atomicholiday

Working on the resin hood now to see if I can get it to fit properly. It was WAY too thick to use as is. A course sanding stick was used to thin the whole thing down to the same thickness as the kit hood. It’s definitely better now, but it still needs a little more work in a few areas. For instance, the raised section will need more sanded if I want wiper blades. Might need those since we’re going cross country!

That's what I must have been thinking of. Wow, hellcat you say. Gonna be a beast!

No, there isn't actually any extra clearance. The material is just thicker in the center. And the whole hood is too thick already. It'll need to be thinned down just to fit level after paint. No huge deal. I just wanted something different from the kit part. I still have an idea or two I can try. Lesson learned. At least it wasn't too expensive.

Just playing around and mocking some things up with this build this evening. Looks like I’m going to be cutting the intake manifold down a bit. Also, the resin hood I ordered is here now. I know nothing about resin, so I won’t condemn it. But I was hoping it would be a little nicer than it is. Looks better in the picture than it really is. Not sure if I want to use it or not. I think I’m going to clean it up and paint both hoods and use the one I like best. Resin hood is on the right.

Just ignore me. I don’t know why, but I thought you were building a ‘71, not a ‘74. Carry on!?

I'm working on the GTX for another GB, and botched the paint job. A couple people here and elsewhere talked me into adding a vinyl roof, so I'll be watching closely. It's looking great so far. I'm pretty sure it was an option for the GTX, but I'm not sure which style. Near as I can tell, there may have been three options, possibly depending on the model? The canopy roof stops at the rear edge of the side windows (basically 2/3 of the roof). Not sure of the names, but the next one covers the entire roof. Lastly is the one that it looks like you may be working on, with body colored edges. I think they're called halo type. I've been trying to figure out which was available for what model, but so far no luck. I'm leaning towards the full top for my GTX.

All the rabbit talk gives me an idea for another group build. Cars named after animals.

Nothing says 'hi performance' like a bunny hood ornament!

North of Fort Wayne Indiana.

Yup. I built the street version when I was a kid. Not bad as I recall.

This bucket list kit arrived today. Sealed bag inside, and the decals look like they were printed yesterday.?

Fixing the ride height and depth of wheels in the wells turned out to be way easier than expected. First issue to tackle was finding tires that looked right to me. Digging through spare parts, I came across a set of old Monogram GoodYear GT Radials that looked perfect. Only problem is the kit supplied rims and wheel backs were too large. Fortunately the Revellogram ‘70 Challenger kit has the tires I wanted and the correct rallye wheels. And to top it off, they mount exactly the same way as the GTX kit wheels. Here’s the Good Year on the left next to the GTX kit tire. The Good Years are meatier and just wide enough to look more like factory. Problem solved. Next, rear suspension lift blocks were sourced from the Revell ‘68 Firebird kit. Only two will be used, one for each side at the rear. Here’s the mockup with Good Years and lifted rear suspension. About the tires. I know recent issues have the logos removed. I might dig through the stash and find a set. Then I’d add white letter decals.

Raided the AMT ‘70 Chevelle kit I was fortunate enough to have in the stash and swiped the EFI setup and valve covers for my wagon. That should make for a more reliable road beast. The resin hood should be here tomorrow too. @Fat Brian Thanks for the heads up on these parts.

Maybe the Harley is a support vehicle!

Some quick mock ups before it gets stripped. Actually, as I’m thinking of it, I’ll probably fix the ride height before removing paint. This kit comes with two front suspension setups, one being lowered. My first mockup is with the “stock” ride height. Definitely has that tail dragger look. Too much so, actually. So the lowered setup was swapped in. Something still looked off. Comparing to pictures online, I think what really needs to happen is to use the stock front end, and raising the rear until it’s level. One other thing I want to address: the tires are set to far back into the wheel wells compared to the 1:1. Here’s the stock front end- …and here is the lowered setup. Notice how far back the tires set back into the wheel wells. Then compare the 1:1 pic posted earlier. I’m also considering swapping to a slightly meatier tire. Nothing crazy though. It should still look stock.

Excellent choice Carl! That will make a great restomod. Yesterday I started trimming parts. It’s been a crazy busy week for me, and I haven’t gotten much done, but things should start to settle down now. Also, got the wheels I plan to use today. I went with Pegasus Shuey’s. Not crazy about how low profile the tires are, so I’ll be using the kit supplied tires to fill the wheel wells better. Front tire will fit the new rim perfectly if I cut out the ridge inside the tire. The back tire is too big so I'll need to figure out how to create a sleeve or something. Any suggestions are welcome. Here’s a rough mock up with the Pegasus tires. Kit tire is the one on the left.

Thanks so much for taking the time to show how it’s done Steve. I’m going to give it a shot. If it comes out half as nice as your convertible I’ll be happy.? And if this technique works for me, it’ll be a game changer. There are several projects I have in mind that just beg for vinyl. Interesting about the primer. The level of gloss is perfect for vinyl. I would have thought it would be much flatter, even after rubbing a finger over it. Looks like I need to get this thing stripped.

I’ve got the Lamborghini Jota from that series. Haven’t built it, but it looks pretty cool.

Wet sanding went pretty much as expected. The top coat definitely affected the color. You can see from this picture, I didn’t even get through the orange peel when it started messing with the color coat. Since the trunk lid has issues too, I’m going to strip and repaint. Since I have to strip it anyway, let’s put vinyl on her! Steve, what supplies will I need? I can gather that while it’s soaking.

Thanks Carl. No worries. I got this. After last summer, I'm a master at overcoming!? Now THAT is a good idea. @StevenGuthmiller - if I go with the vinyl, I will gladly accept your offer. I've never tackled anyhting like that before. Would I need to strip it first or is this something that could be done without disturbing the rest of the paint? I'm planning to tackle the roof and trunk today to see what lies beneath the orange peel. I'll post back when I know more. Hmmm.....

Another vote for the '20s. I think they fit the restomod theme better and look a little more aggressive.

I think so too, Steve. I'm not going to put a lot of time into the rest of the body until I see how the roof looks afterwards. It's a bit of a bummer too, because I was pretty happy with how the side scripts and front emblem turned out.

Perfect.?. The wheels and stance, the paint…. I’m really digging this one.

My next project is the Revell ‘71 Plymouth GTX. This is being built for a group build on another site. Never done a GB before and now I’m signed up for two! Hope I’m not getting in over my head here, but it’ll be fun regardless. As some of you know, I spent last summer trying to up my painting skills. This was the last kit I shot before the weather turned. Color coats went on beautifully. They were allowed to cure for a couple of weeks. Then, clear coats were going really good too. But it was getting late in the evening and I was losing daylight, and the next day’s forecast was not good. This would be my last shot to get it done until next spring. You can see where this is going I’m sure. I went too heavy with the final coat. It was looking really good too, but in the morning the results were pretty bad orange peel on the roof and trunk lid. Haven’t touched it for a couple of months now, so I’m going to try to wet sand it out, and hopefully it didn’t affect the color coats. But if so, no big deal. We’ll be stripping it off and starting again. Wish me luck.

Got the Chevelle washed and ready for clean up this morning. That may be as far as I get until Thursday. Next few days will be busy. Tomorrow we’re taking my daughter to the airport. Back to school. I miss her already and she isn’t even gone yet.