JTalmage Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 (edited) Since all I have to do is paint my steering wheel on the '36... I started working on my new project... The Crusher Camaro! For those that aren't savvy the Crusher Camaro started out back in the early 90's at Hot Rod magazine when oil companies were offering "credits" if you turned your old car in to be crushed. Sort of a pre cash for clunkers grab. David Freiburger (I'm sure you know that name from Hot Rod and Roadkill fame) was driving by a gas station when he saw a REALLY nice looking '67 Camaro in line at the gas station waiting to get scooped up by the evil business. He pulled in and offered the guy more money than they were going to give him for it and took it home. the car has been a rolling laboratory for suspension and engine setups ever since then. Mostly recently it was set up to look like a 70's street machine. Nose high stance, wide slicks, centerline big n littles, and a blown 454 sticking out of the hood. And that was a beautiful sight. So I decided when this kit came out that it was destined for the "Crusher"! So naturally I went for the obligatory mock up shot first. The super clean white styrene hid most of its sink marks and mold lines on me pretty well because after I painted it, I saw a sink mark in the passenger door (or maybe it was the drivers door... I cant remember) and also a mold line across the roof and some at the back of the rear quarters. I also painted it Daytona yellow which at first looked like it would be bright enough. But as you can see, it is not. However it does give the illusion of a brighter yellow under light. I got the wheels from Morgan Automotive Detail. One of the fronts had a chunk missing and maybe that was from shipping? Either way, I wanted to try and get this car done quickly for a club meeting and didnt have time to order a new set and fixed it with some scrap styrene. It probably wont look great when painted but it will do for now until I can replace it. I also hacked off the four speed transmission in order to put the correct Turbo 400 trans that the Crusher has in it. This transmission came from B-N-L Resins This of course required some changes to the chassis. I had to cut out the trans crossmember out and move it back about the width of itself to line up with the mount on the Turbo 400 and not hit the pan. I also started cutting out some filler pieces to replace the holes that are now in the floorboard. I also have no idea why I painted it before I started cutting on it. Momentary lapse of reason. What I did not picture is the 9" ford axle I also added to the leaf springs. I also used old Revell 69 charger leaf spring blocks to raise the rear up to clear the huge slicks. The 9" axle also came from B-N-L. I will be picking up a can of Tamiya Chrome Yellow when I leave work today and it will be brighter tonight. I should have the foil done this week as well. I'll have to scratch build the blower scoop also. Stay tuned! Edited November 30, 2015 by JTalmage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davewilly Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 looks nice so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatMan Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Yes, really nice start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalmage Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 So I couldnt live with the Daytona yellow. It was just too pale outside of a lamp light. I went and picked up a can of Tamiya Chrome Yellow from the hobby shop after work. I picked up some 3M Trizact 3000 grit foam backed abrasive a few months ago with intent to use it for polishing automotive headlights and wetsanding my cars clearcoat... and thought it might be a good idea to use it to get some orange peel out of the paint on this thing before I laid down the new paint... and let me tell you this stuff is AWESOME! It cut down the orange peel and because it's foam backed, so it is very forgiving on sanding down small details like key locks and window trim which is a big thing for me because I'm rather heavy handed when it comes to sanding. I almost polished it on the spot after seeing how well it did. But, alas, I wanted a more *yellow* yellow. And here's a comparison photo of the 2 I also shot the resin wheels with Tamiya Silver Leaf... which by itself looks amazing with no clear. Looks like a clean aluminum right out of the can to me. So I shot those and they look killer. So the mandatory mock up photos took place. This is also about where I am hoping the ride height will be when finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhm567 Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Looks great, definitely going to keep an eye on this build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagercr Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 That is going to look cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CancinoEvil Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Good work so far, simple and clean, looks killer in the last mock up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuellerFace Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 In my opinion the coolest "roadkill" car, I'm not even a Chevy guy. Are you going to send it to Freiburger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fractalign Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 I really like where this is going ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgbben Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Following. Great theme for a build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalmage Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 I plan to keep this build and eventually have all the Roadkill cars that I build all together on my shelf. Or