93Z34

Thanks for the compliments guys. The vinyl top was VERY easy to replicate with the testors system. It also helps that this kit comes molded for a vinyl top so the seams and so forth are already molded into the body. I was nervouse trying this new system, but the results speak for themselves. It's a two step process with the basecoat and then the color coat. You can choose from either black or white if I'm not mistaken. I will be doing more vinyl tops in the future, that's for sure. this system opens the door for many more building options, especially on my old Mopars. And, Bill, it was your Daytona that inspired both my Daytona and Superbird builds. I have another Superbird kit waiting for the "full treatment" like your Daytona got. I'm looking forward to trying many of the techniques you've been posting here in your '49 Merc tutorial.

I know Tom. I saw one Challenger years ago that had white stripes against the black paint. That was one sweet looking car and a combo the factory should have made available, if you ask me. The black stripe is too subdued on the black T/A Challengers. That's ok though because I'm a huge fan of replica stock building so the black stripes will have to do.

I lightly wetsand the color coat before the clear to smooth the paint. I then spend the rest of my time polishing the clearcoat. Sometimes I'll wetsand between clear coats as well to ensure the finish stays smooth.

I've got a few more Challenger projects myself including a Hemi Orange and Plum Crazy version as well as a white and black one. I just wish I could find some white T/A decals.

This is the Green Go Challenger I mentioned earlier. I found this kit partially assembled in a box on the shelf and decided to pull it out and put some color on the body and see how it turns out. I chose the green because you don't see many T/A Challengers in this color and i like the more obscure paint schemes that came out way back when... I cut the exhaust apart into two seperate assemblies to give the underside a more realistic appearance and I will block sand the color coat in preperation for the clearcoat. This car will have a black interior with woodgrain accents. Again, I'm doing little things to make this car a bit more realistic. Things like an antenna, seperate exhausts, and other little things to try and make this car more realistic in appearance. Hope you enjoy the pics...

As I posted in my earlier post, I've been working on a Plymouth Superbird along with my Daytona. I've got the body painted but I'm not happy with it and will be redoing it. I used the Testors line for the vinyl roof and was very impressed with that for a first time use. This car will be facotry stock with white seats and black carpet and door panels. I really like the white seat options in the old Mopars as they seem to really make the interior very attractive rather than having all black all the time.

The silver I used is from Testors. I used Sterling Silver Metallic which is an AMC color, but it really has a beautiful metallic shine to it and is one of the nicest silvers I've ever used. As for the polishing kit, I'm not sure which brand it is. I've had it for a number of years and am actually in need of another kit as this one is getting pretty worn out. There are six different grits in the kit though and by the time you hit the finest grit the paint really shines like glass.

I have been puttering with various projects lately and have finally started making some serious headway on a few. I thought I'd take a few minutes and give a quick update. As always I have a few Mopars on the bench. Most notably is my Revell '69 Dodge Daytona. Thanks to Bill, "Mr. Obsessive" himself, I have made some fairly decent progress on this car. The inspiration I got from his Daytona build has kept me plugging at this project. I benched it a few months ago when I couldn't find a decent red to match the 1:1 interior. Thanks to Bill's suggestion, I was finally able to get a close match. I also re-polished the silver on the body with a polishing kit which has brought a new luster to the body. The red on the rear wing is a decent match to the red stripe decal that came in the kit. Next is a Monogram '70 Challenger I found partially assembled in a box. I went ahead and laid the color coats on a few days ago. This car will be "Green Go" with a black interior. Built to stock specs for the most part. I am doing alot of little things like seperating the exhaust into two seperate pieces to give the underside a more realistic appearance. I still have a ways to go with this project though. I'm also playing with a Monogram '70 Plymouth Superbird in Go Mango. This project is giving me some fits though as there are quite a few blemishes in the paint that need attention. Finally, I have, dare I say it, a Dan Fink '32 Ford Speedwagon kit that I'm making the most progress with. I'm actually enjoying this car and it will be my first "Woodie" kit I've tried my hand at. Hopefully the body and body parts will be in paint this evening if all goes according to plan. I'll post pics of the Superbird and Challenger in other threads due to the image limits on the site. I'll post updates as they become available.... 1969 Dodge Daytona

Thanks Dave. I'll have to dig that kit out and see just what version I have. I know Model Car Garage makes a detail set for th Charger. Not sure if they do for the Daytona though...

