Jada '68 Dodge Charger

[Snake45]

Note: Geno has one of these too, and can probably provide better pics of how it comes out of the box. I invite him to post them here if he wishes. 

Ever have one of those models that just fights you every step of the way? This was one of those. 

First off, it isn't remotely close to stock, so you can forget about “converting” it back. It's a widebody, and has a mid-engine. (I might not have bought it if I'd known that going in.) It IS acceptably close to true 1/24 scale, as Geno demonstrated by comparing it with a stock Danbury Mint '68 model.

Geno got a better example of this model than I did. First problem was that the rear “bumblebee” stripe on mine was mis-printed—the trunk lid portion didn't come close to lining up with the stripes on the quarters. (More on this later.) Second problem was that the right-side door didn't come close to closing. Upon closer examination, it turned out the left door didn't close completely, either.

 

This SHOULD have been about a one-hour Snake-Fu if I'd gotten as good an example as Geno's. I decided to start with the doors, because if I couldn't fix that, anything else would be a waste of time and I might as well throw the backbirth in my grandsons' toy box. Disassembled the thing and removed the right door (one screw). Spent over an hour filing out the hinge hole so the door would sit more forward. Finally got it to where it was no worse than the left door and got tired of effing with it. Took off the left door and tried the same thing for a while but didn't seem to be making any real progress so I put it back on.

Next problem was dealing with the misaligned tail stripe. Figgered it would come right off with acetone-free nail polish remover, my go-to for removing diecast tampos. I figgered wrong. The NPR had NO effect on the stripe, and neither did rubbing alcohol. Only thing to do was paint over it. I smoothed the area with a fine Scotchbrite pad, masked off the rear window, and hit it with some Touch-N-Tone rattlecan flat black. This dried much flatter than the factory matte black paint, so I rubbed it with a piece of felt until I got a near-matching sheen. It's not a perfect match, but if you didn't know it was repainted, you might not be able to tell—it's not stand-out obvious.

There was no indication of windshield or backlight framing—not even anything molded in. Ordinarily I'd have masked the framing off and hit it with Silver Sharpie or Deco Color Premium Silver Leaf, but decided that this hot mess just wasn't worth the time and effort. Having now fully embraced the Dark Side, I decided to also paint the wheel spokes black—I'm not a huge fan of 6-spoke wheels and wasn't wild about the gold color anyway. After painting the spokes, I hit the knockoffs with the Silver Sharpie. Oh, and I sanded the tire treads and painted the front turn signals white.

So that's basically it. It's not my favorite diecast, but it's sorta-kinda okay as it sits now. (It actually looks a little better than these pics.) And it's my first completed project since my stroke last April, so there's that. If you're interested in one of these, try to see if the tail stripe is on right, and the doors are fully closed. As always, thanks for looking, and comments welcome.

[Geno]

Wow, I hate to hear that Rich, mine had no issues at all. I actually liked the custom touches as is. I have yet to detail it but here are the pics I have. Hope they help.

 

Edited March 6, 2023 by Geno

[Snake45]

Thanks for jumping in, Geno! 

Wow, yours looks good. As I said, if mine had looked as good as yours, the Snake-Fu would have only taken me about an hour. I can see why you like it so much. 

Your pics are way better than mine, too. 

[Gramps46]

Now that is pretty bizarre Snake.  To have that happen on your first model back at the bench is a real bummer but you were able to handle admirably.

[Snake45]

18 minutes ago, Gramps46 said:

Now that is pretty bizarre Snake.  To have that happen on your first model back at the bench is a real bummer but you were able to handle admirably.

Hey, improvise, adapt, overcome, right? At least it got me back into building something. 

Next up should be the '67 El Camino, which is a MUCH better model overall, and I'm looking forward to laying the finishing touches on it. Got everything done on it now except touching up the chrome with my beloved Silver Sharpie, which I've been dreading because it will require a lot of tedious masking to ensure it's all straight, but hopefully the results will be worth the effort. Got several other diecasts to Snake-Fu, too, and I'm hoping to start on an all-new AMT '55 Nomad kit in the next week, "The Good Lord willin' and the creek don't rise." 

[spencer1984]

Coming into this late, but wanted to say nice work getting it cleaned up. My own F9 Charger is in pretty good shape, about like the one Geno posted, but Jada has definitely been falling off with their QC recently. I have two of their R34 Skylines, one new and one from a few years back...the old one is fine, but the new one is a mess. The fog lights are crammed in at weird angles, the doors don't fit, and the trunk lid barely fits the opening. Even the paint is rough, like it was partially painted outside on a windy day. Glad you could save this one!