mustang1989

As promised , I've been working on the steering column along with the dash for the better part of 3 days. First off I took the OOB steering wheel and cut out the spoke holes and shaved off the horn pad. I then drilled two holes in the column. One on the right for the ignition switch, key and key chain and the one on the left for a turn signal lever. I painted the steering wheel spokes with the newly acquired chrome pen that I just got in the mail and installed a PE "SS" horn pad. I then took a PE key along with a PE ignition switch bezel and a PE key chain with a "Bowtie" on it , made a scratch built key ring and put it all together and installed it into the column. The turn signal lever is made from a .019" needle I had in the spares box and I'll be painting a black knob on the end of it tomorrow morning. Any ways here it all is. I'll show the before picture (which I knew I should have taken a more clear "before" picture of the dash beforehand but this is all I've got) and then the improvement pics: Before: After:

Rich: Man thanks for the good word and the suggestion. I'll surely take heed to it. Lou: Ebay is your friend. They are on there all the time. Check it out. (I will say that the newer Revell Camaro is ALOT better-but I understand the nostalgia/ sentimental reasons for building it) http://www.ebay.com/itm/1980s-Monogram-69-Rampage-Camaro-Plastic-Model-1-24-Scale-2725-/401262427910?hash=item5d6d1abf06:g:EjUAAOSw44BYJ~w3 and http://www.ebay.com/itm/Monogram-1-24th-scale-1969-Chevy-Camaro-Z28-model-kit-EXCELLENT-NEW-COND-Wow-/192078304750?hash=item2cb8c255ee:g:3sIAAOSwo4pYekMM I'll be turning my attention to the steering wheel and column tomorrow morning.

Sorry for the delay in updates everybody. I've been working on this thing but there are a lot of corrections to make. First off the PE bezels are NOT going to work with this dash ....................BUT I've got a different plan. Here's where I started: I drilled out the IP gauges and sanded down the back of them for the scale thickness factor and sanded the Camaro emblem off as well as cleaned up a bunch of flash and sinkholes that I found not only on top of the dash but the face of it as well. Here it is all cleaned up and painted. All dash trim was brought out with a silver lead pencil. While it's not the best dash you'll ever see, it's a far cry from what it was.

I missed the last couple of updates on this bad boy Steve. I really don't know what to say as I'm at a total loss for words. You're really showing the model companies how it's done though. That I can say!!

Good progress Mike. Lookin' good man.

This is me on how quick.............er ............slow I build. It takes me about 9-10 months per kit unless I go totally out of box. Then it's around the 2-4 month marker. I've got a lot of kits though so that's where we differ. I haven't counted but I'm pretty sure I'm looking at about 50-60 kits. As for a percentage I'm looking at about a 3% or so.

Looking forward to the re-start up of this build Kerry.

You know, I had forgotten about the clear steering wheels on those old classics and I remember thinking those were the coolest thing when I was a kid. Looking forward to seeing what you do with this Steve.

Nice detail on that engine Mike!!! Starting to come alive!

Man.....................what a project!!!! Mister you sure know how to cut 'em up and put 'em back together well. You've got yourself a front row seat spectator here bud. Watching...............

Lol!! I hear ya loud and clear Rich. It the sentimental value of the kit that drives me to put a little more time into it. That MPC interior looks pretty dang good there I'll tell you that.

Go for it Andy!! Ok folks. This is the very best that Monogram could do in the late 70's and throughout the early 80's I guess. It's not very accurate but it's what I've got ................so we'll deal with that. It's not going to be perfect but I'm shooting for the best I can do with this interior bucket to transform it into something that somewhat resembles this....minus the wood grain of course. Yuck!

That engine is out of the Monogram Paddy Wagon kit.

Now THAT is hilarious right there AND very inventive. Totally awesome work and a BIG congrats to you on the win. Wow!!!

You're gonna get a lot of answers with those questions but here's how I do things.. A lot of the basic stuff can be bought at Hobby Lobby. You know, the knives , files, saws, and basic sanding papers and pads. Flexi files are good for sanding but have to be ordered online. I like Tamiya thin cement and IDN about your Hobby Lobby but I can pick that stuff up here. I tend to like Tamiya rattle can gray or white primer depending on what color I want to end up with. As far as stripping paint off of plastic parts and bodies , I use brake fluid to soak all the parts in but I've seen folks use Purple Power cleaner/ degreaser to strip paint as well. Paint..........................I was using spray cans at first , then went to dispensing canned paint into airbrush cups and shooting it through the airbrush and now I'm using automotive body shop paints here and there. Pay attention to the use of solvent based paints mixed with lacquer based clear coats. Enamels / solvent based paints can be sprayed over lacquer but NOT the other way 'round. The results are disastrous as I found out. That's all I've got for now given my experience. Hope this helps.

Man this is sharp Bruce!!! Wow man!

It's been a while since I've been on this one because I've been working on finishing my OOB Beetle Bus build but we're back at it. Got the side walls installed and the IP painted and slightly weathered. Just gotta pick out some details, do a little touch up and fade the entire IP a little bit and we're good to go it looks like.

Looks great Kerry. Everything about this build just "clicks".

Now this ..........is BAD "A" Nice work.

Maaaaaaaaaaan! It's been forever since I've even seen a Cordoba. Seemed like we were Cordoba poor back in those days though. I'll be enjoying watching this one come together.

Un...............believable!!!

You're a lucky man Steve. I got both of my Badger 200's from Michael's about 4 years ago and they were on clearance for $19.99 each. I read about the clearance over at FSM so I COMPLETELY blindsided the store manager by asking her for two and telling her that they were only 20 bucks each. She argued about it by saying, "Whatever" and "I haven't heard about that! " only to go to the register and scan them for ...................$19.99. She was dumbfounded!! lol. In short..........Michaels has some GREAT deals.

I worked on a few of these in my day at the dealer. That moveable top......... She looks great Jim!!

You guys crack me up. lololol I know I'll be in for an entertaining build anyways. Rich thanks for that info. I think I see what you did. I got my spare parts kit tonight so work will hopefully start to "flow" a little better with some extra parts.

Cool color John! Watching...........