TFchronos Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 (edited) This build here is a tribute build to a car my Dad owned, a '77 Firebird Formula. He found it at small time dealer back in the late 80's, did a lot with it and has so many stories he could go on forever talking about it. He sold it just before I was born in '90 for a more "family friendly" car. Of all the cars he has owned this is the one car that if he could go back and save only one from his past it would this one. So I thought I would try to build it and surprise him with it on the morning of Dec. 25th. I'll be taking the Revel Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am and converting it over to a close a replica as my skill level will let me. Here's what it looked like, one of the many, many places he went in that car too. That's what I'm trying to match, here's what I'm starting with. First round of body work, after covering the T-tops, side vents and cutting way the wheel flaps. More pics in the next update. Edited December 25, 2014 by TFchronos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted October 30, 2014 Author Share Posted October 30, 2014 Round 1 body work cont.Everything was replaced with sheet styrene cover with the stuff I've had the best luck with Bondo brand spot putty. Thanks for looking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Custom Hearse Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Nice start! Looks like you've got a bit of work ahead of you, but you're doing a great job so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantrix Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 I'd say you have your work cut out for you, but it looks like a darn fine start. Hopefully someone did a formula resin hood, but I think those wheels are gonna be a real pain in the butt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredHippie Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Cool car! ..love the Formulas. Great job so far! I like this Bandit kit a lot, the interior is accurate for the custom trim pkg and it actually has an A/C compressor. The engine is not so great though...doesn't look anything like a Pontiac V8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgbben Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Looking in on this build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron5150 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 great work so far removing flaps and filling in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonioseven Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 "Reliable" Resin made a hood for it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan White Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Hopefully someone did a formula resin hood, but I think those wheels are gonna be a real pain in the butt. He might be able to get a set of Centerline wheels and just sand off the outer set of bolts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatMan Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Nice build!! The wheels look like part of the two piece set that had a spoked second piece that bolted to the center hub. I had a set back in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgbben Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Pegasus makes a good replica Centerline wheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Great gift idea Jonathan.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted November 2, 2014 Author Share Posted November 2, 2014 Nice start! Looks like you've got a bit of work ahead of you, but you're doing a great job so far! Thanks Marshall! Yep, the body work is taking a fair amount of time to get right. Cool car! ..love the Formulas. Great job so far! I like this Bandit kit a lot, the interior is accurate for the custom trim pkg and it actually has an A/C compressor. The engine is not so great though...doesn't look anything like a Pontiac V8. Thank you ShredHippie, yes this new kit has really good detail, I like it too. I'll have to do another one for myself someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted November 2, 2014 Author Share Posted November 2, 2014 Looking in on this build Thanks Ben! great work so far removing flaps and filling in Thanks Bryon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted November 2, 2014 Author Share Posted November 2, 2014 (edited) I'd say you have your work cut out for you, but it looks like a darn fine start. Hopefully someone did a formula resin hood, but I think those wheels are gonna be a real pain in the butt. Thanks Rob! "Reliable" Resin made a hood for it... Nice Formula, they were always my favorite. Yep, I've got one but it's much to small, it was made for the MPC 1/25 Blackbird Trans Am. I just started working on this kits hood to turn it into a Formula hood. The shaker cut out has been sealed up. As soon has the glue hardens up a little more I'll start getting putty on it to smooth it out. Edited December 22, 2014 by TFchronos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted November 2, 2014 Author Share Posted November 2, 2014 He might be able to get a set of Centerline wheels and just sand off the outer set of bolts. Yep, those are the rims to going to use.They're about as close as I can get I think. Nice build!! The wheels look like part of the two piece set that had a spoked second piece that bolted to the center hub. I had a set back in the day. Thank you Dennis! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Jon Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 Cool build Jonathan, looking forward to more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted November 6, 2014 Author Share Posted November 6, 2014 (edited) Thank you Jeremy! Here's an update with the body work finished, it's Rust-O-leum Charcoal Grey. It's just a taste dark but I'm hoping that after polishing it will lighten up some. With that said I started sanding on the roof this morning and found it's going to take a while to smooth it out. I'm not trying to sound like I'm complaining, it's nice this paint is so durable, I want it to last for a long time. The hood is taking longer than expected, the patch for the shaker didn't hold so I'm trying it again with some improvements. Thanks for looking Edited November 6, 2014 by TFchronos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjracing Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Nice paint job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggon Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Nice build!! The wheels look like part of the two piece set that had a spoked second piece that bolted to the center hub. I had a set back in the day. They were called "wire baskets" and it seems you might be right. Here's pics with and without the basket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impcon Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 You do nice work, Jonathan. I can appreciate this sort of project because I am doing something similar for my son and detail becomes very important, doesn't it? This will be a nice model when done based on your work thus far. A gift such as what you are creating is truly a special gift because it is very personal, having been created by your hands especially just for him. It will be the only such car on the planet in the combination that you are building it in and as such, I suspect that it will be a very, very special and treasured possession for him. What could be more personal than this link to his past that you created specifically just for him? I am in the process of converting a MPC 1980/81 Camaro Z28 into a Berlinetta and it has been an exercise in frustration so far with difficulties in finding the right parts to make the model as close to the real car as possible. I'll be trying to combine the MPC kit with the AMT Baldwin Motion 70 Camaro chassis but it may not work. We'll see when I get to that pint. I enjoy reverse engineering a model to a lower trim line, but it sure can be a lot of work. Keep at it and you'll beat it. I'll be watching your progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Looking good Jonathan. The body work is a big obstacle and you really have it going your way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 You do nice work, Jonathan. I can appreciate this sort of project because I am doing something similar for my son and detail becomes very important, doesn't it? This will be a nice model when done based on your work thus far. A gift such as what you are creating is truly a special gift because it is very personal, having been created by your hands especially just for him. It will be the only such car on the planet in the combination that you are building it in and as such, I suspect that it will be a very, very special and treasured possession for him. What could be more personal than this link to his past that you created specifically just for him? I am in the process of converting a MPC 1980/81 Camaro Z28 into a Berlinetta and it has been an exercise in frustration so far with difficulties in finding the right parts to make the model as close to the real car as possible. I'll be trying to combine the MPC kit with the AMT Baldwin Motion 70 Camaro chassis but it may not work. We'll see when I get to that pint. I enjoy reverse engineering a model to a lower trim line, but it sure can be a lot of work. Keep at it and you'll beat it. I'll be watching your progress. Thank you for the kind words Gary. Doing builds like these really gives you a greater appreciation of the 1:1. Looking over the photos I have noticed much more about the car, some of the details I may not be able to replicate but I'll do my best. Best of luck to you on your project, I'm sure your son will cherish it when it's done. If it's in the w.i.ps I'll be sure to look for it. Looking good Jonathan. The body work is a big obstacle and you really have it going your way... Thanks Carl, the body work was a bit of a challenge, the hood is still beating me though. The biggest challenge I think I'll face is replicating the pinstriping. I'm going to try using testors decal maker first and see how that goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
om617 Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Looking good and nice color. Sure looks like a lot of body work for making it a non t/a. Btw any luck on finding the correct rims? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Fried Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Gotta be. That's what I noticed about the 1/1 pic. The wheels looked like they had a "dish" to them I thought it might be the angle, but the more I looked they looked like center lines with a dish to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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