Custom Mike

Incredible...no, not good enough...Stupendous...nah, still not enough...I give up! Randy, it's just beyond words, you're creating an epic work of art!

Gorgeous, simply gorgeous!

Any NASCAR kit I have ever tried to build has blown up in my face...I finally caved in and stopped trying years ago!

Yeah, it does look like the foil from a electric razor, doesn't it? I'll be right back, gotta get a quick shave with my SuperDuster!

Marshall, it'll have the full-size Superbird wing on it, which I don't agree with myself. The Duster trunk in angled downward, and the Road Runner the Superbirds were based on had a flat trunk, so it leans backwards, and sticks way up over the roof. But it's what Sam wants, so I did it his way. I'm doing a second one for another buddy over on Scale Avenue, with the stipulation that I could do it the way I wanted, which includes getting the wing to look right on the Duster body. I'll post a WIP on it when I get started so you can see how the body work is done, hopefully I can get to it sometime this spring or early summer, we'll see!

Maik, that is some incredible work! I looked as hard as I could at the completed pictures, and could not see a sign of all the bodywork, very impressive!

Great start Bernard, that color is sweet too, I've gotta get some of it, do you have the number to go along with the name? Drilling out the interior panels is a nice touch, and the old bomber style seats should look right at home along side those panels!

It looks great James, the color looks really good on it, and so do the decals! The only problem I see is the sides of the grilles, The area at the edges just look slightly off, and I can't put my finger on how to make it look better. Maybe some flat black in those holes would help give it a bit more depth, I don't really know for sure. Oh, and put some flat black inside the exhaust tips, they'll look much better! I've got one of these kits too, and look forward to getting mine built.

Ira, it looks great! I just want to see that exhaust in place, you've gotta find a way to get flames shooting out if it too!

Excellent shine on that blue...and great work on the foil so far!

That is going to be one killer exhaust Ira! The scallop on the rear really helps too, it looks much better!

Cool, I'll be watching for it, you'll get started in what, five minutes or so?

The biggest problem on the '68 is a nasty mold line (Actually it's the remains of the '69's vinyl top) on each side of the B-pillars, but it can be sanded off easily, just go slow. Good to know the Challenger's a nice one too, I've gotta get one, I built the AMT one, but it's basically a promo, no real detail to speak of, and weird rubber seats...

Tomo, don't worry about meeting anyone's standards, just enjoy the build! And the idea for the panoramic back window sounds great, you might want to find a sheet of clear acetate for it though, it'll be easier to work with probably!

Derrick, you'll find that '68 Charger is one sweet kit, I'm not sure about the Challenger, but being that it's a new too, I'll bet it's just as good as the Charger!

Tom, you've won an all-expenses paid trip to....your house! Wait, the judges have just informed me that your first answer is only partially correct, it's a Torino Talledega. You have been awarded a consolation prize though, an 8-hour shift at your local McDonald's making the fries! You are correct though, the Mustang is the only one with BMF. The Talledega has a strip of Detail Master Krome Foil between the tail lights, because the aluminum foil just wouldn't conform to the center badge properly. The Cutlass is 100% aluminum foil, to include the locks, door handles and side marker lights! Ken, the yellow lines are a reflective (Just like a real road) strip that came on the pieces of Stair Anti-Skid I bought at Lowe's to make this. It's an inch from the edge, so you have to cut carefully to get the lines spaced evenly. I cut a piece of 1/8" plywood, some 1" x 2"'s, nailed it all together, the carefully laid the Anti-Skid down. It's gotta be just right, because once you put pressure on this stuff, it's stuck in that spot. Once it was all done, I added some Railroad Ballast to the edges to simulate a shoulder, and then hit the "asphalt" section with some Flat Black to knock down it's shine. It allows me to take some pretty convincing pictures once the camera is set right, making it hard to tell at times if it's real or a model!

