Andy Oldenburg

A cool build! Paint job very fine and the color fits perfect. Nice ideas around the roof and engine. And the bench looks sharp!?

Beautiful build? I love your details on the interior and the smudge in the engine bay. Very well executed!

A really fine build! Nice ideas and good details. Will you give it a used and weathered look? Straight from the race?

Your turning the gluebomb into something classy! I like where this is going.

Shock and awe.......... Beautiful build, wonderful craftsmanship, very creative solutions......... Did I forget something? Love it!?

Thanks everyone for the kind response!? Makes me happy to know you like my build. Next project to start soon. Let´s see, how long it will take.?

The 442 was one of the last classic muscle cars. Enough power to rip up the 1/4 mile, but in contrary to other models a fine cruiser too. My aim was to build my 442 as a reminder of the ´70s in a mildly revved up version. The stance is jacked up a bit. Used, but in a well looked after condition. The mustard yellow paint is Aero Color acrylic airbrush that I mixed myself. The color fits well to the era and this is my first attempt at a vinyl roof. The Tamiya pearl clear coat adds a bit of sparkle to the finish. The kit wheels I replaced from my scrap box and I also wanted to avoid the loud tire branding. The bumper grill is cut open to accommodate a mesh metal grill. The headlights are custom by scale production. The bonnet has the mesh chicken wire to keep the leaves from entering the air filter. The interior has a flocked floor and added seat belts. The dash I enhanced with trimming made of 0.4mm silver wire. The seat buttons are added and the window cranks are hand made. Knobs and levers on the dash are 1,5mm glass beads. and 1x1mm styrene. The engine is basically kit, but I added lots of detail and goodies. The pulley part was deconstructed, meaning that the pulleys are attached with 1mm brass rods to the block and the belt is 1mm thin rubber. The distributor is my own custom build and all the wiring was as close as possible to original. Plus the correct amount of weathering. For the undercarriage I added the brake and e-brake and the fuel lines. The kit "springs" were replaced by wire springs. Here too a bit of weathering. Thanks for looking! You can watch the video with this link: https://youtu.be/NQuqoi_zy8c

Now that´s something special! Perfect execution of a very creative idea. Would this drive in real life? I hope so. ?

The matt black makes it look classy. Fine clean build?

The color and the wheels make the difference! A very nice job and happy that it isn´t just "boys" building cars. ??

Sorry for the doors... A fine looking build. Just the right color and a great shine. Cool shop diorama too!

Due to too many business trips I had to push my work on the 442. The body had to wait, but now I´m just about finished. I cut the glue-on sun visors apart to turn them into "real" visors. Made them tip into different positions for the driver and gunshot. 0.5mm brass wire connected to small stubs so I can just glue them. Someone introduced this trick of connecting door handles and mirrors with wire and the idea just stunned me. To the unknown model master a great shout out and thank you! I can disclose that it turned out very well in the end. 0.5mm brass wire. I didn´t like the idea of decals for the side lamps so I drilled/cut open the body and glued a thin piece of styrene on the inside. I finally made a decision which color. After the primer I like to spray the color coat with Schmincke Aero Color Airbrush acrylic. I usually mix around until I´m happy and ended up with a mustard yellow. Fits good into the ´70s era, and the roof would get a vinyl cover. Of course this means a clear coat for the shine. I wasn´t happy with the look of the headlamps. Since they were a bit too big I pulled them off again and sanded them to fit. The taillights in the kit are crystal clear and needed a red coating on the inside. Bumpers are done. After two coats of clear I applied the bare metal. I have made it a habit to cover the bare metal with the last clear coat. The edges are smooth and it takes a very clumsy finger to peel off the foil. For the wheel housing I masked the body with elastic tape and did the chrome with a Molotow pen. Here is the wire mesh for the air filter. The vinyl roof is finished. It is Molotow Gold series rattle can paint in a tone called "coke", a kind of anthracite. The clear coat for the mustard yellow is Tamiya TS-65 Pearl Clear. The pearl gives it a very nice sparkle, but also dries with a VERY light wrinkle. I was able to polish to a very high shine, but each layer kept challenging me. The sun visors attached. I will do the final assembly today and show the finished build in the "under glass" forum. Thanks for your patience and for the kind response!

My heart is bleeding.... fortunately I have never had it this bad. I can imagine how much work this meant and how aggravated one can get. But it looks like your on the right track again? Waiting forward to seeing the final build! Good luck Steve.

Wonderful project! Better to stop asap and take the better road. I love how this turns into a double build. Will you make the colors match in the end?

Hi Justin, a cool project and looks like your going towards a beautiful build. Like the work on the steering!

