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I’ve had it in my head for a while to do the MPC Plymouth Volaré with an AMT 1971 duster, chassis, suspension and drivetrain. it was never a question. I definitely wanted to put fireball model works Steelies on the car. It all started by making sure that the chassis line up underneath the Volaré body. Of course it pretty much lined up, but the interior was a problem. I had to cut a hole in the interior tub of the Volaré to fit the duster chassis. This was really fun and I really do mean it. I’m not being sarcastic. Seeing how the Volaré comes with no real detail in the engine bay, I decided to use the Duster’s engine bay. Also, because this was going to be a quick build just to see if the chassis would fit this model I decided to use the drivetrain from the Duster. I was quite impressed myself when I was able to get the engine bay to lineup under the.Volaré body. Paint: I have a hard time to decide what color to paint this thing I wanted it to be in the beginning just the kind of beater run around old grandma‘s car that was turned into a hot rod. I wanted it to be yellow like a banana and maybe have some primer spots or something like that. I decided to use craft acrylic paint for the color. I started with a banana yellow, and mixed in some other colors to try and shade it a little more pea green. However, I overshot the mark and added one too many drops of green to the mix and that is how we wound up with this color. 😂 Now I didn’t want it to be a show winning paint job, but rather a worn and faded look. I primed it with red oxide primer so I can have some primer and surface rest spots come through. I dig it. 😎👍🏾 Interior: I am pretty proud of the interior. As I said, I cut a hole in the floor of the. Volaré to accommodate the floor pan incorporated into the duster chassis. Only a slight modification or rounding to the tunnel in the middle of the rear seat was needed to make it fit. The dusters bucket seats were used along with its shifter. I added a few extra little details, like some reading material, a tarp, a roadkill sticker, and a gas brake and clutch pedal. I also noticed that for Volarés head shoulder seatbelts. Once I saw this, I had to put it into this car. I would’ve been mad later on if it wasn’t in there. I use some sheet plastic and cut slivers so I could slide some ribbon through it. Then I hung it from the roof of the car behind the drivers and passenger seat. I had a lot of fun with this. Engine: The engine is out of the AMT 1971 duster kit. My original idea was to put a 440 into this one, but like I said, I wanted this to be quick and to see if the duster chassis would fit this car. The motor is basically straight out of the box. I did add some 3-D printed parts such as the air cleaner and the distributor. I used Grandpa Mark‘s hobbies method of wiring the distributor. Which is going from the heads back to the distributor using Protech wiring. I decided to also do my valve covers in chrome. The whole engine has a used look because I used red oxide primer under a custom mixed orange paint that I airbrushed onto the engine. I like it. Exhaust: The exhaust is straight out of the box from the duster as well, but I changed the tailpipes. I didn’t want to see the duster exhaust tips coming out of the back of this car. I wanted straight tail pipes coming out of the back. Body: I’ve done this kit once before as a pro touring car but this time I wanted to do it a little more like an every day car. A daily driver turned weekend street machine run around play car. The first thing I did was fill in the headliner and remove lines from the roof. As you can see in the pictures below, it takes quite a bit to remove the t-tops. I like the smooth roof. At the time of this riding, the car is about 98% done. Feel free to take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think. Thank you for following. Have a great day!

I hadn't posted my year yet because I am working on my 1960 Plymouth airport limo as this year's Amnesty Project. I am working diligently on it but it is nowhere near finished to make it for this year, so it will be my first finish of the new year. Again, I've gotten into this project beyond my original thoughts, but I wouldn't have it any other way! So here is how my year went: The year started out on an up note. I finished my 20 year project, the Volare Messenger Car as my 2014 Amnesty Project. I originally thought I'd slam it together just to get it on the shelf. Even thought about just gluing the hood shut. Once I got into the project, I decided to do it properly. I always thought models of this era were lacking since most folks just do the traditional wiring and the engine bay looks empty next to all the wiring and smog stuff that are in 1:1s. So I thought I'd try some extra detail and wired up all the smog stuff including the charcoal canister. It took me until late January to finish it but it was worth the extra time. It even won first place in Light Commercial at the recent Liars Challenge. I got caught up in the fever of the release of the Revell 1929 Ford Roadster and immediately dove into one. I painted it Tamiya Coral Blue because that was the theme of the Diversified Scalerz show. That gave me two weeks to build a model. I almost made it too! I had it up on wheels and fairly well done for the show. It took me another week to sort out the final details. Still, the fastest I've ever built a model outside of the 24 Hour Build! Pretty much built it out of the box, added different tail lights, photo etched gauges and seat belts. Otherwise, built as Revell intended it to be! And the last two off the bench this year were built as a pair, my Light Commercial Dodge Caravans. I think the two of them together make for a much better showing than just one of them alone! The Taxi was fun. I used the Checkers decals from the Monogram '37 Ford Pickup. It's a New Jersey taxi, with an ad for Atlantic City on the roof, and the phone number is my old one from when I lived in NJ. I added a rear wiper. I always thought someone should do the CV (Commercial Van) version so I did. Company is real, but I don't have vans! If you dial that phone number you will reach me. I do own the domain, but haven't used it yet! So that's a big FOUR models for me this year. This was a busy and eventful year for me, so I didn't get as much bench time as I would've liked, but there's always 2016! A Happy New Year to all and hope to see many of you at NNL East in April!