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Twisted Fish - 3/13, main pieces put together.


The Fisherman

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Turned my attention to the body now. Removed a few sections of the grill to make way for a touch more realism:

Front_grill_removal.thumb.jpg.95ce98ac52

We had a slight temperature rise, so after every thing was sanded down good I laid on a few coats of color:

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Some light wet sanding and a few final coats to call it done at this point in time:

Smooth_paint_to_start_with.thumb.jpg.4b8

 

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Left side air hat.jpg

-I GOT TO comment here................ how'd you go about the "wrinkle" finish on the valve covers? That looks AWESOME!!!!!!! The whole build is nice!

But I can tell you, the '71 Hemi 'Cuda did NOT come factory with headers! AND to this model kit itself, the box-stock exhaust manifolds weren't right either! Or well at least they weren't made to look as the kits do! The BEST 426 Hemi exhaust manifolds I've seen yet are the Revell Foose '67 Coronet & Foose '67 Charger. Those 426 Hemi's for the basic "street" have correct details, ALL EXCEPT the air cleaners, they're not right on either car.... BUT that is easily replaced. The Monogram '71 Hemi Cuda was plagued with certain detail issues..... You however have fixed one of such as the street/stock version of the car never came with chrome valve covers on the 426 Hemi, they were ALWAYS wrinkle finish black. Only Aftermarket and racing versions were in fact chrome. Street cars could have them added by the consumer but not off the show room floor. Plymouth was a bit......fussy with that way back when! -SO this detail fact you made right, and done VERY WELL

NIICE job man!

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Thanks John - the valve covers (after having the chrome stripped) were scratched with a course grit (400 grain) sandpaper, then shot with an etching primer coat. Once that was dry it was covered with a flat black (heavy coat - not tack coated), then sifted baking soda over the still wet flat black coat, and then an immediate 2nd heavy coat of flat black. Scratched the finish off the areas the plug wires would go and painted a gloss black circle to simulate the hole cover/plug boot.

I was torn about the headers; either using them for this version or the next one........ figured there's other issues that I've either done incorrectly or flat out missed so I'm proceeding as if this a "day 2" showing.

Thanks for the motivation too!!

I'm not used to seeing yellow muscle cars, but it certainly looks cool.

It's a Mopar thing...............along with Statutory Grape (In Violet or Plum Crazy), Chartreuse green (Lime Light or Sublime), and a host of other "unique" colors.  

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It's a Mopar thing...............along with Statutory Grape (In Violet or Plum Crazy), Chartreuse green (Lime Light or Sublime), and a host of other "unique" colors.  

Yep, I'm fairly familiar with most of the '70's Mopar colors, it's just that yellow doesn't seem that common is all. I suspect that many went with Plum Crazy or Hemi Orange. Yours looks good though, and I'll look forward to seeing more.

Edited by Roadrunner
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Been around a very long time in different box art configurations. It was even called a 1970 on one edition.

Interesting, as there's no way to confuse a '70 with a '71. I found one of the '71 kits on Model Roundup, and added it to my rather large list of potential kits to get, down the road, so thanks for the info.

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Found a picture of the box art error. 

revell-monogram-1971-hemi-cuda-hardtop-misprinted-box-says-1970-3.jpg

I wonder how many kids bought that, not knowing the difference.

A few years ago, a friend informed me that he'd bought a '70 Dodge Challenger. Not too many days after that, we pulled into his driveway and I immediately asked "I thought you told me it was a '70"? He said it is a '70, and I informed him that unfortunately it was not. A brief discussion ensued, and we finally determined it was a '71, but with the front end from a '70 bolted on. A quick look at the title confirmed it was indeed a '71.

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Turned my attention to the body now. Removed a few sections of the grill to make way for a touch more realism:

Front_grill_removal.thumb.jpg.95ce98ac52

We had a slight temperature rise, so after every thing was sanded down good I laid on a few coats of color:

Lemon_Twist_color.thumb.jpg.5f9aa0e9b30f

Model_Master_laquer_paint.thumb.jpg.d846

Some light wet sanding and a few final coats to call it done at this point in time:

Smooth_paint_to_start_with.thumb.jpg.4b8

 

So what all did you do to the grill?  I have always thought the headlamps on the 71 Monogram were too far apart and too small.  It looks good in that shot.

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Slowly moving forward. Four coats of clear are now on; things have laid out surprising smooth which I hope will lend itself well to minimal polishing. Really not planning on doing a mile deep shine on this.

Clear_coat.thumb.jpg.574149233d3d2f30ddc

Most of the smaller, molded in details (scripts, hood pins, emblems, etc) have been removed to make room for PE replacements. Glad to see the primer/paint/clear coats tightened up the panel lines as well; just enough to be consistent while not creating rubbing spots.

