mrmike

Thank you guys! Lee, the Mustang was painted with one base coat of Honduras Maroon and two coats of Tamiya Maroon.

Thanks Charlie, John, and Jason! It is highly unlikely that the motor was repainted while the Dart was at Barris' shop. The Dart joined the series 3-4 episodes into the 2nd season. Given that the lead time between Chrysler delivering the car to Barris' shop, work being done, and delivering the car to the studio, the motor would have remained untouched. The Darts delivered to Barris were red 340 GTS convertibles and it was believed to have been painted with whatever dark green paint was in the shop at the time. I am toying with the idea of repainting the motor with Mopar Hemi Orange enamel paint to be more accurate. Even though the Mannix Dart was powered by a 340, the kit I used came with a 383, so the big block remains between the frame rails.

Nice build Clay! I like the color!

Thanks guys! Jeff, was yours at the Classic Plastic show last month? If it was, it was an inspiration for building mine!

Thanks Mike! My Mannix Dart has been partially disassembled and the body is in the purple pond. I have been trying to find the correct color for the '68 383 CI engine and have not been able to find any consistant information. When I built this kit 4 years ago, I painted the motor red per the instructions and now I'm not sure if those were right. I do need to reroute the plugs wires below the exhaust manifolds. Mannix will return...

Thanks Christopher and Dave! Yes, this is a goofy kit, but after seeing two other Caddies built stock, I just had to put my own twist on one. I need to find a small briefcase for the trunk. Maybe Printable Mini's has something that I can print, fold, and add to the trunk..

Dave, again thank you very much for the hood! I attempted to remove the pieces that I added to the hood for the scoops a little while ago and really messed up the original hood just as I thought I would. Michael, the wheels on the 1:1 are Cragar SS mags. When the car was first introduced on the series, it wore Radir wheels which couldn't hold up to the pounding the car saw during filming. They where replace with Cragar mags during the rest of the car's run. George, thanks but I do have the link to that article and one other article that I found during my research. The owner in the Hemmings article has since sold the car and it was returned to California. MikeD1, the color I used originally is more an olive shade than the color used on the 1:1 on the show. The restored Dart (there where two) is painted a dark green metallic versus the solid dark green that George Barris may have had in his shop at the time.

4 years ago, I built a '68 Dart GTS as the car actor Mike Connors drove in his hit TV series, Mannix. Even after I finished it, I felt as though the model was not as complete as it should be. A couple of months ago, I started talking with a writer who's favorite TV detective was Mannix and this got me into doing some research on the Dart used in the series from 1968 through early 1970. Now that I have much more information, I can rebuild this model to more closely resemble the car used in the show. Here is what I am starting with. This is what I can going to replicate. This is what I have been able to find to bring this project to life. A new hood since I will most likely destroy the original by trying to fix it. A rear spoiler since I built the model without one. A telephone since Joe's Dart had one. The paint will be stripped and the car repainted in a shade of dark green that's closer to the original. Everything else will be refreshed or updated. Mannix will return...

This is my Cadillac STS-V built from the Revell "Uptown" kit and made into a stock vehicle.

The Story As the trial wears on into the afternoon, Charlie calls the plaintiff, Audra, to the stand and begins to shred her testimony to pieces. Charlie presents her evidence of the upper and lower A-arms and shows the fingerprints of one of Audra's employees along with schematics that show that this is not one of George's designs not is there a serial or catalog number on the part. Charlie also presents financial records showing Audra's company's failing health and creditors letters demanding payment from Audra. Charlie points out that Audra is desperate for cash is clearly trying to get the money from George to pay her creditors. After a short deliberation, the judge finds in favor of the defense and as Audra is walking out of the courtroom, she is arrested by Det. Sgt. Troy for accessory to manslaugter in the death of George's test driver. Charlie is thrilled with the verdit and wants to celebrate and stops at McNally's home with a bottle of champagne. After 2 glasses of the bubbly, she falls asleep on the couch. McNally covers his friend with a blanket, grabs her keys and moves her Caddy into the driveway and locks it. He sits in a chair across from the couch and watches her sleeping and thinks to himself that she probably hasn't slept or eaten much in the last couple of days and she works to hard, but she is one good lawyer. The Build Charlie's Cadiallac STS-V is complete and posted in Under Glass. My thanks to all who took the time to look at and to comment on this build. This will be my last WIP with a storyline for a while.

This is the AMT '67 Mustang GT done as the Mustang from Robert Urich's last turn as Robert B. Parker's Spenser. Very little is known about this car so I took certain liberties with the build. The Mustang from the movie. My build.

Thanks Dave and DW! I have finished Spenser's '67 Mustang GT and it's posted in Under Glass. My thanks to all who took the time to look and to comment on this build.

I like the color and the wheels Clay! Looking good so far! Keep it going!

