W-409

As a guy who likes to read these threads, opening a new thread on each update makes it impossible to follow the progress on a certain model car, just like someone said. I know that looses my interest. Anyway... You're doing great job with this one!

That MPC Snap Tite kit isn't that bad, I won one at a local Model Car Contest and built it basically Box Stock. The body is really nice, actually my only complaints are molded in Fender Skirts (Yep, I never liked them on almost any car) and of course that the hood doesn't open, which is completely understandable in a Snapper. But it was a lot of fun to build and it turned out surprisingly good, even if I built it almost Box Stock. With some little modifications here and there I bet it would be a very cool Mild Custom.

Nice and clean job putting this Thunderbird together! I like the paint job and decals fit nicely into the body shapes. I know it's not easy. These NASCARS are really fun to build.

Thanks for the kind words, fellas! Joe: Hold your horses for a second ! I must make some other modifications before chopping, as it will make the A-Pillars a bit fragile. Jason: Yep, I figured out I better go all out with this, as it will be a good practise for my '60 Impala Pro Modified I will be building sometime after this one. I hope this thread, in side of the others, will help you and other people while building Pro Modifieds. Thanks again, everyone!!! No new pics yet... I've had very little time to build anything in the last couple of days, but I'm hoping to make some progress on the next few days. Stay Tuned.

Hey Tyrone, I have a question that has been bothering me for a while now... When the headers go through the front fenders like here, I believe you will have to install the engine to the chassis first and then you can glue on the headers? I'm just wondering because I should make that kind of headers on some of my builds, too. Anyway you're doing a great job with this Camaro. The electrics look fantastic and your detailing is incredible, as always. I'm interested in seeing this thing in paint.

Actually I didn't drill holes to the cylinder heads. When the header pipes have a tight fit with the flanges, you don't have to drill the heads. But if the holes are a bit "too large" on the flanges, then it's a good idea to drill holes to the cylinder heads, too. I had to do that once, and I did so that I glued the flanges to the heads and then the holes on the flanges worked as a template to drill the holes. Hope this makes sense.

Thanks Guys! I'm not quite sure what adhesive means, as I didn't find a simple translation for it in the English/Finnish dictionary... But I guess it's the same as glue? If it is, I used just a regular Locktite Super Glue that I used to glue the header pipes into the flanges and to glue the header pipes together under the collectors. If adhesive means something else... Just explain it and I'll answer agan.

Looking good so far! I like how the engine looks, the shade of that orange is excellent. Good looking air cleaner, too. Where is it from? The wheels will look good under this body, even if I'm not the biggest fan of those Convo Pros. But I'm pretty sure they'll fit nicely in a Vega.

This must be one of the coolest models I've seen in a long time! First, the body is really nice and these 3rd Gen GM A-Bodies are really nice cars (Not only because I race Stock Eliminator with one ). It's great to see someone building one of these, especially when it needed this much cutting and slicing. I know I don't see the flaws on body shapes very easily, but I think you nailed the body. After someone mentioned the front bumber being a bit too short from the sides, I noticed the same thing, but otherwise I think you did the bodywork perfectly. Overall this is a very clean and nice model. The paint job and those little details all over, especially in the engine bay, make it look very realistic. I like the interior, too. The amount of modifications in this short time amazes me, I know I'd have hard time building a Box Stock kit in that time! Overall, great work, and to make sure everyone "gets it", I'll say I Like The Subject!!!

That's very good looking Edsel! I like the paint job, those blue fades fit perfectly on the body shapes. Also the modifications you did look very good and nicely done. Good looking engine detailing finishes it off! I think Edsels are very good looking cars, much better than Fords from 1958. I'm glad to see well built models of them.

I think you will get better results with styrene rod. It's not possible to make such tight bends on solder as they should and while bending another bend on the solder, you might ruin the first one. I've built headers from solder before, but nowadays I don't do it anymore, because in my opinion, the headers made out of styrene look much better. What I do: 1. I make header flanges out of thin sheet styrene and drill holes for the .080 styrene rod that will be used as exhaust pipes. 2. I start with the 7 & 8 cylinder header pipes. I test fit the styrene rod on place and mark where should I bend it and to what direction. I use a candle to heat up the styrene, but you must be very careful not to heat it up so that it'll melt. It's better to heat it up too little than too much, as you can always heat it more. 3. This way you can make all of the header pipes. It's actually very easy, and I succeeded on my first try. Always when one exhaust pipe is bent ready, just glue it on and let it dry properly before bending the second pipe. That way the pipes will fit together into the collectors nicely when finished. Building collectors is completely another story. But it's not that different either. 4. Start by cutting the header pipes even from the place where the collectors will be attached. Then glue a little piece of styrene rod on place. It should be about the same size as the four header pipes are together. Like this: 5. Then take out the thinnest sheet styrene you have, and make a round piece (Like a tube) out of it and glue it over the little styrene rod piece you just glued on step four. With a little heat and a flat screwdriver, push those little "sinkholes" on them and smooth out the seam that came visible when you glued this piece of sheet styrene as round. Then just paint your headers and they're done!

When I was in USA a couple of years ago, there were lots of Chargers! And even here in Finland I see these sometimes! I think it's not that bad looking car anyway. But I agree, the one posted here looks horrible. I think it looks like a boat on the first picture. The front and rear end make it look that way, just like it would need major sectioning...

I've done only a couple of cars that had black chrome trim, so I don't have much experience on that. Anyway I used a black marker pen (I can't remember what was the manufacturer) and it worked fine. I tried to find a good picture, but couldn't make it. I will go and take one on the result later today.

