'68 Charger project!!!

[cruz]

I decided to start on this '68 Charger after much thinking instead of the Nova, I think I want to see a couple of the Novas put together, it will give me more ideas later to see what I want to do with mine but in the meantime, I think I am going with this....

First thing I did was remove the awful mold lines just above the back wheel humps right next to the windows, it will be the first thing you notice when you buy the kit. It is good to have a variety of sanding sticks, from the round to the flat ones to get into the little crevices around the areas without compromising details while sanding them. I also went ahead and as usual scribed all the panel lines and darkened them even before priming, I will do this again after priming...

I am thinking of painting the Charger with Tamiya's Light Gunmetal and I am also thinking of implementing a black vinyl top which means I will have to get some plastic stock to achieve this. I am also thinking of a darkish red/burgundish interior to go with the exterior color.

I am also adding these simple dog dished wheels w/ redlines, I want that sleeper look because I am still adding the beautiful headers that come in the kit probably onto the stock engine, I can still see me changing my mind on this. Those tires came from the Lindberg '66 Chevelle kit and make the perfect redlines, all I did was add flat red Testors enamel paint into the lines already etched in the tires and just remove the excess paint w/ mineral spirits just before the paint dried.

[george 53]

A sleeper look ona 68/70 CHARGER? Them things looked fast even when they WEREN'T MOVIN!I don't know if ANYONE would fall for it in real life, I've seen 6 cylinder Chargers with glass packs punk guys down! Dont Get me wrong Marcos,PLEASE!, I've seen some of your builds and they're GREAT,Maybe a low optioned one or anothin but power one , BUT A SLEEPER? Naw, I think a guy would hafta be DEAD not to notice it was a Charger,an not beware!Oh, BTW in case you were wondering, Chargers(69's) are my FAVORITE cars of ALL TIME!!!! Edited July 6, 2008 by george 53

[Clay]

Another build? You sure don't wait long do you? I have never seen anyone start and finish builds as quickly as you do Marcos, keep it up.

I love chargers, especially the ones molded in white. I try to use chargers that didnt come with the dukes kit to build them.

[CAL]

I feel a little better now. 2 years and that's all the further you got. I'm prolific compared to you.

[Tonioseven]

This is gonna be cool!!

[just_a_doodz]

MMMMMMMMM....all I can say about that color choice.I hope it is a stunner.Oh...little off topic....What was the car at the end of Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift that Vin Diesel was in.....was it a Charger?Hit me while I was looking at your pics ....sorry.

Edited July 8, 2008 by just_a_doodz

[cruz]

MMMMMMMMM....all I can say about that color choice.I hope it is a stunner.Oh...little off topic....What was the car at the end of Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift that Vin Diesel was in.....was it a Charger?Hit me while I was looking at your pics ....sorry.

I thought it was a GTX, he used a Charger in the first movie.

[just_a_doodz]

I thought it was a GTX, he used a Charger in the first movie.

LOL...trust me...I have NO-CLUE.Im just wondering cause I think wahtever it is would be sweet in a model.

[cruz]

As per Jairus' advice, I went out and bought this 3M Spray Mount adhesive to replicate the vinyl roof I intend to put on this car. I loved the results. My boy Luis in Puerto Rico uses the Detail Master vinyl tops that they sell but I got kind of intimidated with the way you have to lay them down, I just wanted something a little easier.

[VW Dave]

What was the car at the end of Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift that Vin Diesel was in.....was it a Charger?

That was 'Hammer,' a '70 Road Runner built by Steve Strope at Pure Vision Design:

HAMMER

[cotto]

This is going to be awesome Cruz, I can just see it already. Definetly will try that adhesive trick whenever I get the chance so as soon as I get out of work I will head straight to Michael's and get me a can or two! Can't wait to see more of this project, I will be monitoring it.

[cruz]

I have been a little lazy the last couple of days so it's time to keep putting some time on the Charger. I bought an ipod about 2 weeks ago and it has taken some of my modeling time, that's not very healthy! Yesterday I painted some details on the engine and soon I should be putting it together.

