Kanada Kustoms's Content - Model Cars Magazine Forum

Got some work done on this. I decided instead of trying to get the small sections of .040 1/2 round, at the rear, to match the existing lower rocker trim, I decided to just remove it all and replace it with .040 half round. It was easier than trying to match what was there and it is all consistent now and looks good: I filled the hole in the trunk lid. Just needs shaping: I had to fill the fuel door before I could fit the taillight bezels. I didn't want to cut out too much as I wanted to be able to easily reshape it to look stock. It was an odd shape to fill, I used a piece of .080 sheet. It wasn't that bad to shape in the end, just an odd shaped piece: Another shot of the filler piece. I left lots of extra. To install the filler piece, I cut out the the fuel filler door area, creating a corner. I trued the majority with a knife to create a flat surface for the sheet to glue too. You can see it's a nice tight fit: Next I used my side cutters to bring it down as much as I could before shaping with a knife and file: And here the filler piece is rough shaped. I'll fine tune it before adding the taillight bezels. It still needs to be curved and contoured to the body shape: I cut the taillight bezels free from the trim bar intended for the rear. I have rough shaped them in the picture, cutting away excess trim. They will be further shaped and reduced when fitted to the body: And here you can see the taillights glued in place. The fuel door filler and side of the car has been final shaped: These taillight bezels were really hard to fit. It required a lot of cutting away of a little material, fitting and repeating. I thought I had one side done, and glued it on, tried to match the other side but it came out different (thinner). So I glued the other side on, took off the first side and matched it to the second taillight. It was a process. I'm glad it's done. I did my best to get them both in the same location and level and square. I don't believe they are perfect, but they are as close as I could get them: One last shot of the taillight bezels in place. I find it's a game of close enough when doing custom work. I question if the model body and related parts are perfectly symmetrical (I've run into several model bodies that weren't the same side to side, but you can't tell unless you measure), if my cuts and modifications are perfectly symmetrical, and if my eyes are seeing it correctly (I wear glasses with progressive lenses and correction for astigmatisms). I take a lot of measurements to double check locations of parts but find it's a matter of splitting the difference so it looks right, rather than being perfect. But I think I got the bezels in locations I can live with: I also started on the grill bar. I didn't get a picture, but the back of the grill center has an angled indent. So I filed the back of the grill bar to create a flat surface for the two ends, leaving the center to be filled. You can see the grill has been glued to some sheet stock in the center: Here you can see what I mean. The center angles in and needs to be filled out then trued with a file before I can start building up the back of the grill bar. I used 3 layers of .020 sheet: Here the sheets of plastic have been trued with a file and the whole grill bar has been glued to a piece of .118 sheet that will require shaping. The ends look funny now, but will be removed during final shaping: I had to build up the grill bar from the back so it will sit forward in the grill cavity where I want it. After shaping, I will most likely need to add even more sheet stock to the back to get it to sit where I want it. All the extra plastic also helps to create a nice strong piece: Thanks for stopping by and having a look! Edit: After these pics were taken, I wound up cutting the driver's side taillight off and moving it in slightly toward center. It just didn't look quite right, too far from the trunk panel line. Not sure if I got it right, but this is were it stands right now. Here's a pic of it: Second Edit: I removed the driver's side taillight one last time and repositioned it slightly. I think I got it where I want it now. This was a real effort, but I think it's good now. No picture. Will post pics later as more work progresses!