Art Laski

My father-in-law has a collection of some classic cars that he takes to car shows, and one of his friends who goes to car shows with him, Jim Bailey, has an excellent example of a 1971 El Camino. Jim's wife asked me if I would build a replica of his car as a gift for him, so that's what this build is all about. There were a few challenges with this project. This first issue is that no model companies have ever made a '71 El Camino. The closest I found is a Jimmy Flintstone '72 El Camino resin body that uses the AMT '72 Chevelle as a donor kit. While this combination is close, there were a lot of modifications necessary to represent a '71, and then some more work to make it look like Jim's. See the WIP here: Here are some pics of the original.

Here are some shots of the finished car. See the rest under glass! See it Under Glass here:

I also used a different brake booster and master cyclinder to match the real car. I ended up using the rear bumper out of the AMT '68 kit. I had to narrow it a little.

Here's the paint prior to BMF. I used Tamiya Chrome yellow and TS-13 clear out of the can. I wish I could say it was good to go, but I had to spend a night polishing. I decanted a little paint to paint the grill. Here's the completed grill.

I had to reroute the exhaust due to the engine swap and to accomodate where Jim's exhaust dumps out. Also had to make a new driveshaft. I also took the tonneau cover from the '86 and cut it down a little to fit. The texture molded into it was much better than trying to use flat styrene. I sanded the Goodyear logos off of the tires and applied the Cooper decals. Unfortunately, even though I wanted a little bit of a weathered look, they got a bit worn during assembly and I didn't have time to restore some of them.

Thank you for the comments! I had to stop posting as time was getting short and I needed to finish this build in time for Christmas, but I still managed to take some pictures along the way. I had to modify the hood a little to mimic the '71. Jim's car had a small block in it, so I stole one out of an '86 El Camino kit. I weather it up a little and used a MAD pre-wired distributor, which is available at Laskiscale.com

I don’t know how you go so fast! Crazy...

Thanks for commenting, guys! I took the headlight buckets from a Revell '70 Chevelle kit and cut the round part off and mated two of them together to make a square lens bucket. I still need to smooth them out and drill the holes for them in the grill, but this is going to work out, I think.

Steve and Chris, thanks for taking the time to comment! Interior is done! I added pedals, which you can't see too well, the dash cover and some seatbelts.

This is going to be killer. Remind me not to enter that class...

Thanks for all the comments, guys! Jason, when I mocked it up, the kit chassis seemed just fine. The lengthened resin chassis seemed too long to me as well. The Elco does seem slightly shorter than to scale, but overall it will work well. I would love to see some shots of yours. I've been making some more progress on the interior. This is probably where most of the detail will be to replicate the original car. I completed the bench seat. I wasn't sure what to use for the seat cloth. I was looking for some images of a weave to use as a decal, but nothing seemed right. Then I happened to be looking at a carbon fiber sheet that is part of my product inventory in my store and it looked like it might be perfect. So I applied it and shot it with some flat lacquer after is was on and it's about as good as I am going to get it. The real seats... I made a shifter handle and the wheel adjustment handle. The shifter is a bit out of scale, so I won't be using it. Another one is in progress, so keep that in mind as you look at the further pictures. Finished the dash up, including new gauge and lens. All the parts before assembly. Thanks for looking!

That's something I would love to see! -Art

Of course, that makes sense. Great update, John! Almost home...

Looking good with some color! Is the metal flake in the candy or the silver?

Thanks, espo!

Thanks, Tim. I did notice there was a bit of work to do in that area, so I'm working that out in my mind still. I appreciate your input!

Jason, thanks for the comments and insight. Yeah, I caught that one. These are already marked for deletion. I found the same thing. I couldn't figure out why the resin one was longer when I mocked it up. I'll consider the front wheel adjustment. Yeah, I'm still working out the headlights and grill. I don't have a resin grill, so modifying the styrene one is my only option. I haven't gotten to the rear bumper yet, but the resin one from my buddy Chris' kit looked like it fit pretty well when I glanced at it. I would love to see your build, Jason, and thanks again for the observations.

Jeremy, John, thanks for the comments!

The steering wheel is done. I found a wheel in the spares box that had the right thickness on the rim, then used a paper pattern to make the center from styrene. This is the original wheel.

I got lucky and found some images of the exact floor mats that match this car. I printed some up on paper to size and will make a decal to go on some sheet styrene. I scratchbuilt a steering column, adding an ignition switch and the shifter mount. I curt some grooves in a styrene tube to make a boot of sorts at the end.

I also started in on the seat. The model comes with individual bucket seats, but Jim's truck has a bench, but with split seat backs. So I used the bench back seat from the Chevelle and modified it. Stealing the headrests from the bucket seats.

My friend, Chris Sobak, was kind enough to send me his Flinstone kit of the '72 El Camino. While mine was just a body, his was a more of a kit with an interior, chassis pan and rear bumper. I used his interior to measure and cut mine. Modified the dash from the SS version to match Jim's. Mocked up a printout of the gauges. It will be a little smaller than this.

Here is what I gathered up to pull this together. I picked up some Keith Marks decals for the graphics. Also, I wasn't sure what to do about the tires, but miraculously, Fireball Model Works had the Cooper tire lettering. I'm stealing the wheels from the '67 El Camino with the soap box car I just got. I'll use the other ones in the kit on that build later.

My father-in-law has a collection of some classic cars that he takes to car shows, and one of his friends who goes to car shows with him, Jim Bailey, has an excellent example of a 1971 El Camino. Jim's wife asked me if I would build a replica of his car as a gift for him, so that's what this build is all about. The build won't be full-detail, but even so, will have a few challenges. This first issue is that no model companies have ever made a '71 El Camino. The closest I found is a Jimmy Flintstone '72 El Camino resin body that uses the AMT '72 Chevelle as a donor kit. While this cominations is close, there will still be some alterations that will be necessary to represent a '71, and then some more work to make it look like Jim's Elco. Here are some pics of the original.

The interior looks great, Greg!