Dodge 330 AWB

[noname]

I've been working on this one off and on for a couple weeks ( along with a few others ) and decided I'd share some wip pics along the way.

First I did the necessary body work. Here is a pic of the wheel opeings moved forward and the chassis after a piece was taken out.

Of course you'll notice the gas tank removal. And here is a photo of the interior with newly constructed wheel wells.

Thanks for looking.

[Dragline]

Great start to a killer idea.

I'll be watching.

Bob

[Aaron_F]

Nice job on the body mods!

[whale392]

Interesting....a Chevy Chassis under a Dodge?

Edited August 12, 2010 by whale392

[noname]

Nope, that is the proper chassis. Hopefully I'll be able to update this soon. Thanks for your interest guys.

[whale392]

Proper chassis huh? Curious as to when Dodge put full-frame stuff under a unitbody car. My 65 looked nothing like this underneath.

With that said; I am a fan of the Double Altered and Single Altered 1964-65 Dodges and Plymouths, as well as the 1963 2% cars.

[W-409]

Good job making Altered Wheelbase! Great start, keep up the good work!

[noname]

Oooopssss!..Sorry everyone, I'm such a dork!!! I had started a 66 GTO at the same time and that is in fact a chopped GTO chassis. Thanks for pointing that out Whale. Next time I'll check more closely before I throw a photo on here.

Here is the proper chassis.

Dave, this is my first attempt. It's not that hard. The problem I had was that my cuts weren't quite square so I had to fill in some gaps with styrene. Of course you'll have to use putty regardless. The GTO was a little harder because of the side trim. Glueing the chassis back together can be a chore too but definately doable. I also ran into trouble with the GTO chassis after I realized my tires wouldn't fit. So I ended up cutting off the backhalf. Trying to decide wether to rebuild the back or scratch the whole chassis. Scratchbuilding a tube chassis would be more likely but keeping the stock front chassis and suspension would give it that homemade look. I also have an AWB 64 Belvedere and a 66 Nova planned for the future.

[tubbs]

very nice work. you are doing a great job. if your into AWB cars,i would tell anyone to try it at least once. are you building it to match a 1:1 car? hope you dont mind but here is a link to mine. i will edit it out if there is a problem. i will be watching this and maybe get back onto mine.

http://s700.photobucket.com/albums/ww10/tubbs1969/64%20AWB%20dodge/

have a great day,

Tubbs

Edited August 13, 2010 by tubbs

[noname]

I don't mind Tubbs. But if you don't mind me pointing something out, if you put big enough tires on the car to fill the wheel tubbs your car won't be period correct. Maybe this is suppose to be a contemporary car with a nostalgic AWB look. If that is the case than it doesn't really matter. Anything goes!

[Fuel Coupe]

Nice start Matt,

I'll be watching this one...

[whale392]

No problem; I am not good for much but I can offer friendly advice! I just happened to grow up as a Hemi/440+6 fed Mopar kid, so I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the chassis you showed WAS NOT a Mopar B-Body unit!

The alterations are looking good and I look forward to watching this one evolve.

[noname]

I spent the last few days trying to solve a problem. I noticed the inner door skins had pieces out of the top edge to make room for the glass. Didn't look right so I filled them in. Then I noticed it looked unrealistic having the thicker inner doors with thin window posts. So I have been trying to figure out how to thicken the posts. Also, these cars often had the interior taken off the posts and roof itself. After realising the glass in these kits aren't very good, I decided I'd make my own windows. So the plan is to put the glass in after the body is painted and sandwich the glass in with the pieces I made below. What do you guys think?

Here is the piece inside the car. They need a little cleaning and the centre post will need to be done separately.

I don't know, doesn't look quite right to me.

Edited August 17, 2010 by noname

[Chuck Most]

I like where this one's going- AWB drag cars are cool!

[whale392]

Very nice 'skeleton' you have built for this!

[Marlowe]

This is a great project. Earlier this year, I completed my Butch Leal '65 Plymouth in 1:18 scale diecast. It was the most difficult project I've ever undertaken but worth the effort. You'll be happy with yours too once it's done.

[noname]

Marlowe that looks great. Not everyone has a die cast like that!

