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Posted
On 6/26/2018 at 6:23 AM, Snake45 said:

That just looks badass! Drive on! B)

Thanks, man! Heading out in a bit to find paint. I'm thinking either Lime Ice or the Emerald green from that line--leaning more toward the emerald. Shouldn't take much longer to finish this baby, now!

 

Posted
33 minutes ago, Straightliner59 said:

Thanks, man! Heading out in a bit to find paint. I'm thinking either Lime Ice or the Emerald green from that line--leaning more toward the emerald. Shouldn't take much longer to finish this baby, now!

 

They're both pretty sparkly, just so you know. The Emerald is sort of like '68-'69 Rally Green, but sparklier. It's a pretty color.

Posted
2 hours ago, Snake45 said:

They're both pretty sparkly, just so you know. The Emerald is sort of like '68-'69 Rally Green, but sparklier. It's a pretty color.

I picked up the Emerald. Originally, I bought a can of Fathom Green for it, but started thinking it was darker than I wanted. Who knows? I'll have time to think about it while I'm carving on the marker lights!

Posted

Speaking of marker lights...Here's what I did with them, and how I did it. I hope someone finds it useful! I began by measuring the recesses of the molded-in lights. In this case, they were 5/64" by a scant 1/4". Anyhoo... This first shot shows what I was hoping to accomplish, and the tools I used to do it. The files pictured are a square mini-file, a small square file and a small flat file. I also used a pin vise with a #72 bit and an X-Acto knife.

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I began by drilling a series of holes along the inner perimeter of the marker/turn signal, being careful to stay within the lines, to avoid having to perform extra bodywork.

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Now, using the knife, slowly and carefully begin to connect the holes, opening up the entire recess. It cannot be stressed enough to be deliberate and cautious and stay within the lines...IMG_3919.JPG.8c5fb9968b9c06cf426c9ea8c30b879a.JPG

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Continue working the knife until the marker opening looks like this (except probably not so blurry!):

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Begin working with the files to fine tune the opening. Square the corners, and straighten the ends and sides of the opening, until you are satisfied with its shape.

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Next, cut two small sections of thin sheet, to back up the newly opened holes.

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Install them inside the body. It may be helpful to curve them, to improve their fit. The red arrow points to the backer installed on the far side of the body. Also visible here is the lens itself, being fitted.

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I used a tab I removed from an amber sprue. I then sanded the ID numbers off and polished it using those three-way polishing sticks. The reflective inner surface will be created using the foil from a cigarette hard pack.

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Next, I cut the amber "lens" to size and smoothed the edges, and tested the fit...

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After a bit more fine sanding, the lens fits the opening, almost perfectly!

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Finally, I popped them out, cut the foil to size, and dropped it in, behind the lens. It was a fair amount of work, but, I'm happy with its appearance. This effect could not be achieved using paint. Since this is a curbside build, I want to create as many interesting details that I can, in order to generate "interest" in the subject. I am considering ways I can do something similar with the head and taillights.

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Posted
23 hours ago, DumpyDan said:

Nice work on the side light

Thanks, Dan! I was hoping that trick would work! Here're a couple of shots with primer. I can't believe I got them to fit so nicely.

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Posted (edited)

Wow, that is some attention to detail.  Overall build has that racy look, really like what you are doing.

Have tried to send you a message, had some trouble getting it to send.

Edited by TarheelRick
Posted
13 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Thanks, Dan! I was hoping that trick would work! Here're a couple of shots with primer. I can't believe I got them to fit so nicely.

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Real nice, well done looks like it should look.

Posted
13 hours ago, TarheelRick said:

Wow, that is some attention to detail.  Overall build has that racy look, really like what you are doing.

Have tried to send you a message, had some trouble getting it to send.

Thanks, again, Dan! I may have had my settings wrong. Please try messaging again.

Posted

For some reason I keep getting "404 error" when trying to submit a message.  If by chance you do have an extra Monza hood I would like to talk to you about a trade, I have a fairly well stocked parts box.

Posted

Rick, if I find it, it's yours. I had a quick look, when I got home from work, this morning, and it's not in the box it was most likely to be in. But, that's not the only box it might have been in!

Joe, thanks again for your kind words. The greatest compliment I could ever get is when someone says, "That $#*% looks real."

Thanks, Andy. I'm hoping to get it in paint, this weekend. MPC did a great job with the body panel lines. They are beautiful on this thing; crisp and clean!

Posted

Here are a few parts and pieces I am currently working on. I am building a set of wipers. I hope I can make them small enough, the first time! I realized I hadn't installed a fire bottle in the interior, so, I turned one this morning. It's just a small one. I am working on the gauge/valve assembly. I'll also make a bracket to mount it to the crossbar on the roll bar. I also used some Squadron Thermoform to begin the front turn signal assembly. The Monza doesn't have amber plastic lenses, but merely an off-clear/milky white lens, with a yellow bulb inside. I'm going to attempt to open up (dish out) the center section of the kit signals, repaint the reflector pan silver and install an amber "bulb" from  a truck kit. Finally, I will cover that with one of the heat formed bits, seen here.

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Posted

In living color (but, not on NBC!). Without the interior, it sits too low in the rear. This green reminds me of the green on Al Segrini's Brut FC. Also, I've attached the set of decal stripes I printed (on clear film). I'd welcome your thoughts as to which you'd use, and why. I like all of them for different reasons. Maybe a poll would be in order! Something else new to me I used on this model was a light swabbing of silver Rub 'N' Buff on the wheels. I wanted it to be very subtle. I like what it did for them!

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Posted

You are doing some amazing work on this build.  I am really enjoying watching it come together.  As far as the stripes, neither are really my cup of tea, but since they are printed on clear paper, the only one that would really look right is the top one or maybe the bottom one would not completely disappear on that green paint; which by the way is beautiful.

Posted

That color looks great! I love your decals. Can't decide--let me think about it a while.

For the lace--can you print a negative of what you have? If you laid lace over green paint and spray black, it will look the opposite of what you have. Your decal is what would happen if you painted black first, then laid down the lace and sprayed green, which wasn't the way it was usually done back in the day.

Posted

Snake, I can do that! It didn't start out to be lace, just a bunch of squiggly lines, but, by the time I made it seamless, it looked like lace. It might be kind of cool, in negative. I like the green, as well! Thanks, JC. I gave serious thought to some kind of spider theme, but couldn't find any artwork I really liked, or I would have. I've been really into this thing. So much so, in fact, that I feel like I'm in scale time, too!

Posted
2 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Snake, I can do that! It didn't start out to be lace, just a bunch of squiggly lines, but, by the time I made it seamless, it looked like lace. It might be kind of cool, in negative. I like the green, as well! Thanks, JC. I gave serious thought to some kind of spider theme, but couldn't find any artwork I really liked, or I would have. I've been really into this thing. So much so, in fact, that I feel like I'm in scale time, too!

Maybe it is...spider webbing B)

Posted

Oh my God! 

That thing is coming along great! I can't believe a Monza can look so tough!

Fantastic job on the wheels especially! I also love the side light treatment. Great idea!

Posted

Thank you, Cody! Much appreciated! Greg, that was kind of what I was hoping for when I started those, but, once I tiled them, they looked more like lace, than webs. Thanks, Adam. I've always thought they were good looking cars, and, once pulled from their "economy" stock personae, they look pretty bad! Thank you for the kind words!

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