1968 Hemi Dart - UPDATE 6/29/2015 Last WIP

[mikemopar70]

Wow, i love your Dart, great color choice for a drag racer!!

[johnbuzzed]

This is gonna look cool when it's done. What size styrene strip did you use for the trim around the windows? I might "borrow" that technique for my Road Runner.

[Exotics_Builder]

This is gonna look cool when it's done. What size styrene strip did you use for the trim around the windows? I might "borrow" that technique for my Road Runner.

I am always glad to share ideas that work. I will check later today and let you know. It was thin and narrow, needed "shaving" and some Tamiya putty. Applied with liquid cement. I will get back later.

Well now you know. I dont think it takes away from your model.

Along with your building skills, your posting skills are great too. The little Arrows and things like that rock.

Thanks for the compliment. I find it easier to visually accentuate what I'm talking about. I do get concerned that I am maybe stating too much detail.

I wish I had known about the class designation as I try to be as accurate as possible. Thanks for the information on that.

[Exotics_Builder]

This is gonna look cool when it's done. What size styrene strip did you use for the trim around the windows? I might "borrow" that technique for my Road Runner.

Evergreen Styrene strip .010 x .080. Pliable but wider than needed for this application. But I felt shaving back to size better than trying to putty. Only spots I puttied were junctions. If I were really rivet counting, I would have scribed in the trim separation lines for front and rear.

[johnbuzzed]

Ahh, I see- your logic makes good sense. Much better than trying to get an almost-exact size piece of raw material to fit correctly, too. Thanks for the tip.

[cobraman]

Coming along very nicely.

[Exotics_Builder]

Ahh, I see- your logic makes good sense. Much better than trying to get an almost-exact size piece of raw material to fit correctly, too. Thanks for the tip.

As I am sure you are aware, Evergreen strip has a variety of sizes. I would suggest getting the size slightly larger than the width you're aiming for and .010 in. thick. Also, check the "glass" fitment to do any additional tailoring. I cover the clear plastic glass in Saran wrap to avoid adding too much thickness but avoid any possible scratching.

[johnbuzzed]

Thanks again. Things like this can recharge a stalled project.

[Exotics_Builder]

Getting closer. Continuing to polish the body.

On the axle, I ran a brake line across the pumpkin with a connecting block for the line to the master cylinder. However, I made the mistake of watching the Laguna Seca sports car race and got distracted. So I glued the connecting block on the wrong side of the pumpkin (OOPS!).

So to compensate (and not restart process) I extended the brake line connector to allow for the misaligned connector. Note to self: Don’t do detail work while having an exciting event on TV!!

I could not find any reference of an emergency brake being on these cars as they are race only. Soo I didn’t add an emergency brake line. I also ran a fuel line along the chassis. As best as I could discover, the battery cables were routed through the interior under the flooring. So no visible battery cable running from the trunk to the engine bay.

For the grill, I am using the Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland resin piece that takes the PE piece from Model Car Garage. This gives me an open grill area. I applied Spazstik mirror chrome over their black backing. Its good, but not sure if I think it is shiny enough. It is brighter than gloss silver, but may need some tweaking.

The interior is moving along. Mounted the seats and applied the seat belt to the driver’s side. It appears only a lap belt on the driver’s side was provided. I added a belt and PE snap for the window mechanism and set it for windows down. I also put in the lower snap for windows up, but doubt it will really be visible. I also added door knobs and BMF’ed the interior.

If you are wondering what I used for the door knobs, I found tiny brass nails in the model railroad section of my LHS.

Since they brass, you can finagle the flat head to not have it too large. This time, I did not try to add the little dimple at the top of the knob. I may look into this on the next build.

Adding a tach to the interior and then will glue in the dashboard and follow on with the engine detailing.

Next update in about a week.

[Exotics_Builder]

Interior work is finished. Added a Model Car Garage Stewart-Warner Tach to the steering wheel and installed the dashboard.

On the chassis, got the wheels mounted to the axle and subframe and installed the tires. Also added Replica and Miniatures of Maryland resin valve stems.

Now on to completing the engine detail, finish the polishing and start final assembly. Should be ready for the July GTR Modelers Club meeting.

[Drake69]

Lock knobs in door frames = AWESOME.

[slusher]

Great looking interior and very nice progress...

[Exotics_Builder]

Work almost done on engine. Need to finish the fuel lines then mount in the chassis and do more wiring. May leave the starter wiring alone since it will be buried. I also drilled out the block for a dip stick tube.

[Exotics_Builder]

This is the last WIP update as I am starting the final assembly. Engine mounted to chassis. I oversized the wing nuts on the carburetors to accentuate them,

[mustang1989]

Dude this is killer! I like the ideas you come up with. I'll be looking for this one in the Under Glass section for sure!

Edited July 1, 2015 by mustang1989

[slusher]

Fantastic detail