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The other boy...........


The Fisherman

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And so it begins..............My older son decided to try his hand at model building. He's a few years older than my one that did The Burnt Marshmallow, so he is a bit more tuned into details. He had a Revell 2-n-1 1964 GTO kit that we bought years ago simply for the motor to put in a Pinewood Derby car he built, so he opened it back up and started to put together what was left.

The color picked out and shot:

body_paint.thumb.jpg.79d89f339017cb708eb

 

He has the chassis and engine compartment started:

chassis_start.thumb.jpg.e08c68921e2f02b0

Started detailing things as soon as the engine/trans package went together. All mold lines removed for smooth surfaces (or so he says):

transmission.thumb.jpg.83337ee0cba80938f

Engine/trans finished and on the stand. A few details he worked on was using PE wire looms on the plug wires, fabricating an alternator bracket, adding a fuel line for the carbs, and using paint to distinguish the molded in oil filter and starter:

motor_on_stand.thumb.jpg.6a8f52a260ee725

He has also spent time on the body trim, emblems, and hood up to this point as well (everything is done in paint). I'll have to get a picture of the hood as well; he has decided to take this build down the Pro-Touring route (aka: make it "cool"), and opened up the hood scoops to make them functional, eliminating the chrome inserts. He's got big plans for this build, as he's been talking opened exhaust, lowered suspension. etc. Wish I had this much ambition for my 1st build............ 

 

 

 

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As the build carries on, he concentrated on the chassis. The smaller parts, such as the shocks in this instance, had to go into the vise to help keep the hands steady.

shocks_under_construction.thumb.jpg.664f

He did pull off opening the exhaust tips and darkening them for effect (sorry for the blurry pic, camera focused on everything but what I wanted):

opened_exhaust.thumb.jpg.3dd9cf77b8f88d0  

He wasn't thrilled at all with the box offered rear suspension springs, so he made his own with craft wire and a file handle:

rear_springs.thumb.jpg.3336e22c22f178b3c

After a few days worth of work, he finished the dark side of the build:

chassis_complete.thumb.jpg.638a54a268185

I do believe I'm going to get him to black wash all my pieces from here out as well. His comment at the time, "this is easy".

front_clip.thumb.jpg.12e2c68ccbde070d242

 

His mock up of the stance he wanted (obviously the pictures are out of order). Aftermarket wheels and tires with PE drilled and vented brake rotors were used. He LOVED (sarcastically said) putting the 3-piece rotors together.

early_mock_up.thumb.jpg.616d9b3d5b689079

 

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Testor's small rattle can - Lime Ice. I believe he put five coats on an unprepped (no primer or sanding), white base to get the shade he was happy with. The first two(2) coats he did very, very lightly (tack coats), then did three(3) heavy, wet coats.

I actually have a question about the use of this: it is a lacquer (one step), he did all the trim by hand with Testor's epoxy paint, and black washed the cowl vents and panel trim with Testor's acrylic paint. Is there a clear that can be used over all three(3) types of paint as a top coat without destroying one(1) of them? He spent A LOT of time making certain the door handles, Pontiac emblems, etc were perfect (including red washing the GTO emblems on the fenders)..............I'd hate to see that start lifting.  

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I absolutely love to see the young kids pick up the hobby. Really nice to see this and the only advice that I can offer is when he is done with this one give him another kit to build. Your son is very talented, Amazing that this is his first build. Keep up the good work and thank you for sharing this with us.        Jeff 

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Thanks for all the kind words! 

He had some time to continue on, so the engine compartment got detailed, engine mounted on the chassis, and test fittted with the body:

engine_fitment.thumb.jpg.6c514ecc54d6d41

 

Then his attention turned to the interior bucket. He opted to match a few parts of the interior with the body color, add carpet, and "update" the dash with digital gauges:

adding_carpet.thumb.jpg.6f3dd82f05e25f9einterior_complete.thumb.jpg.f1b049693a32

Either he was rushing, or this part of the build process showed his lack of experience. The dash went very badly for him; he dealt with a lot of painting mishaps, that lead to repairing finished areas, that lead to.............well, you know what happens when you try to touch up an airbrushed surface with a paint brush. He had bleed through (under) his tape jobs on the door panels and just couldn't stay consistent with the flocking for the carpet. Do believe he now knows you cannot apply glue with a brush over already flocked areas.

