CapSat 6

FYI...I've been looking at the MB stuff for quite some time...when you look at the product pics on eBay, some sellers show the box cover view, the back of the box (which shows pics of the actual kit parts), and sometimes, a gray built kit is shown as well. From what I have seen, sometimes the illustrations don't quite match the kit parts. I like to look at the kit parts to help me determine if I like the kit or not...

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That looks really nice!

Thanks, Roger! Wheel Snobs Unite, right?

Thank you, Mike! Glad to share. In the hands of a more patient modeler than myself, I think it will work very well. ;)

I agree, Ron! I love that stricken look that Elwood gives after that happens!

Thanks, Christopher!

OK- The Revell SRT-8 is listed as a 2008, and that was the top gun Challenger that year. It's a nice full-detail kit, with engine and suspension detail, and with no prepainted body. The AMT kits are curbsides, no engine details. They did 2010 R/T's and SRT-8's. The only differences I can see between the two AMT kits are: different front spoilers, decals and different wheels. The wheels on AMT's SRT-8 are incorrect, as they're scaled as 18' in 1/25 scale, but they should be 20' wheels. You could conceivably swap the Revell SRT-8 wheels onto the AMT SRT-8 and that would give you correct wheels. The Revell 2013 Challenger SRT-8 is slightly updated from these other kits. It's also a prepainted, semi-detailed kit. It does have suspension and engine detail, but it's simplified. I think the bodies on these are only prepainted for the stripes and emblems- otherwise, they're either molded in either orange or purple. It looks like to a point & with some work, you could swap around some of the stuff from the Revell full detail 2008 to the 2013 and vice versa. There was a Foose issue kit, that is the 2013 kit with a fully prepainted body and custom wheels. Plamoz and Clearly Scale do seem to be developing some transkits for later Hellcats. If you're just being asked to build a cool Challenger for a friend, and you don't want a prepaint, just get the Revell 2008 SRT 8 and have at it. Unless you have to build something specific, I don't think there is any reason for the added expense and trouble of going the resin route...

The 2013 Challengers are almost the same as the 2008-2012's, body-wise. You could start with either the Revell or AMT kits. The 2011-after don't have the emblem on the nose. The early R/T's and SXT's used a different front spoiler than the SRT-8's. There are other little differences. Post some specifics about the car (model, appearance packages), and I'll see what I can do to help. The car in my Avatar pic is my 2010 Challenger SXT Rallye.

I still want to science the fit of the tires onto the hubs a bit. Also, I want to dry brush and detail the wheels and scuff the tires. Admittedly, it doesn't roll nearly as well as it used to, but then again, I don't really roll models around on my kitchen floor, like I used to when I was little. ? Still, I like this model a LOT more now. Eventually, I want to repaint the interior, make new side windows, and try to weather the body better. This is going to be an ongoing project, but the wheels bothered me the most, so it can rest for now. The other one is eventually going to become a replica of our family car from the '70's. It was a '74 Custom 4 Door sedan, dark blue with a white vinyl top, factory mags, and a blue interior. We had that car about 8 years, so it was a big part of my childhood. We saw Star Wars in the drive-in at Lake Waullenpaupack, PA in it...

I don't think the pics quite do it justice. Maybe it's my awful photography. Here are a few comparison shots.

Fortunately, I did all that work a few nights ago. Mockup time!!!

I painted everything up with some plastikote flat black. It's looking good... One thing that has really helped me with my modeling over the years is: that I developed a sense of knowing when to put something down for awhile and walk away from it before I ruin it. Time to quit, let some stuff dry- mock ups can wait for later...

I was still scared that there was some slack due to the gap between the axle retainer and the Challenger hubs. I decided to shim them up with some sheet plastic. Once I did that, the axle hubs didn't move around at all. It's all sort of off-the-cuff-quick-and-dirty, but I think putting my mind to the problems yielded something that will work out in the end.

After mocking it up a few times, and thinking it over, I still felt that the new assembly would be too weak, especially the first one that I blew out and had to reconstruct (by gluing the remains of the axle retainer to the new disc I added to the outer hub- but you didn't see me do that!). I started digging around in my old wheels-and-retainers parts box to see it here was anything I could fit to the inside of the hub, where the brakes would go. I found that with a little trimming, a set of wheelbacks from AMT's '70 Challenger R/T (last seen as the Vanishing Point Challenger) would do well.

