mrmike

I set about grinding down the taillights for the Road Runner to make them fit better.. See the difference... A mock up. More to come...

I love Saturday mornings. I can come down to my bench with a cup of coffee and work in peace and quiet. While I do like to listen to music while I am building, the quiet is soothing and I can concentrate on what needs to be done and overcome issues with a project. This morning I grabbed my sanding wand and started working on the front valance. The goal was to smooth out the transition from the valance to the fenders so I can use as little putty as possible on the joints. On the valance, there is a small groove that the AAR chin spoiler locates to and I was able to remove most of the groove with sanding and gentle reshaping of the valance. I need to sand again with a finer grit sanding wand and sanding films. More to come...

Thanks Philip for clearing up the confusing statement you made about your Road Runner I received a small gift in the mail from my good friend, Dave. He had ordered several sets of resin taillights from Kevin at Missing Link Resin. Man...these are really nice looking taillights with good detailing for the Road Runner. Here's a shot with the kit taillights. See the difference? My only concern at this point is the thickness. I may have to sand them down a bit. More to come...

I applied a thin coat of putty yesterday morning and sanded it smooth this afternoon. I added thin strips of styrene to help fill in the gaps on the front valance. I'll give this a thin coat of putty later to smooth it all over. I also gave my Keith Marks decals a good coating of Microscale Decal Film. More to come...

After seeing other builds elsewhere of the '70 'Cuda with their "now you see it...now you don't" fender vents, I needed to do something a little different. My concern is with body filler shrinkage and how can I avoid that complication. My idea is to cut small strips of thin styrene to fill in the fender vents. Then I sanded the strips flush with the surface of the fender and will give them a thin coat of putty. Afterwards, I will sand this area smooth and then primer and prep for paint. More to come...

Thanks everyone! Charlie, I made sure that my drill bit was sharp and that I did not apply too much pressure when I started drilling. I kept my finger on the inside of the window to make sure I didn't pop it out accidentally. AFAIK, all Belvedere 2-door sedans had the pop out windows. I was cheaper and lighter than the heavier crank assemblies.

I know very well the pain and loss that you are feeling. On June 21, I had to put down my beloved Golden Retriever, Dakota. He was very much a member of my family and will sorely be missed. In two weeks, I will go to meet my new family member, a one year old Golden Retriever rescue dog from Louisiana named Annabelle.

I had forgotten this when I installed the windows the other day. Thanks to George 53 for reminding me that on the rear side windows, the windows did not roll down in the coupe version, but opened out on a pivot. I decided to add that little detail by drilling a small hole and inserting a pinhead like the ones that I used for my side markers. The pinhead represents the rivet holding the swing out mechanism. Then I installed the interior and the chassis and added the front grille. More to come...

Bump? Why was I bumped? Oh...to bring my thread back to the front page again. I'll get back to this build when I have finished my '68 Hemi Road Runner. Thanks Brandon.

Thanks George and Rich! George, I did know that the rear windows didn't roll down, but did swing outward on a pivot. The idea of a small pinhead is one that I have been toy with in my mind and had forgotten about when I installed the windows this morning. Rich, BMF is fairly easy to apply once you get the hang of it. It can be pulled off, but you'll most likely need a new piece to replace it with. Remember...measure twice, cut once and take you time with it. It does get easier over time.

No problem, Rich! After an extremely busy week, I was able to sit down at the bench this morning and work on the Roadrunner by installing the glass. What muscle car doesn't go cruisin' around with at least one window rolled down? I cut off the driver's and passenger door windows and installed just the rear side windows. The grille and front bumper have been detailed. The taillights will be dechromed, sanded smooth and have the Keith Marks decals added. More to come...

Brandon, in this post-9/11 world that we now live in, certain things have changed our way of life to help insure our public safety. This includes the shipping of hadzardous materials overseas, which includes paints. A young person, such as yourself, may not understand why since this event took place nearly 10 years ago when you were very young. You may think of a can of paint exploding and leaving paint all over, but when combined with other chemicals and a detonation source, the result could be very deadly.

Unfortunately, Federal regulations forbid it. You should be able to find something close to it in you country.

I got my can from Summit Racing here in the States, but I don't believe that they can ship paint out of the country. I would suggest finding a hobby paint in the UK that is close to the color of Street Hemi Orange unless you can find some orange paint in an auto parts store. Good luck!

Thanks Skip! I use Acme license Plate Marker. Pick your state, add your lettering, and hit enter. Right click on the the image and save to your computer. Resize in Microsoft Word to approximately .25 x .500 depending upon your scale. Print out the image onto glossy photo paper and apply to your model with white glue. http://www.acme.com/licensemaker/

Foiling is not done yet, but I did notice that the molded-in side markers are not correct. The side markers were flush with the surface of the fenders. I decided to utilize my side marker technique using common pins. I drilled a small hole into the side marker, inserted a small amount of glue and then the pin. I trimmed the excess pin length inside the fender. For the front side marker, I applied a dot of Tamiya X-26 Clear Orange. For the rear side marker, I applied a dot of Tamiya X-26 Clear Red. More to come...

OK Skip, here's the pictures you had ask for. Enjoy!

Charlie, don't quit your day job! And, thanks!

Let the foiling begin! More to come.....

Now that you have mentioned it, it does look like a smile! Too funny!

Thank you Mike and Chuck! Chuck, if you look at the GTX body, the rear wheel arches are the same way...shaped wrong.

Thank you guys! I enjoyed this build. The only issue I had was with the wheel center decals which broke apart as I tried to get them onto the wheels.

Thanks Romell and Chris! I have been polishing the body and will start foiling soon.

Thanks Luis!

After looking over the AAR grille and the '71 Cuda body, there is the problem of space. Too much space between the fenders and the headlights. I decided to score the header line on the right (passenger) side of the body until it broke free. I glued the AAR nose in on the left (drivers) side and when that had set, I glued the right fender to the AAR nose and secured it with a couple of rubber bands. I removed the excess header length and will glue this down onto the AAR nose. I will putty the valance sides to the front fenders. More to come...