Is there any photoetch in the P/M Charger kit Ken?

I'm thinking my Daytona kit cost close to $20, or even maybe just a bit more when I bought it. I mainly bought the kit due to the subject matter and the photoetch pieces. Of course I lost the stupid photoetch for that kit so I'm hosed. I've tried and tried to locate another photo etch tree for my kit but haven't been able to find any yet. Anyways, I do rememebr I kinda cringed at the price, but when I got the kit home and opened it up, I was definitely glad I paid the price for that kit. Amazing how much "regular" kits cost these days isn't it? I cringed at paying around $20 for a kit that came complete with photoetch and so forth back then but today I'm spending anywhere from $25 to $35 for a kit, depending on the subject. Go figure...

Just a word of caution. If you glued the front and rear valence on your body permanantly you're going to have trouble getting the body on the chassis. I learned this the hard way when I glued the valences on my '61 Impala body. When I tried stretching the body over the chassis, the front valence broke away and destroyed the paint on the body. The body ended up getting stripped but the repaint didn't turn out nearly as nice as the original paint job. Just wanted to give you a head's up!

I've been building models for about 30 years Bill and I'm learning things from this thread I'd never heard of before. The liquid cement trick is totally new to me and I've always pulled my hair out over the "ghosting" I get from the things like dome lights and so forth on the bodies. I can see now why your Daytona came out so awesome. I will be employing many of these new techniques mon my Revell '49 Merc Custom build as well as my next Daytona project. I wish I had known about these methods when i started my other Daytona and Superbird! Thanks for taking the time and effort to show us all your secrets to turning out some of the best automotive models I've ever seen. Hopefully my work will improve with the implementation of the techniques you use on your projects!!!!

That color looks great! What shade is that? Can't wait to see this one come together!

Nice job Chris. That Ford pumper in the background also looks like a great project you've got going on. I'm partial to the '39 Chevy ambulance myself. Just something about the lines of that car and the colors that really set it off beautifully. I should really get busy on some of my emergency vehicle builds. Seeing yours makes me want to dig a couple of mine out, but I've got way too many projects going on right now. Keep us posted on your progress. They all look great!

Looks great so far Tom. I hope your Flintstone body came with less flash and excess resin than my custom body did. I am STILL sanding off the excess resin on the underside of the body. I swear the body weighs 3 pounds by itself. I'm interested to see how your car comes out. Any idea on colors yet? I take it the AMT '58 Impala is the donor kit for this body?

No offense taken Dave. I never really looked at the Pro Modeler Daytona kit in terms of building the Nascar version. I compared it to the abortionalized release MPC/AMT did and was blown away at the accuracy of the stock version. IMO the AMT release would be better suited to convert into a Nascar version as it just takes alot of work to make that kit look right in stock form. However, after seeing Mark Batson's version of a Nascar Daytona, given enough patience, research and modifying, the Revell Daytona can be built into a very convincing Nascar replica. Being a huge Superbird and Daytona fanatic, I think the Revell Daytona is a fantastic replica of a factory stock car, (not racecar). Like many others, I do wish there were maybe a couple different engine options and possibly wheel options, but all in all, a great kit that builds into a sweet looking replica of the real thing. I have a f/s Pro Modeler '69 Charger kit as well and will tackle that kit someday with the body from the later releases. Having not opened the box, I can't see firsthand what everyone is talking about in terms of the body and so forth, but I have enough of the later releases of the '69 Charger to be able to make this kit work.

