brodie_83

Haven't got much done since Sunday...installed the air cleaner, and screwed it up yesterday, but not enough to want to redo it a 4th time. I got a very light fingerprint in it while installing it, so I took a little bit of polish to it. I didn't think polish would dull out the "chrome" look, but it did. Now it looks like a metallic gray or something. Whatever...it looks fine I guess. Something that won't be that noticeable. Pics are pre-buffed.

Ok, got back from breakfast and finished up the ignition wires (correct firing order) and the air cleaner is drying as we speak. I'm going to go out to the gf's for a bit and when I get back, maybe the air cleaner will be good enough to handle. I might put it in the dehydrator for that time so I know it will be dry. Finally my point-n-shoot camera is all charged up, so no more crappy cell pics. Here's the pics of the finished ignition wires (they look messy, but if you look at the picture of her engine bay, the wires are extremely long and all over the place...I actually cleaned them up and shortened them a bit from where they were. LoL)

Today I'm going out to my girlfriend's place to hang out with her for a bit...she's upset that her '92 Caprice wagon keeps having stuff go wrong with it (now it needs a rear brake line)...so she's putting it up for sale. I'm trying to get the ignition wires installed in the heads (might not be the correct firing order, but it'll be close...I already screwed up a little, so I think they're just gonna go where they fit) and finish up the air cleaner (had to strip it cuz I got a fingerprint in it from touching it before dried) before I leave to go out there. I took a few pics of the frame with the stupid molded-in exhaust (still don't know what I'm going to do about it) and the air cleaner before I got a fingerprint in it. I don't plan on staying out there long because I have to clean around the house, so I hope to get more done tonight.

Alright, I couldn't wait till tomorrow to see the valve covers on the engine...plus, I found an air cleaner that will work. It's from a Revell '70 Chevelle SS "Heavy Chevy" kit. It's the wrong air cleaner for the 454 anyway, so I'm going to use it for the El Camino. It is currently sitting in a little cup of CSC to strip the chrome off so I can paint it with the Duplicolor Chrome paint to match the valve covers. For $6 for a big-ass can, you can't beat the Duplicolor stuff! Looks more like polished aluminum than actual chrome, but it looks good!

This is an awesome build! I love the Challenger and the Magnum...I think a mix of the two will look awesome! I also think you should switch the dashes as well...the Challenger dash looks much better. Good luck on the rear end. I agree that integrating the Challenger tails would look awesome...I just don't know how it would have to be placed.

Alright...my productive day turned into hanging out with my parents and girlfriend for half the day, then hanging out with my roommate for the other half of the day. I got home a few hours ago and got to work on the project. I painted the valve covers and am very happy with them (not going to touch them till tomorrow morning), then installed the wired distributor after painting the wires yellow to match her Accel wires on her car. I painted the dash with some SEM vinyl dye that I picked up from a local paint shop, but it was too dark of a red, so back to square one on that one (probably going to find some cheap-ass paint at Walmart and use that with a flat clear). Last but not least, I finished cutting the mesh off of the tray rings on the dehydrator so it's ready to cure some fresh paint...when the time comes. I did, however, run into a snag in the build...the frame for the El Camino has a molded-in exhaust system, and it's TOTALLY incorrect to how her car has it. Hers has dual exhaust that exits out the sides before the rear tires. The kit exhaust is single and exits out the side AFTER the tire. I've never fabbed stuff on a frame and I really don't want to experiment on this, since I want it to be super nice and not botched. I hope I can figure something out. Anyways, until tomorrow...here's tonight's pics:

Today I picked up a few things from Hobbytown to make my stand for the model bodies in the dehydrator, some brushable cement in a glass bottle, and a misc. size styrene sheet pack. Tomorrow I'm going to start on the interior and run to Advance Auto for some Duplicolor Chrome paint (I don't like how the valve covers came out). Then I can install the distributor and plug wires, start on the engine accessories and such. Should be a productive day!

I've always wanted to put this kit together and put a "The Racer's Edge" decal and put it on the doors to look like the F&F truck. My dad's friend has a '99 red Lightning...I want it bad!

I saw that air cleaner before. Not exactly what I want, but thanks. Thanks for the compliments! She'll be pleased with it...if not, I'll use it as a voodoo model, and I may just break a few things

Hers isnt a real Royal Knight...she just liked the decals when she first painted the car years ago. It's her very first car, so it has lots of sentimental value. Oh yeah...I guess I'm horrible at keeping Xmas secrets cuz for some reason she knows im building it...

Awesome! I've always wanted to build one of these Daytona kits. I wish they made a '92-93 IROC R/T kit, or a Dodge Spirit R/T.

Here's tonight's progress. Not a whole lot, but got far enough to where I'm satisfied. I added a little more aluminum to the intake manifold to brighten it up a tad, then drilled plug wire holes in the distributor piece and painted it black, then drilled plug wire holes in the heads, then I painted the other valve cover and weathered it, then painted/installed the carb, then I painted the transmission, and then I started to paint the plug wires yellow like hers are in her car. So far I'm very pleased with how the engine detail is going. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the air cleaner (maybe make my own?), but it's not going to say "Edelbrock" on it. On to the pics...

