TurboKitty

My boyfriend's green '95 might get an LS1 transplant, not sure what he wants to do with it. I'm restoring mine to mostly OEM factory fresh with the only aftermarket addition being some tasteful wheels/tires & possibly a true dual exhaust (it has a Flowmaster single catback muffler on it right now). I might get the V6 Sport ground effects and put them on, not sure. I'm pondering the idea of adding a Ram Air hood since I already have a Ram Air Intake box, but that will probably be it. I want to keep the original engine with the car.

Got some updating to do since it's been awhile Sold my '93 Trans Am for $5,000: Bought this 119k original mile '98 Ram 1500 SLT Laramie for $1,800: and bought this for $750, a '95 Firebird 3.8 V6/auto project car (one of the very few '95s to have the 3.8, it is 1 of about 300 or so). and finally, we just brought this very rare beauty home last night! I traded my Ram for it straight up, if you know how rare this color is you'll know I got a killer deal! (Sorry, still quite a bit excited!). It's a 1998 Firebird 3.8 V6/auto in the super scarce Bright Purple Metallic. It starts as being 1 of 290, but including it's options it comes out to be 1 of 46 built w/ pewter leather, chrome wheels, BPM, hardtop, 3.8 V6/auto etc. I never thought I'd own one of these, luckily for me the previous owners didn't know what they had It needs a few minor things bit only has 60,000 original miles!

Happy Birthday!!

Either way this is a kit that I don't have to have immediately, now that I know what to look for I'll no doubt get one eventually LOL.

ok so this is the kit I need to save my pennies for? Or is there possibly a resin kit available? I see there's one on ebay for a little over $60, no doubt it will go higher though. Thanks again guys, with the big '60s cars sometimes I have trouble identifying a few lesser seen specimens...

ok so it's a '68 Catalina? I did a quick search and this is definitely what the rear looked like: But at the same time, I came across this picture and this is a '68 Bonneville, are they the same car but just a different trim level? They look identical to me: Thanks for your help guys, now I have to hunt this kit down

I was watching "American Gangster" (the 2007 Denzel Washington movie), and at about 1 hr & 5 min into the movie there is a silver 2dr fastback, I know it's a Pontiac but I'm not sure what year or model. I thought it was a '67 Impala (because you see the roof first, the bottom part is blocked by another car). It's the part where the cop & his team are on the street and an orange BMW pulls up, a guy gets out of that and talks to another guy on the street, then leaves. The guy on the street then runs into the building and comes out with a bag, then runs across the street and gets into this car. The cops tail it for a little bit and then it parks. The grille is definitely a Pontiac grille (center divider with quad headlights, chrome, sort of like a '68-'69 GTO). The taillights were "L" shaped (but laid horizontally). I thought it was a Grand Prix but I'm not sure. I snapped a pic of it with my phone (sorry for the non HD quality): Lastly, is there a kit of this? I love it!

Added Joe Chernauskas and Andy (1930fordpickup) to my post. I've traded with Joe several times and each one has went great, even though USPS decided to take their sweet time delivering my package to him this time, but thankfully they came through. I had the pleasure of meeting Andy today for a trade as well, had a very good time chatting about models & classic cars over lunch. Thank you both, I wouldn't hesitate to trade again anytime!

^^^ LOL!! What a beautiful build, its quite the looker in red!

Finally made it through all 53 pages, and my God you are one talented guy! This engine is just insane, I love it and am simply astonished by your level of craftsmanship, once this build is finished it is going to take every show you enter it in by storm!!

LOL not to get too far off topic but you're welcome & thank you too. I'm glad Anne joined and I'm trying to find other ladies because the more the merrier. At the last model club meeting I went to there was a sweet 14 yr old girl who came with her grandpa. She brought a Revell '71 Cuda that she was building in a Halloween theme, I am gonna try to get her to join and I hope she comes to the next model meeting As far as a community build, I haven't decided what it should consist of yet, maybe builder's choice? Sorry Anne, not trying to hijack your thread hun. You've gotten some great advice here!

How does the Tamiya Wrangler compare? I've only ever seen the Daisy Duke Jeep and the Tamiya Jeep, will this Rubicon be a full detail kit with an engine or is it going to be a curbside?

To answer the Metalizer question, I use aluminum, steel, magnesium, and although I have brass I rarely use it. I don't have an airbrush yet so any detail painting is done with a brush, which usually gives me good results. Regarding Kevin's (Magnum4342) comment, I too wish there were more females in the hobby. I'd love to start a female only community build but I have a feeling it would be scoffed at and ridiculed by atleast some of the male members here and it would get it locked or deleted, mainly because it seems there are some members here who still have the '50s mentality that women have no business in this hobby (or with cars in general). It's not 1955 anymore.... :/ Anyway Anne I love your enthusiasm but I agree with the idea of pacing yourself. It seems like you've got enough kits to keep you busy for a few months at least, but remember to keep it fun. Don't make building into a chore, and don't load up with stuff that you won't use immediately. Oh, and send some of your enthusiasm my way lol!

