7 Day Challenge: S&H Ford Torino

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

 

The Seven Day Challenge. This is a challenge that I came up with for myself. The idea is to completely build a model from start to finish in seven days. They don't need to be consecutive days but there must be only seven of them.

The reason for coming up with the challenge is my desire to finish a build. I have several build projects that have stalled for various reasons and I feel the need to complete something... anything. The idea is to select a fairly simple kit that I could stand a reasonable chance of completing within the prescribed time.

How does it work? Each day that I work on the model, I take a photo of what I completed for that day. An over-all view. If there are any special issues concerns or circumstances, I may call them out individually but other than that, this will be a top-down, high-level build project. Focusing, literally, on the big picture.

"Model Cars, Mostly" is my Facebook model building page where I've been posting my current and historic builds. If you're interested in following me there, please feel free to do so. The name of the page comes from the answer I give when people ask me what kind of models I build, "Model cars, mostly."

 

The subject is the Starsky and Hutch Ford Torino by Revell. I received this kit a while back as a birthday gift from my wife. She selected it because she thought a cool looking car. Which is as far as I'm concerned, one of the best reasons for buying a model kit. This isn't a kit that I would have ever picked out for myself. I have nothing against Ford Torinos or Starsky and Hutch, it's just that even "back in the day" neither the TV show or the car were really on my radar. It is a cool looking car, it's a piece of television and automotive history and a good model kit that looks like it should be fun to build. That's the cool thing about gifts, sometimes you end up getting something you didn't know you wanted until it's given to you.

 

Since this kit is molded in color, my first thought was to see if I could get away without painting the body thereby saving some time. Unfortunately, my initial inspection found some casting issues with the body. Sometimes casting scars like this cover well, sometimes they don't. Either way, it looks like I'm going to be painting.

 

Day One: 

The body has been primed and inspected and the few casting artifacts have been smoothed out. The primer looks smooth but I may still end up with paint problems.

I sprayed the base flat black on the interior platform and began fixing the joint seams on the front seat. 

I also got about 75% of the engine complete. 

I also began masking the chassis plate (molded in black) so I can paint the floor pan with red oxide primer and leave the frame rails in their molded color. 

This is about 3 1/2 hour's work.

 

That's all for now. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[Oldcarfan27]

168 hours. If you're counting only the building time, this seems doable.

For me, that 168 hours could take YEARS!😁

But I can appreciate the goal you have set. Make the finish line in sight!

Best wishes. 

[Cool Hand]

Great idea to keep yourself motivated David. 

Looks like you are of to a good start, keep at it.

 

[David G.]

20 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

168 hours. If you're counting only the building time, this seems doable.

For me, that 168 hours could take YEARS!😁

But I can appreciate the goal you have set. Make the finish line in sight!

Best wishes. 

Hello Patrick, thanks for taking the time to comment.

Most of my car builds take me between 40 and 50 hours spread over sessions that last from one to three hours each. This is one of the more simple kits I've worked on so I figured on 25 to 30 hours start to finish; between seven and ten days at a push. That may be ambitious but there it is.

 

19 hours ago, Cool Hand said:

Great idea to keep yourself motivated David. 

Looks like you are of to a good start, keep at it.

 

Thank you Luke. So far, so good.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Day Two: 

The engine is about 90% completed, I still have to paint the power steering pump and paint and decal the oil filter (yes, there's a decal for the oil filter) then stick them all together and do some detailing. 

The interior has its base colors, mat black and flat black, painted. I may spray some gloss and/or semi-gloss on the dashboard before detailing it. 

The body manifested its problem potential as I thought it would. It looks like there's a combination of ghosting and crazing going on here. I'm hoping that some color sanding and a second coat will correct this. 

I finished masking and painting the chassis with oxide red on the floor and Tamiya TS-17 Gloss Aluminium on the the fuel tank. 

Three more hours on the pile for this session.

 

This is a closeup of the paint imperfections. To me this looks like a combination of ghosting and crazing. Ghosting occurs when the paint reacts to different textures in the plastic. The textures are most often caused by temperature variations that occur during the casting process. These variations cause the plastic to cool at different rates causing occlusion lines or texture variations. Crazing happens when the paint attacks the plastic and/or the coat of paint beneath it. This happens when the paint being applied is too "hot". In other words, has a strong chemical base solvent, usually lacquer. But I'm sure that many of you already know all that.

My hope is that color sanding the paint will smooth out the current coat enough that the next coat will go on smoothly. The current coat should also act as a barrier between the new coat abd the plastic thus preventing any additional crazing.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[Cool Hand]

What paint are you using David.

Ive had similar issues when painting Revell's newer kits with Tamiya TS over Mr Hobby Surfacer and that was white styrene. 

[David G.]

