Scale-Master

That is one very clean build. "no polishing required" - Good one!

Well Done Phil! As usual!

Thanks very much everyone! It is a figment of my imagination. The story is as fabricated as the model... Although the designation does fit within the time line of GM Experimental Projects (XP). I could not find any documentation of what XP-881 was, only that it appears that it would have been assigned to a project in the latter half of 1969, between XP-800, the Chevy Astro and XP-802, a mid engine Corvette. The scripts are chromed, (the SS and the 396 even have the correct white inlays) they don't show well in the photos, but are visible if you look.

Built in 1969 as a possible interim design for the Camaro between what we know as the first and second generation Camaros, it utilized the first generation platform and much of the bodywork from 1969 and as such would have been consider the last of the first generation Camaros. The 1970 Camaro roof and rear section was added to make a fastback design sharing styling cues from the (at the time) delayed 1970 Camaro. Chevrolet produced a similar clash of generations before in 1961 and 1962 with the Corvette. Badged as an Super Sport it was powered by the 375 HP 396 Big Block from '69, backed with a Muncie 4 speed trans. The chambered exhaust was used to help promote the performance aspect of the first fastback Camaro, a cowl induction hood was used for the same reason. It had the Rally Sport grille from '69, although it was blacked out for aggressive look, and to tie it into the blacked out tail light panel offered only on Big Block cars; clearly an attempt to differentiate it from a 1969 Camaro at a glance. No stripe packages were applied to draw attention to the new design. The interior made use of the very popular 1969 Indy Pace Camaro's orange hounds tooth seat surfaces toned down with gray (carpet and headliner) and black. Wheels were unique to the XP-881, but looked very similar to the production wheels for the 1970 Z/28. It was listed as a 1970 model since the 1969 Camaro was already in production and was only considered as an in case of emergency mock up, and not likely to be produced, but the XP-881 Camaro was a fully functioning driver. Reports of it being seen in public during shows in late 1969 are sparse and wholly unsubstantiated. The model was built from mostly the Revell 1969 Indy Pace Camaro kit with the roof and rear end parts being donated by an older AMT 1970 Camaro. The engine was wired and plumbed, the wheels were modified from the AMT units and finished with machined aluminum beauty rings and plastic hex stock lug nuts. All of the body work was done by cutting with a scriber and a PE saw and cementing the parts together with CA, no body filler was was used. Paint is Tamiya Mica Silver.

Now that would be a challenge Jairus, the two platforms are so different in size. Maybe if you used a 1/24 scale Mustang II and a 1/25 scale '73 Mustang...? The cool part is you can make whatever you want... Have you sketched that out yet?

The dash received some gauge decals I made, the hounds tooth inserts are from the Revell kit's (Scale-Master Art) sheet. The rear of the interior bucket was extended to fit the new rear window. The carpet is a gunmetal gray to tie it into the body color.

"I like the idea you're using, but I think it would've worked better with the '67-8's more rounded, smooth lines, rather than the '69 more linear, sharper lines. It'll be interesting to see how this one turns out." Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I have to disagree. First of all, using an existing design (1969) combined with a future design (1970) severely negates the likelihood of a '67-'68 Camaro body being used after the '69 Camaro was being produced. It simply would not be a step forward for one of the most popular cars in GM's line up to use an earlier year's design and therefore is not an option in this excersize. In addition, the front fenders of the '67-'68 Camaro's are still way too "peaky" to properly balance with the soft shape of the '70. And an added benefit of using a '69 is the shape of the wheel wells are closer to the shape of the '70's. Using a '67-'68 front clip would look much more unbalanced due to that fact. The chassis is pretty much done on the bottom side. The bell housing has intentional overspray to replicate the way factory motors were assembled.

I did a little wiring and plumbing last night. I was only going to add the ignition wires, but then I decided to add the bypass and heater lines, then a dip stick, a vacuum line, a temp sensor, fuel line, alternator bracket, throttle linkage... you know how it goes...

Be that as it may, since the second generation Camaro was actually produced without a wrap around rear window through 1974, it still would not work on this model in the scenario described. Thanks for playing!

Silver was the only color in my mind for this car. Not a big fan of silver for body color, but it fits with the history of Chevy’s concept cars… Mica Silver with Pearl Clear…

Thanks! The tire lettering is done with the (Scale-Master art) decals that came in the Revell kit.

BMF stretches, just start in the center and "massage" it outward. If you see a wrinkle stating to form, lift the loose part of the foil and continue smoothing outward. The wheels from the AMT kit were the 2nd gen z/28 style I wanted to use, but needed some modifications to be used with the Revell tires, and they were not 100% correct, so thinned them out on the lathe… And machined a set of beauty rings… I was able to reuse the center caps after I cut some discs from aluminum to close off the open center portions of the wheels. And some hex rod was sliced up for the lug nuts… Dark gunmetal with some silver accents and they are ready to install…

The rear bumper was too narrow, I don’t know if it is a problem with the AMT ’70 Camaro or something I did during the body modification since I did not test fit it until the body was re-worked, but it needed about 1/8th of an inch added. BMF to re-plate it… The rear corners of the body also had to be tweaked and built up to meet the bumper, the corners were a bit “softâ€.