Panel_lines.thumb.jpg.74583cfa91b53d9b32

Started on my 1st use of BMF. Not 100% crazy about the fact I can't burnish out the small ripples that I made while taking it off the backing paper. From what I've researched, this is a common problem (?)

Bare_Metal_Foil.thumb.jpg.012180e8ade882

Did have a few other self-induced problems to deal with: Totally forgot I wanted to remove the molded in heater hoses before the body was painted. So, just before the clear went on, they were removed, new locations opened up for the "real" hoses, and the battery and windshield wiper container were detailed.

battery_heater_hose_location.thumb.jpg.f

Which brought me to this minor setback:

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Dust...............

One. Simple. Small. Speck. I knew better.............but I thought I could just "pick it out before the clear started setting". Someday I'll start listening to that voice between my ears.

Edited by The Fisherman
Grammer
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A few more steps forward. Was able to repair my "grab and destroy" dust removal mistake:

:pic2.thumb.JPG.4c9d00fdc9a8115eaab3abb9e

Body detailing continues, albeit slowly. Managed to remove just a smidgen too much of the billboard over one of the fender flares, so now I don't know if I want to just cut my losses or gamble to hide it and possibly make it stick out more then what it already does. I do like the effect the polished door handles have (an unexpected surprise); they blend in to the satin black of the billboard at certain angles, or reflect a high shine at others.

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This is the reason I removed the grill inserts a few weeks ago. I liked the idea of real metal to showcase the front end a little more (see through to radiator and radiator support area). Still needed to paint the frame interiors though:

pic3.thumb.jpg.8fa3009da42a7daace664447d

 

 

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Wanted to see how things looked outside so far since the weather was nice. I'm calling the body done at this point. Bumpers will show up later as well as the front turn signals:

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Interior I'm also setting aside as complete:

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The chassis is another story completely. I pondered redoing it a few weeks back; and have been influenced by the fantastic builds I've been watching on the board. I'll use the 1st chassis in version II of this car, but for now, I've stripped another chassis and painted it a bit closer to an original. Really not 100% certain if what I'm doing is "correct" or not, but I'm hoping everything will come together properly once the body is mated with the chassis. 

pic10.thumb.jpg.a253fd9491a9f7bad096ace4

pic9.thumb.jpg.4aeb179e1ac9bf7a711a07a32

 

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Made a little more progress with the chassis this weekend. 

pic16.thumb.jpg.1e4228c46be725b9c941d4c2

The aspect of missing rear shocks from this kit bugged me on the first chassis I did, so I collected a few materials:

pic18.thumb.jpg.a4f6ae6de5bd68109fdc1b55

And made up a pair of shocks. Painted them gloss black with a flat black insert to simulate a dust cover over the stem, then drilled a few few holes to mount them.

pic13.thumb.jpg.08216a1824c5284e8a82cd42

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Also managed to fabricate the throttle linkage and return springs for the carbs. The springs are simply set in place so I don't lose them. They will eventually be facing the other direction and connected to manifold mounts.

pic19.thumb.jpg.6e780c2d1100e12ec67f490a

In between these steps, while waiting for paint or glue to set-up, I started transforming the first chassis in preparation for Version II of this build:

pic14.thumb.JPG.7d3fbeb0e5c7c1c63b442417

 

pic17.jpg

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Well done

Is that a good thing or more on the lines of burnt toast? (joking)

 

I was influenced last evening. Watching my 14 year old scratch build an alternator simply because "the one that came with it doesn't match my pictures" (in reference to the '69 Z/28 he is working on), I looked at my engine and just wasn't content with where I was stopping at. 

The throttle return spring mounts were fabricated and the springs mounted in their correct orientation. I was going to stop there.................but it just seemed incomplete through my eyes. So, a little brass fret, small cut of aluminum tubing, a short piece of piano wire, and leftover electrical wire covering found themselves combined to become a throttle cable and tensioner.

Pic20.thumb.jpg.bd0e4bf71c8e3e6d44c3d2ee

Still need to fabricate a breather element and oil fill cap.....................then it'll need vacuum lines............when does it truly end? Guess it'll end when I want it to.

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Excellent job!

I'm a huge '71 'Cuda fan and have put together a few of these kits over the years. You have my respect for making such a nice car from this model.  The PE parts that you used are no walk in the park either.

Steve

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Down to front and rear bumpers, both of which need to be done with a chrome Alclad treatment, and radiator hoses. image.thumb.jpeg.849b5291a679ab76cfc1ac2image.thumb.jpeg.215fa650d5369ae7803ce41Ran into a slight problem with hood clearance due to my own lack of experience. Had to ditch the air hat base and mount the scoop in the hood, which for me is OK as I had plans to keep it removable anyway due to the detailing it covered on the engine.

Also had to modify the wheels to fit a set of AMT Goodyear F60-15 tires. (Saving that view for the finished set of pics.)

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