The final straw may have been my fault. His frustration level was peaked, but he really wanted to finalize this build. I should have told him to just walk away from it until the next day. He was prepping to glue the rearview mirror into the glass package and install it when he a droplet of glue got away from him and landed on the viewed part of the front glass. Before I could get out my warning of not wiping it, he swiped his finger over it. To add insult to injury he picked it up a little later in the evening and started trying to "rub" the now dried smear off the plastic. He brought his attempt to my attention after the plastic had cracked. Call is now in to Revell to purchase a replacement piece.

problem_spot.thumb.jpg.907d72fd1ca11b4d6

Time to start on the '67.

  

 

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Thanks for all the kind words! 

He had some time to continue on, so the engine compartment got detailed, engine mounted on the chassis, and test fittted with the body:

engine_fitment.thumb.jpg.6c514ecc54d6d41

 

Then his attention turned to the interior bucket. He opted to match a few parts of the interior with the body color, add carpet, and "update" the dash with digital gauges:

adding_carpet.thumb.jpg.6f3dd82f05e25f9einterior_complete.thumb.jpg.f1b049693a32

Either he was rushing, or this part of the build process showed his lack of experience. The dash went very badly for him; he dealt with a lot of painting mishaps, that lead to repairing finished areas, that lead to.............well, you know what happens when you try to touch up an airbrushed surface with a paint brush. He had bleed through (under) his tape jobs on the door panels and just couldn't stay consistent with the flocking for the carpet. Do believe he now knows you cannot apply glue with a brush over already flocked areas.

The final straw may have been my fault. His frustration level was peaked, but he really wanted to finalize this build. I should have told him to just walk away from it until the next day. He was prepping to glue the rearview mirror into the glass package and install it when he a droplet of glue got away from him and landed on the viewed part of the front glass. Before I could get out my warning of not wiping it, he swiped his finger over it. To add insult to injury he picked it up a little later in the evening and started trying to "rub" the now dried smear off the plastic. He brought his attempt to my attention after the plastic had cracked. Call is now in to Revell to purchase a replacement piece.

problem_spot.thumb.jpg.907d72fd1ca11b4d6

Time to start on the '67.

  

 

Happens to the best of us.

Just a suggestion for next time, get some "clear parts cement" for the glass & small parts like mirrors, antennas, etc.

That way, if you make a mistake like that, you can just rub it off without damaging the finish of your glass or paint.

I use Testors myself, but there are others available.

Tell him not to get discouraged.

I've been building for over 40 years & I still make plenty of mistakes.

You were correct to tell him just to walk away for a while.

Very sound advice!

Those "big" problems look a lot smaller with a little time.

 

Steve

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  • 2 months later...

He's back on this build finally. After failing to get a hold of anything he/we could make work as a windshield, I ended up getting him a complete kit. He happily set aside the nightmare '67 he's been working with(against) to get the '64 under glass. 

image.thumb.jpeg.4a49f196cc9c887d50fc913

Finishing up some hood detailing:

image.thumb.jpeg.56a93807ed0f0f4fc964ea5

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He's down to the last few turns now. Glass and interior is in. Chassis and body have been mated.

image.thumb.jpeg.588f944f9accbcc9231ef76

Next step is getting the brakes installed. Once the GTO is sitting on all fours, he'll finish off the engine bay and get it outside for a few glamour pics.

image.thumb.jpeg.49e6156a23558f2a61f63f3image.thumb.jpeg.2e8302bb151dfd44658432c

image.thumb.jpeg.0b1c2e8188fc3cc9de2722d

Edited by The Fisherman
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Okay, I'm a little envious. I've never ever been able to get a black wash on a grill as cleanly as he did, then he calls it easy. Secondly, he's miles ahead of where I was at that age. Yes, he's probably gotten some good guidance from an experienced adult, but I still think he's got more patience and skill than I did, or do.

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