The New "Christine" - 67 GTX

[Kmb0319]

Well, it's done.  I've looked at the Revell GTX for the last year as a "must-have" model, and I finally got one.  My mom drove a 67 Belvedere with a 383 when I was little, and I LOVED that car, and have seen all the builds of this that look fantastic, so I was really excited to get it.  As I purchased this, I also had purchased a 67 Shelby Mustang (AMT) and Revell's 69 Nova SS.  I've already posted those other two, so this was "saving the best for last"..... I thought.

The title of this post refers, of course, to the famed movie about the possessed Plymouth.  Well, I've found a new one.  It's NOT Revell's fault... overall, this is a great kit... but this particular model is the spawn of Satan.  An unending stream of tragic events, some self-inflicted, but others just unexplained, bizarre occurrences befell this build.  In the end, it's done, but it's less than what I hoped for and saw in my mind's eye. (we've all had them) A sampling:

-  First problem was all on me. I bought a Duplicolor midnight blue for this car and the deep jewel green for my Shelby Mustang.  After laying the first coat of paint down on the body, I changed my mind.  Stripped it, and painted this car deep jewel green and used the midnight blue for the Shelby

-  Got my paint on, wet-sanded, started clearing, and the clear coat just wouldn't quite settle on this body... more orange peel than others, and it just wasn't shining like it should.  I got to 8 coats of clear (with sanding and compounding in between each) before I was satisfied (and satisfied in this case was "whatever, good enough")

-  Because I was working on the other two, I let this one sit for nearly a month.  Then we had people coming over, so I gently set it in the box to get it off of the basement counter.  Grabbed it the next morning, and the inside of the box lid had messed up the clearcoat on the roof.  Really?

-  Stripped it again, and got a new idea.  Bought a Duplicolor silver, and decided to do it in silver with a black painted roof (option code 292 on the real car).  The reason for this change was in researching interiors, the one I liked best was the white interior with red... white seats and door panels, dark red dash and carpet.  I thought I could use that interior and it would nicely set off the black/silver outside

-  Painted the silver, masked off and painted the black roof.. sanded... painted the clear, it curdled.  Stripped, repainted.  Clear didn't curdle..  but more wierdness as I was adding layers of clear to get the shine and smoothness.  Somewhere around the third coat, the body did something I've never had happen before.  While turning it to get all the areas, the body popped off of the old spray can I use as a stand, shot halfway across the garage, and bounced on both its side and roof, completely filling the wet paint with dust and crud.  At this point, I decided the model was possessed.  I stripped it again, and began wearing a cross whenever working on it.

-  I was now less enamored with the silver/black combo... with the white/red interior, I decided to go with a deep red metallic body.  Got some dark toreador red at the auto parts store.  Repeat the entire process again.  Again, not really happy with the finish, but I gave up... it's not bad, just not good enough. 

-  I should mention that somewhere in the silver painting/stripping/compounding processes, at different times, I managed to break out both of the front vent window posts, and snapped the entire roof at the point of connection with the left A-pillar.  I reattached them, but the little posts are not perfectly aligned.

-  The final finish refused to wax.  I let it cure for over a week, compounded, but when I put the same Meguiar's wax I use on every model on this one, it wouldn't buff off and was all streaky and cloudy.  I wasn't going to paint AGAIN... I was seconds from throwing the whole kit in the garbage and buying a new one for another time, but walked away.  Four days later, the streaks had magically disappeared.  However, two weeks later, I wanted to add some more protection... even with a coat of wax on the car already, the same thing happened.  (side note: inventing new cuss words is fun)

-  The whole idea behind the silver and then the toreador red was to do the white/red interior.  Except when I painted it, two things happened; my dark red refused to give good coverage on the floor for the carpet, and by the time it covered, it was gloppy and looked terrible.  It was also plain to see that my dark reds for the interior had a different base than the toreador red, and they really clashed badly... again, looking nothing like what I saw in my mind's eye.  With the carpet already looking terrible, I stripped the floor pan and was just going to do the white/black interior, when...

-  My 7-yr old sometimes likes to come build legos or draw next to me when I'm working on models, so we're working together.  It's very cute.  However, he was drawing, and inadvertently set a sharpie marker down without the lid on it and the tip sitting on one of my front seats.  I had a large purple spot right in the middle of the seat cushion.  Now i have to strip and repaint the interior.  With the red already stripped, I went with a tan/brown two tone.  It's not factory, but I was over it.... went with it.  Again, it's OK, but not as nice as I hoped

-  There were numerous other issues...glue problems, a paint brush snapped in half, and the ultimate.... missing parts!  At one point, I lost a tire.  Found it four days later, and the carb went missing.  Found it, and the dashboard disappeared.  Found the dash, and couldn't find the steering wheel.  The rear bumper and air cleaner lost their chrome finish without being touched... over the days, it just disappeared.  There were more... throughout this build, there was always a part missing, and it would always turn up in strange places.  At final assembly, the hood ornament shot out of my tweezers and flew across the room.  Maybe I'll find it someday and replace it, but I'm not holding my breath

Anyway, I've never needed so much bourbon to complete a model car.  This isn't what I thought it would be.  It is a great kit.  I do finally have a good idea for a better version of this.  We're moving across the country, so it will be a while, but I'll get another one of these and try again.  Besides, I need to let these memories settle before I look at more GTX parts.  In the meantime, it will look OK on the shelf... it will just be on its own shelf... maybe with a crucifix behind it.

Sorry for the diatribe.  On to a few pics:

['70 Grande]

I'd say you definitely won the war!  That is a beautiful GTX in an excellent color combination!  Nicely done. Here's hoping your next build won't be such a battle!

[69NovaYenko]

In spite of all the setbacks the final outcome looks great. Makes me want to build the one I have in my stash.

P.S.

By the way the project on my bench right now is also the spawn of Satan with all set backs and mishaps that have occurred...I understand how you feel. :-)

Edited May 7, 2016 by 69NovaYenko

[GTJUNIOR]

I know how you feel. Your GTX looks real good to me, in spite of all the setbacks you had.

[Kmb0319]

Thank you and good luck with your demon!  I hope it's a successful exorcism.  Bourbon helped with this one...  And inventing new cuss words became a secondary hobby.

 

[towman1271]

  Well worth the effort.. The detailing is great & as is the color!  Claim your victory & be proud

[Helix]

Nicely done Kevin 

[berr13]

I had to laugh when I read your story--I know it's not funny, but you do have a way with words.  We've all been there, but speaking for myself, I've never had as many problems as you with a build, or had the possessed model turn out so well.  That's a great looking Plymouth!!

[Roadracer]

Great looking model build Kevin! Good job!

[crazyrichard]

nice result ! looks good

 

[Hubert Rollins]

Very sharp!!

[slusher]

Very good looking model