The next order of business was to remove the tire retainer ring from around the outside of the rear section of the wheel. I used a Drexel cutoff to do that. After that, I was left with a spindly, weak axle mount. Since this is a fairly heavy diecast, I went to work reinforcing it. First, I added a disc of sheet plastic to the back and glued it in. This also serves to close the gap between the new hub and the new outer wheel. As you can see, I wasn't very neat about it...

When sawing to the middle of one with the axle still in, the saw hits the axle. What I did here was: I completed my cuts, and twisted the front off of the axle like I would one of the wheels off of the axle, until it was free.

David and Danno- thank you so much! I think I'm on the right track. I'm liking it more already! To continue: I tried eyeballing a place where I could cut away the wheel face and keep the post for the axle in each wheel back. It seems that if I cut about 2/3 of the way towards the front on the middle retainer ring (I really have no idea what to call these features!), that would do it. I cut back too far on the first one, but got it right on the other three. I used a hand held razor saw, I seem to have the best control that way. You can see the first one laying flat on the bench, and the 2nd attempt as the one with the axle still in it.

Ok then- get a Revell Fast & Furious Charger, a hood from an MPC/ AMT General Lee (these have really been '70 -only hoods in these kits for as long as I can remember), a back seat from a '68 or '69 Revell Charger, a 383 from a Revell '68 Dart, your favorite wheels or hubcaps & tires, and you're nearly to a non-R/T '70 Charger.

There's more to come. I'm working through getting the new rubber and wheels to work with the axles and wheel mounts that came with the car.

I looked at options for different wheels and tires. The wheels were a simple choice- Fireball Modelworks offers really nice Mopar steel wheels in 1/24 scale. I ordered a set, and they really looked the part. Tires on the other hand were more challenging. The tires that come with the car just look too small. I took them off and compared them to other 1/24 tires from Revell Monograms's muscle car kits. They're actually almost as big as both their Goodyear Polysteel Radials (found in their '70 Superbirds, Road Runners, and '69 Super Bees), and their Goodyear GT Radials (found in their '70 Chevelle SS, '71 Hemi Cuda, '70 Challenger T/A, etc.). I wasn't finding anything that really looked good, until I went outside the box, so to speak. The tires in the Revell Dodge Ram VTS show pickup seem to work well. The newer ones have bare sidewalks, and they seem to have that '70's battlecrusier tall 'n wide look that I needed. They're a lot bigger than the standard issue tires.

Last year, Greenlight released a die cast 1/24 Bluesmobile, the prospect of which made me extremely happy. Not only is the Bluesmobile (a 1974 Dodge Monaco Sedan) a movie car icon, but also, this bodystyle practically owned the police car market for a few years in the United States. I was really glad to see that this was being released. As released, it makes a decent replica. The body is more or less right in the details. There are a few drawbacks that these miniatures have however... ...the manufacturer took a few shortcuts. For one, the bumpers are painted silver, rather than chrome plated. American cars of this era simply do not look right without plated bumpers. I'm eventually going to pull some of these off and send some out for chroming. For another, the wheels are kind of shrimpy. I'll admit it- I'm a Wheel Snob. They just have to look right to me. Wheels make the car for me, both in scale and in 1:1. While the poverty caps might work for the Chicago P.D. car, the Bluesmobile was definitely missing it's caps, so uncapped steel wheels would be much better here.

All really nice builds, especially the Corvette! I had one of these when I was about 10, I remember it being a great kit. Now Round 2, please mold the Vette in white, and please add back the blower and custom wheels!!!

Mr. Modeling Genie- while you are at it with that Charger, can you do a Daytona for my good buddy Bill? And also, give both kits opening headlight doors??? Bill can help you with that...?

I have to disagree a bit about the 1/12 Camaro. Yes, it is simple, but it does build up to look really, really good. The engine is excellent, the grille has open slots which helps its appearance immensely, and having poseable steering is very nice as well. I thought they looked pretty good by way of proportions and details. too. I'm a Mopar man, but I just had to build one of those up some time ago. The orange plastic was a holy terror to cover up at that scale, I think I used about 5 rattle cans of Testor's on that body. It turned out really nicely. I sold it off for pretty decent coin some time ago. If you gave me just ONE modeling genie wish, it would be for Revell to tool up a 1/12 '69 Charger, similar in execution to the 1/12 Camaro, and in detail to their 1/25 Charger kit. Throw in a set of Vector mags as the custom option, and I think they would have a 1/12 kit that would actually sell, as we Mopar People have been denied Big-Scale Replica Stock goodness for way too long.