Are you going to be casting this body in resin once it's done? I used that putty in the past with larger body mods, too, and it shrinks after some time... If you're going to cast this body, it might not be a problem, but otherwise I'd suggest using another putty. Just in case you didn't know. You're doing a great job with this one, I can't wait to see more progress.

Thanks Jason! That's just the information I wanted to hear, as I don't want to extend the nose by stretching it in front of the front tires. I think that would make the body look silly. The "fin" should be much better looking solution. Also I've always wondered why some Pro Mods have that on the front bumber. Now I know, thanks! Thanks Darryl! Detailing these Pro Mods will be a challenge. I hope I can do it and turn it out as good as I'd like. I'm more worried about getting the body and chassis right, though. I mean I've never done this massive body modifications, nor have I scratchbuilt a frame from plastic. But yeah, hopefully it turns out good. Thanks Dan! I appreciate it... Here's a little update. Today I started working with the front tire openings on the body. The Frontrunners looked way too small on the original wheel openings, so I did what has been done to many Pro Mod bodies and I decided to make the wheel openings a bit shorter. Of course the first thing to do was a little mock up with the tires I'll be using. I'm not going to use those wheels, they're for mock up only. Then I marked on the body where should I cut so I took out my razor saw and cut out the rear part of the front wheel opening. Then I mocked up the front tire on place again and marked on the part I had just cut out from the body, how much the wheel opening must be shortened and shortened it a little. Then I did the same thing for the other side, and glued the parts back on. Now the wheel openings are much better and the front tire looks good in those openings. I did a little mistake on the co-driver's side so I had to add a little styrene between the body and the part that I glued back on. As you can see, it's still very rough, but once I get it sanded smooth and when I put some more liquid glue to smooth it out, it should look really good. Hopefully I will have more pics soon. Next I must fill the gap and continue sanding the body. I must narrow that thing as well some day.

Thanks Stan! I highly appreciate it, and I agree that the bodywork is starting to pay off. It looks really smooth now, so I'll let the Primer dry for a couple of days and then I'll do some masking and painting. I can't wait to have some color on it... Thanks Gene! Yep, it's actually white, but it's a very thin coat over grey spray filler, so that it would not hide the details. Especially the rear window chrome trim might get easily covered by paint. That's why it looks like light grey, especially in the photos. I like how the panel lines look, too. I think that's one of the good things (Probably the only good thing actually) in black plastic. Let's see if there is actually need to black wash them when it's painted or not...

Well, to me, it looks like when you look at this car you see nothing then? I must say that you're doing an incredible job with this Mustang. Your previous builds havev been fantastic, too, so when you posted this thread here, I knew it will be amazing. Anyway I'm completely blown away by every update. Everything looks so nice and clean that I could swear it's a real car. Very nice work all over, and a good reference material for my Corvette Pro Mod build, which will be probably 0.00000000000000001% as good as this one.

I agree with the others... Fantastic work creating a model that looks completely real! I've said it before, but I must say it again: Your painted parts, especially those that aren't actually painted in real life, are very realistic. The different shades of metal are nicely done and the slight weathering just gives them more realism. I have tried weathering like that, too, but usually the parts end up looking greasy. Again, very nice job and thanks for sharing the WIP thread as well. This is a truly fantastic build.

That's a killer for sure! I like the overall look very much, especially the Drag Radials look very good and fit perfectly under this body. Are they the ones from Fireball Modelworks? Paint job is smooth and engine detailing is fantastic as well. Where is that Pro Charger from? It looks very realistic, I must get a couple of those, too. Overall a very good looking Super Bee. This is a nice body style, too.

That turned out super nice! Your building speed especially surprises me as you did lots of modifications, but it still took this short time to come together. Great job with the paint, it looks very shiny and smooth. Green and black work well together, too. Engine detail is also top notch... Very good looking Capri.

Thanks Ira! It means a lot when coming from a "Master Cutter" like you . Well, nothing much done today. Only a little sanding on the front end. But what I did was planning on what should I do next, and I do have a question for the Pro Mod guys. The NHRA says that the front overhang should be 45 inches, but if the actual front overhang is shorter, an NHRA approved nose extension piece can be used. I'd like to use that rather than extending the front overhang, but I'm not sure how does that extension piece look like. Is it this "Fin" that is installed in the bumper? My front overhang is 38" in this Corvette, so I need a 7" extension piece. I was also measuring the body width. Front end must be narrowed quite a bit, but the rear end is very close to the NHRA measurements. Anyway if someone could answer on the question, I'd highly appreciate it.

I don't want to complain, but after doing this same modification on many roll bars, why that crossbar can't be in horizontal level? Now the seat belts can't be installed on that crossbar... It's not a big deal to modify, but I wonder why the kit manufacturers (Not only Revell) can't do that correct.

Great job so far! I think there are no flaws to be pointed out. The engine looks good. That orange color is pretty close to the Chevy Engine Red, so what paint did you use? Also the paint on that carburetor looks much better than just chrome plating. How about the same paint for alternator as well? Looks like this kit has a pretty good looking Rochester carburetor... Maybe I must pick one up. Oh, and glad to see you building a Chevy!

Thanks fellows! I appreciate your kind comments a lot! Well, no more progress on this one. I have had very little time to build anything so all I have been doing is planning on where to cut next. Probably I will continue with the nose when I have time.... Stay tuned.

Well, I still have had very little bench time, and it took me four days to sand the putty and spray a Primer coat over the body. I used flat white Primer, because the another color will be white, which wouldn't probably work with grey Primer. Hopefully there will be no surprises when the paint is dry, because now it looks pretty smooth. Anyway here are a couple of pictures and hope to have it painted soon.