23 minutes ago, Cool Hand said:

What paint are you using David.

Ive had similar issues when painting Revell's newer kits with Tamiya TS over Mr Hobby Surfacer and that was white styrene. 

That was Dupli-Color Cardinal Red. Sometimes their paint is too hot, sometimes not. Dupli-Color tends to run hot but as you mentioned, I think it depends as much on the styrene as it does the paint. At least for Dupli-Color.

The primer is Tamiya Fine Surface Primer.

David G.

[FLHCAHZ]

Looking good so far.  Bummer about the paint, but it certainly is a challenge you can overcome!  

[David G.]

20 minutes ago, FLHCAHZ said:

Looking good so far.  Bummer about the paint, but it certainly is a challenge you can overcome!  

Thanks Chaz, I'm hoping that a little color sanding and a second coat will get it smoothed out.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Welcome to Day Three of my personal Seven Day Challenge.

Much of this build session was spent color sanding the body. It looks much better and I have high hopes for the upcoming second coat of paint.

The engine is now complete, decaled, detailed and ready to install.

I also started filling the ejector pin marks on the radiator support. I'm not sure why as I don't think they'll be easily visible after assembly but, there ya go.

The exhaust system has been painted but I do plan on adding a little more detail to it in the form of weathering.

I painted the rear shock absorbers, drive shaft, wheel backs and front suspension piece. I also assembled the rear axle and hit it with some primer, it's going to need some seam filling and clean-up before it gets painted.

All of this is the result of about 2 1/2 hours of work.

 

Here is a close-up of the results of my color sanding. The gray speckles are the high spots on the roughness that are hopefully now low enough not to cause any problems with the next coat of paint. I also sanded through the paint on a few of the high spots but I expected that this would happen.

 

That's all for now. As always, thanks for taking the time to stop by and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[Vintage AMT]

its getting there, heck I can't even clean the parts for one in 3 hours..

[David G.]

22 hours ago, Vintage AMT said:

its getting there, heck I can't even clean the parts for one in 3 hours..

Thanks Big. I usually spend most of my cleaning prep on the body and interior, the other parts I wash as needed.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Welcome to Day Four of my own personal Seven Day Challenge.

I managed to get a decent coat of paint on the body. Though it will likely need a little more work, I'm satisfied with it. 

The interior detail work has begun. I've applied some BMF and Molotow paint to highlight the door panel trim. I painted most of the chrome trim on the dashboard with Molotow paint. There are a number of decals provided for the wood trim and gauges. Though it's hard to see them, I've applied the first two gauge decals.

I finished filling the ejection marks on the radiator support and gave it a coat of paint along with the upper radiator hose.

Work continues on filling the gaps in the rear axle casting and the first coat of black wash has been applied to the grille.

This represents about 2.5 Hours work.

 

This close-up of the dashboard shows the first two decals on the gauges over the steering wheel bump. In addition to two more gauges, there are a couple of decals that simulate the wood-grain trim on the dash.

 

The paint went on smoothly with just a bit of orange-peel. I should be able to smooth this out with a light color sanding.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

Edited May 14, 2022 by David G.
typo

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Here we are on Day Five of my Seven Day Challenge.

The three hours I logged on this day brings the total to about 13 1/2. The chassis is mostly done, the exhaust system is detailed and installed as is the front suspension. The rear axle has its final coat of paint and is ready to install. I've also applied light weathering to the chassis using pastels.

I've detailed and assembled the front two wheels, there's a decal included for the center cap that I'll install when all four are completed.

The detail work on the dashboard and steering wheel is finished. The remaining gauge and trim decals have been added and I applied several coats of clear acrylic to simulate the lenses.

 

Here is a tight shot of the instrument panel showing the detail imparted by the decals. Once it's in the car, it'll be nearly impossible to see, but every subtle detail adds to the overall impression.

 

The engine, radiator and upper radiator hose are in their permanent locations as well. From this angle, the snazzy decals on the oil filter and fan shroud can be seen. Again, subtle impressions.

 

Here, now is the unfortunate discovery. I decided that it was time to paint and install parts 65 & 66, the corner body fillers and found that are missing from the kit. I did some research and learned that they are, or would be attached to a small 1" long sprue and are the only two parts on that sprue. I've contacted Revell GmbH's customer service department.

 

Here now is the fortunate discovery. Of all the parts to have gone missing, these two will have the least impact on the completion of the model. Once I've installed the front bumper it will cover most of the visual impact created by their absence. The manner in which the bumper attaches to the body will allow me to install it so it can be removed once the missing parts arrive.

Oh, it looks like I need to finish detail painting the grille.

 

That's all for now.

As always, thanks for stopping to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[FLHCAHZ]

Looks great. I really like the weathering.

[David G.]