I have several projects started, mostly Mopar cars in various stages of completion. I do have one project that is beckoning though that I am really looking forward to sinking my teeth even further into and that is the Revell '69 Dodge Daytona. I had started it a few months ago but got discouraged when I couldn't seem to replicate the correct shade of red for the interior. After shelving it, I swapped some ideas with "Mr. Obsessive" here on the boards and from his suggestions I was able to find a decent match for the color I was looking for. I have dug the kit back out and am getting back to work on it in earnest. As for totally new unstarted projects, I want to get busy on one of my Revell '49 Merc kits. I have a few sitting on the shelf and am slowly gathering ideas as to how I want to build this kit.

The Pro Modeler Daytona kit was one of the sweetest kits ever made in my opinion. I was fortunate enough to get one of those kits when they first came out, but inadvertenly lost the photo-etch sheet through several moves. I would gladly pay the higher prices for these kits and the other Pro Modeler kits should they ever be re-issued.

If you realistically look at the new models being released by the 1:1 car makers today, is there really anything worth modeling besides the new Challenger, Camaro, Mustang and a couple others? Of course it would be nice to have some newer pickups to build. Maybe someday we will get to see a few new truck kits. One can only hope. Personally though, I don't blame Revell for not trying to market much in the line of new cars though. As time goes on, I can see even less in the way of new cars being modeled simply because they aren't that appealing to the majority of the modeling market. In defense of Revell, over the past few years they have tooled some very sweet kits, and some subjects I never really thought I'd see kitted. I know they aren't everyone's cup of tea, but the Tuner kits Revell put out are really sweet kits with many different building options available to the modeler. A choice of wheels, hoods, decals, etc. make these kits extremely attractive to those looking for choices in building options. The best part is, the modeler doesn't need to buy 3 or 4 of the same kit to be able to build the version they want. The same can be said for the custom chopper bikes they marketed a couple years ago. Again, different building options and styles attracted modelers who had never even touched a motorcylce kit before, myself included. It's marketing strategies like this that help a company like Revell succeed in a very tough market. While there have been some neat suggestions for releases we'd like to see, I see a pattern where we still have more Mustangs, Camars and so forth on the list as well as some cars that I don't see as being a practical tooling option for Revell. Sure it would be nice to see a G Body Olds Cutlass modeled, but realistically, would a kit such as that appeal to the majority of the modeling market? I doubt it. Cars like that seem to have a cult following in the 1:1 world and I just don't see a kit such as this appealing to the masses in the modeling hobby. A case in point was the Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe Revell issued a few years ago. It was a sweet kit to say the least, but didn't sell the numbers anticipated and hence it was pulled from their line not long after the release. Being an avid Monte Carlo SS enthusiast, I purchased several of the kits and still have several left to build in my collection. I'm glad I did buy as many as I did simply because that kit didn't stay on the shelves long. There are alot of other cars that would lend themselves well to street rods and customs that we haven't seen kitted. That list could go on forever. I would simply hope that whatever Revell does decide to market, that it has the building options and appeal that kits like their Tuners and motorcycles did to so many people. It will be interesting to see just what does come down the pike in the coming months and years.

