ApexSpeed

Some things to note: 1968 GSS had dealer applied badges made from "GTS" badges, using a painted red S in the middle. They were hand done by mechanics, so yes, it is crooked and was like that from the dealer. The real car sports dog dish hubcaps on steel wheels, and not the Magnum 500 wheels on the kit. In 1968, the engine color was in fact, turquoise and not orange. The battery is in the trunk, and not in the engine compartment. The brake reservoir has no brake booster, as in the kit. I'm sure there are more incorrect details that I have not caught yet. I'd be willing to bet, you guys will find more.

Last ones...

About 10 years ago I was happily building the Revell Mr. Norm's GSS according to images I had found on the web, and by the kit instructions with the box photos. Someone on another forum pointed out an inconsistency in the build, which sent me scrambling and put a hold on my project. A few months later, I actually was lucky enough to meet "Mr. Norm" Krause at a Mopar Happening show in Belvedere, Illinois, where he had a booth set up to sell shirts and hats and sign autographs. Next to the booth was none other than the actual black GSS Dart on the cover of the model kit. I found all of the kit mistakes and proceded to go over the whole car with my camera and a note pad. A conversation with Norm actually cleared up a few questions I had, too. Like, the battery in this car is in the trunk, and not in the engine compartment. I started up my project again as I moved into a new house in a new state recently, and needed something to pass the time. Hopefully, these photos can help someone else from falling into the same trap that I did and believing the instructions and box photos were accurate and correct to the actual car.

Hah, 15 years! You have mine beat by 5 years. You realize, asking someone like me to leave off plug wires is like painting every wall in a room except one. Not sure if I can do it. I'm more likely to put it back in a box for another 5 years. LOL. With the day I have had today, I can see some plug wires in my future tonight, and maybe even some interior work. Hah! We just moved to the north side in December, Chicago transplants. Not really the smartest climate move, in retrospect. There was a model show in this area a few years ago, wasn't there? I think I am going to be starting a very optimistic Fuel Altered project soon, and I would love to have a target completion goal for it. Nothing like a deadline to inspire and motivate. Are there ANY hobby shops in this area other than Hobby Haven in Urbandale?

I got side-tracked with the Top Fuel car and my plans for a Fuel Altered project. Having trouble getting motivated to get back into the Dart. The parts have been on painting props ready to paint, just haven't done anything with them yet. I know I'm just avoiding the plug wires.

Yeah, I knew there was a Mr. Norm's photo etched kit, but for some reason, I have always been nervous about doing any PE parts. I haven't done any and they are just intimidating. I will have to attempt one soon, I guess. I'm pretty sure it has the GSS badges, too. Probably not misaligned like the dealer-installed ones, though.

Keeping up with my theme of getting about 80-90% of the engine done then losing steam when it's time to detail it with wires and plumbing, here is something that was literally in pieces 2 days ago. It's from the old Revell Castrol Gary Ormsby Top Fuel dragster. I hated the way the tiny front tires looked on the cars of that era, so I'm not sure how or why I ever bought this model. It had a bunch of machined aluminum parts in the bottom of the box, but I stripped the chrome off of all of the kit parts and used those. I had also cut off the kit magnetos to use (probably about 20 years ago) to use machine aluminum pre-wired pieces, but decided against it, so now I have to find another solution for the twin mags. I need to push myself to continue to detail this one. It's helping my skills get sharper just to work on stuff like this. I have a plan for a very optimistic build that I am planning on for this year, and I could use all of the practice I can get. doug

It's TechnoViolet. One of 118 U.S. manual coupes made with black leather interior.

17-years young and my current daily driver—1996 BMW M3 Coupe. Runs beautifully, though I would like to not have to abuse it in the Midwestern winters anymore.

