Brutalform

The tops of the frame that will be visible from under the hood needed to be filled. A bit of strip styrene glued in, and some putty should do the trick.

Painted the rims with a Stainless Steel Buffing. I might go around the edges with some Molotow to give a shiny, polished, aluminum look.

There were two alignment holes in the radiator support that allow the pins on the rear of the grill to slide into. (Sorry no before pics). These were clipped off and sanded smooth. I still have to take care of the sink marks on the radiator support, even though they will be hidden by the grill. Then the rear of the grill needs to be sanded as well, or the grill will stick out with a considerable gap. Now the grill is fitted properly up against the fenders.

Thanks everyone. Its definitely a fun build. Thanks Bill. I’ve even looked at some pics of the actual car, and from what I see, is, the glass appears to sit a tiny bit below the body lines. I’ll work on the window channels a bit more, before I begin to primer. I’ll most likely mask off the channels to keep the glass fitting as it should.

A link to Bills fantastic tutorial on the window mods. Thanks Bill. I would have responded sooner but the post is locked.

Just a little more fine sanding in the rear area, and then I’ll add some sheet styrene to the wheel wells where I cut away the original material. The rims were soaked in bleach to remove the chrome. I’m going to paint them with Testors Stainless buffing to see how they turn out. Kinda looking for a nice aluminum look.

Once the control arms are added, the rear will sit straight like this…

My build won’t have rear tires as quite as large as the real car, but some mods have to made to the rear no less. A bit of cutting in the rear wheel wells, and a slight narrowing of the frame rails, was need to help shoe the tires in. The frame mod was pretty simple because on the side that meets the chassis, it’s opened up, where you can easily cut the frame to narrow it. I had to add some spacers to the rear springs, and cut the ends of the rear end off, and add some Evergreen styrene rod. Using wheel backs from Scenes Unlimited. Going to use some wide Convo Pros on this car. The backs of the rims were sanded down to make them fit the tires better. I have a pair of matching rims for the front coming from EBay. The front will use the Moroso drag special tires.

There is also a problem with the hood drooping a bit low, so this is the easiest way to address this. A small piece of stock glued under the hood. Once painted, it will not be noticed under the hood. I’ll get to the grill fitting later on. But now the hood sits right.

I sanded off the emblem from the rear panel. The car I saw on the video doesn’t have the letters there.

And a pic of the car that inspired me to build.

Had this kit sitting around for a while so I decided to take a look at it, after reading from some builders, that it needs a bit of attention. Bill (Mr Obsessive) posted a tutorial a while back on correcting the wheels and windows. Since I won’t be using the 8 Lugs for this build, I started to fix the windows. This won’t be a stripped down drag car, but will feature a full interior, with the added safety equipment. I saw a really cool looking Ventura on YouTube, that just so happens to race at the local tracks in my area. I’ll find a pic of it later to post, to show where I got my idea to build this. I know a few people have built this car, and it’s been out for a little while, but I’ll still show what I’m doing just in case a new member might like to build the car. And most important, won’t be disappointed when it’s built, because I’m my opinion, this car needs to have several things checked, and/or modified, before painting is even considered. I’ll post a link up to Bills tutorial later. More so than other car kits I’ve built. So, here’s some 61 Pontiac Ventura….

I was here, but now I’m went home.

Thanks everyone. Ron, the paint is Tamiya Italian Red over dark gray primer.

Thanks for looking everyone.

Very nice build of this car. It came out really nice, even with the problems that plague this kit. Fantastic work and detail on the chassis. And that paint is just perfect. I recently started the Ventura, and I would be happy if it turned out as nice as yours. So far I corrected the windows, and the grill. Going to check that hood problem tomorrow. Mine is going to be a drag car with mini tubs, and the 421 engine from the AMT 62 Catalina kit.

Take the great advice from all the others. You won’t know your abilities unless you dive in. If you mess up, it’s only styrene. Just take your time, and double and triple check everything before cutting. Get everything as “straight” as possible, especially on the chassis, as being “off” only a little bit, will make your axles and wheels be off. I’ve made many mistakes, but just like anything, the more you do it, the better you get at it. I for one, and I’m sure others will agree, that we ALL learn something new everyday in the hobby of model car building.

Nice project Bob. I built one of these way back, but I was fortunate enough to acquire a resin chassis that had the back halved tubs molded in already. I believe it was Porkys Resins is where I bought it. I was told there are no more, as the mold was damaged. I have a few pics of the build so maybe you can get an idea on what to do as far as back halving it yourself. Keep in mind that the pics are old. I still wish I never sold my old 61 build. You can always post in the “wanted” section. Maybe someone just might have one they would be willing to part with.

And a pic before I lowered the rear.

I finished this build last week, and it looked pretty weird with the way it sat in the rear. Just way too high. So I decided to correct the stance before posting. I was going to change the rear tires altogether, but decided to leave them on since it sits better than it did. I really think a better choice could have been made for the scoop also.

Finally got another stalled project completed. Had some difficulty with the build, but overall I’m happy with the way it turned out.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I’ve been chipping away for the last couple of days. It’s on the home stretch now. Just the front bumper, and some little details left to do. I’d definitely say that this build was a bit challenging. But I did order another one from Amazon last night, and it just arrived today. Maybe I’ll build the GTS version? Hopefully I’ll post it under glass later tonight.

This piece caused all the interior fit problems for me. And I modified my door panels, to fit with my tubbed chassis. It’s pretty thick compared to the drivers side.

Any progress yet? The problem that I’ve encountered with mine was the rear passenger side window frame is not right. It’s way thicker than the drivers side. And after the glass is installed, the window sits too low, interfering with the interior door panel. Since you have the body painted and all ready to go, sanding that piece of the window frame is not an option. I removed the rear window and trimmed the bottom of it so it doesn’t contact the door panel. Now the interior fits without being lopsided. I will correct this on my next 68 Dart build before paintwork.

Oh I get it. I thought this guy was a tool ever since he was “installed” as the postmaster general. Things were getting bad, now they have become more worse. I’d bet in another couple of months there will be either no changes, or it will change for the worst. Im just happy I received a refund on my item.