Andrew D the Jolly Roger

Fell in love with this beast from Season 1 Episode 4 the very first time I saw it; had no idea it was the same car which appears at the very end of the opening credits of the show jumping over Rosco's car. Very ambitious build, detailed in my build thread: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/150471-lee-1-wreck-doh/

Grateful to have finished this beast in record time... Re-chromed the bent bumpers and other parts with Alclad, and was lucky to have located the proper wheel hubs. Also broke the right door handle to match the real thing. Wide tires from the MPC Sheriff's Dodge Monaco. Windows tinted with Future floor polish and food coloring. Sheet metal for the front and back from a disposable roasting pan from the Dollar Tree. Airbrushing dust and dirt all over the chassis and bottom of the body. Only regret is the wide tires stick out too far....and yet wide tires were used....but I just draw the line at redesigning the suspension that drastically. Enough is enough.

Thanks! Yes I'd also heard about the cinder blocks being scraped, but the problem is all the primer-colored-scraping so visible in the episode is gone in the actual wreck....this leads me to think maybe the light gray scrapwork was really gray paint brushed on, and washed/wore off as it sat in the junkyard for decades? Maybe the cinder block story was not necessarily a paint damage thing, but a structural damage?

Final bodywork touchups and priming, and ready for paint. Tough to match the exact color, since in the episode (the way I'm making it) it was disguised/obscured with gray scratchwork all over it, and the recovered wreck was apparently quite weathered and faded. Did the best I could. Finally settled on a mix of 5 different blues and greens. It's actually darker than the photos show.... I settled on: 2 parts Testors Gloss Dark Blue (#1111); 2 parts Testors Dark Beret Green; 1 part Model Master Dark Sea Blue; 1 part Testors Gloss Green; 1 part Gloss Light Blue.

Thank you! FRONT BUMPER Need the front bumper to look like bent metal, and not a bent plastic model part. Made an aluminum foil cast of the central section; removed that plastic, attached the ends to the foil cast. Very carefully bent and dented it to match the photos. Filled with CA glue with wire reinforements for the structure. Primed, will be coated with Alclad chrome tomorrow or Thursday.

Finished roll cage:

Here's how the scratchbuilding went, using 1/16" rod for the frame and tubing fitted over the rod for the padded sections around the driver's side:

ROLL CAGE Tip: Do NOT use the roll cage from the MPC "General Lee" for this project. Wrong style, wrong design, wrong size. I also found some drawings online which purport to be the actual design sketches for the original. They do match what I see in all the photos.

Thanks for all the kind words! I've never taken as much trouble as this for the accurate steering wheel, but here's what I finally accomplished:

Thanks for the kind words! '70 Grande, interior panels were totally freelance/freehand. I found a couple of images online, printed them out and went by them (you can see one of the prints in one of the images with the pencil). Since it was going to be partially obscured being inside, I figured it didn't have to be 100% exact....just had to look "busy".

The interior needs special work. From what I can see in the episode, the interior panels under the rear windows were removed along with the back seat, although I've read that only the seat was removed to install the full roll cage. So, I had to remove the rear panel and totally rebuild it as the interior structure that the panel would normally cover. Was a 2 full day scratchbuilding job, daunting at first but well worth it in the end. The carpet will be well worn and stained soon.

Once damaged to taste, the foil is filled from behind with tons of gap-filling superglue and plastic strip reinforcements. Then to the body itself, the same treatment but MUCH bigger. LOTS of superglue to fill it all from behind. Then priming and sanding in appropriate areas.

If I can't replicate the body damage, the entire project is pointless. If I only heat up and bend the plastic body it will look toylike, as the body thickness when scaled up would be akin to a couple inches thick. Not convincing at all. THE SOLUTION: Make aluminum foil copies of the body sections to be damaged. Let's try it on the hood first:

For those who didn't know, the Charger wreck used in Dukes Season 1 Episode 4 "Repo Men" was the same car that made the jump at the very end of the show's opening credits. LOVED this car the first time I saw it as a kid, did not know how important it was until decades later. Replicating this wreck in 1/25 will be a VERY ambitious project. Not as simple as wrecking a plastic body.