Custom Mike

John, first, awesome work! The engine, chassis and interior are all perfect compliments to that beautiful body. Second, what are you using for the chrome? Is it Alclad, or did you have all that stuff plated?

I'm small and sneaky...never underestimate the sneaky!

Is this what you're trying to post?

Beautiful work, as usual for your builds! If you guys haven't seen his Fotki page yet, spend a half hour or more drooling over his work, it's all great stuff!

Great work on one of my Grail kits! I like the "Non-Machine" color scheme too! I'm with the rest of you, if Revell (Are you listening guys?) would tool one of these, a 73 Javelin, and a few other supposed "oddball" AMC Kits I'd be in line for a case of 'em too! The E-Bay prices for these old Jo-Hans are ridiculously high,l considering the lack of detail and all the clean-up just to get a decent build out of one!

John, this is just plain sick! I love what you've got so far, what kind of motor have you got in mind? And yes, I'm definitely interested in more!

I'm with Rommel, finish it off as-is. That problem is the reason I use either Dupli-Color , U-POL, or DuPont Nason Clears. The Dupli-Color and U-POL are available in rattle-cans, and the DuPont Nason is a 2-part Urethane which needs to be airbrushed. But none of the three will "yellow" on you, so they're worth it. I do the same thing for any White paints, automotive paints only. Clear and White Model paints always yellow over time....

Bryce, I'm with Luc, how did you get the tail light panel so clean? That is some awesome work, throw in the brake scoops and I'm thoroughly impressed! This is one Killer B, take a bow!

I'm speechless Peter, this is just unreal workmanship man. I'm patiently waiting for my next fix.......

Mark, I have this same kit, and was very confused until reading your post. I knew the front end looked right, but the tail lights were off to me. Thanks for clearing that up, time to check the Modelhaus for some resin fix-ups!

I voted Real, because those door seals look too good for a Model. That is, unless Alex Kustov got his hands on an 1/8th scale Ferrari......

I'll drop you a PM with the e-mail, I'm sure Shiryl will make it right!

Definitely a case of "To each his own", because I can't stand BMF, it's too thick compared to Detail Master's foil, and it never sticks consistently. Contact Shiryl, I'm sure she'll make it good for ya!

Lee, you had to have gotten a bad sheet of the Detail Master Krome Foil, I've always found it to be thinner than just about everything else available, to the point where if I'm not careful, I tear it to pieces. And I've never had an issue with the glue either, you sure it's not a sheet of BMF masquerading as Detail Master?

Thanks Marc, this one and my '66 Fairlane are my two favorite non-custom builds. It's kind of strange, an AMC/Mopar nut who likes two Fords. I may be slipping in my old age!

Skip, I hired a couple of 1/25th Scale Cops to block the road just for me, only had to give 'em a single Krispy Kreme doughnut for their help, you should have seen them attack that baby!!

Brian, I bought two pieces of stair Anti-Skid tape from Lowe's, it came with a reflective yellow line at one edge. I trimmed it up so the two yellow lines were far enough apart to simulate the lines on a road. Then I grabbed a piece of plywood and some 1"x2"s and started building. I applied the tape carefully (Those things are STICKY!!!), and added the 1"x2's to the bottom to stiffen the whole thing. Then I added some Model Railroad ballast at the edges of the road to simulate the shoulder, and called it good. I'm too old to be laying in the dirt to get shots like this!

Thanks guys, now's where we put a lid on this one. Thanks to everyone who either viewed or commented on this build, I really enjoyed taking Hemi's beautiful paint and making one cool looking 'Dega with it. This baby's posted in the Under Glass section now, click on the link below to see it! 1969 Torino Talladega Resto-Mod

Here's Revell's 1969 Torino Talladega kit, built as part of another site's Forum Project, a body swap. Two members are paired up, and they select a kit and paint the body, then send it to their partner. I was paired up with Hemi, and he painted this baby up with a beautiful three-tone color scheme, threw in some killer Aoshima rims, and quite a few more goodies just because that's the kind of guy he is. So I decided I had to go all out on this. It's got a complete braking system, from master cylinder all the way to each rim, a fuel line from the gas tank to the carburetor, battery cables run to the starter and grounded to the frame, spark plug wiring, a turned aluminum distributor and coil, photo-etched wire looms, door locks, door lock knobs on each door, flocking, and an interior painted in the same colors as the body. Throw in my standard for disc brake rotors (Pegasus Hobbies, love those things!), aluminum foil for the back window and drip-rail molding, and some Detail Master Krome Foil (Thanks again Shiryl!) for the windshield, tail light panel and trunk trim and we've got one sweet ride! Thanks to everyone who followed this one here, I really appreciate the comments! Enjoy the pics, and go check out Hemi's half of the project by clicking on the link below, he got a three-tone 1970 Torino Cobra that he did an incredible job on, and for more pics of this one, follow the second link to my Fotki site! Hemi's 1970 Torino Cobra My 1969 Torino Talladega

Thanks Craig, I wish I could do this on every build, but it does wear you down, I've done two like this lately, and it'll be a while before I do another. I said I'd be done soon, and for once, I was right! She's done, here's a couple of teaser shots to hold you over until I get some sunlight pics! Thanks to everyone who followed this one, I really enjoyed it, and a big thanks to Hemi for the great paint! And this pics is just to show off the gorgeous Black paint Hemi provided me with.....start drooling!

And my final pair of pics for tonight, the battery cables are in place, and my brake lines have been ran up to the master cylinder, completing the engine compartment except for my my fan shroud decal and upper radiator hose. The little booger of a hose vanished on me, so I've got to either find it, or break out some 18 gauge wire....

OK, now for some more progress, my windshield is in, the interior is in place, and the body and chassis are now together. Throw the grille/bumper assembly into the mix, and we're nearing the finish line pretty quickly. Here's tonight's pics, the first one shows where Hemi "signed" the body after he painted it, it's the last time it'll ever be seen!

Dave I spotted that in the pics, but wasn't paying attention, kind of the whole "Can't see the forest for the trees thing" at this point, but thanks for pointing it out, they've been corrected. I don't mind someone pointing things like that out while I'm building, I get focused on certain areas, and always forget some minor detail like that.....D'oh!

And the last update for now. I completed the interior by adding my door locks, and glued my tail light panel in place. Lock cylinders from my '67 Charger PE fret were added to the doors and tail light panel, then some 30 gauge wire was added to the side mirrors to pin them in place on the doors. I should be able to get the windshield glued in tomorrow night, and hopefully wrap this baby up before Friday!

Now the fun really begins, I dug out some 1/87th scale bolts I bought for some reason, and cut one loose. A few minutes of holding my breath allowed me to get that tiny bolt in the strap, and a drop of superglue held it together. I drilled a hole in the cylinder head for my bolt, a little more superglue, and it was in place. Lastly, the coil wire was dropped in place, and the chassis is now 100% competed!