Thanks guys. The El Camino kit, like the usual Revell kits, is really nice. The only thing I don't get is that the only engine in the kit is a 6-cylinder...hence why I bought a Monte Carlo. I thought I might have a kit in my arsenal that had a carb'd 350 but I didn't, so I had to run to the LHS and find the Monte. I got good results printing some practice decals on paper, but when I printed on the decal paper, the quality sucked! The black was all blotchy, so I think I'm just gonna cover the paper prints with tape and just glue them on the car. Should work fine. I've used this method for license plates in the past when I was a kid. Anyways, I should get downstairs and get back to work on it. Oh yeah, my dehydrator came in today so I picked it up. Now I just have to wait till I'm at the body painting process to try it out.

My first black wash job Like I said, the intake manifold got a little too dark with the black wash, so I'll have to do it over again with a little less black and more water. All in all, not too shabby. Tomorrow I'll have the other valve cover installed, re-wash the intake manifold, paint and install accessories on engine, and paint transmission.

Thanks guys, I've tried to build a 1:1 replica before, but with no luck. This time I'm determined, and with more skill than I thought I had, I'm very excited! Well tonight's progress is pretty good...my first black wash "weathering" job on the engine. Turned out pretty good for my first time, but I think I did a tad too much black. Oh well...at least I have to make the intake manifold a little bit more brighter than it is now. The valve covers (I only did one tonight) are resin Edelbrocks that I bought from the Parts Box in Australia. I bought them for building a replica of my 1:1 Trans Am that I got rid of this late summer, but I think Laura will appreciate the detail I put into this, especially the Edelbrock covers. I don't have Alclad or whatever to make them chrome, so I just used my aluminum buffing metalizer. I rubbed a little too hard and went down to the bare resin, but that just made for a better effect when I black washed them. Granted, they look more like dirty polished aluminum than dirty chrome, but it can't be perfect. Freshly painted block/heads Ready for the aluminum buffing metalizer Freshly painted intake manifold Intake manifold installed and just about ready for black washing

Here are the kits that will make up this replica...Revell '79 El Camino Lowrider 3-in-1 kit for most of the build and a Revell '86 Monte Carlo SS 2-in-1 kit for the engine and possibly a few other things. The El Camino kit came with the correct hood decal, just the wrong color, as well as the wrong "Knight" package. Her decal set is for a "Royal Knight", and the kit's decal set is a "Black Knight"...the same hood decal, but nothing else is the same. I bought the Testors decal maker kit (yeah I know, there's much better stuff...I'm gonna try it out) and scan the decal sheet, make my own colored decals and print them out. I also bought a can of "Bahama Blue" Duplicolor paint, which I believe is the color of her car. If it's not, it's ###### close. So today I will start on the project and I'll have progress updated sometime later today. Stay tuned!

Another Cherry Bomb decal, an Honest Charley's decal and a Moon decal on the glovebox Vacuum and tach gauge pods and door speakers 350 engine with Edelbrock air cleaner and valve covers, chrome valve cover breather and yellow spark plug wires Hood pins with real chinsey transparent green wire

Well I had to put my '80s Supra project on hold so I can do a replica of my girl's '79 El Camino for her for one of her Christmas gifts. I think she'd absolutely love it! So anyways, here's what I'm replicating (and yes, that is my gf in the pic...my first modeling photo shoot): And these are reference pictures of what I need to replicate: Hood decal Rear window decals (flaming bowtie and a Cherry Bomb decal on the driver's side) Custom gauge cluster in the console blank

This project will be put on yet another hold...I'm going to build a replica of my girlfriend's '79 El Camino for her for Christmas, so I gotta get on it if I'm gonna finish it by the 25th of December!

As of right now, I'm stripping the front/rear bumpers and I went over the body, moonroof cover, hood and wheels with a cheap toothbrush and toothpaste. I have a lil bit more sanding to do on the moonroof cover, then I'll glue it on the body and get everything in primer. I also ordered a Nesco FD-60 dehydrator for quick-drying future paint work. I just got back from Walmart and bought a couple hockey pucks and metal clothes hangers to make a paint stand. I also bought some popsicle sticks and toothpicks for more paint work help. Now...let's see if I can get the car finished without any screw-ups this time!

5M-GE Celica-Supra engine/trans (so far):

I talked to a guy at Hobbytown today and he told me to try Krylon white primer, so I picked up a can, as well as Rustoleum's Gunmetal...apparently Rustoleum is the only thing that Advance Auto Parts carries now. Now I'm going to have to strip the bumpers so the color matches. Ugh...oh well. I picked up a few new kits while at Hobbytown as well...a 1970 Super Bee and a Chevrolet S10 Syclone. I've wanted to build these both for a while, so I snatched them up. First comes the Celica-Supra though...

This is lookin pretty good! Makes me want to spray my Celica-Supra a Tamiya color, but not a metallic.

I believe it is sandable primer, but it's not in the big can. It's in the smaller cans like the paint is. That spot on the roof really frustrates me...and I have sanded, then primed...only to have it show through paint still.

I recently had to strip my 80's Celica-Supra kit because I burned through from wet-sanding, so I'm starting fresh. I want to get a different primer than the Duplicolor stuff, but not sure which primers are compatible with Duplicolor paint. Will Tamiya primer work? I want the best finish I can get, and it all starts with the primer. I guess I wasn't that happy with the Duplicolor primer because it made a mold defect pop out twice after priming it with Duplicolor. Thanks in advance!