ibj40

This is a fantasy build, and a fantasy story.Enjoy!Ray Caldwell’s Autodynamics (reportedly) built three factory backed Dodge Challenger T/As for the 1970 SCCA Trans Am series. The series was at its heyday and landing this contract was a boon to Autodynamics. This was all-out factory war between Detroit's big 4.In 1971, Detroit suddenly withdrew their open support of motor racing.The political atmosphere had changed and the horsepower race that bred the 60’s muscle and pony cars was suddenly over.Dodge canceled Autodynamics’ Trans Am contract.Autodynamics had expected to run the Dodge Challenger factory Trans-Am Team for at least two more years but Caldwell had seen the handwriting on the wall with respect to Detroit-based auto racing.It was clear that, if there were to be factory money available, the Nascar Winston Cup Series was where you needed to be.Even with their existing association with Dodge, there were no more Dodge Daytona’s being constructed, and the existing ones were prohibitively expensive.Secretly, Caldwell secured a spare 1970 Nascar Plymouth Superbird from Petty Enterprises.The “spare” had only been raced once, by Dan Gurney, at the 1970 Riverside 500. Gurney took the pole for the race, and finished 6th.Fully paid for by Plymouth, the car sat in the Petty garages. Plymouth never asked for it back.The resources (especially time) required to build a Daytona from scratch would seriously hamper a full Nascar program.Caldwell planned on placing Sam Posey in the Superbird for the 1971 season-opening race at Riverside on January 10.With the Petty chassis, all Autodynamics had to do was repaint the car in their classic Sublime Green used on the Trans Am Challengers, and they easily would be ready.As Chrysler downsized their racing support, Caldwell picked up a used ramp-back hauler, similar to those used by the factory Nascar teams.Circumstances wouldn’t allow the truck to be painted to match the Superbird.Politics caught Ray Caldwell out again as Nascar implemented rules for the 1971 season that would place a severe weight penalty on the Mopar “aero cars” if they ran the 426 cubic inch Hemi.Even with an inventory of a dozen Keith Black Trans Am 305 cubic inch engines, their questionable reliability was sufficient to scuttle the planned Nascar program.The car never saw the light of day.Until now.This is my fantasy version of what an Autodynamics Nascar Plymouth Superbird could have looked like.This is a repaint of the Ertl/American Muscle ToysRUs Superbird model, with nose and tail from another Ertl/American Muscle Subline Green Superbird.The decals are a mixture of an old Pattos Place Challenger set, with some Plymouth’s and some Nascar contingency decals from my spares inventory.Here are some photos from the build.I originally thought about swapping the body from the factory green one to the chassis of the race version, but the more I looked (and worked) at it, the less convinced I was that was a good idea.Even though they appear to be based on the same basic molds, there was enough of a difference to make me change course.So I harvested the nose and rear wing off the green one, and grafted them onto the race body. Sold the green one on eBay as a "barn find".I then had my stripper take the paint off the race version, primed it, and painted it with OEM Sublime Green, with two layers of clear. IMG_3758 by Jim Forte, on FlickrIMG_3842 by Jim Forte, on FlickrThen added the decals.

Following the creation of a cardstock template, and then two or three prototypes in the self-adhesive aluminum sheet, we're making progress.I agreed with the idea that it needed to be painted. To make sure that I accommodated the countouring, I bent the cover first over the body, but didn't remove the adhesive back.From the cardstock template, I also located the holes for the "snaps", so that I could pre-drill both the cover and the body.The bad news is that when you are working with diecast models, the manufacturing process is not necessarily your best friend. The molding/casting process requires thickened areas, as opposed to (no offense to the majority of you guys) plastic or resin, where the thickness is pretty consistent throughout.However, I have a solution, so I have pre-drilled all the holes. You will see in some of the following pictures that some go all the way through, where others are into very dense areas of diecast.To support the tonneau cover at the front, I fabricated and installed a piece of styrene angle, to ensure that the front of the cover didn't droop.Here's a detail of a sewing pin that I have cut to length, and inserted through the cover into a pre-drilled hole. In this case, the hole goes all the way through, so I will cut off the excess from the inside of the body. For those that don't penetrate, I will need to cut them to the precise depth of the pre-drilled hole.Once I have all the pins cut to length, I will remove the protective cover, and expose the self-adhesive and fully install.

Or . . .I went looking for some thinner styrene, since the current one is almost 1/16" thick. Then I found some of the resources I have on my shelves from prior builds.Now whether I paint it, or leave it natural.

