mrmike

Thanks Donald and Brandon. Donald, I am honored that you think of me as a craftsman, but I think of myself as a modeler who is trying to improve my skills. This model is not perfect, nor would I ever try to proclaim it as so. There are areas that need improvement and I may try to do that just as long as I can do so without making a total mess out of it. Thanks.

Elmers makes a white acrylic fine tip pen that may work. Yesterday, I clearcoated the body and hood. This morning I polished them with Meguirs Scratch X. I glued the wheels to the wheelbacks and found that the tires didn't fit as I had hoped for. I pulled these tires from my parts box and they came from the AMT '66 Galaxie 500 kit. The motor is almost complete and needs some touch ups. The air cleaner is in need of paint detailing. More to come.....

Thanks everyone! This rebuild came out better than I had hoped for. The mobile phone was an almost-last-minute decision and it came out really great. It helped to have found a straight-on picture of one on-line. I reduced the image and cut out the upper portion of the picture and glued it onto the phone and then I ran a wire from the handset to the phone base. I want to do another TV Private Eye, my favorite-Spenser For Hire's first season '66 Mustang, even though Spenser says it's a '65.

Thanks Paul, DW, and Mike. DW, the Gelly Roll pen I got at Michaels Craft store a couple of years ago. I don't think they carry them anymore due to the ink drying out inside the pen. I have two of them and I know at least one of them still works. I have never used them on chrome so I don't know if clearcoat would help. If I black-out a grille, I use flat black paint and take my time to do a good job.

I use Mopar Street Hemi Orange Engine Enamel on my Mopar motors (had the can for a 1:1 project) and I find that Model Master International Orange is a spot on replacement.

Sorry guys, but I have not seen the original movie. I have seen the remake with Nick Cage and Angelina Jolie since I got the DVD for free. But, a car person (gotta be PC) has also seen Grand Prix and LeMans, and Bullitt as well! I remember seeing Grand Prix with James Garner when it first came out at the drive-in theater and LeMans at a regular theater that has long since closed (30 plus years). I have seen more bad car movies than I care to remember (oh the old days of Saturady and Sunday afternoon movies)! After knocking the rear valance off a few more times, I decided that it needed more support. I took a short piece of square tubing and cut it in half from corner to corner. I have decided on my interior colors, white with blue trim. I have lettered the tires with a white Gelly Roll pen and paint detailed the wheels. More to come.....

I have never seen the original "Gone In 60 Seconds" so I have no idea what that car looks like. I have polished the body and added another coat of paint and It is looking great. Another polishing and if necessary, clear coat.

Thanks Charlie! I pulled out the kit distributor to drill it out for plug wires and noticed the mounting stub at the bottom. Very short and unacceptable! I drill it out and replaced the stub with a length of 1/16th styrene rod. Much better! I plumbed the fuel pump to the carbs. I drilled a hole into the block and mocked up the distributor. More to come.....

The motor and carbs have been painted and drilled out for plug wires and fuel lines. This kit is loaded with flash and sink marks! This is the rear axle. I removed the exhaust that is molded into the rear axle. Using my Dremel and a sanding bit, I smooth out the remains of the mounting blocks on the rear axle. First I used the sanding bit and then a grinding bit and smoothed out the exhaust pipes. Both are ready for some time with a sanding stick. More to come.....

Most of the flash is contained towards the parts sprue with a little flash on a few parts. After I started prep on the body and other parts, I noticed that the body and chassis were warped. I seem to have most of the warp taken care of, but I fear that this one is going to fight me a little bit. So much for thinking that this was going to be an easy build! Life moves on.....

Ahhh...the joy of paint! More to come.....

I have finished my Mannix Dart GTS convertible and it is posted in the Under Glass section. My thanks to all those who took the time to look at and to comment on my build.

This is my Mannix '68 Dart convertible made from the Revell '68 Dodge Dart that I originally built 4 years ago and just rebuilt this past month. The paint is Tamiya TS-9 British Green. I have updated many parts of this car and added other details, too.

This is a good kit inspite of it's age and low parts count. Parts flash is abundant especially on one parts sprue that holds the interior. I glued the engine halves together and discovered a huge sink hole about 1/8th inch deep. So, out came the putty! While I had the putty out, I fixed a few flaws on the lower right fender and the corners of the rear valance panel. More to come.....

Cliffo, yes, we do love our Mopars! Dave, I have built the '71 Satelite years ago and I have noticed the nose-up attitude and plan on lowering the front suspension. The rear suspension on the Satelite looks fine, but I will watch out for any issues when I get to that point on the GTX.

I've had this kit in my stash for a few years and I thought that it was time to build it. The kit is Revell's 1971 Plymouth GTX. This will be a mostly box stock build with the motor being wired and plumbed and the kit tires being replace with better tires from my parts box. The paint is a special order MCW 1974 Lucerne Blue Metallic left over from my 1974 Plymouth Roadrunner. More to come.....

Thanks to DoubleD, I have a telephone that I modified into the mobile telephone that is in the 1:1 Mannix Dart. Thanks Dave! He also sent me two reel-to-reel tape recorders, one of which I have already paint detailed. I must now determine a location for this tape recorder in the Dart interior. I didn't like the flat black treatment I put on the rear panel and thought that semi-gloss black would look better. I am hoping to finish the Mannix Dart this week. Mannix will return.....

I built this exact same kit oh so many years ago and over the years, the chrome has faded away, particularly on the wheels and bumpers. I may just have to rebuild it and strip and Alclad II the wheels, bumpers, and other pieces. I like the detailing you are adding to this build. Keep it moving forward!

Move your curser onto the small pic and the lines of code appear underneath it.

I usually use Google Images and eBay Motors.

Thanks Charlie! For those of you who don't know how to make '68 Mopar side markers, I'll show you how. This technique is also posted in the Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials section. First acquire 4 straight pins like those used on a new shirt. Using caution and care, cut the pin about 1/8th inch below the head of the pin. Drill a hole into the fender in the correct position, and from the inside, squeeze a small amount of glue into the hole. Insert the pinhead into the hole and allow to dry. Use your favorite clear paint and apply a small dot of paint onto the pinhead, amber for the front and red for the rear, and you are done. After looking at some reference photos, I noticed that the rear panel was painted flat black, and so it was done. This is the rear panel trim that I had in my parts box and I painted it with aluminium Metalizer. And mounted it to the center of the rear panel. Mannix will return.....

Ron, I know your Mannix Dart will look as good as mine! I had the MPC Mannix Roadster when it first came out. I wished I still had it today. What a difference 40 years makes! DW, yes I am going to use painted pinheads for my side markers. While removing paint and prepping the body for bodywork and paint, I ended up removing the molded in side markers from the body. Thanks for checking in Dan! I foiled the body this afternoon. I started work on the engine bay. I added the chrome trim to the hood, cleaned up the grille, and started reworking the rear panel. Mannix will return.....

Thanks DW and Steve. DW, I don't mind painting, just the puttying and sanding. I just have a hard time with it. I did a mockup of the interior, chassis, hood, and grille to see what the Dart is starting to become. This shot shows the fruits of my labor, the hood scoops, the rear spoiler, and the Tamiya British Green paint. I still have much to do. Foiling, motor installation, my side marker technique, front bumper, and rear panel installation. DoubleD has offered me a mobile telphone and I'll install that when it arrives. Mannix will return.....

This is looking really good Virgil! I'm liking the details!

Thanks Virgil! I'm just glad that the bodywork on the rear spoiler is done! Trying to get transition of the fender tops to the rear spoiler perfect was tough. Even in paint, the transition looks fantastic. Hey, I'm impressing myself!