1975 Chevy K5 Blazer Snap Kit Rebuild

[StanGlover]

This is my first restoration or rebuild project I’ve done, so I thought I might as well make it my first WIP documented build too! A little background: I was an avid model car builder back in my tween-teen years (early to mid/late ‘00s) but I gave it up once I hit college and started my career. About a year ago now I picked modeling back up as a pandemic hobby and I’ve been fully hooked! 

This AMT snap kit was one of the last kits I built as a kid. It must have been the 2007 re-issue because I only bought kits off the shelf from Walmart and HL back then, before I had a credit card to destroy on eBay. 😂 Today, I have a growing collection of classic 70s-90s SUV kits, so I decided to rebuild this one to go with them. Since it’s a snap kit, it’s a great candidate for rebuilding, plus these kits are kind of rare and expensive now.Back then, I was exclusively brush painting my builds with Testors enamels. I never used primer, I always used model cement and CA to glue painted, clear and chrome parts (with expected terrible results) and just did basic hand painted details. I’ve definitely come a long way today thanks to YouTube tutorials and model sites like this one! The body paint on my original build was surprisingly smooth and glossy for brush painting, but it definitely looks sloppy compared to my current adult builds. I apparently hastily “twisted” all of these parts from the sprue trees instead of using a knife so I’ll have to clean them up and probably putty the worst spots. So far, I have disassembled everything and the parts are soaking in Super Clean. I broke a few mounting pegs from the suspension and the driveshaft broke from the differential, nothing some model cement can’t fix. Unfortunately, the passenger side taillight lens is missing so I’ll have to come up with a fix for it.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll try to keep updates coming regularly!

[StanGlover]

As far as color scheme, I haven’t decided what I want to do yet. Back in high school, my family’s ‘86 K5 was my daily driver so my first thought is a color scheme tribute to that truck. It looked almost exactly like this 1:1 (swiped photo from Wikipedia):However, I’ve already built a few silver and gray models, so I kind of want to do something more colorful, like this 1:1 that sold on BaT recently:I love the white and bright-color two tone schemes earlier Blazers came in so I might do that. Probably not red though, maybe orange or light blue. I’ve also built several red models to date, I want more variety in my display case. Speaking of variety: I love this Woody Cheyenne trim Blazer 1:1 I found online. It has to be a rare option (if it was even factory) and certainly unique. 
 

Any thoughts or suggestions for color schemes let me know!

[Mattilacken]

Nice! I will be following! 
 

have had 2 1:1 k5’s! I love them but I can’t own them, I am used to modern trucks so I drove them to hard so sooner or later they will get damaged. And siting in the drive way is nothing for me. 
 

Have been searching for these kits but as you say, hard to get hold of them. 

[Zippi]

Looking good so far.  If you need to strip that chrome just throw it in some bleach.

[espo]

Nice that you're starting with a kit that is in very nice shape. You mentioned the "Woody" option an yes it was an option in the early years of production but not often seen. I was working at a Chevrolet dealership at that time and we sold a lot of Blazers and the only Woody's I ever saw were in the order books. At that time the Wood Grain option on station wagons was not often asked for and I think GM was just trying some trim options in hopes of selling more Blazers. I have seen pictures of this option on a Black Blazer and on a Tan colored one and they both looked good. I think it might look kind of cool to do one. Look forward to seeing what ever you build.    

[Kool Kat]

Always in for a good rebuild, like the Woodie idea.

[Bullybeef]

I have three of these in the works (well on the back burner for now) one that I ha e a build thread on here and the other two I have been slowly tinkering with. They are decent but lack some critical details. As for your missing taillight, with a little work you can make the tails from the latest release mpc deserter work. 

[slusher]

So many ways to do a blazer it’s hard to mak a choice. I have never seen the wood grain one before…

[StanGlover]

I finally have the paint stripped off! It took several days of soaking in Super Clean and three scrubbing sessions to get the parts clean, or at least as clean as my patience allows. Some light sanding and primer should cover everything that’s left. 
My next steps are to fill the antenna and spot light holes since I won’t be reusing them (too toylike IMO). I’ll also have to putty several sprue attachment points. 

[StanGlover]

While researching factory interior and exterior color schemes, I came across the following site with a PDF of the original model configurator for the ‘75 Blazer:

https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/docs/gm-heritage-archive/vehicle-information-kits/Blazer/1975-Chevrolet-Blazer_RV_Full-Size.pdf

This model kit appears to depict a base model Custom Deluxe trim. My plan is paint my truck as a Custom deluxe with white bumpers and wheels, and the optional white top and two tone body. This option sheet doesn’t mention the wood grain body sides package, or if it was available as an option for the CD trim, but I think I will add it anyway. 

I’ve settled on my color scheme. Body will be Testors Bronze to depict the “Grecian Bronze” color. Top, bumpers, wheels will be TS-26 Pure White. Grille, mirrors and tailgate accent panel will be TS-30 Silver Leaf. Interior will be XF-93 Light Brown to depict the “Saddle” color. XF-55 Deck Tan will be used for the plaid seat centers, along with Scale Motorsports black/clear Plaid decals. I’ve ordered Gopher Racing wood grain decals for the body sides, but I may try hand painting those panels. 

[StanGlover]

11 hours ago, StanGlover said:

This option sheet doesn’t mention the wood grain body sides package, or if it was available as an option for the CD trim, but I think I will add it anyway. 

