AMT ‘72 Chevy Blazer (crew chief version)

[Steve H]

On 10/30/2022 at 8:06 PM, NOBLNG said:

That is smooooth looking Steve! That definitely solves the problem of roof warpage and the lack of mounting points. Nice work!👍 Most of that stuff on the rad support doesn’t belong on a stock truck….perhaps it was a race truck in an earlier version? Hard to find a good pic, but here’s a screenshot I managed to capture. None of that is seen though unless you open up the grill.

Hi Greg! Thanks for the encouragement. With regards to the “stuff” on the rad support, I think I will leave it as is. Thanks for the screenshot to reveal what it should look like. This won’t be a super detailed build, so I’m not overly concerned about accuracy. IIRC you had pointed that out in your WIP thread, great information and much appreciated. I do however, plan on opening the grill, so I could change my mind 🤔. 

 

On 10/30/2022 at 9:22 PM, Misha said:

Hi Steve, Now that autumn has settled in we can return to our workbenches and it is a pleasure to see the work you’ve done on the Blazer.  Molding the roof to the body looks great and solves a lot of the fit problems. Achieving that one piece body to look so smooth required a lot of elbow grease with sanding the texture away! The Hugger Orange 🍊 finish would be very eye-catching (I had my first car a 65 Corvair painted in Hugger Orange) Looking forward to your progress, cheers Misha

Thanks Misha, good to hear from you. Yup, back to the hobby room! I was amazed at how stubborn that texture was on the cap, took wayyyyyy longer than I expected. I generally don’t like orange, but something about hugger orange works for me. These Blazers, 69 Camaros, an I’m sure your Corsair look really good in orange. 

On 10/30/2022 at 11:43 PM, Mattilacken said:

Nice progress m8! The work on the cap looks good!

Thanks Anton.

I appreciate you guys taking the time to check in, hoping to keep rolling on this one. 

[Steve H]

Time for a small update. I haven’t focused on one aspect of the build, instead, I’m kind of working on everything at once… As a result, it  probably doesn’t look I’ve done much! 🤪 I have the axles and frame in paint, Tamiya light gunmetal. The engine is a 396 block from Revell’s 67 Chevelle pro street, kit transmission, and resin whipple blower. I have sorted out the pulleys for the blower drive etc., just need to paint them and make the belt for the blower with masking tape. I haven’t sorted out the details for suspension yet, but I’m not going to get carried away with that part of the build. The interior is complete in my mind, just need to make it in styrene now…. I have made a “nav” screen for the dash and added some switches above which, in my mind would be climate/seat heat controls. I have an aftermarket gauge cluster that will be added to the dash later. 

The bodywork is close to complete, looking forward to seeing this in paint. Hoping it’s just prime, light sand, prime, colour coats 🤞

Thanks as always for having a look.

Cheers, Steve

[KWT]

Man this thing is looking awesome

[NOBLNG]

Nice looking engine Steve.👍 I hope to get back on mine soon.

[Steve H]

On 11/14/2022 at 4:16 AM, KWT said:

Man this thing is looking awesome

Hi Jeremy, thanks for the support sir! 
 

 

On 11/14/2022 at 1:38 PM, NOBLNG said:

Nice looking engine Steve.👍 I hope to get back on mine soon.

Thanks Greg! 

[Steve H]

I’m now very motivated to finish this build up. I’ve got my next project mapped out in my head, so time to get this one built! 
The interior is mostly painted (in “warm caramel”) but not assembled yet. I added a dark embossing powder fr carpet, then hit that with a couple of light coats of caramel. The result I was hoping for was a slightly darker carpet colour, which seems to have worked ok. 

My original idea was to have some wood grain in the interior. A few years back I got some very nice decals from Uschi (spelling might be off there…) I’ve used them once on my Caddy hearse. The decals require a light base colour as they are very thin and quite transparent. I cut some thin styrene and based it with Tamiya “flesh” then a mist of caramel spatter, some of which will add a bit of additional character to the decals. The edges were brush painted a darker colour to blend between the “wood” and interior colour. No need to be too fussy as you can see…

 

Here’s the decals applied to the dash, console, and inside of tailgate…

The “wood” got some Tamiya clear brushed on to gloss it up. The other pieces will be added to the door panels and in the back. The goal was a custom look, we’ll see how it all looks once complete. Gauges will be from MCG. Lots of detail to do but it’s coming together. The engine is almost done, and I’m hoping to get the body in colour this week 🤞. More updates soon! 
As always , thanks for having a look.

Cheers, Steve

[NOBLNG]

That looks like real burl there Steve.👍

[Steve H]

 Making some headway on the interior… The dash isn’t glued in as I still have gauges etc to add. There is a few touch ups to do, but I’m not getting too fussy on this one. The body will get its final coat of Hugger orange today!

[Steve H]

She’s got colour! Foil and decal work is almost complete, I’m aiming for having it cleared and shiny by mid week.