Roger, this is being built to it's owners specs, he sent all the parts I was allowed to use, and no exceptions were made except for the front tires and valve covers. I did the bodywork on this back in 2007, sent it off to him, and he never got around to building it, he just gathered the parts and boxed it up. I considered it the best bodywork I had ever done, and bugged Sam until he sent it back to me to build. I wanted headers and straight exhaust, a modified wing, and a few other things, Sam wanted this, so this is what Sam gets!

You got that right Christoper, and I like swinging that BFH around sometimes, it helps to ease the frustration!

James, I learned about using Aluminum Foil back when I was building aricraft (I used it on a 1/72nd B-36, that was fun!) and once I got back into cars, I started using it, even before I had heard of BMF. I use it often, and it works as well or better than BMF in most cases, You need a bottle of Microscale Metal Foil Adhesive, and the cheapest Aluminum Foil you can find, becuase the cheaper it is, the thinner it is! The only change to the way Microscale says to apply the adhesive is you paint it on the trim, not on the foil as they suggest, it just works better that way for us car guys. You can't use it for scripts very well, but window and side trim is very easy with it. Here's some examples of models I've done with Aluminum Foil and Metal Foil Adhesive, see if you can tell the difference!

Thanks John, I'm trying to catch up to ya, but you just won't slow down long enough!

And the last update for tonight, I promise!. At this point I still haven't tried fitting the firewall in place, so that may cause more issues, we'll see what happens when I get there, hopefully it goes smoothly. I had to abandon the steering shaft and box, they just won't fit around the exhaust either. But it wasn't all bad, I got started on the glass, redoing the window foil, and did a quick mock-up again to see how it all looked, so far it's looking good as long as you don't dig around in the engine compartment! The side windows had some small holes drilled in them, and a pair of straight pins installed to simulate the window opening latch, then a bit of foil was applied. And the mock-up, I like the way she sits now!

And the last update for tonight, I promise you can have the thread back now guys. At this point I still haven't tried fitting the firewall in place, so that may cause more issues, we'll see what happens when I get there, hopefully it goes smoothly. I had to abandon the steering shaft and box, they just won't fit around the exhaust either. But it wasn't all bad, I got started on the glass, redoing the window foil, and did a quick mock-up again to see how it all looked, so far it's looking good as long as you don't dig around in the engine compartment! The side windows had some small holes drilled in them, and a pair of straight pins installed to simulate the window opening latch, then a bit of foil was applied. And the mock-up, I like the way she sits now!

Here's another headache, this one's related to the engine too, the exhaust manifolds are just way too wide for the inner fenderwells of this kit, so I had to do some serious work to get the engine in place without damaging the body or paint. I started by cutting out the sections of the fenderwells that were the biggest part blocking the exhausts... That still wasn't enough, so I sanded on the remaining part that was in the way, thinning it by half it's original width. The left side is where I stopped, then I matched the right side to it... A shot from above, now the right side is the one to match, I sanded it down until I got to the dimple for the shock mount... A quick test-fitting shows I still have some more to remove.... And here's where I stopped on it last night, it fits with just a slight gap around the exhaust.

Here's another headache, this one's related to the engine too, the exhaust manifolds are just way too wide for the inner fenderwells of this kit, so I had to do some serious work to get the engine in place without damaging the body or paint. I started by cutting out the sections of the fenderwells that were the biggest part blocking the exhausts... That still wasn't enough, so I sanded on the remaining part that was in the way, thinning it by half it's original width. The left side is where I stopped, then I matched the right side to it... A shot from above, now the right side is the one to match, I sanded it down until I got to the dimple for the shock mount... A quick test-fitting shows I still have some more to remove.... And here's where I stopped on it last night, it fits with just a slight gap around the exhaust.

Now onto a couple of things that went right. I got the fuel line connected to the fuel pump with ease, and made a new upper radiator hose from 18 Gauge wire and got it installed! I also got the grille made up and installed in the nose!