mrmike

On Spenser For Hire, I read that they use underarm deodorant and smeared it all over the door panels for closeups. I have been picking away at the Vega$ '57 T-Bird. Just little things. I added a wire to the phone receiver, coiled it and painted the holder and receiver. I added the wired distributor to the engine block, but I haven't run the wires yet. I also detailed the air cleaner assembly and will add that after I have run the plug wires. More Vega$ to come...

If I didn't know better, I would say that you are trying to pass off my model as yours! Looks great!

Having messed up the taillights, I stripped the paint once again and will repainted them on the correct side. I was able to sort out which taillight goes where using chrome sprue D. Now to carefully paint the taillights! More Mustang to come...

That is where I am stuck at the moment. I have painted the wrong side of the taillights, plus I had removed them from the parts sprue as well. Which side is out? I've made a real mess out of the taillights and I am hoping to redeem myself here. Arrgh!!!

Ken, I had heard the same thing, too! Ahh, the issues of filming for a TV show...

Rick, kinda of late for that now, don't you think? The body has been painted and partially BMF'd, so filling those in is out of the question unless I want to start all over painting and BMFing again. I should have noticed those before, but I didn't.

The Ford Mustang GT4 is coming along! I am having a little difficulty with the nose spoilers and installing them. The taillights were painted and I messed them up bad when I tried to paint the black borders around them. I put them into a container of 91% alcohol and removed the paint. I'll try again, hopefully with better luck this time. More Mustang to come...

Paint was flyin' this morning! Model Master Hemi Orange aka Tor-red! You can also see the metallic content in this paint. Looks pretty good! More 'Cuda to come...

I just looked at ebay and prices range from $12.50 to $106.49. They can still be purchased for a fairly low price.

I picked up a bottle of 91% Alcohol at the drug store and poured some into a container and put the Mustang hood in it. After a few days, I scrapped the edge of it with a pair of tweezers and the paint run was starting to come off. The rest of the paint should be easy to come off later. A mockup to show you where I am at with this build. More Boss 302 to come...

I went shopping on Thursday and decided to pick up some Easy-Off oven cleaner and I sprayed the T-Bird with it to removed the excess clearcoat and paint from the body and parts. I just scrubbed and rinsed those parts and they are drying in the paintbooth. Not all the paint came off, but whatever paint remained easily comes off with my fingernail. A light sanding and a rinse and everything will be ready for primer and paint. More Vega$ to come...

Go for it Ben! It's a great kit!

Thanks John and Rob!

You are right Ken! Too much work! Thanks for the ideas! I decided to use some of the parts from the AMT ProShop '57 T-Bird on this old Vega$ model. The parts are cleaner, crisply molded and already painted. I'm starting with the engine and I have glued most of it together. I need to drill holes for plug wires in the cylinder heads and the coil which already molded into the intake manifold. The valve covers have been detailed. I have also found a mobile phone in the kit and I will drill a hole for a cord to the handset and paint it like the one on Vega$. More Vega$ to come...

No problem, Tony! We are here to help others if we can! I got back on the Mustang GT4 todayand I added the front and rear pieces valances, grilles and lenses. And, of course I just couldn't resist doing a mockup. I'm liking this! More Mustang to come...

Thanks David! Having built a Revell '70 'Cuda a couple of years ago, I am expecting no surprises with this current project. I'll be making the usual mods since I changed the engine in this one as well. Good luck with your build!

Thanks Guido! I started working on the 440+6 engine yesterday. I added the valve covers, carbs and fan belt assembly. The alternator and bracketry and air cleaner are being dechromed right now. I have one MAD Mopar distributor left and I'll use it on this engine. I am finding out about the shortcomings of using parts from various sources, but I am working through it. More 'Cuda to come...

Thanks David for your research! My goal is to build this T-Bird stock or as close to what was on the TV series. I am taking a lot of dramatic license here since what I know and what I have been able to research is leaving me in a bit of a downer. All that can be said of that car is that it is a red '57 Thunderbird or T-Bird. Since this is a TV series car, my guess is that it was a 292 CID engine with an automatic transmission. The kit is probably a 292 CID 2-Bbl. engine with a 3-speed manual transmission. You are correct that Y-Blocks all look alike no matter if it is a 292 or a 312. You have to examine the crank to determine the engine size.

