70 1/2 Camaro pro touring

[Steve H]

On 12/31/2021 at 7:21 AM, Cool Hand said:

Excellent work on the wheel mods, got that nice deep dish in the rear now.

Hobby Design, T2M Tuner Model Factory make aluminium wheels sleeves.

Also check out some of the the 3D printing guys, might be able to ask them to print some sleeves.

Hey Luke! Thanks for following along. I’ll do a search for the sleeves, you haven’t led me astray yet… Just ordered my Glardon Vallorbe files a couple of days ago, Tamiya diamond file and Godhand sprue cutters on their way too! 

On 1/1/2022 at 6:43 AM, Claude Thibodeau said:

Hi Steve!

Excellent work, the wheels are great. Bravo. 

Now, since it is January first, it's time for new year's resolutions. So, repeat after me: "2022 will be the year of sanding, and even more sanding! "

Keep on, very interesting. 

CT 

Hi Claude !! Yep…. I’ve been sanding. I’m close to having a decent update. Hope you are well sir, and keep thinking about Duece Days!

I always appreciate you checking in.

 

 

On 1/1/2022 at 10:29 AM, slusher said:

Great looking wheels Steve..

Thank you Carl. I appreciate your support.

On 1/2/2022 at 10:54 PM, Mattilacken said:

Looks epic! I would have made wider meats in the rear but it always ends up with allot more work with chassi work 😉 

Hello Anton! How’s the weather?? Thanks for the input, I did consider going wider at the back. Great minds think alike! I opted for the slightly easier route. Should still have an aggressive enough look I hope.

On 1/4/2022 at 4:14 AM, Jonathan said:

Man, this is awesome work!

Wow! Thanks Jonathan. 

On 1/4/2022 at 7:06 AM, chris chabre said:

looks awesome Steve!

Thanks Chris, as mentioned above, I’m hoping for a decent update very soon.  “Almost” done with all the fiddling….

On 1/6/2022 at 3:48 AM, Dann Tier said:

This is looking fantastic!!

Thanks a lot Dann! I appreciate the kind words. Love that matte black Lambo of yours sir….

13 hours ago, MeatMan said:

Coming along quite nicely!

Thank you Dennis, more soon.

 

Thank you all for having a look and taking the time to comment.

Cheers, Steve

[Steve H]

I was hoping for a bit more hobby time today, but didn’t get quite as much as I hoped for. Here’s where I’m at….

Most of the suspension and chassis  is painted. Lots of detail to do, but ride height is sorted out. I realized a couple of days ago that I did NOT have the air cleaners I need for this build, so I ordered them last night. I THINK I have all the major assembly stuff figured out, so hoping for no surprises when it starts coming together. 
I usually try to tie in various key colours on my builds, so the steering wheel, axle, oil pan, and driveshaft are painted with Tamiya gold then smoke to closely match the wheels.

For the intake plenum I tried the “paint over foil” technique for the first time. 

I thought it turned out well, and will definitely use this again.

The window cranks are a bit “chunky”, so ground them off and will add PE cranks.

 

After a handful of test spoons, I am now happy with the body colour. GM medium Garnet Red (one of my favourite car colours) over gloss black, then Mr Hobby super smooth flat clear. The colour is quite a bit more vibrant in person, but you get the idea.

Hmmmmm….. Ya…. The colour is very different than it looks here. Trust me, it looks fantastic! 
If things go as planned, the body will be in colour by this time next week. 🤞 Thanks for having a look.

Cheers, Steve

[Cool Hand]

Good to see a progress update Steve, wise selections with colour separation on the components.

Pre foil on the intake manifold turned out good, its a very effective technique for sure.

Judging by the test spoon, its going to look sweet that colour.

 

[Beans]

Progress is looking great!!  I am just starting my version of this model now.  Found the body in mine warped just enough to look wonky so I am trying to sort out a fix for that.  

[Keef]

That color looks SICK!!! I can’t wait to see the body sprayed 😳

[espo]

That color should help show the body lines well. 

[Phildaupho]

You are the Pro-Touring Master. Can hardly wait to see this awesome Camaro Under Glass.

