mrmike

The Story McNally and Vic conclude their business and walk out to the back of his shop to look at the Challenger. They pull the tarp off the car and Vic just shakes his head at the damage caused by the automatic gunfire. Three tires flat and everything else just plain shot up. "Let's keep this as is until the insurance adjuster looks at it," says McNally. Vic agrees as McNally prys open the trunk to get his equipment bag out. At least this wasn't shot up from sitting towards the back of the trunk under the rear deck where the extra metal helped to deflect the bullets. They cover up the Challenger and walk back to service bay to the Super Bee. McNally places his equipment bag up between the wheels wells and closes the trunk. "Bring the dealer plate back after you get the car registered. I'll throw on the inspection sticker afterwards." McNally agrees as he gets into the Super Bee, starts it and drives out of the garage and off to the Registry. The Build Modifying the front suspension was easy. I cut the spindles off and raised them 1/8th inch up on the struts. The rear suspension will be much more difficult. The diffential is mount directly to the floor pan and there is no real way to lower the suspension. My solution is to cut the axle pins off the rear axle and glue the pins to the floor pan. I drew out the cuts in pencil. I marked the tip of the axle pin with a pencil and where I would mount the pin after the cut. For now, this is my plan for the rear suspension, but I will keep investigating for a better way to do this. McNally will return...

Thanks for the heads up, John! This is my third Charger and I don't recall having those issues when I built mine. I will keep an eye out for it. I usually crack the windshield since it isn't as curved as the windshield header.

I'll be watching this, too! I have the Revell Mr. Norm's '68 Dodge Dart 440 in the stash and I want to see what you do with yours.

David, the front splitter/spoiler will be body colored. The Story That following afternoon, McNally arrives at Vic's Sales & Service in his father's '57 Ford 300 aka Spearmint. He and Vic walk down to the garage to check out the Charger Super Bee that is parked in one of the service bays. Hemi Orange with black graphics, black interior with a Hemi engine, full power, A/C, and an automatic transmission. This car has only 62,000 miles on the clock and it looks brand new. "A little bright for sleuthing, don't ya think," says McNally with a smile on his face. Vic smiles and he says, "It should be faster than a speeding bullet." Vic slaps a magnetic dealer plate on the car and McNally takes it out for a spin. Acceleration is simular to the Challenger even though its a larger car and stopping and handling is very good. He drives the Charger Super Bee back to Vic's and he parks it in the same service bay. "I'll take it," he tells Vic and they both go p to Vic's office to discuss terms. The Build I painted the Charger Super Bee this afternoon with Model Master Hemi Orange Lacquer. Thank you Rust-oleum for the three cans you sent when I ask for one! McNally will return...

Thanks Charlie!

Thanks Jeremy! The Story McNally leaves BPD Headquarters and heads for the T Bus Stop. He takes the bus to Vic's Sales & Service to see if Vic has another ride for him. He tells Vic about his Challenger getting shot up and that the car is undriveable and probably junk. After looking through his computer inventory, all he has are small and medium size sedan econoboxes. He will look through the New England area for another car for his friend. McNally returns home to get his Father's '57 Ford Custom 300 out of the garage and his cellphone rings. It's Vic saying that he found a 2010 Dodge Charger SRT8 Super Bee and does McNally want to see it. He says yes and when can he see the car. Vic says the car will be at the dealership early tomorrow afternoon as it is currently in Hyannis, Ma. McNally will see Vic tomorrow at 2:00 PM. The Build I got the Hemi completed with the exception of touchups and decals. The Hemi in the chassis. What are these two little things? These were X'd out on the instruction sheet. They are Super Bees for the front fenders! I chromed them and will try to paint them yellow and black when they are dry. How did Lindberg miss these? McNally will return...

The Story Upon his return to Boston, McNally stops at the BPD Forensics Lab and talks to Technician Robert Parken. He asks if Bob can look for prints and anything else about the bullet and the shell casing that he has brought in. Bob asks if these pieces are connected to a current BPD case and McNally tells him that they are not. Looking at McNally in the eye, Bob asks, "What's in it for me?" "My gracing the hallowed Halls of Forensics is not enough?" Bob replies, "Nope! I'll look at it when I get a chance. Right now, I'm very busy." McNally goes upstairs to talk with his friend Lt. Det. Adam Troy. He tells Adam about the pieces he has in Forensics and if Adam could influence the techs to take a quick look at them. Adam replies that they are rather busy and it could take a while before they can be looked at. Boston Police Dept. cases come first and he will talk to the techs. The Build There is a splitter/spoiler that is not used on this kit. I decided to add it to the front fasca. The Hemi engine is coming along. I've got a lot of parts painted and drying. McNally will return...