Thanks for the comments guys. I've already started to make another set of inner panels. Maybe I'll leave these ones a little wider to make room for the side glass. I find making these shapes difficult. Maybe I should change the blade in my hobby knife. I usually sqeeze out what I can. You know there is people all over the world as we speak who do not even have a #11 blade!!

[noname]

Here is my fourth and final try. Still doesn't like ideal to me but I've wasted enough time on this. I'll try to clean it up a bit more and add a little more detail to the surface maybe. I don't think it will look soo bad after everything is together.

The body is coming along. Just a few ghost lines to clean up. Not sure if it needs more sanding and filling or if it is just peaking through the primer. I should have put some Future over it before priming I guess.

[whale392]

Looking good Matt. If you are unhappy with the first 3 tries at the interior skeleton, I won't be if you send them to me! any idea on a paint scheme yet, or have I just missed it (sucks when all I do is look at the pretty pictures!)?

[Smart-Resins]

That body is looking good! BTW, you can do future now, then another coat of primer!I cant wait to see it in color! As for the interior detail, it does look wierd compaired to the regular panels we are used to seeing! However I am sure when done, will look fine!

[noname]

I put the interior in for a mock up and the panels do look better. I'm still messing with them a bit. Just trying to decide if I should make the effort to make the roof look stripped like it's suppose to be. Of course nobody will likely ever see it.

Whale, I was going to go with orange with white lettering but realized I don't have any white lettering. Not too many people have an Alps printer. It could be done on white decal paper but then each letter would have to be carefully trimmed. So maybe I'll try a two tone scheme. Never did that before. Maybe orange and white. Then I can put the letters on the white section. They could be just about any colour darker than white. Thinking like the Golden Commando here. Or maybe I could use the black decals that come with the kit (Maverick) but paint it another colour other than yellow. Lots of possibilities!

[Marlowe]

On my Butch Leal AWB project, it was necessary to make all of the decals. The white lettering was the toughest as each letter had to be cut out and trimmed. I spent hours on just getting the script "FLASH" cut, trimmed, and applied. If you can avoid it, I'd recommend it. I wouldn't want to tackle that element of the project again. I also had the ghost line problem too. My solution was more filling, sanding, sanding, sanding, and more sanding. You should see my forearms now! I look like Popeye!

Your body is looking really good! So good, it's almost a shame that it has to be covered with paint! I'm enjoying your build immensely!

Edited August 20, 2010 by Marlowe

[noname]

Thanks Marlowe, very kind of you to say. I think I'll take your advice on the decals. I find these things have a way of always turning into more work than originally thought. Kind of like a 1:1 car.

Speaking of which, I noticed the edge along the side of the roof on this body is a bit sharp. After looking at some 1:1 pics., I think I'll give it a sanding to tone it down a little. I've also noticed the door jams are wrong on the iterior. I won't mess with that though because it is pretty much covered up with the roll bar and seats.

Too bad Revell wouldn't invest some time into a nicely detailed 62-65 Dodge/Plymouth. Wouldn't that be nice?

[whale392]

I second that thought Matt! I also wish they would do a 1966 variant (with correct interiors and chrome trim/head/taillights of their 1967 Dodge/Plymouth offerings.

[noname]

Here is a number of little things I often do for most of my builds. It may be hard to see some of the objects in the picture below but I thought it would be easier to post them in one picture. The seats have had the seams sanded and filled where necessary, header collecters and flanges were thinned, fan blades and belt were thinned as well, all the molded in wiring in the firewall was cleaned up, valve covers drilled for plug wires, steering wheel was cleaned and thinned (horn ring), and I added a little detail to the front of the intake manifold. The heads already had some detail so I left those alone.

All ready for priming as well as the chassis. I left off the sway bar as that usually is not necessary for drag racing. This kit doesn't come with front shocks and it probably does not need any as they would just be covered by the front wheel. I like to add detail to my models but sometimes things that would be unseen are left undetailed. I had to rebuild the engine mounts but decided not to detail them because they would end up be almost invisible with the engine and headers installed. Why bother eh?

I may add a few bolts to the chassis for added detail but will try to use paint to make it pop. I enjoy detailing chassis' but find more and more that this is an area of the car that will barely ever be seen. So I will spend more time on the engine.