OK...noone can argue the popularity of the '32 Ford kits...RIGHT NOW. But, let's look a few years down the road, shall we? Eventually people are going to get tired of building nothing but '32 Fords. Now, to me it seems like NOW is the perfect time for Revell to start looking at other subjects to model, either re-issues or new toolings while they are enjoying the wave of popularity of their new kits. If Revell waits until the sales of their current new toolings fall off to develop new subjects to market, their window of opportunity will most likely have passed simply due to the falling off of sales with their current market line. We've seen this before by other manufacturers and many are long gone from the scene now. When sales fall off, that's NOT the time to start scrambling trying to put out new subjects. By that time it's too little too late. As for who decides what is marketed, it seems pretty obvious that a select few have the ears of Revell and the other manufacturers when it comes to what should be kitted and sold. We have people here complaining about alot of cars and trucks posted that we would like to see kitted, yet I've seen a few hit the market that left me scratching my head asking "Why in the world did they market this thing?" Case in point is Revell's "new" '70 Challenger. I had high hopes that car would surpass the vintage modling Monogram put out back in the late 80's. Imagine the disappointment when the box was opened and I was greeted with nothing more than a diecast repopped in plasdtic and shoved off on us like it was some awesome kit. While some may rant about that kit, compared to the original Monogram kit, it's junk. So it's got a stock hood, so what? It's a toyish model and compared to the vintage Monogram kits, it looks like junk. As for the '70 Cuda, I agree there are some pretty obvious discrepancies when it comes to body proportions and so forth. But, as was posted in the "other" thread, a REAL modeler should be able to correct any flaw that kit has in order to make it look realistic and accurate. So, rather than whine, gripe and complain about it, we should be able to correct the flaws it has and turn out an accurate representation of the 1:1 vehicle. I think the real "gripe" here is that we are seeing too many variations of the same kit being marketed and crammed down our throats. We want to see some REAL diversity and not just the same kits packaged in different boxes with different colors. Personally, I would love to see some mid 50's Chevy Panel Trucks, and some NEW Woodies of various years from the 40's and 50's. These subjects would lend themselves to many different building options if done right. And this is a direct statement to the powers that be of Revell. Don't insult our intelligence by taking a diecast kit and converting it to a cheap plastic kit in the hopes of trying to pass it off as something of quality. You failed miserably with the '70 Challenger and as was stated before in this thread, it was wrong and it's stupid moves like this that will cost you customers in the long run.

Maybe this thread got "off topic" simply due to the claim that Revell was watching this topic specifically. Seeing as if we can't seem to get an answer to many other suggestions or ideas posed to this company, what better way to make ALL our voices heard? MANY modelers have made suggestions to not only Revell, but many other companies regarding possible releases or re-issues and have heard nothing in return for our input. When we learn that supposedly a major model manufacturer is following a specific thread, then it's only going to be a natural thing for many to reply asking for something other than the same old same old. And for the record, I don't see where telling Revell some of us are sick to death of seeing the same kit re-issued to death is taking this off topic. It's DIRECTLY related to the topic at hand. Alot of us are simply tired of seeing the same thing re-issued over and over and we simply brought the question up as to why not possibly look at another subject for a street rod or custom kit. As for your awesome scratchbuilding visions and abilities, good on ya. But, not everyone has unlimited space to keep spare parts and derelict kits to possibly use one day for some one-off project. Better still, not everyone has the bank account to buy a bunch of resin pieces, or the patience to go through the hassle of scratchbuilding a model they can't get in kit form. By your post, it sounds as though those who choose not to follow the path you do makes them less of a modeler, or not even a true modeler at all. You bitch, piss moan and complain about people taking this thread off topic when you are guilty of doing the same exact thing. This argument could go on forever. In the end, some of us simply voiced our feelings in that we are tired of seeing so much effort put into 1 subject when there are so many more subjects that could be covered and gaps filled in this hobby.

All I'm saying is, there are far more cars and trucks than just '32 Fords in the street rodding world, and of those "others", many have already been tooled in one form or another through the years. Start putting some effoert into something besides another '32 Ford, '57 Chevy, Mustang, or Dodge Challenger. Give us some variety rather than cramming the same kits down our throats with different wheels, tires and box art.

Tim, As a rod modeler myself, I agree with you 100% about finally getting a kit or two that is exclusively designed for street rodders. But, there are also several other popular rods that could be kitted without breaking the bank. How about some new verisons of their Merc kit? How about a decent Woodie kit? The suggestions are endless as to what could be kitted for rod modelers. The '32 Ford is quickly falling into the same category as the '57 Chevy in terms of kits wearing out their welcome. When the announcements are made, we're starting to hear the familar.."What, ANOTHER '32 Ford?", just like we hear now for the '57 Chevy releases. All we're asking is that the horizons get broadened just a bit. How about a '51 Caddy turned custom? How about a decent '34 Ford kit? Even a decent '40 Ford kit done in Rod trim would be a welcome variation from the "norm".