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I have not done much over the xmas period, but I did start to fiddle with the MPC Dukes of Hazzard Charger.... I do not plan to build it in Dukes trim, it is a hash up of a few different models; Petty’s ‘73 Nascar charger, amongst others. There is no rear seat, no inner front wings (fenders) apparently the engine is not correct, tires way too fat etc etc so I ‘m going to build my own dream race-prepped street charger mash up. so far I have the 426 cu in hemi painted and built, and I am working on the body at the moment, adding front wheel arch tops as the kit comes with nascar style round-topped arches- I have replaced tbe missing plastic with the bonnet (hood) gap sprue so as to have exactly the same plastic as the front fenders for material integrity. Stock round-topped arch closest to camera, the repaired flat-top at rear: That piece of flat sprue was shaped and welded in place. It even has the correct curvature, so hopefully no stress or strain to crack in the future: Arch is shaped in situ, small gaps are filled with tamiya styrene cement: Righthand arch shaped and primed, lots of wet sanding to do still before the paint goes on, but a seamless repair: Nicely detailed hemi v8, but the manifold headers come with no exhaust pipes to empty into... go figure. I’ll have to make my own from scratch. Other little niggles appear whilst test fitting; such as the roll cage which is designed for the 73 Charger just does not work in this earlier 69 body- more chopping and bending to be done then... All in all not a bad model, but to build it box-stock would be somewhat disappointing for me. There is also a cubic tonne of flash on many parts, everything needs a good clean up, though the detail is more than acceptable. Even the engine block has molded in cylinders and pistons, the heads have the combustion chambers and valves, and even the camshaft and rocker assemblies are supplied. There is a clutch, also never to be seen once assembled.... Obviously some thought was put in to the simple enjoyment of the build, rather than the show of the final result!

This is my build up of the ol' Duke boys getting away from Roscoe P. Coltrane.