Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

1971 Hemi CUDA


adamelvis

Recommended Posts

Here is a tribute build for my father in law who passed away a few years ago.   Lime Green,  was his favorite color. And when asked what his favorite muscle car was.... 71' Cuda was his reply. 

Cuda1.JPG.7f15887eec46bf6325adf7e51d0746e0.JPGCuda2.thumb.jpg.43ae15a59d1ce7bc0519552090559d06.jpg

Theses are wheels that I thought looked like a modern version of the stock Mopar wheels.  Although, there is a guy named Steve Zimmerman (Steve Z) who makes custom wheels and he has a stock version that are in scale to a 19' front 21" rear, I believe.  They look smokin' hot, but in the end, I went with the Mr. Model ones above from Brazil.  

More to come....

TCB,

Adam

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the accessories from Detail Master and Model Car Garage.  I was able to get the '71 Hemi Cuda Dress Up Kit from MCG and wanted to use the photo-etched grills.  This means you have to drill out the holes or grind down the back.  I used the Dremel on the back of the grill. 

Cuda8.thumb.JPG.84f9f9aa70ff99ba45ee1ceee5b7dbeb.JPG

Cuda9.thumb.JPG.7b85a586dbc1dcc86fbe93853b62c2cd.JPG

The fog lights in this kit are just a chrome plated item that you glue in place with no clear lens to go over top.   That's not acceptable, so I had the idea to drill out the hole for the fog lights and mount them from behind the grill. Then I used scrap clear plastic and cut out my own lenses to mount in the front of the grill.  When drilling out the whole, I left a very small edge in place for my clear lens to settle down on.  The photo doesn't pick it up, but there is definitely that depth perception of theses "sunken" fog lights. 

Cuda10.thumb.JPG.41aaf90e96a8b91ef456651e1e6537c5.JPGCuda11.thumb.JPG.9a3a7738f319c8e918b1af6c96377a0c.JPG

A little too aggressive with the Dremel drill and you can see I came through the grill in a few spots.   No to worry, I will fill it in from behind with a little putty and all will be fine.   I plan to have a functional hood pin set up with the wire coming through the grill as in the reference photo below.

Cuda12.JPG.316db4d3bac7ade09f5db7cd5c6557af.JPG

TCB,

Adam

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Maindrian Pace said:

I would move the inner headlights about 1mm closer to the outer lights, I always thought that the gap between them was too wide on this kit.

Have you done this before? Can you share a photo. Would like to see how it was done. Thanks! 

Adam

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Maindrian Pace said:

I would move the inner headlights about 1mm closer to the outer lights, I always thought that the gap between them was too wide on this kit.

You are absolutely right about this. It can be easily checked on the 2 photos in the very first post of this thread: there's the one of the lime-green original car and the one with the box art below that, showing a built model. It will look better once corrected too. I assume changing this is less work than drilling out all the grille holes... ;)

@Adam: I like your work on this, will keep following!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/3/2019 at 8:04 AM, Maindrian Pace said:

I would move the inner headlights about 1mm closer to the outer lights, I always thought that the gap between them was too wide on this kit.

 

7 hours ago, Tommy124 said:

You are absolutely right about this. It can be easily checked on the 2 photos in the very first post of this thread: there's the one of the lime-green original car and the one with the box art below that, showing a built model. It will look better once corrected too. I assume changing this is less work than drilling out all the grille holes... ;)

@Adam: I like your work on this, will keep following!

OK boys,  I will make the headlight alterations and post pics of the process and the finished corrections. 

TCB,

Adam

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I had two methods of making this fix. I ended up going with the easier route. 

I widened the headlight holes and then made a new template from .010 " plain sheet styrene. This is almost as thin as regular paper !  I mounted this template on the front of the grill and then poped my chrome headlights in from behind. 

You have to cut the chrome headlight piece in half and remove a 1mm piece. This will give you the room to be able to glue them closer together. 

Here is a mock up of the work so far. Please comment and let me know if this will pass for judging.  My other option was to drill out the entire section of where the headlights are located and glue a new thicker template from behind and mount the headlights in their new positions.

TCB,

AdamIMG_1459.thumb.JPG.9b309c6d0df0289249baf367dd13c43f.JPGIMG_1463.thumb.JPG.884c3d5cf1da817530f02fef2cbb3f4f.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well.... the easy route ended up being harder. So, I drilled out the headlights and made my own template from .040 sheet styrene. Used a 7/32" drill bit for the holes and then mounted the template from the back of the grill. Much easier and I think it looks perfect!  This weekend, I'll finish the 426 Hemi engine !!

TCB,

Adam

IMG_1476.thumb.JPG.0d6c869cd463733ded0975617feae987.JPGIMG_1481.thumb.JPG.bb13c2d8ec6ccd9c0d19139b66e45453.JPGIMG_1488.thumb.JPG.9cb0d12823c6c92f2d8b6dffa011b860.JPG

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...