Color is Chrysler Engine Blue from the Testors line of Lacquers and some metallizer for the exhaust manifolds and transmission. I still have to do some detail painting around these parts and also the addition of some wiring, hoses and plumbing is in order!

I decided to search for my Pro Modeler Charger I had stashed away for several years just to look closely at how they went around simulating the vinyl top on this kit. This gives me an idea on how to go around doing mine. Of course, as a lot of you guys know, the roof on that kit is not the most correct but that doesn't matter, the vinyl top was still pretty well done so it will help me achieve my purpose.

On the real car, the chrome trim that separates the vinyl roof from the body is slightly smaller than the trim around the windows and glass so I went out searching for something to help me do this in scale. Plastruct to the rescue! I thought these were the perfect size and they will work better thn the ones used on the Pro Modeler kit. Just in case anybody is interested in being anal retentive and a perfectionist like Bill Geary is, the part number is 90711.

Edited August 1, 2008 by marcos cruz

[cruz]

I will continue posting as I go, thanks for looking!!

[Clay]

DO you realize how long I have been waiting on an update? you had going through withdrawls....

That stuff is gonna look awesome when its done.

[Fisher61]

Marcos, I'm doing the same kit right now, added a vinyl top like you did. How does the spray mount adhesive dry? Is it tacky or anything? What paint can you safely paint it with? Looking forward to the progress on yours, I'm sure it will be amazing!

[cruz]

Marcos, I'm doing the same kit right now, added a vinyl top like you did. How does the spray mount adhesive dry? Is it tacky or anything? What paint can you safely paint it with? Looking forward to the progress on yours, I'm sure it will be amazing!

Since it is an adhesive, I believe that for the first couple of minutes it will be tacky, that's the idea but it doesn't matter if you just go ahead and paint it soon after spraying it. I just used regular Model Master paint right on top of it, I don't think it matters which paint you use. This is my first time trying this out so I can't advice you much on it but it's just a matter of trying it on a plastic spoon and conduct your own tests.

[george 53]

Marcos, I just WISH I could be as anal retentive and perfectionist as Bill Geary!

[Fisher61]

Thanks for the response Marcos! I'm going to find some of that stuff and play around with it.

[MrObsessive]

Lookin' good Cruz!

If you can remember, bring that to the picnic tomorrow!

If Ron has that kit, I wanna pick one up-----not so much to build it right away, but I LOVE '68-'70 B-Body Mopars!

Just in case anybody is interested in being anal retentive and a perfectionist like Bill Geary is, the part number is 90711.

Marcos, I just WISH I could be as anal retentive and perfectionist as Bill Geary!

Awww shucks, you guys can sure make me blush..............If only you could see it!

[John Goschke]

Nice work on this! Great technique for the redlines.

[george 53]

JUst askin, cuz I don't know,But haven't we heard that enamil paint WON'T dry on the vinyl tires that come in most kits? I THOUGHT that you had to use acrilics or somethin.

[cruz]

JUst askin, cuz I don't know,But haven't we heard that enamil paint WON'T dry on the vinyl tires that come in most kits? I THOUGHT that you had to use acrilics or somethin.

And you are right, the difference here is that the lines on those tires are scribed towards the inside of the tire so the paint settles in them without any worry of scratching them away. In any other case I would go with the Acrylics!

[george 53]

Thanks for clearin that up for me Marcos, I do appericiate it!

[cruz]

Okay, a little more of an update on this thing. I am happy that I kept the Pro Modeller Charger as it has been an important part of the mock up process of the build. As you can see, the stance is horrific, I will definetly be working around that to lower it, not a lot but enough that it will look more correct. I am happy I decided to use the '66 Lindberg tires for this, they are the same size heightwise as these but they are a little wider, much better for this application.

Those are the redlines that come in the kit, what a joke, sometimes I think Revell just likes to play with our feelings

[Clay]

Marcos, I know that you have found something that works for your top but Testors has a 2 part Vinyl top

http://www.testors.com/catalog_item.asp?itemNbr=2625

http://www.testors.com/catalog_item.asp?itemNbr=2626