Scale-Master

I shot the headlight covers with Tamiya Smoke and assumed the headlight detail in buckets might be visible so I painted and installed those parts. Maybe with a flashlight the headlights are visible… All the clear parts fit pretty well. The taillights were done with Tamiya acrylics and foil.

Thanks Steve, I could CAD up the wheels and since they are not supposed to be chrome 3D printing them would quite well. I used the kit decals for the stripes, but they had a matte sheen so I polished them while they were still on the sheet before applying them. When applied they responded to decal solvent well (to wrap around the front edges) but are somewhat fragile. I made new exhaust tips from aluminum.

After a polish and wax (no clear coat), it's time to add the other details to the body. These older enamels are still very good paints, they just need more dry & cure time compared to the newer lacquers.

No they aren't. The set of BFGs I have from them are bigger/smaller, not hollow, more rubber-like and have a better tread pattern.

That's a great story Steve! Thanks for sharing! Nice model of it too.

It's nice that the kit includes BFG Radial T/A tires and the tread is clearly identifiable as the second generation design. The sidewall detail however is bold and at the same time on the soft side and out of scale. (I still have a real set of BFG's to compare to.) I'm not too concerned if the tires are not the correct sizes for the car. I used Tamiya LP-4 Flat White to hand paint the lettering. It sticks amazingly well and flexes like an acrylic; I was even able to mount the tires to the rims after painting.

IMC kit with a few minor upgrades, machined parts and vintage enamel paint. My kit was missing the rear body panel and the rear window along with a few other minor parts. I made replacements for all of them. The wheels were damaged so I cast copies of the best one and supplemented them with machined aluminum outer sections. The tires were MIA too so I used some Tamiya Pirellis. I cast copies of Re5 Turbo windshield wipers to replace the molded in ones and added a license plate. I also created all the decals. WIP Thread:

The wipers, mirrors and door handles are installed. (The door handles came in the kit.) The Fiberfab badges that go behind the door windows still need to be painted and attached. There is supposed to be one for the hood, but it's a short shot in my kit and I like the cleaner look without it.

I cut vinyl for the flat black accents on the hood, quarter windows and side scoops. I machined an aluminum latch handle and made a license plate and decal for it.

Ken, my kit was missing the rear window so I made a new one from a Monte Carlo Nascar window that had inner and out outer details molded on to it. Your IMC window should be fine.

The windows have been installed. I decided to sand out the center support strap on the inside of the rear window.

Thanks Ken! Yes, the headlight buckets are flat black, not gloss. It's very probable that the molds for this body are long gone/lost. So if someone wants one they should grab it when they can. They are out there for under $100.00 if you look and wait. The taillight lenses have been installed and I made a bright silver panel for the interior so you can't see the engine when looking through them.

There is also this 1124 Green from Testors too. It 's a little less olive but shares the same characteristics and is very workable.

I let the body dry for the better part of two weeks in direct sunlight. The window frames have been foiled and the headlight buckets painted black. The headlights have been installed and the decal I made for the gas door has been applied. It looks like "that tire" had a light snack on one of the clear headlight covers too so I repaired the damage using the same process as I used on the windshield. The headlight covers fit OK, again especially considering the age of the kit.

I used some older Testors Model Master enamel Italian Red for the body; it's about the same age as the kit. It went on almost as well as the older green enamel I used on the Avenger, and it was also reduced with lacquer thinner. It will have to cure for a while more even though it's been drying for a few days now already.

That is a great overview and comparison. Thanks for sharing!

Next I built up the engine and suspension. Since the tub wasn't true, nothing related to the suspension was square or true and the wheels did not line up the same in any of the wheel wells; so that was fixed. The front to rear, height and track had to be set individually for each corner. Yes, it sits lower than the cars on T.V., but since it's not an accurate model why not improve the stance aesthetically? Now it's time to get back to the body prep for painting.

After I reshaped the rocker panels to follow the contour of the lower edges of the body, I fitted the rear scoops to the tub using magnets to make painting easier.

There were a few areas that were too low where the engine cover and body meet. Rather than sand the surrounding high parts down, I filled them with 0.015 sheet styrene and featheredged them.

Thanks Mike!! I reworked the mounting pylons on the side mirrors from the same '70 Mustang that provided the steering wheel to fit the Avenger body. The chrome mirror faces were not with them so I made new ones out of Mylar. I used Mylar for the interior VW mirror that came in the kit.

I wanted a set for my real '73 Camaro back then too, but they were out of my budget. Wonder what a nice set would be worth now?

Yes, that is one of the better info videos. You can see the difference between the first and other season cars in the two photos you shared.

This is the reissue of the older MPC kit. The IMC Avenger got me going on a kit-car kick and while the enamel paint on its body is curing I started on this. The original first season car bodies were inspired by (partially copied from?) the Manta Montage, and while this kit looks more like them than the second season cars (built off DeLoreans), it is not all that accurate. Plus there are not so subtle differences between the various cars. So I'm not too concerned about making an "exact replica" since this kit can't build one without a lot of work. I'll use the same basic curbside approach on this as I did on the Avenger (and the STP Turbine Lotus from a few months ago) due to the type of kits these are. The first step was to repair the defective edges of the engine cover and main body where they fit together. While the two parts looked OK, the edges were very soft and uneven. Filler was required to square up the faces that make the panel lines between them. Next was to get the little piece of the top of the engine cover (over the rear window) cleaned up, with all those annoying sink marks, and then fair it into the main section. Before I cemented the engine cover to the body I built up the basic tub and installed magnets to it and the body. Nothing at this point fit true or square so liquid cement was instrumental to allow adjustment for alignment. Now that I had a solid body to chassis mounting system I glued the engine cover to the front body section to be able to address the uneven issues where the upper and lower meet as well as the inconsistencies of the two upper body sections.

I was thinking of not using the side stripes. I have the decal sheet, but as old and rough as they are I can create cleaner ones if I decide to put them on.

I found an equally vintage bottle of never opened Testors enamel paint (1121 Green) that looks pretty close to Fiberfab Green. It had been sitting for decades and was clearly separated (green/white/carrier) so to really shake it up I put it in my sock for my morning run each day and mixed it for 30 miles. These older Testors paints still work very well. I used the same techniques on this as I used back in the '70s when I was building box art for the model companies with it; reduced with lacquer thinner (I don't claim to have "invented" that) and was pleased to see/smell/feel how well it dried in the first 24 hours. Now to let it cure for a while…