I use Meguiar's PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner & Polish. It works great on scratched cds & dvds too

Lol you seem to be off to a good start (checked out your '40 Ford), Lord knows it wouldn't hurt to have a few more gals here Out of curiosity what other Elvis cars are you considering building?

This explaination really helps, as does the other advice, thank you guys! I bought myself a stack of Hot Rod & Muscle Car magazines at a flea market so I will use those for reference. I have a bunch of Mopar, Pontiac, Chevy, & Ford magazines too that I forgot I had in my spare bedroom closet. Now to get some bench time

Quick update, I made a (non functional) sliding ragtop to give the Z a unique Euro look instead of the T-tops the kit is molded with. I made it using a grey eyeglass cleaning cloth, cut to shape, and backed with 4 pieces of wire to add strength. The wire is spaced evenly apart and held in place by masking tape that I colored grey with a fabric marker. Using a ruler I then folded the fabric in segments to replicate the folds of an open ragtop. Overall I am pleased with the results I am planning on adding something to replicate weatherstrip and the sliding mechanism as well.

That is one mean looking Merc! Nice job : )

I am impressed by those of you that toss box stock suspensions & other chassis/drivetrain components aside (even crisply molded ones) in order to scratchbuild a much more realistic & convincing one. Some of these are actually functional. My question is, how do you go about doing it? My hurdle in doing this is the lack of knowledge when trying to make something that would actually be seen on a real car. For example, I have a hard time identifying different rear differentials. They all look very similar to me (the OEM ones, anyway). If I wanted to make a beefier rear diff for say, a '68 Charger, how do you get the proportions right? Or if I wanted to make a modern suspension for an older muscle car, how do I find out what would be correct and realistic? Right now I just kitbash parts from similar makes, but I would love to learn how to do all of the above and then some. How do you do it? Reference material is a given, but with that its hard to know the correct size for each component when trying to replicate it in scale. Any help with this will be highly appreciated, and pics are a plus

AMT made a '67 Impala, but it is a 2dr. It's possible to convert it to a 4dr, I know its been done but I can't recall by who. Hopefully another member could tell ya

Personally, adding thinned black paint in the recessed panel lines of doors, trunks, gas lids, cowl vents, etc. can add a nice finishing touch to a smooth paint job. Without it, many models look sort of like a big Hot Wheels car.

Looking great so far, that color is gorgeous! I've got an old built up of the MPC '71 Superbird and I was thinking of building it with modern components as well, your Daytona makes me want to get started on it

Thank you for the positive feedback guys, much appreciated! I really need to make some bench time and get back to building like I used to

This is a really nice example of a kit you don't see built often, great job!

I've been working on this off and on since about 2009, but I wanted to finally make a WIP thread for it in an effort to help myself get motivated to finally finish it LOL. It's about 90% finished as it sits, but I need to buy some more paint, flocking material, and a few other things before I can finally call it done. The first pic is from 2010 when I was trying to choose the wheels and paint color for it. I remember it was going to be either Pearl White or Black, but I decided to go with a GM Blue Metallic (can't remember the exact name but it is part of the DupliColor line and I bought it at Advance Auto). The NISMO decals are from Hobby Design, and the sheet I bought has the stripes and hood decals in 3 different sizes. They are very nicely printed and easy to work with. On with the pics: After primer and 1st coat of paint, (with wheels from the Nissan 350Z NISMO kit. Apologies for the blurry cell phone pics): Fast forward to last year, the interior was painted using Krylon Fusion in Khaki Tan. I still need to mask parts of the seats and door panels to finish them with Satin Black. The floor will be getting tan flocking material added, and once I get them, photoetched interior accents. The decals were applied, turn signals and other accents were painted, and the "glass" was masked off and painted where black areas are on the 1:1 car. I used clear blue on the backs of the projector lenses to make the headlights appear as if they are fitted with HID's, and used a black permanent marker to trace the outside of the headlight lenses to give them a more realistic look. The exhaust tips are cut from metal tubing as well. Yes, the model is a little dusty since I don't have that many display cases, but the pic doesn't do the paint justice! I need to add some more black weatherstrip detail, paint the marker lights on the fenders and quarter panels, add the wipers, mirrors, etc. For something a little different I decided to cut the T-Top assembly out of the roof since I'm working on a sliding ragtop using thin grey or tan fabric. Yes, I work a little backwards sometimes LOL. The engine is assembled and painted, but I'm waiting on a pair of resin turbos, intercooler, and then gonna have to figure out how to bend some metal tubing for the turbo piping , and get it all wired up so unfortunately no pics of that yet. Let me know what you think, good or bad. Thanks!