W-409

I think the Charger 500 version looks really good. Nice to see one in resin in the future. Especially I like how the real car looks because of its headlights. Those look much better than the hideaway headlights on a regular Charger. I probably don't end up buying one, though. I'm not a Mopar guy myself and Chargers don't interest me so much that I'd spend that much money on one. But it's still very cool to see one of these done in resin and it will be interesting to see what other people do with these kits when they are out.

Really, I've been wondering why hasn't anyone tooled up a G-Boby Malibu. I guess they would sell really well, as they are quite popular in the 1:1 world. Especially they are very popular Drag Cars, but there are also lots of street car Malibus. Personally I'd guess they'd sell well and I really hope to see a kit of '78-'81 Malibu (With the single headlights, they just look million times better than the double headlights). I know I'd buy at least three of them to build different versions. The Cutlass would be another cool one. Hopefully we'll see a kit of one in the future.

Here are a couple of more pictures. I got the center console painted and clear coated and of course installed. Also the seat belts were made out of Scale Dreams' seat belt material and Model Car Garage's Photo Etch parts. The kit didn't have any pedals, and I thought that it might be a bit easier to drive if the car has pedals, so I scratchbuilt a simple set of them from metal wire and sheet styrene. They're very basic, but after all they can't be seen much from the finished model so I guess they'll do. A little cleanup and detail painting for the dashboard and some clear coat to the wooden steering wheel and I was able to glue them together. Next I will have to scratchbuild a shifter and then I can install the dash on place.

No one on this one? Here's another one from the same movie. Who was that? It sure is fast. -Baby, Hell on Wheels.

And yet another update, looks like I'm on a roll now ! I made the spark plug wires for the engine. Again, the spark plug boots on the heads are made out of the same electric wire as on the distributor. Those wires were quite easy to install and I'm pretty happy with the result. I also started the dashboard. Before I had smoothed out a couple of sink marks from it with putty and painted it with Revell's brown Enamel. The wooden part was painted so that I brushed a light and uneven coat of Humbrol Clear Orange over the brown paint and once that dried, I clear coated the wooden area. The gauges are painted with semi gloss black and the chrome rings were painted silver with a thin paint brush. It is not completed yet, there's a bit more detail painting to do and some cleanup also. It gives you an idea though how it will look. I also wanted a wooden steering wheel ring on this thing. It was created with the same method. The steering wheel spokes need still minor black washing, but otherwise that should be ready to be glued on.

How about this one? First is first, second is nowhere man.

Excellent work in every way Paul! Your modifications are looking great, and this not so good kit is turning into a super nice buildup. I'm especially impressed by that engine bay, I have the Charger Daytona version of this kit on my bench now and I've been planning on doing the same thing. Great work all in all, this is a great inspiration for sure.

Unfortunately I missed Vantaa Cruising Night in May as it was at the same time as the first Drag Race event of the season. In June the Cruising Night was at Midsummer, so lots of people were on their summer cottages and there were less people as usual. Still lots of cool cars were present and there were some smoky burnouts, too. Here is a link to the full Gallery. Burnout Video feacturing for example 1955 Chevrolet, '69 Charger, Chevy Caprice etc.

Looks like the Charger Daytona is progressing faster than ever before ! I painted the water pump silver as well as the bolts from that timing chain cover. I glued it on place, painted the distributor and started working with the spark plug wires. First I drilled nine holes to the distributor and then glued the wires on place. They are made out of Scale Dreams' wire and the spark plug boots are electric wire. I still have to finish with those plug wires though. Also the front seats were painted and glued on place. Next step would be the seat belts.

Slowly but Surely (?) the Charger Daytona is coming along. On the latest update on page 25 I sprayed some Spray Filler on the body. It showed that the body is actually looking pretty smooth, but there was still a minor problem with the nose. So I put Bondo on a larger area to the nose and sanded it smooth. Now I believe the body should be ready for the final Primer coat... Maybe. Hopefully. I also put the rear spoiler together after removing the ejector pin marks from the underside of those parts. It was a real pain to get right, but now it's pretty close. Next I must smooth the glue joints from that spoiler and then I can start the painting process with that part, too. It'll be flat black, just like the hood too. Sorry the pics are not the best... It was dark and that's what my camera doesn't like at all.

Super nice Mercury, as always. It's so nice to see someone building these rarely seen subjects, especially when you do so clean work. The smooth paint job and immaculate BMF on this one make it look like a real deal. This really inspires me to get started with my AMT '59 Edsel Corsair....

