Daisy Duke's Plymouth (DOH)

[TransAmMike]

Just now, Andrew D the Jolly Roger said:

 

You're right....must be out there.  I haven't seen it, but then I wasn't looking for it.  Might be very useful....

I can just see it now, suddenly dozens of stereotypical-looking modelmaking men descending upon the bakeries inquiring for licorice food color! 😁

Good one😅

[Andrew D the Jolly Roger]

1 hour ago, TransAmMike said:

Thanks, should work.  I have seen black frosting on cakes so yeah, probably licorice.

 

Just did a quick Ebay search; it exists, it's commercially available....we have a solution!  😎

[TransAmMike]

Just now, Andrew D the Jolly Roger said:

 

Just did a quick Ebay search; it exists, it's commercially available....we have a solution!  😎

Cool, it's sure worth a try.

[Andrew D the Jolly Roger]

Well, the replacement engine was finished(AMT '71 Duster), a small-block to replace the kit's big-block which apparently any smooth-hooded Satellite would never have had.  HOWEVER, many problems arose:

1) Drive shaft too short for the new engine (was lengthened, see previous)

2) Once installed, found it sat 'WAY too low.  Had to redo the already-redone engine mounts to raise it several mm.

3) Once totally installed, found it was still much too far back.  By this time I was far more committed....I would have had to lengthen the drive shaft AGAIN, and redo all three points the engine mounted to.  VERY disappointing to see the distributor almost touching the firewall.  Sadly, I gave in and went with it.

Remaining wiring was connected between the engine and the engine compartment.  Hopefully it looks busy enough to divert attention from the 2-3 mm the engine sits too far back.  Learn from this setback, kids....

 

Now the rear body skirt.  The kit's has two half-circle openings for the high-performance exhausts, which the actual car(s) did not have (see reference).  Easier to plug a square-shaped opening in this case; so it was done with plastic, then sanded and blended to shape.

Then once installed, it was blended into the body, then primed and painted to make it look like it's all part of the body, totally connected.  Couldn't do it before the chassis was installed; it wouldn't have fit and it would have been torn apart in the process (only have to make that mistake once to know). 

[Andrew D the Jolly Roger]

Okay, back to business.  Earlier I had gone to the trouble of cutting away the GTX emblem from the grill (since all such emblems were removed for all cars in the show), then priming/painting and re-chroming the bumper with Alclad.  

 

Next the chrome bumper was masked, and the grill and its surround was sprayed with enamel Steel, and a wash used for the grill's recesses.

Then to make the headlights.  I use acrylic gemstones because they're soft enough to have the facets sanded away to make it rounded, then polished.  When finished with Future/Clear acrylic floor polish, they make very convincing light lenses, better than what comes with any kit.  In this case I used 5mm gemstones for the headlights, and 3mm for the signal lights.

[Andrew D the Jolly Roger]

And now the last daunting challenge, the stripe.  To my knowledge no decals exist for this body type.  I do have the decals from the MPC kit of Daisy's 74 Roadrunner, but this is a different body type with different contours, and the subtleties of the strip were very different between the two vehicles.  

I also noticed the first '71s they painted for this had stripes that didn't quite fit the countours of the new type, but by partway into the second season the paint crews seem to have mastered the marriage of '71 body style and stripe style.

My solution: use the roof decals, the paint the thick stripe center along the sides, then use fine striping for the pinstriping.  

I used a photocopy of the roof decals from the MPC kit as reference to set up the masking for the side striping.  Through this I saw the side square from each end would have to be cut off.  The rest would work fine.

 

[FLHCAHZ]

Looking great!  Nice work on the stripe

[Vietnam Vet67]

Check this out !

https://www.ebay.com/itm/274846210166?hash=item3ffe1c5876:g:ePUAAOSwQNtg1kii

[oldscool]

Those lenses look much better than the kit parts with the pin in the center.

[Andrew D the Jolly Roger]

Thank you!

Now for the really scary part: the pinstriping around the main stripe. 

In my research, I took special notice of how they did the real one around the door handle and at the very front. 

 

I've got plenty of straight-line fine decal striping, but the curves are a problem.  Trying to paint those fine curves right alongside the large stripe AND make them look good is an awfully tall order.  My experience (both successes and failures) tells me to go another route. 

I decided an ususual approach: cut away the pinstriping from the decals of MPC's Daisy's car, the very-different '74 Roadrunner, and cut the curves into pieces to match each little bit of the Satellite's stripe. 