23 hours ago, FLHCAHZ said:

Looks great. I really like the weathering.

Thank you Chaz, I've always liked doing weathering and detail painting.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

We're on to day six of the Seven Day Challenge.

The chassis is complete. I may do another blackwash on the transmission pan and dust the rear axle with some pastels to even things out a bit but otherwise, done.

 

The interior went together quite easily. The kit supplied decals go a long way toward adding visual interest to what would be an otherwise bland interior.

 

This shot has a better view of the under-dash police radio. Not very detailed but it's there.

 

Here's the Day Six test fit. The front sits a little high because the body needs to be glued down onto the front frame rails but other than that, it all lines up quite nicely.

On to Day Seven!

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to stop and look and please leave a comment if you see something you like... or don't like.

David G.

 

[Modlbldr]

This is turning out quite nice. I like the weathering you've done and I agree that the decals definitely add to the interior. 

Great idea of doing the 7 day challenge. I think all of us get bogged down in a build and they stall out, never to be finished. Many just a couple short bench sessions from completion. I did a 24 hr build challenge last year and built the GTO drag car in 17 1/2 hours. It turned out better than many of my builds that I spent months on! So, in short, "Good on ya!"

Later-

Edited May 17, 2022 by Modlbldr

[iamsuperdan]

Like Tom above me here, I think this 7-Day Build idea. I get frustrated when building sometimes because things just seem to drag on as I add one more detail or tweak one more part. If I just calmed down and built it, I might actually make a dent in the stash!

I think I'm going to try this.

 

And the Torino is looking good!

 

[David G.]

23 hours ago, Modlbldr said:

This is turning out quite nice. I like the weathering you've done and I agree that the decals definitely add to the interior. 

Great idea of doing the 7 day challenge. I think all of us get bogged down in a build and they stall out, never to be finished. Many just a couple short bench sessions from completion. I did a 24 hr build challenge last year and built the GTO drag car in 17 1/2 hours. It turned out better than many of my builds that I spent months on! So, in short, "Good on ya!"

Later-

Thank you Tom, I'm glad you like it. I do wish that model manufacturers would provide interior decals more often.

I thought about doing a 24 hour push but my brain can only take a few hours of bench tine at a go.

16 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

Like Tom above me here, I think this 7-Day Build idea. I get frustrated when building sometimes because things just seem to drag on as I add one more detail or tweak one more part. If I just calmed down and built it, I might actually make a dent in the stash!

I think I'm going to try this.

 

And the Torino is looking good!

 

Thanks Dan, I thought about putting this out there as a community challenge but I didn't have the energy to coordinate and supervise the participants. Of course, folks are free to do their own Seven Day Challenge.

Thanks for the compliment too.

David G.

 

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Here it is, Day Seven and though I've accomplished much, I'm obviously not done. The headlights and bumpers are done and ready for permanent installation.

 

The engine bay is completed and detailed. The side mirrors and some trim pieces need to be completed and attached and of course, the decals. In addition to the iconic Targa stripe there are decals for most of the badges and scripts. A good bit of work yet to be done.

 

Good news though! I received the replacement parts from Revell. They came much more quickly than I expected, I was still checking my email every day for a response from them but then the package showed up via USPS. Satisfaction

 

Well, I missed my deadline but I've still made good progress and I'll continue on with it. It's also been good to be away from the Ecto-1 build, I'm beginning to look forward to returning to it.

That's all for now.

David G.

Edited May 18, 2022 by David G.
typo

[Modlbldr]

David,

It looks very nice and you've accomplished quite a bit in 7 days. It looks like only another couple of stints at the bench and this one will be complete.  Great job!

Later-

[NOBLNG]

Excellent work. It takes me longer to decide what colour to paint something.🤔

[Blueprint]

Fun fact: the iconic S&H Torino has made a comeback to current TV programming. It's Lea Dilallo's car in The Good Doctor and appears every now and then. In the early days of the show, Lea explains it was her grandfather's car, built as a tribute to the old tv show.

[David G.]

23 hours ago, Modlbldr said:

David,

It looks very nice and you've accomplished quite a bit in 7 days. It looks like only another couple of stints at the bench and this one will be complete.  Great job!

Later-

Thanks Tom, I appreciate the compliment and the encouragement.

22 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Excellent work. It takes me longer to decide what colour to paint something.🤔

Thank you Greg. Fortunately the color on this one was preordained so that was the easy part this time.

21 hours ago, Blueprint said:

Fun fact: the iconic S&H Torino has made a comeback to current TV programming. It's Lea Dilallo's car in The Good Doctor and appears every now and then. In the early days of the show, Lea explains it was her grandfather's car, built as a tribute to the old tv show.

That's a neat bit of trivia, thanks for sharing it Daniel.

Regards,

David G.