[Steve H]

Thanks a bunch guys, I certainly appreciate you following along, gives me encouragement to get on with it. 
Bodywork is complete! All I need to do now is add some inner front fenders, likely from one of the pro stock models in the stash. 

The cowl hood is a slightly modified resin piece. I thinned the leading edge a fair bit to get it looking similar to the 1:1 car. Just a reminder, I’m not aiming for an exact replica, more of a tribute type of build with my own spin. You will see that I also added side skirts with a slot for the exhaust. I believe the actual car just has exhaust dumps under the car. The skirts give the illusion of another 2.5” drop, also brings the bottom of rocker panel skirts in line with bottom of splitter.
I think I should finally,  actually be assembling this beast very soon! Most of the “heavy lifting” is now done. I will do one more full test fit to confirm ride height and chassis/interior fit, but I think everything is super close. Need to fab up a partial roll cage too. 
 

Comments/suggestions always welcome. 

[Steve H]

9 hours ago, Beans said:

Progress is looking great!!  I am just starting my version of this model now.  Found the body in mine warped just enough to look wonky so I am trying to sort out a fix for that.  

Hi Joe, I hope the headlight area on yours is better than mine was. It was a real mess. Have you started a WIP?

[AmericanMuscleFan]

Great job Steve!  Another superb pro touring in the making.  The color is gorgeous by the way... I would like to take a spoonful...! 😁

[Beans]

2 hours ago, Steve H said:

Hi Joe, I hope the headlight area on yours is better than mine was. It was a real mess. Have you started a WIP?

Haven't started a wip.  I will have to do that.  Still collecting parts and making plans.  

Here is a shot of what I am working with.

[slusher]

14 hours ago, espo said:

That color should help show the body lines well. 

 

i agree, that is a very sharp color..

[Cool Hand]

Excellent job on the body work and prep, looks straight and smooth. 

[Jonathan]

So very cool.....

[Spottedlaurel]

Excellent work Steve. It looks sharp enough in primer, will look amazing with that colour on it.

[NOBLNG]

Boy Steve, a nice coat of primer sure makes her look purty! Bodywork looks great on it.  I can’t wait to see what a slick paint job will do.

[Steve H]

23 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

Great job Steve!  Another superb pro touring in the making.  The color is gorgeous by the way... I would like to take a spoonful...! 😁

Hi Francis! The colour does look tasty. It looks MUCH better in person than the photo. I just need to summon the paint gods and hope for a nice finish. Always appreciate you taking the time to comment my friend.

22 hours ago, Beans said:

Haven't started a wip.  I will have to do that.  Still collecting parts and making plans.  

Here is a shot of what I am working with.

Oh boy…. That is quite a warp. Going to need some heat and patience, but should be fixable. The pillars look straight, also looks like your headlights are similar to what I had. I will watch for your WIP! Thanks for checking in.
 

 

19 hours ago, slusher said:

 

i agree, that is a very sharp color..

Glad you like it Carl, as mentioned, it looks even better in person. Photos in natural light will help.

17 hours ago, Cool Hand said:

Excellent job on the body work and prep, looks straight and smooth. 

Thanks Luke. She won’t be as glass smooth as your 62, but the colour should be enough of a distraction to hide the imperfections.😉

6 hours ago, Jonathan said:

So very cool.....

Thanks Jonathan. 

3 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Excellent work Steve. It looks sharp enough in primer, will look amazing with that colour on it.

Hi Nigel, thanks for having a look. I will probably do a quick mock up when it has the black base coat, it should look pretty sinister…

3 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Boy Steve, a nice coat of primer sure makes her look purty! Bodywork looks great on it.  I can’t wait to see what a slick paint job will do.

Thanks Greg, ya, I’m getting close for final paint. It should look quite sharp in colour….. as long as I get it right!

[Steve H]

Well, I’ve had my faithful companion at my side for a couple of days. Otis had some dental surgery on Tuesday morning. The photo is just before we went to the vet. He loves hobby days, the vet…..not so much.