Yep! Ouch is right! Now to foil, assemble and finsh this model.

Easier said than done. You run into the problem of the rear differential not being lowered enough unless you do some major whacking. I offer a way to lower the suspension without the major whacking and reconstruction of the suspension. This can be applied to any Revell 2006 and up Mustang kit. The picture below shows my Shelby GT500 lowered and with Pegasus 205/50-16s low profile tires. I find that the kit tires look like truck tires with their huge sidewalls and chunky tread pattern.

I do thank you for the infromation, Steve! It's definitely good to know, but I will be sticking with the black as it does look better to my eye. Well, it was bound to happen soon or later. I reach over the Riviera to reach a tube of superglue and when I had lifted the tube by the cap, the cap came off and the tube spilled onto the Riviera's left front fender. My heart just sank! I sanded the fender and got it as smooth as I could, reprimered, repainted and reglossed the fender. The fender is now slightly darker than the rest of the body. I'll have to refoil the trim that I had to remove and polish the paint. Lesson learned...tightly recap a bottle or tube of whatever I had used! More Buick to come...

The Story The Police Chief of Whelton was neither forthcoming or holding back on any information the McNally was looking for. After finishing his breakfast and drinking the last of his coffee, the Chief offers to take McNally back out to the farmstead to look at his Challenger. The Chief squeezes himself out of the booth and they walk out to his cruiser and drive out to the farmstead. He goes across the street and up a small hill looking for the gunner's nest and he finds it. He sifts through the leaves and pine needles and he finds a rifle shell. Using a pen, he picks it up and sticks into his jacket pocket and then he walks down the hill back to the farmhouse. The Chief asks if he found anything and McNally replies that he didn't since his gut tells him not to trust the Chief. He will ask BPD Forensics to check the shell casing. The Chief had called for a flatbed wrecker to pick up McNally's Challenger and take it back to town and to make arrangements to tow it back to Boston. While the Chief was talking to the driver of the wrecker, McNally digs a bullet out of the door frame with his pocket knife and he places that into his pocket for Forensics to examine. The Chief nor the wrecker driver saw him do this. He goes into the farmhouse and makes note of the empty farmhouse for his files and walks back outside to the Chief and the wrecker driver and wrecker. The wrecker driver will give him a lift back to Boston when he takes the Challenger back with him. The Build I got the Charger into a good coat of Testors White Lacquer Primer. Some sanding and then a coat of Model Master Hemi Orange.

Looks like a great rescue of a long neglected model! I think you did a great job on this Cyclone! I wish that this kit would be reissued or maybe a new tool from Revell using the Torino chassis.

This tutorial is to show how I lower the front suspension of a Revell late model Ford Mustang. This tutorial can be adopted to any other Revell kit with a high stock front suspension built out of the box. The parts that I am using may not be for a Mustang, but they are close for this demonstration. First I start with the front disc brakes. I mark the section to be removed so that the brake disc can be mounted higher on the upright. Use a bunch of business cards under the chassis with the wheel against the suspension of the model to determine the ride height you want. I removed the plastic material so that the edge is level with the space molded in the brake disc. This will allow the brake disc to be mounted flat against the upright This is the brake disc in the stock position. This is the brake disc higher up on the upright. You may have to drill a new hole for the wheel pin on the wheels. Moving the brake disc higher on the upright lowers the front suspension. Depending upon my mood, I may use the metal pin from the kit or make new ones from a piece of styrene rod. Since I don't like my models to roll, I glue the wheels to the suspension to prevent the model from rolling off the shelf. The rear suspension can be lowered by using lowering blocks between the rear axle and the leaf springs or by rearching the springs or cutting a coil from the coil springs.

Steve, this is the first time I have seen a grey painted Road wheel on the '65 Riviera. All the pictures I have seen show the wheel with black highlights, not grey. Grey painted Road wheels may have been an option (grey or black) or was color keyed to the exterior color. I will never know. My Riviera will be factory stock...more or less. It will have white lettered BF Goodrich tires which was not factory stock, but more of a "Day 2" appearance. Thanks for showing me the grey painted wheels, Steve.