Wasn't easy, nor was it fun at first, but it actually worked!

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Andrew D the Jolly Roger

[oldscool]

Nice work on the stripes!

[Andrew D the Jolly Roger]

Thank you!

Almost there.  Just using the Daisy's Car kit decals from the MPC kit for the roof-section of the stripe, although the two end sections need to be removed.

 

Daisy's car was in constant use on the country roads and so needs to have a generous amount of Hazzard county road dust.  Just speaking for myself, I don't believe in making showroom-fresh vehicles with immaculate chassis and wheel wells to portray actively used vehicles.  The overall dusting is a shade called Armor Sand, with some Military Earth Brown right behind the wheels and on the bottom of the fenders just behind the wheels.  

 

[bisc63]

Really looking the part now!

[BDSchindler]

Andrew,,,your build on this has my interest and loosing momentum and drive for about 2 months, you've renewed my interest, so to speak.  I started working on a "variation" of Dom's GTX from the F-n-F series that Revell put out not too long ago.  I like the idea behind Hot Rods and Customs where I can use my imagination and not necessarily restrict myself to what was or was not on the actual car when it was produced.  I'm not knocking anyone that builds replica stock, it's just not me...that's all.  Like someone said, it's your model, build it the way you want.

I love your engine bay, the wiring is outstanding!  I'm not sure if I have the patience and stamina to go to that level.  I agree with your assessment of molded in battery and so forth and did the same thing you did by removing it and replacing it with something 1/2 way to believable.

Love the idea of headlight lenses...I'm planning a trip to HL tomorrow to retrieve some. 

I did the bumpers a bit different...first off, I dechromed them, removed the chunkiness from the bulk and using a combination of styrene and solvent, kinda "welded" the bumpers to the body and will paint them body color...eventually. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with the front valance.  Molding it in is the better way but if I can't get the rest of the build completed...well, we'll see what happens.

In so far as the grill goes, I removed the plastic from behind to open it up.  A tedious process that took about 4 hours to do before making the grill/bumper one with the body...

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by BDSchindler

[slusher]

Real nice weathering..

[Andrew D the Jolly Roger]

Thanks Rusty and Carl!

Brian, thank you also for the kind words; some really neat stuff you've got going on with your build! I almost opened up the grill the same way, something I did with some of the other members of my Hazzard fleet, but in the end decided against it.  Yours came out well! 

As far as the valance, I can say the final result of blending them into the body really makes a huge difference, at least to my eyes, especially the front one.   Just changes the entire effect.  Unfortunately you can't put both on and blend them before adding the chassis; I found that out the hard way with a Charger.  So I did the front one first, then later in final assembly added the rear one and then blended/painted it to hide the bodywork.  

Looking forward to your result! 😎

Edited June 30, 2021 by Andrew D the Jolly Roger

[Andrew D the Jolly Roger]

I think I forgot to mention the wheel hubs.  The kit wheels are totally wrong; you good folks in here guided me toward the wheel hubs from the AMT 77 Ford van, and then someone was kind enough to send me a set which he was not going to use (thanks again Lee! ).  Once primed and chromed, they were perfect!  They also almost perfectly fit the aftermarket tires which I had ordered (see earlier post June 2).  Absolutely perfect!

 

ONE FINAL DETAIL: the CB antenna.  In the episode "The Meeting," there is a perfect closeup view of it, which I used as reference to scratch-build mine.  Base was carved from two sections of plastic, and the aerial was made from metal guitar string (high "E"). 

And, God-willing, she's done!  Finished pics to be posted shortly. 

 

[Beans]

What an awesome build.  You have provided me with all kinds of idea and inspiration.

[NYLIBUD]

Great job

[BDSchindler]

beautiful work!!!!!

 

[oldscool]

Turned out nice.

[Andrew D the Jolly Roger]

Thank you all!  I absolutely could not have done this without y'all's expertise, advice and guidance!  

Here's the final product:  

 

 

[BDSchindler]

On 6/30/2021 at 10:18 AM, Andrew D the Jolly Roger said:

Brian, thank you also for the kind words; some really neat stuff you've got going on with your build! I almost opened up the grill the same way, something I did with some of the other members of my Hazzard fleet, but in the end decided against it.  Yours came out well! 