Getting back on this one after a hiatus of sorts.After I mocked up the tonneau cover, I had to figure out both a way to install it, and how to replicate how they were installed on the real racers.You can see from these pictures (of which there are few in sufficient detail), it looks like they may have attached them with snap-type fasteners.I searched all over for something I could use. I thought about photoetch, but couldn't find anything in 1/18 scale, plus attaching them was going to be a PITA.Then, one night, it hit me! Sewing pins!So, I drilled a pattern of holes in a final cover, and since my workbench also doubles as a bar stool, I proceeded to use it as a pin cushion.The question then becomes how to install the cover onto the car. The convertible top is attached to the model with two screws.So, in lieu of drilling a couple dozen little bitty holes for the pins, I'm fabricating a mounting plate that I will glue to the tonneau cover, and use shortened screws to attach.My plan is to then paint it Gloss Black and stick the pins through, hoping they will be captured by the paint. Then turn it over and trim the ends of the pins flush. Then I can get back to the body/chassis mounting.

Just watched the three videos. I am speechless! Absolutely amazing. Congratulations!

Thanks! I was pretty pleased with the outcome.

Gonna call this a wrap.Glued in a thick piece of styrene sheet behind the door location, hopefully to give me the ability to cut in the separations of the door panels.Then affixed the hinges and latches, and added the painted roof panel.All in all, I'm reasonably pleased with the outcome. Thought I'd pose it with an AutoArt 2001 Nissan Skyline GTR (R34) Test Car from the JGTC Series. I had created a semi-diorama with this model several years ago by cutting up another one (they are sealed with no opening parts) to create some spare body panels, while also salvaging the wheels and tires.Enjoy!

Black paint on the box really changes the scaling. I like it!Here's the hinges and latches against the gloss black.Still trying to figure out how to make the cut lines.Roof gets painted tomorrow.

Got the box done.rWhile I was waiting on some glue to dry, worked a little bit on the chassis. Created a custom driveshaft. Also blacked out the cast-in exhaust system from the ACME ramper chassis.Looking at colors for the box. I have this paint in stock.Probably going to do the box in Gloss Black with an aluminum roof.Still trying to figure out how to cut in the doors.

Points of reference here: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1974-mercury-montego/

So, put down a couple of other projects, waiting for parts, etc., and picked this one back up.The goal is to create a cargo box to go into the void between the cab and the ramp body.I got all the styrene sheet cut, and bought these cool magnetic clamps.Once I get the styrene sheet and an exterior styrene angle in place, I run a bead of SuperGlue Gel down the inside to "weld" the pieces together.Not too worried about what it looks like on the inside, but the outside really looks nice.A test fit, to get an idea of scaling.Picked up some diecast hinges and latches years ago, and this is the perfect time to put them to use.Once I get all four walls and a roof glued in place, I'll paint the box and install the hardware.Stay Tuned!

So, one step forward and two steps back! Well, my piece of brass angle just didn't want to stay in place, so I drilled a couple of 3/32" holes and pinned it in place with a couple of #00-90 brass machine screws.Plus, as you can also see in these pictures, the plastic angle holding the front of the engine hoop interfered with the bumper, so I had to cut it back quite a bit.However, now the bumper fits.But the hood doesn't, as the heads of the screws hold it up too high.So, me and Dr. Dremel went to work. First, I tried to relieve the area right above the screw heads with an 1/8" drill bit, but that didn't work, so got out a cutting wheel and went to work.That's got me close, but still a little bit more needs to be shaved off. Stay Tuned!

So I am back on this one, as the Camaro project rests in pieces.I have been working on getting the front roll cage hoop modified to allow the body to sit correctly on the chassis.I added an extension to the nose of the chassis, made out of a piece of styrene angle.Then I fabricated some connectors out of aluminum tubing to stabilize the mounting points.Here's the hoop mounted to the chassis (temporarily). Once we go final, all the aluminum will be gloss black to match the chassis.Had to relocate the radiator filler neck. Here's how it looked before, and after. So I thought I was in pretty good shape, until I sat the body back down on the chassis. With the front hoop installed, it just doesn't want to fit right. There is interference between the hoop and the diecast radiator bulkhead. As you can see from this set of pictures, it was like the Tall Man from Cornwall.https://www.youtube....h?v=omkPQGeEnqw So the bulkhead had to go!And now, without it, the body sits way too low.So I fabricated a hanger out of brass angle.And thar she sits!Decals shipped today, so going to wait on anything else until they get here.

Thanks for the comment, and insight. When we were racing, bodywork wasn't my specialty, and I think it has carried over into my model making. I have looked into sourcing some pre-made flares, and still may do that. Have you checked my other 1/18 diecast customs? I've got a couple more in the WIP forums.