As for the Camaro, started getting more of the interior bits painted. I fabbed-up a roll bar modifying parts from a pro sock kit and some styrene rod. (No photo yet..) The seats I wanted to use are a bit too tall, and didn’t look right. So I settled for the seats from the Hay’s T-Bird. I wasn’t in love with the head rests, so I cut them off and used some paper clip wire for the supports. While they were off I did a bit of subtle reshaping of the top of the seats, and the head rests. Before and after pics, before paint the head rests are not glued and obviously not quite straight…

 

 I have a photo etch Hurst shifter set, but thought I’d have a go at making my own to be “similar” to the 1:1 car. Next photo is seats painted, the shifter before assembly, and sub woofer painted. Second photo is 1:1 interior. I went with grey inserts on the seats, there will be a few hits of grey just to give some interest.

You can sort of see the shifter,  I was trying to get a similar look. This is when I wish I had some mad machining skills and a milling machine…..Francis!!! 
The dash is painted, the panel behind the gauges will be carbon fibre, the photo etch gauge bezel got a couple light coats of Tamiya smoke. I’m using thin white styrene sheet behind the photo etch to add some depth, and also as white background for the semi transparent gauges. Here the seat is fully assembled as is the shifter.

Once I finish the dash face I will add some detail paint, a CD player where I blanked out the stock radio, paint the pedals, and maybe a a “Camaro” photo etch badge to the glove box. 
I’m not going quite as “race car” with my build as what the actual car is. The real car is a full on auto-cross beast! I will do some sort of seat belts, but haven’t decided on how they will look. It definitely won’t be the full 5 point race belts. Thinking about having a try at shoulder belts maybe, but haven’t actually fully thought that thru yet. 
That’s it for this edition, thanks for having a look.

Cheers, Steve

[Cool Hand]

Detail, details and detail painting are sure going to bring the build to life when they are all combined.

[Steve H]

20 hours ago, Cool Hand said:

Detail, details and detail painting are sure going to bring the build to life when they are all combined.

I hope so Luke. Thanks again for following along mate. The Sunny pick up is fantastic by the way.

[Steve H]

I just about went cross eyed today. First time adding keys in the ignition. I drilled a small pilot hole, then a 1.2mm drill to create the recess, followed by Molotow marker. Man… these are some seriously small bits. Not perfect, but I’m happy with results. Once the wheel is on, and everything is assembled, it should add just a bit more interest to the interior. I also added the tilt wheel lever using a pin and some wire insulation.  Had some issues with my gauge cluster, the 5 min epoxy I used for “glass” over the gauges erased almost all of the printed gauge detail…live and learn. So back to square one there.

Cheers, Steve

[Bills72sj]

I am loving the detail you are putting into the. The body in primer looks awesome. To bad resin copies of it are not available. I would definitely get one. Those flares are wicked.

[Mattilacken]

Sweet details!

[AmericanMuscleFan]

On 1/13/2022 at 11:36 PM, Steve H said:

You can sort of see the shifter,  I was trying to get a similar look. This is when I wish I had some mad machining skills and a milling machine…..Francis!!! 

You are looking at too much bad influence on this forum Steve... 😉  Joke aside, you do a great job, you don't always need the big equipment to make beautiful things, good hands, a good file and sand paper work wonders and I see you found the recipe!!! 👌

We want more!!! 😊

[Steve H]

23 hours ago, Bills72sj said:

I am loving the detail you are putting into the. The body in primer looks awesome. To bad resin copies of it are not available. I would definitely get one. Those flares are wicked.

Hey Bill!  Thanks for the kind words. Not sure my craftsmanship is worthy of duplicating, but I certainly appreciate you thinking it is. I’m  happy with the bodywork, but it’s not perfect. It is getting aggressive looking isn’t it.

 

17 hours ago, Mattilacken said:

Sweet details!

Thank you Anton! Those keys gave me fits, they’re tiny!! I learned a bit that will help me next time around, one lesson is I need the tools that are in transit…

6 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

You are looking at too much bad influence on this forum Steve... 😉  Joke aside, you do a great job, you don't always need the big equipment to make beautiful things, good hands, a good file and sand paper work wonders and I see you found the recipe!!! 👌

We want more!!! 😊

Francis my friend, I believe that you are the most humble human I know. Your craftsmanship is extraordinary. I think I have the hands, better files should be here Monday, sand paper is all good, what I could really use is some better eyes….🤪😜. That shifter would look exponentially cooler if machined from aluminum. Thanks for checking in, I truly do appreciate you having a look, and taking the time to comment.