I´m past the chassis by now. I really don´t like those "spring" parts they add to the kits. It´s quite easy to wind springs from wire, in this case a 1mm aluminum wire for the front and the back. Very soft and easy to wind around a rod. The parking brake line has a different setup than I have usually encountered. I used 0.4 mm wire attached to 0.6 mm hooks. The brake and fuel lines are connected with fine wires leading to the upper side of the chassis. Therefore the pieces of tape covering the wire ends on the inside. Added disc brakes to the front suspension like the original 442 had. Still need to put a bit of detail to the brakes. Here is a quick mock up with the body. This build will be strictly 70´s look, as if the original 442 has been well looked after for the last 52 years. No wild paint job, no fancy rims, no low stance. A bit jacked up like it was common in the 70´s. I have not finally decided what color..... But this model didn´t have bright colors back then. The front grill minus the grill... I cut out the plastic and inserted a fine steel mesh. Next replaced the kit headlamps with epoxy on steel lenses from scale production. The ram air hood will get a treatment as well. Hard to believe, but to keep leaves and such from the intake there was wire mesh (like chicken wire) on the inside. The wire will be applied after painting. Now I have to make that color decision.....

impressive ideas Steve, and good crafting! You go that extra mile to make wheels spin AND turn. For my last few models I was tired of wobbly wheels and now I glue them put. But your build makes me think it over again. Waiting to see what comes next! ??

Next step is done. I´ve got the interior finished. The seats and the door panels are enhanced with extra buttons (1mm styrene) and strips. I could not get goods pics of the seat belts used back then so I did my best to catch the feeling. I treated the seats a bit to give them a used look. The floor is flocked in anthracite. I added extra chrome lining to the dash by using 0.4mm silver wire, same with the gauge rings. The knobs and levers on the dash are 1.5mm glass beads and (very) short pieces of 1x1mm styrene rod. The window cranks on the molded panels were shaved off and replaced with cranks made of 2mm styrene, 0.5mm brass rod and my trusty glass beads. I did have my issues with the decals.... Seems I´m on a warpath with decals and I have to watch a few tutorials again. I messed it quite good on this one and only the others details distract from a few rips. OK, so will take a Zen attitude and do better next time. I´m working on the chassis right now and will show up again with the next images. Thanks for watching!

Thanks for your kind response!

This model was introduced in Europe as "NEW!". Don´t know if it is already selling in the US but I hope for you that it does. Splendid molding, everything crisp and detailed?. I´ve got the engine done and pushed my detailing a bit forward. I found many images on the web so it was easy to see where the lines and cables are going. The distributor is home made. The belt system has several pulleys, which I all deconstructed from the kit part. I filed the pulley wheels for the belt and had to add a some styrene slices to adapt a second or third belt. The belt is a 0.5mm cut off a thin rubber place mat. To help the pulleys stand the tension of the rubber belt, I connected them to the block with 0.8mm brass rods and was able to cover them up. The foam ring on the air filter is 400grit wet sandpaper. The engine received a bit of weathering and grime. I´ve started working on the interior now and will show more after Easter. Going on holiday first. Thanks for watching!

Sorry everybody! I put this topic in the wrong forum.... Can someone please push it into "under glass"? Thank you!

Hey Jim, no need to be sad. your build looks very good and fits to "those days". I built that kit recently and had the same impression. Too bad an instruction sheet, parts not fitting etc. No kit for a beginner but for someone willing to cut, sand and putty. The up side is you have many parts left for other builds.

Impressing build and as every else has expressed, a perfect paint job?

When I was a kid, my neighbor had this car. It always stood in his driveway, clean and polished. Even as a boy I was attracted by the iconic design of this early Thunderbird. So I had it on my to-do list for quite a while. I built it about 2 years ago, so the details are bit behind my current level. This Revell kit has a good quality. No flake, (almost) everything fit and the body surface needed no putty. The light yellow I mixed with Schmincke Aero Color acrylic airbrush paint with 20% metallic fluid. I replaced the kit wheels with "Kelsey Hayes" type spoke wheels and better tires. The grill I carefully cut open and inserted a see-through metal mesh. The interior has a flocked velvet floor. Seat belts were added. The kit decals are really good so there wasn´t much extra enhancement to the dash necessary. On this build all the styrene engine parts are out of the kit. The lines, cables etc. I added according to the images I could find on the web. The undercarriage was upgraded a bit with brake and fuel lines. Thanks for taking a look! Here´s a link to the video: https://youtu.be/VXJNGJangtg

I am personally very connected to the 67 Charger. My parents bought a new one in dark blue and I remember rolling around in the back with the seats knocked down. Those were the days, without seat belts. And whooo did my brother and I slip forward if dad had to break sharp! Your build looks very good! I like your details. ? An advice to get the spray paint surface smoother. Put the cans on a radiator, in sunlight or in a bucket with very warm water for about 20 minutes. The paint will spray finer and flow more evenly. Then keep in a warm room to dry. But take care not to apply too much, because it will flow faster on the body too. We don´t want it to drip!