mustang1989

James: I hear you on the scale. I'm that way with aircraft..........1/48th scale ONLY. Thanks for the good word. Mike:Yeah it was a hot kit when I got it way back then. I forgot about it having twin turbos though..............

Mister you sure know how to build a model....................and again on how to take photos of them. Wow...............

Nice paintwork on this Dan! Almost any Firebird build gets my full attention. You'd think I'd have at least one Firebird in my stash by now.

Man that's some sharp looking paint work!

.......................aaaaaaaaaand I'll be seconding Jantrix's post:

First off that looks astonishing!! Amazing detail and weathering!! Secondly, I'm right there with you in the display space dilemma.

Thanks Ray, Anthony and Dave. I was a fairly fun build alright. I dunno about the box art thing but I do appreciate the kind comments.

I definitely like what I'm seeing here!! Please.................continue.

I’m pretty much at a standstill on my modified VW bus build with trying to come up with a suitable seating arrangement and waiting on all the aftermarket engine items that I’ve ordered so I thought I’d throw something on the bench that’s been catching my interest for some time now. I showed pictures of this bad boy last year after I did some repairs on it but thought it deserved more than that…………so here we are a year or so later to do it some real justice. Presented here for rebuild is my 35 year old Monogram 1969 Camaro Z-28 which many of you will know the boxing of this kit back in the late 70’s/ early 80’s: I’m going to go through this thing I don’t even know how deep I’ll go with it so I aint even going to say that this’ll be a mild rebuild. Anything I touch can’t be done in timely manner it seems like but I’m going to TRY to keep as many original parts as I can in this restoration/ upgrade. There’ll be some definite changes in regards to the interior as well as the exterior. I’ll be changing up the wheel and tire combo and will stay within the boundaries of a street machine using street tires with some Cragar SS wheels and a mildly upgraded Chevrolet 396 with a single four barrel carburetor to top things off. Here’s a picture of what we’re going to start with as it sat on my bench this morning: The options were wide open as there hasn’t been anything in the engine compartment in 30 years now: A picture of the interior: Now apart on the bench: To start with I have managed to come up with another hood thanks to a friend on the forums: We’ll be going with this 396 from Revell that I had in the parts stash: Stay tuned.................this may take a minute.............or two.

Initially I wasn't going to build this rascal out of the box. I thought it was hideous when I opened the box but quickly developed a new idea for it which entailed lengthening the body, chassis and roof and using Rick Dobbertin's SBC from the Pontiac J2000 Pro Street kit. Although that idea is now under way, I thought it only fitting that I should build an OOB version in which to display next to the modified one when it was completed to show the contrast between the two builds given that they are the same kit. I spent roughly the last two months building this version of the kit up and although it's mostly OOB , there were a couple of drastic departures from the OOB ideas. First off the front wheels stuck outside of the front fenders by almost 1/4" which was waaaaaaaaaaaay too far outside for my tastes. I shaved the ends off of the front axle, used a set of AMT Cragar wheels which I shaved a little off the backside to put the wheel and tire assy back under the fender where it belonged and used a set of AMT "skinny" tires I had in the stash in place of the too wide OOB to round out the look at the front. I added a timing cover and a smaller cooling fan to the engine (I wouldn't have wasted my time had I known that none of that could be seen when finished). Next up I trashed the OOB injector stacks and went with aluminum tubing which I polished and installed of the terrible looking plastic chrome pieces. The OOB fuel cell also "exited stage left" and was replaced by something with a little more detail and (for what this is worth given the overall look of the build) realistic. The exhaust pipes didn't look right so I drilled the ends out to give a more true hollow pipe look to them. I chose to ditch the "wheelie bars" as I didn't like those either. I just so happened to get the "luck of the draw" and got a clear GREEN molded kit with the metal flakes suspended in the molding. I chose to paint the inside of the body gold to give a green tinted gold look as shown through the body looking from the outside. The decals in this kit are IMO just AWESOME!! Plenty of humor to go round with these and I had a blast with 'em! I used some automotive clear to top things off with the finish and I was really happy with the results. This kit, although it is a little on the ridiculous side, was a lot of fun with a few pitfalls here and there but they were fairly easy to overcome and I was fairly happy with the results. The front bumper fit was about the only real trouble I had with it. N E ways here are the completed photos of the OOB version ----now it's off to the modded one once again. The kit: and lastly.....a mock up of the box art shot:

Looks like you're having a blast with the interior of that camper Dan. I don't blame you, if I were on a roll like that I'd be having some fun with it too. Let the good work continue buddy............

There aint a thang wrong with that one Tony! I love these old E bodied cars and you've done a magnificent job in replicating one.

The words "classy builds" come to mind. They may only be two but it's a strong two I can tell you that!!!! You turn out some really good stuff Jeremiah.

What's a guy say that hasn't been said yet? I do tend to gravitate towards your builds because there's always something to learn from. You definitely bring some phenomenal levels and detail and vision to your builds Tyrone. Can't wait to see what's in store for 2017. That Stang has got to be tops for me BTW.......

That is the craziest.........yet coolest idea I've seen yet.......and you made it work! You definitely get a thumbs up for making all this come together Kerry!

This is intense!! Awesome weathering and details really make this one life like!

Mark: Nifty idea and you're right. I see a whole lot of body work, sanding filling in your future. Dan: I like those door handles.

Ok folks. I'm going to call the motor done. Had to do a small amount of tweaking to get the stacks to sit in the right place but I think we've got 'er down. I also managed to mount that replacement fuel cell to replace that ridiculous looking one that the kit had. I know it's kind of a cartoonish kit and all but that fuel cell was a little over the top for me. I got the exhaust pipes painted with Alclad and the ends have been drilled out to match the intake tubes. Those exhaust pipes were a BEAR to get all lined up and keep straight.

Progress on this build? I REALLY like the work you did on that plow.

Dude ................this is great!! Looking forward to more of this one!

Thanks guys. I really appreciate all the good comments. The paint work on the other bus turned out less than satisfying to me. The color coat went down fine on the gray primer but it didn't like the putty I used. Gonna have to sand it down and go with some water based paint of the same color that I'm getting from my old body shop.

In real life I'd almost guarantee you'd let the smoke outta that motor. This is a wicked build though I can say that!

LOL. Well.........with the side panels it's about 50 or so. I got all the sanding done on the inside of the roofline and decided to add a little individuality to the body. The kit actually comes with some pretty cool and fun decals.

Good Lord!! Now this.............is a cool project. Wow man! Wow!

What a cool build!! I like everything about this. Great idea and good workmanship. Hang in there with it and I'm looking forward to some more progress.