As far as the valance, I can say the final result of blending them into the body really makes a huge difference, at least to my eyes, especially the front one.   Just changes the entire effect.  Unfortunately you can't put both on and blend them before adding the chassis; I found that out the hard way with a Charger.  So I did the front one first, then later in final assembly added the rear one and then blended/painted it to hide the bodywork.  

Looking forward to your result! 😎

yeah, I agree...Going to have to find a way to do it.  I don't trust my meager talent blending the front valance, even with it being black paint.  One more question regarding the wiring under the hood.  you've compelled me to at least try to go to that level of detail.  Where did you find insulated wire that small?  I'm assuming it's a combination of smaller gauge wire.

To stick a boogar in the works, I plan on stuffing a Viper Engine under the hood.  Test fitting it tells me it will fit convincingly so (note, image shot prior to removing the molded in battery and washer bottle)...

[Andrew D the Jolly Roger]

1 hour ago, BDSchindler said:

yeah, I agree...Going to have to find a way to do it.  I don't trust my meager talent blending the front valance, even with it being black paint.  One more question regarding the wiring under the hood.  you've compelled me to at least try to go to that level of detail.  Where did you find insulated wire that small?  I'm assuming it's a combination of smaller gauge wire.

To stick a boogar in the works, I plan on stuffing a Viper Engine under the hood.  Test fitting it tells me it will fit convincingly so (note, image shot prior to removing the molded in battery and washer bottle)...

Hey there Brian,

Looks good, fascinating idea of the Viper engine in there!  Looks like a good fit, at least at a glance, although I'm no expert; aircraft are my usual specialty, hence all the probably-basic automotive questions I tend to pose here.

As far as the wire, yes, I keep a stock of multiple sizes of insulated wire; 3 basic sizes, although I do have larger ones for the larger hoses.  I also use metal wire for brake/fuel lines.  Here's the $0.50 tour of the main insulated wires:

Here we see the three basic sizes in three piles.  Ultra-fine on the left, medium in the middle, and on the right is the thickest of the three (spark plug wire guage).

 

Here's the closeup of the ultra-fine.  It's .0125 diameter, and I usually get it from Ebay dealers.  I keep a supply of white, red, blue and black.  Again, I also keep some larger stuff on hand for the heaviest of the lines.

 

Second, the mid-guage, size .016.  Also found with Ebay dealers, although sometimes with some of the auto aftermarket dealers.

 

Finally the .020, normally for spark plug wiring but useful for many other things.  I keep many colors of this as well, including several shades of gray (sometimes just getting the same guage from different manufacturers provides options of different grays, which can make a build seem more varied and "interesting".)

 

Google images is both my friend and enemy in researching engines; can't ever find two matching engine bays for the same year/make/model, so I just pick the features that look most interesting and try to copy, all the while sifting through as many pics of the bays and engines as I can.

Hope this helps!

Edited July 2, 2021 by Andrew D the Jolly Roger

[BDSchindler]

12 minutes ago, Andrew D the Jolly Roger said:

Hey there Brian,

Looks good, fascinating idea of the Viper engine in there!  Looks like a good fit, at least at a glance, although I'm no expert; aircraft are my usual specialty, hence all the probably-basic automotive questions I tend to pose here.

As far as the wire, yes, I keep a stock of multiple sizes of insulated wire; 3 basic sizes, although I do have larger ones for the larger hoses.  I also use metal wire for brake/fuel lines.  Here's the $0.50 tour of the main insulated wires:

Here we see the three basic sizes in three piles.  Ultra-fine on the left, medium in the middle, and on the right is the thickest of the three (spark plug wire guage).

 

Here's the closeup of the ultra-fine.  It's .0125 diameter, and I usually get it from Ebay dealers.  I keep a supply of white, red, blue and black.  Again, I also keep some larger stuff on hand for the heaviest of the lines.

 

Second, the mid-guage, size .016.  Also found with Ebay dealers, although sometimes with some of the auto aftermarket dealers.

 

Finally the .020, normally for spark plug wiring but useful for many other things.  I keep many colors of this as well, including several shades of gray (sometimes just getting the same guage from different manufacturers provides options of different grays, which can make a build seem more varied and "interesting".)

 

Google images is both my friend and enemy in researching engines; can't ever find two matching engine bays for the same year/make/model, so I just pick the features that look most interesting and try to copy, all the while sifting through as many pics of the bays and engines as I can.

Hope this helps!

Absolutely helps! Many thanks! I’ll keep you posted!