the fenders and quarter panels, add the wipers, mirrors, etc. For something a little different I decided to cut the T-Top assembly out of the roof since I'm working on a sliding ragtop using thin grey or tan fabric. Yes, I work a little backwards sometimes LOL. The engine is assembled and painted, but I'm waiting on a pair of resin turbos, intercooler, and then gonna have to figure out how to bend some metal tubing for the turbo piping , and get it all wired up so unfortunately no pics of that yet. Let me know what you think, good or bad. Thanks! 

 

***UPDATE 3/12/13 ALL 3 KITS ARE TRADED, THANK YOU ***

1) Movin' On Kenworth Semi - Rough box, no decals, some loose parts but it appears complete with most parts on sprue. Nothing painted or glued.

2) Kenworth T600A - Complete in sealed bags, nice decals & chrome. Nothing painted or glued.

3) Budweiser 40' Trailer - Rough box, the top, bottom, sides and rear doors have all been painted aluminum & assembled. Looks like it could be taken apart & stripped easily. Axles assembled and painted, many loose parts so I need to check it for completeness. Decals are present but they are yellowed and an edge is sort of creased.