426-Hemi

So its been a couple months since I last "visited" this model. Its sadly been sitting and waiting for work to be done to make it closer to being finished. So with that, while waiting on other parts to dry & cure on another build, this one was "out" and I thought, I'd proceed on getting more done to it! So, where to begin? WELL.... -Last thing I did to this model was get the Power Bulge hood almost done! (I had yet to add that chrome strip, that goes on the lower edge of that hood, that fills in on the grille when the hood is closed, I got that added (Have yet to get pics of this done!) But the frame? The engine? There was a little to be done to this area..... Motor was NOT in the frame, the frame needed some added paint work, and some minor details added, BEFORE the engine could go in-place! So with that, I got to painting some of the frame details.... That looks GREAT! (I may yet, add some dullcoat to the cast-iron color to make it not so shiny!) We'll see..... Up-side-down sort of.... I painted all the suspension and steering parts, as well as the front stabilizer bar, and even the front torsion bars.... (I liked how that looked on another model I did it too and I think that part might become a regular practice on my models now!!!! It looks GREAT! I sat that aside, and seen that the firewall had not a lot done to it other then the parts you all seen last, some of those details needed painted in-place, as well as some of the wiring started to be put in-place as well! Got right to it! I added the wire from the blower motor to the side of the heater hose entrance. (seen that in an online pic, as well as added the wiper motor wire too! Painted the fittings on the brake lines off the Master Cylinder and now, I have to see what else needs added as I have also drilled a bunch of holes in that electrical connection right under the wiper motor! Stay tuned, more to follow after these short messages for our sponsors!

So for all those following along..... I got to looking at the grille, to see what it needed as far as the flat black "shadowing" and got a dang good look at the headlights too, (WOW, are those terrible!) I got right into adding that flat black "shadowing" to the grille. I got that done and drying and went right to the headlights to add "something" as they are really bad..... Specially for my liking anyway! I went to painting the "backing Testors "Flat Aluminum" to give them something, to look like the real thing! Let that sit to dry, and got to looking at what I had for wire to make some sort of "lip" that on the real thing was "black".... And from what it is, I have "black" wire, sure, but I needed a way to "shape" it also! So while the Flat Aluminum paint was drying with the flat black on the grille I took some measurements to make some sort of "form" to wrap the wire around the same diameter as the headlights..... Not the best, but "something". next question I was asking myself, was how I was going to fasten those wire rings for the headlights to the headlight parts! Because they're chrome, ANY "CA" type glue was out..... SO back to another thought I recently done, that clear glass glue? I used it to make "lens" on my '68 Roadrunner, so why wouldn't it work for this? SO I gave it a try.... Not bad, not great, but slightly better then what the box-stock parts were! I plan to add a little at a time to build up a "lens" on all 4 places, as that glue takes a little while to dry, so.... A little at a time till that ring has almost equal lens thickness over the box-stock parts molded-in parts! I then, sat that all aside to dry, and cure, and got to looking at the rear tail lights too. they too needed a little added to them, by looking up pics of the real thing online I found that the centers had a clear area, and the inner-most part of that read tail light lens, was actually Turn Signal Amber! I painted that silver center area with Testors "Chrome" and then went on to do the same for the inner-most area too, only to then be coated over with Testors Turn Signal Amber to represent what the real car had! I let that dry for a bit, and then did some work on another model I have almost done too, till those lens were dry, only to then go back and cut them loose of the sprue, to then take a Sharpie Paint marker and add that black ring around the edge of the red tail light lens, left to dry for a bit, and then took that same Clear Glass Glue from Testors, that I been making lens with, to glue the tail light lens right into place on the rear bumper seen here: While I was at it, I went ahead and painted the turn signals that are in the front bumper too! Looks pretty good, not the best, in any case, but slightly better then what the kit came with! I'm pretty pleased so-far with this, I think it could be better but given what the kit came with & parts at hand and materials used, its not all that bad! Thats it for now! Thanks for following along, comments are always welcome, enjoyed & encouraged! Stayed tuned, more to come as things are done or while I'm doing them!

I hear that Dave!!!!! I'm not real bad at scriibing, but I also not the great either. one thing is for certain tho, practice makes perfect!

A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!!!!

Lookin' good Adam! NICE work on that engine bay!

Yeah that old stuff has that issue about it! I can see where the old Boot Hill Express would have that as thats an old kit! (I too have not been a big fan of the Show Cars) But I have a couple.... That one, not being one of them!

AWESOME Work on that CAT!!!!! NICE job all the way around! NOW all ya need is a Low-Boy Goose Neck Trailer and a tractor to haul it with!

Let me know!!!! As for the Slant 6, nope the last I knew a Slant 6 made in 1/24th scale was by Ross Gibson.... I can get close, with one of them I have, but its not exactly 1/24th or 1/25th..... PM me on it tho....

