Can-Con

I think it kinda depends on how shiny the car you're building is meant to be. A replica of an old beater shouldn't be very shiny. But a replica of my Trans Am probably should be very shiny.

Maybe we should have a section labelled "Miscellaneous Rambling".

I've had this cheap resin kit sitting around for years with all the bodywork finished and a coat of burgundy on it. Was going to do the roof white,, It just wasn't "speaking to me" , as it were. I was tinkering with it last month while waiting for stuff to dry and such while finishing up my Chevy pickup last month. While painting something else and having the airbrush out, I shot a couple coats of this brick red on it and it just started shouting at me to finish it up. Foiled the side trim and cleared it a couple days ago and polished it out this morning. Just a simple curbside build. No engine and just a flat sheet chassis to hold the wheels. Should look good on the shelf though.

Looks really good Andy. Good call on the wheel swap. Looks much better than the ones shown on the box. But, I hate to tell you this since you went to so much work with it but I don't think that's supposed to be an air conditioning compressor, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be the smog pump for the emission control system. But, hey, it could be the AC compressor, they don't look that much different.

The other guys have given you some excellent advice. I'll just add these thoughts,, . Putting more clear will dilute the color. That means that you will need to put more coats on to achieve the same shade of color as you would with a full-strength mix. This also means that it will be easier to get uniform shade as not as much pigment is being applied on each coat. If you are using a lighter color as a base, then indeed it will result in a lighter color than the same number of coats with the full strength mix. I usually do this when I do a candy paint job. It helps me get an even color without light and dark areas ,, but it doesn't work every time. Another trick I like to use is to tint my base coat with some of the candy that I will be putting over it. "Tempering it" if you will. This also helps to achieve an even color. It also helps me reach the effect I want using less candy coats. Now, the problem with putting clear in the color is that it build up extra thickness to get the shade you want. So, instead of just putting more clear in and getting overly thick color coats, I add some clear and double or triple up on the thinner. That gives me the same effect as using just clear but the thinner evaporates out and leaves a thinner color coat.

Thanks Kurt, and yes, '68s did have the side markers. The only year of this generation GM pickup that did not have the markers was '67.

Looks great Jason. Love the color. Don't know how I missed this last month but I'm digg'n it now.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the comments, makes it worth the time posting it.

This has the V6 in 1/25 but also comes with a high[ish] price.

Thanks everyone. Yes, the wipers are photo etch. They may look a bit different because they were made by a company that usually does aircraft photoetch and these haven't been available since the '90s. [the name escapes me at the moment]

Unusual color for a Charger but it really works on it. It looks fantastic!

Man ! She's a real beauty !

The Revell '64/'65 Chevy pickups would also be a good donor for a 2 wheel drive chassis. They were very similar on the 1/1 trucks

Been working on this one on and off for around 5 years now. It's not perfect but it's done and I'm happy with it. Started with an old '68 cab and used a last issue '72 for the box and chassis plate. Both were shortened. Then the '68 trim was added to the sides and the tail gate and tail light sections were rebuilt to look more like the real trucks. Custom mixed pearl blue paint. Resin headlight lenses added along with tail light and backup light lenses made from scratch. The engine and most of the underhood detail ls from the '72 kit but I smoothed the firewall and added more correct inner fenders. Radiator and shroud is made from scratch. Interior is stock '68 with shift and signal levers added along with flocking. Pegasus wheels and tires with Cragar SS centers added that I made and cast. She's not a 100 point build but I'm happy with it.

I remember those Uniroyal commercials from around '73/'74. I guess they worked because when we came back from Vancouver Island to New Brunswick by car in '74, dad had put a brand new set of Uniroyal white wall radials on the '68 Electra. I'm wondering how well those Elcamino "Royal Knight" decals will fit the 1/25 MPC kit I have. There's one in the brochure for that year in dark red/burgundy with the red decals that looks great.

The Monogram and MPC are both nice. Contrary to what some might first think though, the MPC probably has the edge in detail over the Monogram this time. Here's a link to the instruction sheet of an MPC Fox Mustang at the Drastic Plastic's fotki site. http://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/mpc-instructions/1-sort/mpc-wild-breed-must/ The only Monogram Fox Mustang I could find on the site is the "New Monkees" kit. But it will give you an idea of how the Monogram kits build up. http://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/monogram-instructions/tv--movie/monogram-the-new-mo/

IIRC, the '82 Camaro was blue but I've also seen them in red , yellow and white. There was a black Firebird street machine kit with a blower through the hood in a 3-car set and a black Firebird S/E. [just the T/A kit with a flat hood. BUT it is definitly a Revell 3rd gen F-body. I'm kinda intimate with what they look like as I spent some quality time last winter replacing the floor in my '85 T/A.

Second vote for Elm City. It's my local shop and I've known Scott for about 20 years now. Long before he owned the shop he was a member of our local club so he knows models, not just sells them.

She turned out beautiful Steve.

IIRC, Ross Gibson passed away a few years ago. Like they say, if you see a resin product you want, get it then because you never know when it will disappear.

Very sharp.

How about the large size wheels and tires that AMT put in thier "Resto Rods" serise. They're already all on separate trees as they were just added to the original kits. I know some people don't like the tires that came with these wheels but I think they look OK, better than a lot of kit tires I've seen anyway. The ones in the Cougar and Chevelle were kinda ugly but the others looked good.

I think I'll pick up one for parts to restore this beastie. Took a fall after these pics were taken and some of the fragile suspension parts got broken. BTW ,,, I had one of the square grille ones back in the day and cut the front fenders and hood from an MPC CJ5 and put on it. IIRC, it fit right up with no needed mods aside from reinforcing the glue joint. Makes a cool looking custom that still looks almost stock.

A quick Google image search shows that they did indeed use those Monacos on the show as a "hero car" that "The Shat" drove. But there were also larger dodges and at least one of the smaller LTDs too.