Custom Mike

I fit comes out looking good (I'm going to try to clean the underside up a bit more before I paint and polish it), I may put 'em up for sale if Kevin doesn't want to. I'd just be happy to know that something I did was available to everyone, I'm definitely not doing this for the money! I just want to see a good part available for the next guy that tries this.

I did that about 5 times Charlie, I tried it first by puncturing them and dropping some Ambroid in them, then the putty. The problem was they kept popping up in different areas. So I just gave up and figured it would be easier to fix once it's in resin. And yes, it's Kevin, he's a really great guy, and one of the very best resin casters out there. He has an interior for the '68 Satellite that I bought (Too bad it didn't match the one Jay had in his car), and it's just incredibly well done. I bought some other stuff for a build of my old 1:1 '72 Charger, and a few other items. I asked him about casting this, and he said he would. Then a buddy of mine from Scale Avenue said once Kevin sent me the cast hood, he'd make me a good mold to use in the future. So I've got some great people out there helping me out on this, looks like I've got some favors to cover! Maybe if it all comes out looking good, you'll be able to buy a good '68 Satellite hood in the near future!

Thanks for bringing this one back Chuck, I'd never seen it before! I'd go with the '50 dash myself, but it's your build, go with what gets you going!

You're right Terry, but I wanted to take the easy way out. I've got three projects waiting behind this one, so I tried to make it easier on myself. I should have done it myself first, next time I will!

And now onto the trouble spots...grrrrrr! These two areas keep getting tiny bubbles. I believe they're areas of the sheet styrene that didn't get fully glued down. As I've been blending the sheet styrene into the hood, they've popped up repeatedly... The underside is not perfect, but it's much better than the resin hood I bought. Adding more putty is not going to happen, since there is a thick blanket of hood insulation that will cover all the small flaws. Besides, I've got to get this cast and back before a contest in Fayetteville, NC on November 5th! It looks perfect from this angle, but it's not... Here you can see the "bubbles" I was talking about in the first pic. I've decided to have it cast as-is, then sand the bubbles out on the resin hood. Then I'll send one of the repaired resin hoods off to Tim to make a new mold from, fixing the bubble issue permanently! Now I just need to find out how Kevin wants it finished before I send it off for it's first casting. Total time so far: 10 hours, 45 minutes.

Thanks guys, it's coming along very nicely, I should have done it myself to start with. I'm at the point where I ask Kevin how he wants it finished for casting, so these will be the last two updates until I get it back from him (And send one off to Tim over at Scale avenue so he can make a mold for me!), so enjoy! Oh, and I'm still waiting on my Photo-Etch GTX set from Detail Master (It has Satellite scripts in it!) too, so I don't know when I'll get this one done now... A bit of putty added to make the transition between the hood and the sheet styrene a little smoother... Almost ready to throw some primer on and see how it all looks! The underside all cleaned up too, looks like we're ready for that primer now! Not too shabby! I've got a few trouble spots you'll see in the next couple of pics, but it's looking really good so far! Much better than the warped resin one I had, for sure!

Allen, this is one of the nicest Batmobiles I've ever seen, even if it is a snap-together, great work! You've made me want to buy one now, Mike at my LHS will be very pleased with you! Jacen, since you've given such good advice, I'll give you some. Micro-Scale Metal Foil Adhesive is an excellent alternative to BMF. Get a bottle, and buy the cheapest, no-name aluminum foil you can find (It's thinner than the brand-name stuff!). There is a modification to the instructions on the bottle though. Instead of applying the adhesive to the foil as they suggest, paint it onto the trim you need foiled. Let it set for a few minutes to "tack", then lay your foil down and burnish it as usual. Once it's trimmed, polish the foil with your polish of choice (I use Mequiar's #7 Show Car Glaze), and you'll have great foil trim cheaply. I've got a few models with this on them, and they've held up for over a decade with no peeling!

Rommel, those boxes are just beautiful, as is the rest of this build. When I grow up, I wanna be just like you!

And now onto the part I've been dreading, adding the stamping to the top of this hood. I took a slightly different route, nothing unusual for me, right? But there is a reason for it, read on and be enlightened! I decided to add some .010" sheet styrene to the top of the hood. There were two reasons for this, the first was to give me something to carve into that was a bit softer than the existing plastic. The second was when I clamped the hood to my tubing bender, I flattened it out, so the back of the hood was lower in the opening than the front. Yeah, this will make it a bit more difficult to smooth out, but I think I can pull it off....I hope! The Satellite detail has been carved into the sheet styrene with my Trumpeter panel scriber (If you don't have one of these gems, get one, you won't regret it!). Now to deepen and widen them a bit... The lines have been deepened and widened using a bent riffer file first, then some 220 grit sandpaper folded in half. I need to deepen the peak at the front of the hood a bit more, but the rest is perfect. You can also see where I blended the sheet styrene into the hood. A lot of work with the sanding sticks and sand paper, but so far, it's coming along nicely! And here it is in place on the model. We'll see how good it looks once I sand a bit more and throw some primer on it. Total time so far: 7 hours, 15 minutes

Thanks guys, I'm happy with how well this is going so far! Time for more updates. My internet connection has been flaky the last two-three days, so I'll try to get these in before it goes away again! I took a few days off from this, but now we're back at it, and the hood is now flat... I added some .010" strip styrene to the cutout in the back side of the hood, a bit of Ambroid Pro-Weld and we're good! Once the glue dried, I carved the excess strip with the good 'ol X-Acto knife. I'll let this sit for 24 hours or so to cure, then we'll finish of the underside of this hood!

