MarkJ

I found a photo of the car at the rebel race in the spring and the fairing appears to be body color gold, so it was probably still gold by the time they got to September.

Added some material to the front of the build to shore up some gaps here and there and finished the fairing at the quarter glasses. I can't tell if the fairing is raw aluminum or body color gold. Thats the trouble with captured you tube video photos. The colors get washed out a bit.

I had to add some tubing to the top of the tubes on the front of the body where the pins on the chassis slide in to attach the body to the frame. The kit comes with very short tubes that will not fit the front bumper when trying to attach body, bumper, and frame together. I then did a total mockup to see if everything will fit well when I try to assemble this model together. i need to finish the fairing at the quarter glass area and work some more on grille to body and hood to body fit before I can start painting. I have decided that I need to prime at least the body before painting.

Started adding fairing at the front of the sail panels to keep air from getting in and causing the back glass to act as a parachute so to speak. A lot of Nascar racers did this to make the cars more aerodynamic. Also added the rear spoiler.

Dave, from what you started with you have done a magnificent job of cleaning up. A lot of people would not know you started with a 3d printed build.

Glad you conquered it, Bruce. Looks awesome. When will we see this excellent build in the showroom? That small version of Dan adds so much to the build.

Bruce, looks like you did a great job on the foil. How did you get it to stick?

Thanks, Kevin. It's still not quite right but I need to move on and not make this into another Camaro build. At least the hood seals to grille. Thanks, Carl. I always wanted a 70 through 72 Monte Carlo with a 454 back then, used of course. I found a 70 in north Houston and as I was driving up to the guys house, I see it pulling away. I stopped and the guy told me he had just sold it. I can't remember what the selling price was, but I was prepared to go higher with the cash I had on me. I ended up later buying a brand new 78 Monte Carlo which was a total dud of a car. It was the first year of the downsized version. Had a 305 in it and so much pollution equipment on it, it could hardly get out of its own way. We were actually buying it for my wife to drive. I had a 76 Laguna S-3 with a 350 2 barrel carb which was also a dud. But it looked real racy because that was what they used in Nascar back then till Nascar outlawed it because of the aero dynamic nose. Then GM drivers switched to The Olds Cutlass and the big Monte Carlo.

Thats it? You'd think there would be many more. You almost have that many that you have scratch built. I'm guessing "Sports Car Graphic" but have no idea what issue. Sometime after that car won the Indy 500. 1965, maybe?

Simply WOW, Chris. This build is so perfect it's blowing my mind. How do you make it so clean and perfect? Is that a decal on the nose or did you paint it? Either way it's perfect.

Wow, that's some extreme close-up shots you have there, John. No way I could work with parts that small.

Thank you so much, John. It just bugs me when a kit could be engineered correctly, and it doesn't get done by the model maker. Thanks again.

I just had to add some very small amounts of putty to the front of the hood and I think I will be through with the front of the build. now it's on to the fairing around the front of the sail panels and adding the rear spoiler in the correct location. After that I can think about painting again.

Thanks, Donato. It's been dicey getting the hood to seal against the grille, but I think I finally have it the best I can get it with what I'm working with. I'm going to do a complete mockup with body frame and tub just to make sure it's all going to go together correctly. I'm glad to see the spell check is working again.

The outer outline of the grille is not chrome so the white I added will be the same color as the outline material which will be aluminum. Will dark wash the grille to fill in the background and make the mesh stand out. Hopefully the mesh is not too tiny to do this. My spell check keeps telling me no suggestions. Is this happening to everybody else? I kinda like that feature since I don't type very well.

Got some more stuff done to the front end of the build and think it will turn out okay when all is said and done. I have decided not to prime this build. I watched a guy on a you tube video painting with Createx paint and he just roughed up the body with the hercules cloth and went straight to paint and got spectacular results. I have heard before that you don't really have to prime for acrylic paint unless the original body is cast in a dark color. It would be great to leave out a step in doing this build. I hate to have to prime and sand.

Looking great John as always. I know what you mean about trouble posting. I can no longer view any of my modeling sites on my phone. All I get is a warning that somebody might be trying to steal my information. I can't even go to the noaa weather site anymore which makes it hard to keep up with the weather when I'm out and about in my car.

So true.

Actually, Kevin. This kit is so badly engineered that if it is built right out of the box the hood will not seal to the top of the grille. I wondered why I have seen so many models built from this kit that have the hood with a gap at the grille. They weren't built wrong just the kit is wrong. I guess I will have to add material to the front of the hood and sand it smooth so it's not apparent. I'm also going to add material to each side of the grille to fill in that space.

Been working on changing the grille on this 1972 monte Carlo kit to a 1971 Monte Carlo that Bobby Allison actually campaigned in 1972. The photos are actually in reverse order so keep that in mind when looking at them. They show the removal of the park lights from the sides of the grille and taking the ends of the grille and putting them where they are supposed to go for a 71 monte carlo. The photo of the actual car is from a you tube video that shows the park lights in the bumper and just a grille above the bumper. It also shows that part of the bumper is painted body color red and some of it is left chrome, which makes this car unique from the way his other Monte Carlos were painted during that season. I will add park light covers to the bumper later.

Sounds good, Keven. But whatever you choose you really can't go wrong. Every color photo, which are very few from back then, is different. Just choose the one that you personally like the best.

Kevin, I think I have another photo of the malibu you are doing posted below for you to see that color. It was taken at the fall Talladega race

I believe it's just an orangey red. but it's really hard to know exactly but doubt that its neon. About the only special paint they used back then was enhanced metallic or pearl from what I can still remember. JMHO.

Ken, another over the top, excellent build from your bench where everything was accomplished at an extremely high level. The detailed engine compartment filled with scratch-built items that replaced the kit ones. Cleanliness of the build was perfect, and paint and decals were accomplished flawlessly. Someone viewing the photos not knowing it was a scale model would absolutely believe they were viewing photos of a 1;1 automobile. I watched the wip with enjoyment and was shocked when you said you were finished in such a short time. Again, magnificent build to join all your other masterpieces. Looking forward with great anticipation to your next project.

Well, you know, Kevin that might be the correct color for his 73 Malibu. That car and the one I'm building are like apples and oranges. Steve, the Merc is a test body I'm using to see how to use my new airbrush and what paint I want to use on the real build body. Thanks for stopping by Carl and commenting. It's always very appreciated Thanks, Jim. Hopefully I will get a lot of use out of that old mule. So far, I'm liking what it's telling me. Spoons and paper don tell the whole story for me.