You sure do clean work. Every time I look at your builds I'm completely amazed... Great work in a short time, this Mustang is going to be an excellent build when completed! The body is looking fantastic already, keep it going.

Yesterday I masked the red areas of the body away to be able to paint some silver on the roof. After the paint dried, it looks like it needs a light wetsanding and just a little more silver. But it's not too bad. I also painted the hood from the underside.

Thanks guys! I highly appreciate the kind words. A Small update for this one. I found a set of carburetors from my parts box. They're from AMT '66 Chevy Nova kit and they should be pretty good for this one. I also scratchbuilt a scoop from sheet styrene. I still have to drill holes for the carburetor throats to the bottom of that scoop, but otherwise it should be ready for paint. The hood isn't painted yet, because I have to make the hole on it slightly smaller.

Yep, it's one of my favorites too. It has a Small Block Ford with a Pro Charger and the best ET so far is 8.5. The driver said at 2014 Finals that he can't go with full throttle, otherwise the car will start going sideways. He has also done a couple of massive wheelstands with that one... Like here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seO9TceD2Wc

Whoops, you're correct. Though, Super Stock was part of the Stock category until 1967, so for any of those cars the 9 inch slicks are not correct. After that they'll work fine as you said. I think those can be used in Dragsters and Altereds as well. In my Fiat 500 Altered I have 9" slicks and to me they look pretty good. Though I'm going to replace these in the picture with a pair of Cheater Slicks....

Well, actually if building 100% correct Stock or Super Stock Drag Car from the Early '60s, those tires wouldn't be legal. Cheater Slicks were allowed but they could not be larger than 7 inches and they had to have at least two thread strips on them. Many of those slicks did grew to 7½ inches after a few runs, so some of the drivers had to lift up the rear end on jack stands, put the 1st gear in so that the wheels are turning and use a file to file the tire back to 7 inches. In 1967 when Super Stock was first time it's own category with 10 classes from SS/A to SS/EA, they were allowed to run with any tire that could fit inside the stock wheelwells. But still Stockers had to run with the 7" tire with those two thread strips. I can't remember when the Stockers were allowed to start using 9" slicks, though. In Factory Experimental classes, Drag Slicks were allowed if they did fit inside the original and unmodified rear wheel wells and they could not exeed 10 inches. But honestly speaking, those are minimal things that doesn't matter that much. Even I have built old Stockers and Super Stockers with 9" Slicks because I think it's a really small mistake. But if you're going for 100% accuracy, then you might want to buy correct Slicks from Speed City Resins.

I like this year model better, too. Great job on the conversion, the front end fits so well that it looks like factory made. Thanks for the information on the fitment, when I get one of these '90 LX Mustangs, this is what I will do. Then I could build something like this Top Street Mustang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKdJ9MYl7OE I'll be following this one with a great interest.

After a long break (I forgot this thread existed!) I have more pics to post in here. I think a good one to begin with would be the first Vantaa Cruising Night of 2014. It took place in April and there were lots and lots of cars. I bet it was the record number of cars in April's Cruise Night. Many people decided to "test drive" their new tires, and there were lots of big and smoky burnouts as well. Here are a few pictures first: Here is a Link to the full Picture Gallery. And a Burnout video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RirlKkKJiaM

Thanks guys! Yep, it's great that there are many US cars here in Finland and Cruising Nights etc. Actually only not so good thing is the long winter. Anyway, I forgot I had already posted a thread for pictures from Finnish Car Events. I'll continue posting these pics in that thread: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=44271

I forgot I had a short video of this one driving out from the Car Show. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH0K2my3H4I Thanks everyone for the interest... I'll post another one from Finland!

This will be interesting! I like watching those Roadkills as well and this was one of my favorites. I'm sure you will do great work with this one, so I can't wait to see more. I'm interested in the grille, though. What are you going to do to replicate the one in the real car better than what the kit offers?

This will be interesting! You build really high quality models and I'm glad to see you building a Drag Car, too. This kit has been on my "Wish List" for a long time, but I believe you'll inspire me to finally buy it. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

I agree, very good looking Wheelstander. The idea is very cool, it's always nice to see something different, especially when it's done as nicely as this. Good looking paint and sharp details. I really like this one.

We don't, because we all know that picture was fake... I guess the Chevy guy is cleaning his NOS injectors and giving some handycap to the Ford, because he knows his Chevy is so much faster.