Ran them that way so that if the engine stopped, the fuel pump stopped.

Had some new energy and inspiration, so tried to forge ahead yesterday.Here's where we are in pictures.Going to sit on this one for a few days (weeks), and let it sink in. Still not sure I like the halo bars.Also need to focus on a couple of other projects.However, stay tuned!

Okay, so had a couple of days to work on this one.First, found a DIY video on YouTube about how to make a mount for a Dremel. Involves attaching a joist hanger to a board, and drilling a 3/4 inch hole in the joist hanger. Very ingeneous.With the Dremel stationary, very easy to fishmouth a piece of tubing.So I set about reconstructing the cage. I cut out all the old roll hoop crossbracing, except for the piece holding the shoulder belts, and built a new single crossbrace. These are the first halo bars I formed up (at the front of the car) and the original plastic side protection pieces (which I intend to still use). This is the tubing I will be using. Need to stabilize the roll hoop, so going to bring a bar from the middle of it to the passenger front foot well. And then there will be one rear brace on each side, from the main hoop to the rear spring perch. Then let's check some body fit, just to make sure. So far, so good.Going to build the second rear brace today, and go back and revisit the halo, now that I have a little bit more confidence.Thanks for your support and encouragement!

So this one is finally about to tax my abilities, as well as patience.Wish I could chalk this one up to a "lemons/lemonade" scenario.Got the chassis all together, including regluing all the cage bars, and the firewall. Loose fit had appeared that everything was going to be close but acceptable.Well, when I dropped the body back down onto the completed rolling chassis, all the tolerances went in the same direction.The original roll cage, starting with the roll hoop itself, are way too tall. I ended up taking all this off the car. With these bars out of the way, I began measuring how much room I actually do have, and got out some 1/8 inch thin wall aluminum tubing, and my handy-dandy trusty tubing bender (we used it to create the stainless steel hard lines for the real race cars), and started cyphering.Got the width of the main hoop on the first shot, which was encouraging. Then started on the halo bars, and did an A-pillar cross roof bar, and that's where we sit.At least the body does now sit down properly on the chassis, but I have a lot of work to do.The first issue I can into was notching tubing that small to get it to fit together. Back in the old days, we had a "fishmouth" cutter/tubing notcher.Going to build a stand for my Dremel to hold it steady. Trying to notch tubing with a tube in one hand and Dremel in the other was less than successful.Second issue will be compound curves to get the tubes to follow the contour of the roof and A-pillars.Thanks for hanging in with me, hoping I can.

Rough first pass - tonneau cover

Been looking at this one on my bench for too long, so thought I would concentrate on it for a few days. One issue to deal with is that the body donor chassis has front inner fenders and the chassis donor chassis does not. When you set one upon the other, you see the gap. However, the donor Superbird chassis does have a front roll cage bar around the engine compartment. However, it makes the body sit too high, as the only place it supports is in front of the radiator. If you remove it, the body sits way too low, and we start getting into our clearance problems with the hood. My solution was to remove the front hoop, and make it adjustable. I added aluminum extensions to the hoop supports, and placed pins in the chassis locations. This way I can adjust the height and get the body rake correct. For ease of construction, I have used a similar pin and hole attachment for the firewall. Previously it was glued in, now it is removable. I will permanently install it at the final. Next I will take up creating a tonneau cover for the rear of the cockpit.

So, real paint brings out the flaws, and the hood really shows it. Was working up some details on the engine compartment, and since the hood will be stripped before I go to a final, thought I'd put a gloss black coat on it for shits and giggles. Picked up some other details along the way, still not complete, but "Casey Jones you better watch your speed"! Had to shorten the exhaust headers the same length as the chassis, built a couple of aluminum couplers to make them match. More soon, getting close.

Taking a pause, stepping back and seeing what we have. Put all the components together that can be. Only got to figure out how to get these pieces installed. Stay Tuned!

JB Weld - Phase II Pictures tell the story. Needs a little more work, but close.

So I took courage (and Dremel) in hand, and launched off on a hood build. Here it is after it had been cut and blended back together. I forgot to take a picture before I starting to JB Weld them back together, but here's a picture of what is left of the other two hoods, compared to the new one. So what I do is tape the pieces together, and then lay in a layer of JB Weld. I inserted a wooden toothpick to give me what I thought would be a good angle. Test fit on the car (I'll lay in another coat of JB Weld on the outside to blend everything together). Got the replacement Solar seat installed, as well. Here's a comparison of the stock GMP seat and Swede70's custom resin Solar seat. Swapped the seat belts from the GMP to the Solar, and plugged it back into the chassis.