displayed at a show... that would be cool. Got it foiled last night. I actually struggled with this one. Not sure if it was because the yellow under the lamp light was messing with me, or if its just that the chrome details on this kit dont really "stick out" like older kits... not sure. Either way, took me about an hour and 45 minutes to do it. Still have to clearcoat it to seal it to the car. Heck, I might even polish this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalmage Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 Cleared over the BMF this evening. Ran the clear in some spots. Amazing what 5 degree differencein weather will do. I have some amazing sandpaper and a friend has some awesome polish a rep have him when he worked at an auto body supply store he'll give me. This thing is gonna be pretty. Will be the first model I ever polished Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Jon Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Super clean build & great workmanship Jesse, bravo!!! This is going to look great once completed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
66belair Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 I remember this car, you are doing some nice work. It's amazing the difference in the 2 yellows. Did you strip the car or paint over the Daytona Yellow? Can't wait to see more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalmage Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) I thought I replied to this but I must have fell asleep or something. No I just wetsanded the body with 3000 grit and then resprayed it. And of course on my final coat of clear I ran it. Dang. So there was a few spots that needed attention. But it didnt look too bad overall So after I let it dry a few days I got brave and decided that this would be the first model I try wetsanding and buffing. So far, it's gone ok.. I didnt go further than 3000 grit. I had 5000 grit but I didnt want to chance it. So here's what it looks like after the wetsanding, and then buffing with several stages of compound (mostly Wizard's) and I'm pretty impressed. It has a little bit of orange peel still but I'm not going to push my luck. I then bought a PS4.... and so I havent paid much attention to this thing since. LOL Edited October 21, 2015 by JTalmage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shafter44 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Looking good. PS4's are evil they will keep you from doing many important things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalmage Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 Yes... even though I'm having good distracting fun! LOL I got the new Mad Max game... and me being already a huge Mad Max fan I've been sucked into it pretty good. I keep staring at my desk piled full of stuff thinking man... I need to finish this. I also have a Mustang in the garage that needs to be worked on too... decisions, decisions.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Maynard Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Very nice Camaro there. I would like to see it when it's finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakshow12 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I'm loving this. I remember when this car was first built. I will also be doing one in the future! Keep going? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DumpyDan Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Looks good from were I am looking, like that yellow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davewilly Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 looks great so far....like the paint and the stance of the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Awesome build, beautiful paint job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatMan Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Really nice work!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bumblebi Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Looking very nice, I love the Crusher Camaro and had to rewatch every Roadkill episode where Finnegan and Freiburger drives it after reading through your thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalmage Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 Small update... painted the engine/trans/blower/manifold and also scratchbuilt the massive scoop. Plus a few more odds and ends. I've pretty much called it on polishing the body. I have a few small runs that I just can't do anything more with, and without stripping the body (which I dont want to do) there's no fixing them. So I'll live with it. took this mock up shot a while back before NNL, can't remember why I took the picture... Some mock up shots of the scoop Did some minor tweaking and squaring up of the scoop and then made it permanent. Also covered it with BMF. Hoping some clearcoat will level out the look of it a bit since I had to use multiple pieces of BMF. As you'll also noticed I blackwashed the entire engine. When the guys from Roadkill yanked this thing in favor of the LS, it was a greasy mess! Also, I installed the MSD box on the firewall just like the 1:1 car, then amused myself with a mock up. If you look closely, you will see I cut the clutch pedal off of this thing, and then I split the clutch and brake pedals and glued them together to create an automatic brake pedal. Not perfect but it looks ok for something that you'll likely not be able to see once its assembled. Also put the rachet shifter in the console too and assembled the interior. I'm tempted to finish the roll cage as the 1:1 car has door bars, but I dont think I have the room on this kit. But that's it for now. More to come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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