Jeff, that Fairlane script looks great, I'll try that on my next one of these! Much cheaper than a Keith Marks decal set to be sure!

Jim, I was going to ask the same thing, where do you get that suede? And you've gotta let us know how you do the wood grain, that looks really good!

Thanks for the offer Rodney, but I've got two more of my own just in case this one doesn't work out! Now onto flattening out the passenger side. Once this side is done, I get to add the detail onto the top of the hood. I still haven't figured out how that's going to happen, but I'll come up with something! The passenger side bulge has been cut loose and pressed into the bottom side. A bit of Ambroid Pro-Weld makes it all stick together nicely! A shot from the topside before the filler was added... And a quick shot of the passenger side, smooth baby, smooth! Putty applied, now we wait until tomorrow. Total time so far: 4 hours, 45 minutes

Gus, I've always found a strange way of doing things, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. This time it worked fine, but I had two other hoods waiting just in case! John, Tonio, thanks for the compliments, nice to know I'm doing something people enjoy watching! Now onto tonight's work, I got my piece of styrene added to the lower edge of the hood. I need to do a bit of reshaping on the driver's side, but it's a big improvement over the original kit piece. My new strip of styrene added to the front edge of the hood, now to see how it fits... Much better than it was before, but I need to reshape the hood on the driver's side near the inner headlight a bit. The new piece trimmed up to fit the edge of the hood, a bit of sanding to make it all look good and this part will be done. The new filler piece sanded to match, this is a major improvement! I also got my under-hood detail added back in, a bit more work and it'll be all set!

Beautiful work David, thanks for giving a great review! I should have mine in my hands in another week or so!

And onto the work I did today, so far, it's been very simple to do...I know, famous last words, right? The bottom is roughed-in, just a bit of filler for the ejector-pin marks, and a bit where the scoop was pushed down into the underside. So far, so good! The flattened top side. A bit of filler was added, and it's been sanded down smooth. Now to get the underside finished off and do the passenger side to match. A quick shot to show the new, flat side of the hood. I decided I'm going to add a small strip of styrene to the front edge also, since this hood doesn't quite fit down onto the grille in the first place. If I'm gonna do this, I might as well correct all the flaws from the original hood, right? Smooth, just like it should be! Total time spent so far: 2 hours, 45 minutes.

Alright let's get to work on a hood. I'm going to keep track of how log this takes me, just to see if I can do it in 7 1/2 hours or less. I figure I spent that much time on the crappy one I had, I'm willing to bet I can do this in at least that much time. Yeah, I'm kinda nuts, but hey, you're playing with plastic cars too, so what does that say about you? I started out with a hood I used to test the Wal-Mart paint on for compatibility. I figured it needed sanding anyhow, so it would be the perfect subject. I took my Trumpeter panel scriber and carefully scribed around the driver's side hood bulge first... This was slow and deliberate, I want to break the bulge free and push it flat. The reason for this is to remove the dip in the back side of the hood. It should make it easier to preserve as much of the under-hood detail as possible, and make it resemble a flat hood all at the same time. The bulge has been flattened as much as is possible without sanding, now to check the underside... Not too bad, some fine sanding and filing should get this to look like a stock hood with ease. I clamped the hood to my tubing bender, then applied some Ambroid Pro-Weld to the cut area. I left it like this for 12 hours to insure it was glued down solidly. Total time spent so far: 35 minutes

I agree Don, interiors can really kick a build up a notch or ten! I've done everything so far with mine but seat belts (Just been too lazy to try 'em yet!), but I'll do some soon! Here's a few pics of interiors I've done over the years... Revell's Acura RSX And installed in the model. AMT's 1967 Impala SS427, nothing but paint and a bit of foil! And Revell's Shelby GT500KR... And installed in the body, looks pretty good!

John, as usual, you're blowing me away. A few quick questions though, what gauge is the wiring from the alternator and on the firewall, and where did you get the foam for the ram-air seals from?

Stunning work Cesar, the detailing under the hood is beautiful! What gauge/size is the wire you used for the sensors? I can't find anything that small around here, I'd love to get my hands on some!

Charlie, none of those casters makes one unfortunately. If Kevin over at Missing Link had one, I'd buy it without needing to see it at all, his stuff is incredibly good. As far as warming it, I tried to get it out using that method...four times. It comes back every time. So now I'm making my own, let's see how well this works out!

Bill, I'm waiting very patiently....######, I want to see this baby painted now!

OK, here's where I complain about this crappy hood some more. After doing an additional 7+ hours of work to get this thing to look decent and fit well, it's now got a warp in it. I thought maybe it was caused by the chassis, so I double-checked it with the hood from Teri's '69 Road Runner. Nope, it's the stinking hood. Does anyone know of someone who makes a '68 Satellite hood that can vouch for it's quality?

These shots are just to show how far I've come in the last nearly 10 years when it comes to detailing. The red Road Runner was built as a replica of one of my Mom's friend's cars. Teri had a bare-bones '69 Road Runner we used to ride around in, and I built it for her, but lost track of her, so I've still got it, waiting for her address. Night and day, this is what happens when you stick with something and have some great people around to push your skills to another level!

And here she is, about 90% complete. Still need to make some tailpipes at this point, and the resin hood has some more issues, but we'll get to that in a minute...