Old kit I take it? A lot of times I find that the older kits the plastic gets brittle..... AND or if it has been stripped several times, it gets brittle from it too!

Congrats Vince!!!!! Boys or girls? or both?

Dan, Only the grille! I can't mold bodies and such, but engines and transmissions as well as grilles I can. So you do a good job on that grille, I'd be willing to mold it! -Need any Mopar engines and or parts, PM me I have a TON of that stuff already molded up ready for trading purposes!!!

Nicely done Chuck!

Darren, That plastic then is so consistent its not funny! (IF thats not the camera making it look that way!) As that looked "sprayed" on!

Thanks Joe! Much appreciated!!!!! Yeah it was something to build I have to say, wasn't an easy task in some of its parts..... BUT the ALL of the wins I've gotten with it to date since 2014, well all that hard work is worth it for the Wins I've taken home!

NIICE!!!!! Darren, what color of red/orange are you using on these parts? I'm asking because I'm liking the "shade" that it is! one time it looks like a Redish orange and another time it looks like a slightly lighter Orange. And then in your last pics its more red then orange. interesting color!

Thanks David! Gotta gain something, somewhere, and if anything I know I can gain it in the details..... that I have no fear, but the rest of that kit is well you know...... WOW is it not even close! I just finished up the flat black shadowing on the grille and seen the headlight OMG what am I gonna do there!? -Those need serious HELP with a capitol "H"!!!!

I'm with Gray. a good grille for a kit thats not made of a Dodge truck is BADLY needed in this hobby as there currently isn't anything. If good and looks good, I'd offer to mold it!

Dan, I'll be giving that a whirl too with the canoe!!!!! I'm planning a camping set-up 2 different times right now and that Canoe idea is a GREAT one and it looks GREAT too!

-I'll be watching how this all goes down! (I myself have some upcoming builds that I too will need to scribe lines in them), so..............

I'll be watchin' too! I'm interested in where your gonna get that grille and all to fit a 1/25th scale pick-up! -Especially a Dodge! The Ramcharger grille is more of a '79 then an '80 as Revell states it to be!

Lookin' good Darren!

I got most of the red wire ran and mounted to "stay", as well as the black wire off the battery! Once that was done, I got right to adding the A/C lines! To show that see: The piping off the sides of the A/C Condenser, and going through the Core support to be then connected to either the A/C compressor drivers side, or the fire wall on the passengers side. As you can see in the pic, I have yet to paint the A/C line "fittings" to a brass color! Then once that was done I got to fitting the engine Top Radiator Hose! That was a task, there is NOT a lot of space to be had and real estate is running out quite quickly, even for "working "area" to not damage already added details! So things are seemingly getting more & more difficult! I made up a slightly different type "hose clamp" then I normally use! I thought, late '70's car, I'd try the newer pressure clamp they use commonly even today, not much more then a spring steel wire, so I tried it, and it looks pretty good! I'm impressed it looks as good as it does! As you can see in the pic, this is the other end of that A/C line that will go to the top front of the A/C Compressor on the engine! And to get one last shot, Here you can see all the wire red & black, pretty much in-place, to run towards the firewall! A very good shot showing the red wire coming through the Core Support to the Voltage Regulator, and then continuing to the firewall and then the connections of red wire from the Voltage Regulator to the Battery, then to the Starter! Black wire off the Battery goes from the Negative Battery Terminal, to the engine and then follows down the top of the inner fender well to the firewall. I then went seeking a wire for the horn, I found some green wire but. I added it till I got a good look at it and pulled it right out! Heres what that DID look like: I simply was not pleased with the look, the green wire for a simply horn hook-up wire was simply to large in diameter, so I removed it for a lot less thick gauge black wire that happen to be some left over from another build! (I have yet to get pics of the new wire in-place however) thats to come! I did however go as far as pointing out the A/C line end on that side, seen here: I have to add a fitting on the end of that to connect to the heater/A/C area of the heater core on the firewall.... That will be fitted when I have the firewall in-place a long with the full completed interior! Well folks, thats it for now till I get more done and pics taken of the work accomplished! Thanks for looking, & following along! Comments always welcome! ENJOY!