The inaccuracy lies in the chassis. It is just on big hunk of plastic with the entire front and rear suspensions molded into it. All you would add to the chassis is the axle blocks and the engine. I have the AMT ProShop version of this kit and I will steal the chrome and the glass from it and put the old parts in the box and I found the visors in the ProShop kit. Those will be going on to this T-Bird!. I took a red Sharpie and traced around the edge of the wheel cover to create the red wheels underneath. The metal axle was exposed and while there are no holes in the engine block, I didn't want the axle showing, so I added some short pieces of styrene rod and glued them into the wheelbacks and the chassis. No more front metal axle! Now to find details about this engine (292 CID or 312 CID). More Vega$ to come...

Thanks Tim, Urs and David! AFAIK, there are no visors for this model. I will have to check and maybe make a set from some sheet styrene. I have been sanding the enamel clearcoat from the Vega$ T-Bird. If it was lacquer, I would have been sanding a lot harder to remove just as much. I'm using a 280 grit sandpaper to remove the clearcoat and I will follow it up with 400 and 600 grit sandpaper. This may take a bit of sanding, but at least it is enamel and not lacquer and I had applied it with a brush back then. I'm being extra careful on the scripts which are molded on the body and I have no decals to replace them with. I replaced the hand painted whitewall tires with a set of pad printed whitewalls from the AMT '60 Chevy Fleetside pickup. More Vega$ to come...

My friend Dirk started a build of the Vega$ '57 T-Bird the other day and I pulled mine off the shelf and it was filthy dirty and in need of a rebuild. I first built this model back in 1979 or 1980 when the show Vega$ starring Robert Urich was on the air and I had to build the model. Back then, I didn't care about accuracy too much and I just built the model as per the kit instructions. It wasn't very accurate looking and I need to correct some things on it. What surprised me was how quickly it came apart and now it will be off to the kitchen sink for a bath with Dawn dish soap and an old toothbrush. More Vega$ to come...

I have been working on the 'Cuda today. I got the engine painted with Mopar Street Hemi Orange Engine Enamel and I need to drill out the heads for plug wires. The engine will be headed to the dehumidifier shortly for the next 8 hours. I've been told that I am a brave man for drilling into painted plastic. Thank you! Everything else got a coat of Tamiya Fine Surface Primer. I found more mold lines along the tops of the rear fenders. I'll take care of those shortly. More 'Cuda to come...

Thanks David, Guido and John! I plan on using a set of Keith Marks 440 Hockey Stick stripes that seem to have gone missing. They've got to be somewhere around here in my hobby room! If I can't find them, I'll use a set of the custom hockey stick stripes from the kit.

I'm bored and I'm angry and I feel like I should start a new project before I go totally bonkers with the way the world has been turning! This 'Cuda kit had two shaker hoods and scoops and two sets of leaf springs so a call went out to Revell for replacement parts since they screwed up the kit. I got everything I needed from Revell except for the incorrect hood. They sent me another shaker hood and scoop. Then everything went bad for Revell as they were sold to a German investment group and I had no recourse, but to build this 'Cuda with a hood I didn't want. Then, my friend Paul stepped forward and said he had the same kit. He used the Hemi engine for another project and he offered me the dual scoop hood since this was basically a parts kit now. I robbed his kit of the hood and said thank you very much and he felt a little disappointed that I didn't take anymore from it. Sorry Paul, all I wanted was the dual scoop hood! Again, thank you very much for the hood! I'm starting this '70 Plymouth 'Cuda with a 440+6 cobbled together from a left over 440 CID from the Revell '69 Dart 340 I made with a 6 barrel carb and intake manifold from the AMT '70 Super Bee from years ago. My paint will be Testors Hemi Orange aka Tor-red with a black interior. Magnum 500 wheels from the Revell '70 Charger R/T kit with AMT White Lettered pad printed tires. More 'Cuda to come...

I have decided to have embossing powder carpet. I coat the floor with watered down white glue one side at a time and sprinkle black embossing powder until it is covered. I masked off the front dash and the rear panel for black paint and the front wasn't burnished enough and the black paint ran under the tape. I added the nacelles for the headlights.