After polishing the body and installing the chassis, I went looking for the radiator hoses only to find that there are none! None in the box nor are any called out for in the instructions! There no holes in the radiator, either! So, with ingenuity being the mother of invention, I got out a hose from the parts box and a piece of styrene rod and inserted the rod into the hose and glued it to the intake manifold. When that has dried solid, I'll do the same to the other end and glue it to the radiator. More Buick to come...

David, my plan is to bring the front and rear tires up to the edge of the fender lip. I think I can accomplish this. The Story Night time has come and it has gotten dark out as McNally slips out the back door and he creeps along closely towards the ground. As he ducks behind several massive trees, there is no return fire from the other side of the road. Maybe the assassin has left the area to avoid capture, but McNally will never know. As he walks up the road, a Whelton Police Cruiser comes along and McNally flags the driver down. Officer Tim Reilly asks who he is and why he is out here. McNally says he was attacked by automatic gunfire earlier in the afternoon at the Dundy Homestead and he escaped under the cover of darkness. Due to the late hour, McNally's Challenger will be picked up in the morning and Officer Reilly will give McNally a lift back into town. There are no motels in this town so Tim offers the use of an empty cell at the Police Station for McNally to spend the night. In the morning, he leaves the cell with a folded up blanket on the pillow and he heads over to the Diner across the street for breakfast. The Police Chief walks over to get a cup of coffee and to talk to McNally. The Chief squeezes into the booth with his large gut when McNally offered him a seat at his booth by the windows looking out on the street. The Build The basic engine and transmission were assembled and painted. Mopar Street Hemi Orange for the engine block and Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver for the transmission. The body parts and chassis were assembled and awaiting Model Master White Primer. McNally will return...

The Riviera got its coat of Tamiya TS-13 Gloss Clear. This is two mist coats and a medium coat of clear. A wetter coat of clear is coming soon. More Buick to come...

Thanks Jeremy! Still looking over the suspension so I can lower it. I have some ideas, but that doesn't stop me from researching it further.

Thanks David! There is a Riviera GS that I have been watching lately that has a similar color interior. My build is based on that car.

Yep! McNally has had the Challenger for a while and it's time for another car. I wish there was a newer version of this Charger, but alas no, there isn't. I have the PD version and the stock R/T version as well.

My new project and the return of McNally, Boston PI. The story is titled Starting Over. There is no one in this story related to any one living or deceased. The Build I am using Lindberg's Charger SRT8 Super Bee kit #73065 and will be painted with Model Master Hemi Orange Lacquer with a black/grey interior. The Story Walking out of Court with his attorney Charlotte Rothmann, McNally has paid a fine for refusing to answer the Judge's directive. Charlie was able to get the jail sentence changed to a fine and McNally has plenty of money in his savings to cover the check. But, Charlie didn't want to talk to the Boston PI for some reason and she got into her Caddy STS-V and drove away. At home, McNally checks the mail and finds an envelope in the mail that contains a letter and a check for his services. He'll insert the letter with the file and cash the check, but the file seems to be missing some details and he decides to follow up on the case. The case involved a man checking to see if any other heirs to his family farm estate were still alive. Whelton, Mass. is a small farming community with a town hall, a couple of stores and a diner that serves breakfast all day. At the farm, he gets out of his Challenger SRT8 and walks towards the farm house and suddenly automatic gunfire erupts from somewhere and he takes cover a large boulder near the front porch. Now the gunfire seems to be concentrating on his Challenger, shooting out the windows and the tires. The car body is full of bullet holes and three of the tires are flat. The automatic gunfire stops and McNally runs to the front door of the farm house and kicks the door open and he takes refuge inside to wait out the assassin. McNally will return...

Thanks trendsetter68 and Keith!

I got the Riviera foiled. This took me hours to do and I like the results! More Buick to come...

I painted the grille with Tamiya X-1 Flat Black paint, waited a few minutes and then I wiped off the grille bars. The headlight covers were painted with Model Master Metalizer Aluminium. The taillights were painted with Tamiya X-27 Clear Red and the backup lights were painted with Tamiya XF-2 Flat White. More Buick to come...

I made a wider intake manifold for the Studebaker with a notch in the back for a distributor. The engine is almost complete save for the ignition coil and painting the transmission. More Studebaker to come...