mrmike

Thanks Cole and Liam! It took me a while to do and now that it's finished, it was worth the effort!

I'm not involved with the Gearz contest so I must be tempting fate. Ma Mopar...please forgive me!

Other than the missing lenses for the head and driving lights, my '70 Hemi 'Cuda is finished. Painted with Model Master Hemi Orange Lacquer with a semigloss black interior.

The clouds are starting to roll in, the wind is picking up with increasing force, it's starting to rain hard, and the ground is shaking! The Ford gods are angry, Ma Mopar is releasing her fury...oh no...no...it can't be...mrmike is building...gasp...another Chevy!!!!! Yes folks, I am building Revell's Chevy Nova COPO! My paint will be Tamiya TS-20 Green Metallic with a black interior. I am in need of building something a little different. Just short of building something completely different like a P51 Mustang fighter or Mobius Seaview submarine (I have those as well). So follow along with me and let's see what I can do with this Nova. More to come...

Brad, if I haven't lowered the rear, the nose would have looked like it was dragging on the ground and wouldn't look right with the same size tires front and rear. And thanks for the tip on the brake rotors! I'll have to consider it when it comes time to use them. My brother-in-law once owned a '74 Z-28 and put air shocks on the back and with the same size tires all around...it just looked wrong.

Thanks Darrick! it should look great...all nice and glossy! My goal this morning was to get the rear suspension of the A100 down to where I wanted it. I have modified the rear spring mounts as much as I could and decided that the axle mounts on the springs would have to be modified. The picture shows the spring on the top as modified with the spring below unmodified. Now this is where I want the stance to be! It's amazing what I can find in my parts box. I had fogetten that I bought these last year and stuffed them away for a future project. Well, the future is here and now! I may strip the chrome off the rotors and paint them or I might try brushing the chrome with sandpaper to get a dull finish on them and painting the calipers red. More to come...

Thank you Darrick and Daniel. I suppose that, in a way, I am teaching or tutoring. I have learned a lot about model building over the last six years thanks to the internet and computers. The best thing to do is to watch others and become inspired by what they do and how they do it. I have really become inspired by watching some of the members of my model club. These guys are truly gifted craftsmen!

Thank you Bart! I really don't consider myself as a teacher or tutor...just another modeler trying to build a good model. Now, if I can help someone along the way...so much the better!

Matt, I hope my pictures will help you with yours. Thanks. The 'Cuda is up on four wheels! And, I have attached the front bumper. Now if I can only remember were I put the new lenses... The rear bumper is in the purple pond. Some of the chrome had flaked off over the years, so I will remove the chrome, paint it gloss black enamel and paint it with Alclad II Chrome. More to come...

Well folks, I am getting tired of looking at this 'Cuda sitting on my bench. So it's time to forge ahead and finish it. I got the glass and interior installed. Rear valance installed. Core support and radiator mounted. My goal is to get as much done on this today...time permitting! . More to come...

Revell tooled up the Bullitt '68 Mustang and '68 Charger, the '70 Challenger RT/TA, and a few others at a time when the die cast market was changing. Trying to recoup some money invested in tooling, they went and modified the tooling for styrene injection and made plastic kits from that tooling. While the kits do suffer from the maladies of die cast tooling, they seem to be rather good looking models in plastic with several versions of the '68 Mustang that appears to be selling well. The '68 Mustang kit really doesn't offer anything in the way of kit bashing with other Mustang kits so it would be best not to consider using the Revell kits for that purpose.

Thanks guys! I have been working on lowering the suspension on the A100. The front is right where I want it now, but the rear still needs to come down a bit. Maybe about 3/16ths of an inch more. Maybe some trimming where the axle mounts to the springs and at the spring mounts on the frame. I must admit that the front suspension was quite easy to modify. Also, I have decided against the using the Testors One Coat Fiery Orange paint. I am leaning towards Tamiya TS-39 Mica Red or Tamiya TS-18 Metallic Red. More to come...

Thanks Daniel and Darrick! I've been picking at the suspension...getting it lowered. It's almost there, so maybe I'll have pictures by the weekend. I am having second thoughts about the paint as I am not too sure if I want to use the Testors One Coat paint at all. I guess I shall continue pondering...

Thank you Tim, Richard and Bart. Guys, your words of encouragement have really lifted my spirits today! The cold weather and my head and chest cold have been getting the best of me this week. If I can just stop coughing when I lie down and get a full nights rest...that would be just great!

When I started this WIP, I knew I would have to shorten the mounting boss on the inside of the Pegasus wheels. I started with a Brad Point drill bit chucked in my cordless drill. I removed 3/16ths of an inch off the mounting boss. I then used a .089 drill bit in my pin vice and opened the center hole to fit onto the axles. A mockup to see if the wheels fit within the fenders. Perfect! Now I can lower the suspension a little more. More to come...

Last night I decided to do a little research on the Overhaulin' Dodge A100 and found a few pictures. I noticed that the tires all seem to have the same sidewall height which tells me that the tires are close to being the same size. The front tires are narrower in width. This pictures shows a before and after shot of the Overhaulin' A100. I would like to thank all those who have supported my choice of wheels for this build. Maybe it's just me, but I am getting tired of having to defend my choices to others. I was raised to respect others and if I have nothing nice to say...then I don't say anything at all. I really appreciate the replies to date and I hope for more as this project goes along. Harry P. is correct...this is my build and I will build it my way. Thank you all!

I started working on lowering the front suspension this morning. I notched the front axle and the leaf springs which helped bring down the front a bit. I can remove a lttle more material from the springs and axle if needed. If that doesn't lower the suspension enough, I can remove the mounting blocks from the rear of the leaf springs. Maybe a little more... My goal is to lower the suspension, but keep the truck "streetable" as a daily driver and maintain a somewhat comfortable ride. More to come...

The body has been clearcoated with Tamiya TS-13 Gloss Clear. And, as usual I forgot something. Something being the door mirrors this time. More to come...

I wanted to install the taillights and have them sit flush and not look uneven in the tail panel. My solution was to add a backer behind the opening made from some scrap styrene so the taillights would have some surface to be mounted to. From the inside... From the rear... With the taillights installed... It's off to the paintbooth for some clearcoat! More to come...

Thank you Andre!

Thanks Jonathan! The weekend is almost here and I can begin working on this again!

Yeah, this cold is taking forever to go away and I just hate being miserable. Plus, I still have to go to work everyday! When I think I am starting to feel better...I feel worse the following day!

Thanks everyone! The wheels are the original kit wheels and are representative of the wheels on the '07 Shelby GT500. This was definitely a fun kit to build.

Thanks Brandon. I was told by my Mopar expert that the instrument panel should not have woodgrain on it. I wanted the woodgrain to break up all of the black on the dash. Well, it is 17 degrees and windy outside, I am suffering through with a head cold and feeling quite miserable, so I buried myself in the model cave with a box of tissues, a heater and continued working on the Hemi 'Cuda this afternoon. I got the body foiled, grille painted, but not fully detailed, and the rear panel foiled and painted. More to come...

Thanks Jonathan! I may be back if this thread is still going later in the year.