DanielG

Looks like a rat to me! Nice job.

Well, the Lord hates a coward so out came the knives and saws!

Thanks for the tip.

I have been ammassing doner vehicles and so far it looks as though I will have to make or modify something to make the wheels and maybe the tires as well. Ertl appears to have used the narrower wheel/tire combination on all their cars to save on tooling. We are talking 1/18th of an inch which is easily noticable (albeit only to the most anal retentive of us!) Ah well, if it was easy then everybody would be doing it. My buddy Mike thinks that he would like a model of the Olds F88 and we are getting materials for that little project!

I think this link will be useful. http://www.trumpeter-china.com/a/gb2312/product/new/2010/0909/934.html

Welcome Roadkill! I visited another (diecast) site the other day and they also required registration before browsing, which I did, and then found nothing of interest anyway!

BMF does black chrome, but I have not tried it. I am thinking it would look better than paint.

Low speed, I generaly hand drill plastic and don't have a problem with the plastic melting to the bit (and in my world 1/32 is considered BIG!). And as previously stated, any little bits of plastic stuck in the bit grooves is easily removed with your fingers.

Nice smooth job. Just enough dirt to provide interest without going overboard.

Thankyou. This build is becoming a test-bed for any new (to me) methods that I discover or steal!

New interior door panels... made with the jim dandy Matel Vacuform. The most useful thing left from my childhood (since my electric drill packed it in after 50 years!). The only bad thing is having to make sheets by drilling out all the holes!

I would go with the five spoke type, gives it a tougher look.

I think the eight is too small! OUCH! just kidding!

'1stGear' makes some nice 1/25 diecast dozers. Kind of heavy (not cheap either!) but would work in a pinch.

Second that!

I got space shuttle kit that had two right side sprues and no left!

Thanks Highway. I had not seen the Rockford site before. The TV car is obviously the original car that was reconfigured with the '79 frontend on the '78 body. The rear of the car looks unchanged from the original. I found some info and pics on the wheels that may have been used, another minefield! No matter how long this project takes I will bet that as soon as I am finished some more information will come to light.

If you are EXTREMELY masochistic you can try using a photo-etch #8. Either way, I would like to see how you make out.

Just finished one and have one on the go and one in the planning stage and one sci-fi in the paint shop.

I had a '64 Malibu stnwgn that was used to launch boats, it rusted out behind the spring mounts and the gas tank supports gave way and the tank rested on the filler pipe. I bolted the tank to the deck! I also had a '52 Bug that would pour exhaust fumes in to the cabin, just drove it with the windows down, summer and winter.

Thanks Highway. I have only seen one pic from the side that I think is a showcar, the rest are from the rear. Any pics that I have seen away from the showroom I am assuming are pics of a replica on a '79/80 body. I have been staring at pics of '77s and '78s until half blind. I am going into my crawl-space now to do some insulating! Later.

Thamks Highway. I was going to use the 77 Formulae for the roof. I need the standard 77 for the front clip although it looks as though some work will still need to be done around the front flare. The wagon seems to have less slope to the flare. The replicas were built using the 79 car as near as I can tell so that would be the easiest conversion but I would rather try to copy one of the original showcars. If anyone has some more pics I would appreciate any help in that direction as what I have is very limited.

No no no, I absolutely have to! The problem so far is finding a '77 TransAm nearby, they being a few years out of production and kind of scarce on the ground.

I saw pics of this vehicle some time ago and knew that I just had to make one! I have obtained a '79 and a '77 special which will give a basis to make a replica of the replicas that were made but I am looking for a '77 'Bandit' as the basis for the original show car. I may practise on the 'replica' before starting on the original show car model. As it is now the '77 would donate the wheels and hardtop roof for a replica model '79 sport truck. This will be a long road to travel!

Very interesting. Gonna be watching this build.