How can anyone ever forget that shrilling voice calling out, "Good Eeevening!" Ahh, good ole Al Kaprelian! Wayne, I hope she wasn't a lawyer! The Story Trial begins promptly at 9:00 AM the next morning with opening arguments before the judge. The plaintiff's attorney says that the defendant stole secrets from the plaintiff's company that was given to her during divorce proceedings. Charlie states that the product designs are all new and share nothing with the products from the plaintiff's company. The judge looks at the plaintiff's attorney and says, "Call your first witness!" The Build The brakes and wheel centers have decals applied. I made spacers and brake mounts using the kit brakes and removing the rotors and calipers. This will place the wheels out into the wheel openings properly. More to come.....

It's been a while since I touched this build and I'm afraid that I'm starting to lose interest in it so I had better "git-r-dun". I've got the motor and interior installed. I still need to install the driveshaft. A shot of the interior and dash. More to come.....

Thanks Charlie! It's a shame that Mass. only allows 6 digits as I had one with 7-LWYRLDY. New Hampshire allows 7 digits, why can't Mass.?

Thank you DumpyDan! I really can't take all the credit for this build. Part of the credit is from Model Cars Magazine and Ismael Gonzalez' build in the May/June issue and the model I saw at the Classic Plastic show last month by an unknown builder. The Story The night before the trial in court, McNally and Det. Sgt. Troy go down to the Police Impound Yard to look at the wrecked Corvette. McNally is carrying his toolbox and Adam is pulling the floor jack behind him as they walk over to the 'Vette and begin looking at the front suspension. McNally, using several wrenches, removes the upper and lower A-arms and using a flashlight, looks at the pieces and jots down a few notes on his PDA and takes several pictures with his camera. Adam holds open a bag and McNally drops the broken part into the bag. McNally says, "That is the smoking gun, my friend" as Adam seals the bag. The Build The body, interior, and chassis are joined together. A shot of the chassis. Not a lot to see here, folks. More to come.....

I'm sorry, but after reading this thread, I still don't understand why you are becoming frustrated over WIPs that disappear for days, weeks or months or are not finished. Try to imagine the person who is building the model who can't find the time to work on, let alone, finish their build because of life interrupting them. Life gets in the way of everyone and we all have to deal with it in our own way. Some things take time to resolve while other issues are soon quickly dispensed with. While your suggestion may have some merit, I think it would be a waste of time to go and post picture after picture after picture and probably without any commentary as to what is happening during the build. Imagine trying to post something like that. You could spend upwards to an hour or more just loading all your pictures and commentary about your build into one post. These days, many of us don't have that kind of time to devote to posting something like that. And I really don't want to go and read a thread that may only say, "Here's my build", and that's it. What if I want to know about a process that a builder used during their project? Would they remember after who knows how many months if they are a slow builder? A WIP is exactly that and it takes time to put together some of these builds. Some people build fast, while others take quite a bit of time to finish a build. I would like to suggest that you try your suggestion and see how it works for you. Maybe you can start a trend!

Good one Charlie! But, I don't think Charlotte would be driving around with that on her plates.

Thank you Charlie for reminding me of one of the things I'll need to complete this model...license plates! I haven't given any thought as to the plate itself, but I could make up a Mass. vanity plate with a cheesy word relating to lawyers or something like that. When I do make a plate, I use ACME License Plate Maker, copy the image, paste it in Microsoft Word, and resize the image there. I print it out on photo paper and mount it on the model with Elmers white glue.

Thanks Charlie and Andy! The wheels on this car do make a statement when compared with the oversized, chrome plated billet type wheels that came in the kit. Normally, I wouldn't have bothered with this kit in the first place, but seeing someone else's build changed my mind quickly. And wanting to add to the story line that I had previously started made me want to continue with the story using this model. Someone else's vision allowed my vision to come forth in the form of what you are seeing here.

The Story With all thoughts of enjoying an afternoon out in the Berkshires driving her new car out of her head, Charlie returns to her office and calls McNally with a new assignment. He must find out whatever he can about George's ex-wife, the company they shared together, and the allegations involved with the faulty custom suspension parts that George's company was manufacturing. She then calls Audra's attorney to schedule a sit-down with him to see where they are both at in regards to the law suit. Later in the afternoon, McNally walks into Charlie's office with a folder in his hand. "You are not going to like this", he says handing the folder to her. "Last week, a test driver working for George, was testing a Corvette with George's new suspension pieces when the car went out of control and crashed hard. He died an hour ago at Mass General Hospital." "You're right, I don't like this", Charlie replied. The Build Some progress today! The dash is assembled and detailed. The interior is completed. I got the mirrors, inner door panels, hood, and trunk lid on. I set a couple of wheels under the body to get an idea of what it's starting to look like. More to come.....

Surprise, surprise! I happen to love Mustangs, too! I'm branching out a bit by building a Cadillac STS-V, too!

I got the trunk lid good, but the end caps I had some trouble with and the foil is a little wide there. I don't dare try to thin it anymore as I'll end up trashing the paint there and make it look like it was mauled by a rabid dog!

Thanks Charlie and Eric! More progress! The foiling is done and I have begun installing windows and chrome. I had no molding on the fenders to follow with the foil, so I cut a straight piece of foil and carefully placed it along the edge of the fender and I must say that it came out pretty good! No trimming necessary! The interior has had additional detailing added since I had very little when I first built this kit oh so many years ago. More to come.....