Thanks!. No quarter windows, like a second gen. And I have reshaped the door and fitted the door windows before establishing that door line. With the proper regulator,the window could roll up.

Yep. Guilt free way to go in my book!

Again, Thanks guys! I do have someone who is willing to cast it in resin... But since it only uses easy to find two common kits, (any AMT 1970 Camaro, and any Revell 1969 Camaro), and one of them is needed for the engine/chassis/interior anyway, (the Revell '69). Plus it only took a few hours to cut and combine them to the state it is in those pictures. It makes more sense to show how I did it and let anyone who wants to build their own instead of sending it out, waiting for it to come back, and investing all that time and material in casting them. We are builders aren't we? This shows where I cut and combined the bodies. I used CA to cement them together and did not even need any body filler. A PE saw, X-Acto knife and a scriber were used to cut the bodies apart and rescribe the rear window and door lines. The rest is basic building techniques.

Thanks guys! Your observations are duly noted, but I planned this out as far as what the styling parameters were to be well before laying saw to plastic. It can’t make use of the 1975 and later wrap around rear window because it did not exist in 1969. It can’t have an L88 hood because it needs to follow mainstream production 1969 Camaro cues for the front of the car. I am not trying to make a street custom, just toying with a what-if premise based on some fact, some (more) imagination… I already had written this perspective of the project before: With the late arrival of the 1970 (and ½) Camaro to the dealers, I wondered if possibly there was a chance of a dialogue of using a “filler†design utilizing the existing 1969 Camaro base. One with enough of a visual change, by using part of the new second generation body to create a transitional and producible design, but still be relatively structurally and mechanically the same car as the previous year. A design that could be further modified into an all new car for the following year(s)? Anyone recall the 1961 & ’62 Corvettes, and how the rear end of the subsequent mid-year Corvettes from 1963-’67 shared that new rear end styling attached to the previous 1958-'60 body? The last year for the solid axle was 1962, and the 1963 Corvette was an all new car... Is it not plausible that Chevrolet could have tried a past method of producing an interim car? Many concept cars do not see the light of day. Who’s to say there is not something like this buried in the archives?

Based on the 1st Generation Camaro platform, this is a styling exercise using what became the roof and rear end of the 2nd Generation Camaro. The rear panel & roof/trunk is from an AMT ’70 Camaro, the main body is the Revell ‘69. The rear window frame was rescribed and sanded flush. The rear door lines were filled and new ones were scribed.

Finally the body has the paint on it. Tamiya Pure White and Fluorescent Red. The nose has the decals and final clear coat on it... The lettering on the wings cracked several months after being clear coated with the Tamiya clear, so I hand painted the lettering and re-cleared with urethane. This picture is before clear coating.

I could go for another Super 7...

Shouldn’t be too hard to make your own, yes… And you could just copy those… but they are neither accurate nor complete. Compare the license plate and the #130 numeral shape to mine… The “Little Bastard†art on the sticker is a resident font (Brush Script), not a match to the hand lettered art I replicated from photos of the real car. The Spyder badging (should replace Speedster, I did not put them on this mule) and the Nurburgring and coachmakers badges (I did put on this) are not on that sheet. And if you are going to strip and repaint, you will also need Porsche script and crest badging for the hood and deck lid... Oh yeah, you will have to change the shape and proportions of the red spears as they do not fit the Maisto 550 as drawn... (My client provided one of those sheets with the books and reference material...) Guess it only matters what you want… and it is "just a die-cast". Just build for yourself... Can't go wrong with that can you?

A quick little rework of a diecast Porsche 550... Not 100% spot on, but just what the customer ordered... After: Before: After: Before:

I acquired this kit from a friend partially painted & built. After unbuilding the parts and stripping the paint using oven cleaner, alcohol and a media blaster for some really stubborn paint, I built it pretty much straight out of the box. I did have to create a couple replacement decals too. Base color is TS-58 Light Pearl Blue. I used tinted Testors Arctic Blue for the few parts that were to match the darker blue decals. Didn't get an exact match, but it is not too bad... Pretty quick build all things considered, half of the time was spent decaling it though.

You mention you "could machine a block"... So you have mill? Lathe? The K&S aluminum tubing is relatively soft. If you have a lathe you can turn a flaring tool from a wood dowel. Something that looks a bit like a stubbly sharpened pencil. You can even leave a flange on it to act as a depth guide for uniformity. Then wrap one round of tape around your aluminum stock and chuck it in the live chuck. Put the dowel/flaring tool in the tail stock and flare away... If you only have a mill, there is a little more set-up involved, but it can be done too.

Looks similar to Alsa products...