So more to go on the Radiator Core Support, I got the Fan shroud in-place, "fitted" and painted, ready to go. Thats when I looked to see what else needed "added" to the Core Support (horn, over-flow tanks, etc.) and seen that I needed to add a horn, as well as a Radiator over-flow tank! -Neither of these 2 details came with this kit "Box-Stock" so I had to source them from my parts bins! So I got the parts out that I needed to use for this build, got them painted, got the Core Support ready to mount those parts and then by that time the parts after being painted could be handled and the horn, was the first part to go into place! NOT wired, but "mounted" to the passenger side of the Core Support and drilled for wiring to go to it! Thats when I had to get the Core Support in-place as the Radiator over-flow tank had to fit between the Core Support, and battery, as well as the inner fender! So a little "fitment" had to be done to that tank to get it in-place. Thankfully, the tank I choose was perfect and only needed sanded down on ONE side!!!! So then the Radiator, Core Support holding it, and the horn all into place and the Radiator over-flow to follow.... After that was all put into place, as you can see, I got right in to adding all the wiring! The red wire off the Alternator went in-place first, all the way to the battery, "loosely" not hard mounted to the battery but able to be when all was "set to stay! As then I had to think of how I was going to replicate a "Voltage Regulator seen on the top of the inner fender well by the battery! The red wire had to pass through this, and then be long enough to continue to the firewall! And have a red wire coming off it, to the battery, as well a red wire to continue from the battery to the engines starter, all seen above! -I also got the negative wire (black wire) connected to the battery, to then go 2 ways also, one short section to the engine, and one to the firewall. Both seen above are simply hanging loose off the battery, as seen! Stay tuned! More to follow in just a bit!!!! Thanks for looking comments always welcome! ENJOY!

Time for a update? Yeah, its well needed at this point! As I had mentioned in my last posting, that the up coming updates would be of the engine compartment wiring. WELL, that is what your about to see! But, before I get right into that, I have to show some "Pre-Details" needed prior to getting into all that engine compartment detail. So with that by now in this build all following along should know, the engine is mounted, in-place to stay! Thats first and foremost to getting into all this! So with that all being said, the first order of business was to get as much little stuff around the engine itself done, one of those things was the brake line detail. the triple valve and holes drilled for the brake lines to the front wheels. Thats all done, then the brake line that crosses the firewall from one side to the other (this part will be thee LAST "wire detail" installed on the firewall BEFORE it goes into place, just because the firewall is now part of the interior tub! But since I've got the engine in-place to stay, the first thing after that little stuff needing done was the exhaust work to the kits molded-in pipework.... Merely making a "Y" pipe from my exhaust pipe (Aluminum rod), I use! SO, thats what I did! I buy this stuff in a 6 foot roll for $1.00 its Golden anodized Aluminum Floral Wrap (I have several other colors of it as well!) thats near PERFECT for "stock" size exhaust pipe! Seen above is the "Y" pipe and how it all went together! As you see it, isn't how its going to "stay" in those 2 pics above its just "sitting" there... I removed it, painted it to match the rest of the pipe and then fully installed it! Looks GREAT all painted up, and in-place to stay, utilizing the kits STOCK exhaust "coupling" that was to have plastic pipe coming off the engine to that location where you see my "pipe hanger" loop in-place. Looks GREAT! Sure is difficult I have found to work with kits that have molded-in plastic exhaust, I've never been real happy with the looks of that but this time, it doesn't look half bad, and considering the kit itself and what it is? I'm pretty pleased as there was a LOT wrong with this kit to even make it look like a detailed car, never mind Rosco's Police Interceptor! So to sit this all down for a short time, to dry, I picked up the Radiator Core Support, to see what all it needed for detail, BEFORE anything more could be done to it before it goes in-place on the frame! One thing, I know the police cars had was a fan shroud! The model kit however did not provide one and so, ole John off to look within his parts stash to see what all might be there for such a part! As all should have guessed, I have multiples of the shroud that comes in the '70 Dodge Coronet Super Bee (As well as the same kit "Pro-Street") and the AMT-Ertl line of cars that follow that same style frame. SO those I wasn't interested in using, they're more geared toward the cars they came with, nothing to them has "Police Car" written on them. BUT then, I found something, I can't even say what its to or from or for that matter where I got it to start with! I just know, it was there, and it had "Police Car" written on it in big RED letters (No not really, figuratively speaking) And it fit! Like a million bucks in any one of our hands at a Mopar Muscle Car lot!!!! LOL It was prepainted, not badly, and so I trimmed it a little to get the surface to joint to the Core Support to fit and glue well, and just put it in-place! Notice, the bottom of the fan ring is missing? I had to trim it! The way this kit goes together and things it needed up front to "sit" right on the frame caused the engine to sit under slung a little, and made the core support needing to be raised up a bit as well as I have to add extensions to the tops of the inner fender wells, so that made the engine and all that to sit a little off center, BUT in-place, with this, it will look OK! (Yes, with all that wrong or seeming to be, I thought it look a bit odd and even weird!) NOPE! Looks great in-place! A little better shot! This is all that I can "add" to the Core Support without it being in-place on the frame, as some of the up coming detail, are wire, and some need to be "fitted for wire to go to... as you'll see! Stay tuned, More to follow, Thanks for following along, Comments always welcome and appreciated! Enjoy!

I mentioned it in the posting of the build I do believe several times! UNLESS you know the same build from the online forum it was built for (in the contest) and I simply may know you from there, maybe? As for the snowmobile track running gear, yeah, I thought it was a GREAT repurposing of the parts!