Second effort at the paint over foil technique. A little buffing on the letters and I think it should look ok. 

I used carbon fibre decals between the chrome trim on the lower body molding. I went back and forth between doing it with wood, paint or carbon. 

 

Thanks for looking.

Cheers, Steve

[NOBLNG]

Sweet. The chrome work looks really good.

[Mattilacken]

Nice work as always! Sweet little detail on the CF

[Steve H]

On 12/12/2022 at 4:29 AM, NOBLNG said:

Sweet. The chrome work looks really good.

Thanks Greg!

 

On 12/14/2022 at 9:41 AM, Mattilacken said:

Nice work as always! Sweet little detail on the CF

Appreciate that Anton.

Sorry for the tardy replies guys! 

[Steve H]

Paint and foil complete !! Just a few touch ups to do here and there. Also some wax residue in the door grooves to remove. Overall I’m happy with the paint, not my best, but certainly not my worst. 

The engine is close to complete and is now glued in place. As Greg mentioned waaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back at the beginning of this build, getting exhaust to fit with a big block is a challenge.  I have some pro stock headers that fit after removing the bottom of the inner fenders. Not exactly the route I wanted to go, but it will suffice. 

My goal is a sprint to the finish so I can have it in ‘22 completed project. Yes… I’m probably going to rush the finish on this one. 
 

Thanks for looking, Steve

[Steve H]

Grill has been “opened” from behind. Hard to tell in the photo but, the centre grill section was brush painted with aluminum, then the whole piece was treated to two light coats of Tamiya smoke. If you’ve followed my builds you know I like a little smoke here and there…  Ironic, as I have been a non smoker my whole life 😜 More soon!!

Cheers, Steve

[Steve H]

One more update for today. Interior is pretty much complete. Still need to add pedals and I may add a few details and some seat belts. Gauges are from Gofer with photo etch bezels, not the best gauge detail… I made the large shifter from bent wire. It’s intentionally a bit over sized. The turn signal and tilt wheel levers are made from pins with wire insulation on the ends. 


 

Thanks for looking!

[Mattilacken]

Sweet work m8! Looks very good! And engine is a gem! 

[KWT]

This is gonna look sweet when it's done

[Steve H]

On 12/21/2022 at 1:56 AM, Mattilacken said:

Sweet work m8! Looks very good! And engine is a gem! 

 

On 12/21/2022 at 4:23 AM, KWT said:

This is gonna look sweet when it's done

Thanks fellas. Still aiming for finishing before years end.
I struggled with motivation this year, but I’m pretty fired up to finish this and get on with the next couple of builds. 
 

Steve

[Misha]

This project has really come along nicely, especially the one piece body and interior. With the local weather being so harsh I imagine you’ll have enough bench time to finish up the assembly before year’s end. 
 

Wishing you and your family a very cozy and happy Christmas, cheers Misha

 

 

[Phildaupho]

Excellent workmanship. Looking forward to seeing it completed and in person in the new year.

[Steve H]

On 12/24/2022 at 7:21 AM, Misha said:

This project has really come along nicely, especially the one piece body and interior. With the local weather being so harsh I imagine you’ll have enough bench time to finish up the assembly before year’s end. 
 

Wishing you and your family a very cozy and happy Christmas, cheers Misha

 

 

Hello Misha! Well, not quite as cozy as Arizona, but it was a nice Christmas. Thanks for checking in sir, and a Happy new year to you.
 

 

On 12/24/2022 at 7:29 AM, Phildaupho said:

Excellent workmanship. Looking forward to seeing it completed and in person in the new year.

Hello Phil, believe it or not, this thing is FINALLY (almost) complete. This one put up a good fight…

[Steve H]

Hi guys, just thought I’d add a few more photos. This truck took a ridiculous amount of time, although to be fair, I just wasn’t at my desk much. Anyhoo, it’s close to done, I will probably add a couple more photos in the next day or two, then get some glamour shots under glass. Thanks for sticking with me lol 😂 

Chassis needs exhaust and a couple of touch ups but is close

Thanks as always for having a look.

Cheers, Steve

[Steve H]

Oh ya… quick teaser

[Steve H]

Ok, time to wrap this up!! Calling it complete, although I will add licence plates. I also have a front bush bar from the “Bandit” version of this truck ready to install, but it covered most of the opened grille, so it stays off for now. My original plan was going to be more of a full on off road look, but Greg is doing a much better job on that look than I would. So instead, I went with more of an off road “poser” that would never actually go off road. So enough blabbing, here’s a couple of photos. 

Thanks as always to those of you that followed along and took the time to comment, it always appreciated! I will have it under glass shortly.

Cheers, Steve

 

[NOBLNG]

That looks really great Steve.👍 This is a nice kit, but I wish AMT could have given us some side mirrors….and a few other missing parts.😕 I’m about to start looking for something I could use on mine.