Upon a second read through, I found the wood grain option! I must have missed it. 
Looks like it was available without the Cheyenne package, so my initial plan of a Custom Deluxe with the wood grain is a factory possible combination! Definitely moving forward with that scheme. 

[Spex84]

Cool! I'm hoping to build a Blazer soon by combining parts from the AMT with a Monogram Deserter.

I think the colors you've chosen (and the wood grain package) will look fantastic together. Looking forward to seeing more of this one!

[StanGlover]

Quick update: I have the spotlight and antenna holes filled. I started off by whittling down some scrap sprue and cementing the pieces into the holes. 
Once it dried, I trimmed the nubs off, sanded, and then filled with some Mr. White Putty. I sanded all of that down and now have the body ready for some primer!

I used some tracing paper and a pencil to make a template for the Gopher Racing wood grain decals. The decals haven’t been delivered yet so I’m not sure how they’re going to look in person. I’ll decide then if I’ll actually use the decals or try hand painting the wood panels. 
The tires and seats are now permanently glued together and the rest of the parts are prepped for primer. Hopefully I’ll find the time this weekend to get some color laid down. 

[slusher]

Everything stripped really clean. Looking forward to seeing you paint. It..

[steveracer]

On 10/29/2021 at 3:09 PM, StanGlover said:

 A little background: I was an avid model car builder back in my tween-teen years (early to mid/late ‘00s) but I gave it up once I hit college and started my career. About a year ago now I picked modeling back up as a pandemic hobby and I’ve been fully hooked! 

 

Awesome!  Same for me but I have been modeling a bit longer.  Working on models is better than watching a lot of nothing on the tube as well!   Good to see you are enjoying the modeling process, and your subject is quite interesting!

[espo]

This is moving right along. I like your idea of adding the wood trim to the sides and the Bronze color you picked should look good. While this may not be important but you mentioned the color Grecian Bronze as your target color and I think you may be mistaken on the name of the color. The reason I mention this is I owned a new Chevrolet C-10 short step side pickup that was Grecian Bronze and the name is a little misleading. The actual Grecian Bronze color is more of a dark Orange. Your color pick is closer to the #81 Gold color shown on the chart. This color should look good against the wood grain. 

[StanGlover]

51 minutes ago, espo said:

The actual Grecian Bronze color is more of a dark Orange. Your color pick is closer to the #81 Gold color

Thanks for the info! That Testors Bronze caught my eye as a plausible factory ‘70s color so I picked it. I just assumed bronze = bronze 😂

[espo]

1 minute ago, StanGlover said:

Thanks for the info! That Testors Bronze caught my eye as a plausible factory ‘70s color so I picked it. I just assumed bronze = bronze 😂

Car manufactures and GM in  particular can't seem to call a color Red White or Blue or anything else unless they can think up a name that will sound exotica enough that you'll never guess what color it really is. 

[Mike C.]

Nice! I've always been a huge fan of the 2nd gen. Blazer. They should re-issue one of these kits. These trucksare starting to really take of in popularity and value. 🤑

[StanGlover]

1 hour ago, Mike C. said:

Nice! I've always been a huge fan of the 2nd gen. Blazer. They should re-issue one of these kits. These trucksare starting to really take of in popularity and value. 🤑

Agreed! Round 2 is supposedly reissuing the ‘78 Bronco Wild Hoss kit, which will definitely be a hit thanks to the new 1:1 Bronco. Maybe after that one sells out they’ll reissue the square body Blazer. The recent issue 1st gen Blazer and Jimmy kits are already getting scarce and pricey on eBay!

[Mike C.]

8 minutes ago, StanGlover said:

Agreed! Round 2 is supposedly reissuing the ‘78 Bronco Wild Hoss kit, which will definitely be a hit thanks to the new 1:1 Bronco. Maybe after that one sells out they’ll reissue the square body Blazer. The recent issue 1st gen Blazer and Jimmy kits are already getting scarce and pricey on eBay!

I remember building a variation of that bronco kit many years ago. Don't remember ever finishing it . I would definitely buy one again. 

[StanGlover]

Decals arrived! I got the panels trimmed out. Will still need some fine tuning but I’m pretty happy with them. 

I was also able to get some color laid down! Base color came out pretty well. Once it cures for several days, I’ll tape the body off and get the roof primed and painted white. Here’s a taste of how it’s going to look!

[slusher]

Really nice work. Great looking decals..

[NOBLNG]

Looks good by me!👍

[StanGlover]

Found some time to get the rest of my spray painting done. I got the white Tamiya primer and Pure White paint laid down on the hardtop. Miraculously no paint bleed under my masking job! Just a few tiny spots will need touch up. 

I decided it wasn’t worth the time to drag out my airbrush for only the interior color and the axles, so I used Krylon Matte Summer Wheat spray for the interior instead of my planned XF-93, and rattle can semigloss black for the axles. The summer wheat color is not quite as yellow in person as my screen shows, but it’s definitely more yellow than the XF-93 “Dark Tan”. I think it’s still a good saddle/tan color so I’m happy with it. 

I got my wheel and tire package done, along with the grille and bumper details. Tires were painted Krylon Flat black, with a white Sharpie oil paint pen for the letters. I blackwashed the grille, and filled in the negative space with a Molotow black liner pen. Headlights are Molotow chrome, which will get a dab of clear school glue to simulate lenses. 
Next up will be detail hand painting for the interior and exterior.