This. +1

Thanks! There is a very old thread (like, 10 years old) that documents a lot of the build on the Dart GSS here on Scale Auto Enhusiast's forums. I'm going to pick up the Dart again tomorrow and see if i can get some interior work accomplished. If you are interested, I have a plain old folder of photos that I took of the real Mr. Norm's Dart GSS that is on the box art when I saw it at the Mopar Happening in Belvedere, Illinois more than a couple of yeas ago. It's immensely helpful for details, because so few of these cars existed and there are more than a couple of things different from the standard GTS Darts (like the battery in the trunk). You'll notice, it also has dog-dish hubcaps on steel wheels, too. Lots of differences from the model made on the box. Oh, and there are also Chrysler and Dodge paint chip charts from 1968 in that folder, too, if you still haven't decided on a color. MCW has all of them. Mist (Light) Turquoise Poly (KK-1) was my second choice... I like odd colors. doug

What funny car are you using for the base model?

Once of my favorite funny cars of all time. Sale and his crew used to stop in a local hot dog joint that was owned by a friend of his and park overnight on the way to Indy for the Nationals every year. They would pull the car out and get work done in the parking lot more often than not, and getting to go to the diner as a kid and just soak in the car and everything about it was a highlight of my summers. I remember when this car got to Indy that year and as a young teen, I think I spent an hour talking to Kenny Youngblood about the design and the paint on it. Definitely had a big influence on me as a youth interested in making art and design a career. The only part of the paint that didnt get replicated is the beautiful "tequilla sunrise" color fades, which would be very difficult to replicate on the model. Still, a stunning version of Pulde's beautiful Buick Regal flopper. I absolutely love it. Wonderful work! doug

Nope, not really. 3 or 4 degrees warmer ain't cuttin' it. At least I don't have to deal with the insane traffic and cost of living anymore.

Sorry for offering advice. I won't bother the thread again. Enjoy the build.

For both paint and chrome, I keep one of those disposable Glad plastic sealable containers about half full with Castrol Super Clean. I drop painted or chromed pieces in and let them sit. Takes everything right off, and then a water rince (with sometimes a toothrbush scrub for corners and stuff) and they come out perfect. And as a benefit, I don't have to worry about the fumes or any dangerous chemicals getting spilled or worse. You can strain it and keep using it, too. Works very well. doug

You can see the Dart has had two different engines. After building to the kit directions after a lot of research on GTS Darts, I built it in Chrysler orange. Then I found out that '68 and earlier cars used turquoise. My momentum stalled after meeting Mr. Norm in person at the Belvedere Mopar Happening many years ago, with the actual GSS Dart that was on the cover of the box right next to Mr. Norm's booth. It had a turquoise engine. I shot about 100 photos of the car for reference, but the time I put into the big block in the car (relocating the distributor, plug wires, coil, etc), I lost some steam. I started a second kit motor and it was better than the first, but kinda never got going again after a flood in my old house took out most of my workshop. Everything was put into boxes and didn't get re-opened until just recently. Almost exactly 10-years after starting the project.

Hi all, I'm new to the site, and an on-and-off modeler since I was a kid. Spent most of my mature life racing R/C cars, karts, formula cars and anything else I could get my hands on. A new job in Des Moines took my family and I from Chicago in the dead of one of the worst winters I can recall, and I find myself in a new city, a new house, a new job and completely out of my comfort zone. While I was unpacking my old workshop here, I found my box of modeling stuff from easily 10 years ago. Boredom and a need to get away from the kids for a little while brought everything out of thaw and a new workshop set up here in Iowa. I had started a '68 Mr. Norm's Dodge Dart GSS in 2004 and it stalled a couple of times. I'm trying to pick back up, but having a tough time getting motivated to finish the GSS Dart... I should just finish it and get it done so I can move on. What I wind up doing is building engines, instead. I donno why, but I enjoy it almost as much as building real ones. So things like the Ross Gibson engines are appealing. I found a bunch of the old Revell Parts Pack engines in a box and decided to start the misnamed "354" Cadillac. These are actually really great kits with tons of detail. I have enjoyed this one so far. It has the resin OE Cadillac valve covers from Altered States, and hand-made injector stacks out of aluminum tubing. Will probably do a little wiring next and see where that goes. I pulled an old Gary Ormsby AA/TF car out of mothballs and it made me laugh, the only thing worked on was the engine. I'll post some photos of that later on. Nice to be here. The talent I have seen so far here is incredible. I'm tremendously humbled. doug