440 6BBL Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 My first Cannonball entry ever is a retired General Lee from MPC. Let´s see how much we can get out of one of the world´s most hated kits. It started out as an ugly pile of parts from an unfinished build. The Slant-6 engine is from a Deora kit, there´s a scratchbuilt exhaust, some sheet to fill holes in the engine bay sheet metal, a modified radiator core support and a set of Polyglas tyres. Tamiya bright orange spray paint is annoyingly tough to strip...I had to go the brake fluid route with it. While the body is slowly losing its paintjob, everything else has seen quick and dirty progress so far. The engine remains in stock condition and the car will pretty much be a plain Jane. It shall look like a fast car at first glance, but with very reliable daily driver internals. I went with high impact light green from Tamiya to keep the ridiculousness of this car on a high level. It´s no V8, but it still kinda has Mopar written all over it. I´m having lots of fun with this build. Scratchbuilt goodies on the front end in progress to make it steerable. Other than that...it just takes some detail painting. There are definitely much worse chassis out there in many kits. It´s actually quite easy to make these simple Mopar chassis neat. Not done with detail painting yet...just the current state of what´s going on. Hope to get this thing done quick so I can throw in another inliner-build for the Cannonball Race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
440 6BBL Posted March 24, 2018 Author Share Posted March 24, 2018 Faster than expected...first coat of green already on the re-primered body. Since this is a no-care-hackjob-build I wanted to try something. I always thought Chargers look quite mean when the headlights are visible, so I removed the outer parts of the grille inserts...which are wrong anyways. I cut the grille open and glued ´68 Roadrunner headlights to the back of it. The grille is definitely the weakest spot on this kit and this is actually a good option. Half of the wrong grille insert is gone and the remains are a bit overshadowed by the presence of the headlights. I like how the front came out with the modified grille and scratchbuilt core support detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
440 6BBL Posted March 27, 2018 Author Share Posted March 27, 2018 The Charger is now on its wheels after the final stance has been figured out. The front end is steerable and all wheels are glued to the axles as I hate wheels wobbling all over the place. BMF is also done. Just some final tweaks and I´m calling this thing done. Currently scratchbuilding an air cleaner and completing some incomplete spots here and there. The build should be done in no time from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Minarick Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 Very nice, I really like how you did the headlights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Looking great! Real nice choice on the wheel and tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drodg Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Those headlights are a great touch, and I like the overall look you've gone with here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 I have to agree with the others on the Headlights, I don't recall ever seeing tis done before and I think it adds a curtain degree of realism to that area of the model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geemoney Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 love it ALL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamsuperdan Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Wow, that's looking really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disconovaman Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 I like the back story of the De-Generalized charger...like one of those leftover stunt cars got turned into a cannonball car... and since the 318 was worn out, they dropped in the 6 banger just to make it efficient and dependable. Sassy grass green makes it intimidating and fast looking. Nice work transforming it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
440 6BBL Posted March 29, 2018 Author Share Posted March 29, 2018 (edited) Thanks for the comments guys. If there´s just one of you starting to see more than a pile of poo in this kit, then I´m a happy bloke. To me the General kit is now on the cool stuff list. I´ve never expected to say this, but I kinda start to dig this kit. Of course the details lack all around in comparison to Revell´s Charger family, but there is a sexiness in the proportions of the MPC Charger. You´re in big trouble when you want to build a car with wheel arch trim...but for everything else it´s a actually an awesome kit. Last update post...the finished thing will appear in the showroom. That scratchbuilt aircleaner has found its way onto the carb. I modified a 440 Magnum air cleaner as a base. Still need some touch-ups in the engine bay and a couple of wires. The chassis has a nice looking K-frame member and with the scratchbuilt front suspension parts there´s not much missing that a Revell Charger has. I find modifying and upgrading this kit is easier than making a Revell Charger look awesome. There are more MPC Chargers coming from me in the future. The white 500 is a little bit more dedidcated than the green Charger and will get a red tail stripe. A Daytona will be next, body preparations are already in the advanced stages...and finally I´ll tackle my ´70 restoration and I hope ya´ll wanna watch it. RC2 just needs a newly designed sprue with one stock and one deep Mopar steelie. Two sprues in each kit along with 2 F60 and 2 L60 pad-printed tires...these kits would be winners again. See you in the showroom Edited March 29, 2018 by 440 6BBL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DumpyDan Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 That is real nice, love the 6 in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkyardjeff Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 I really like it with the six,I used that same slant six and put one in a Little Red Express truck and made it look like abase model truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsxse240 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Proof that a polished turd can shine up very nicely! Great looking Charger! Both of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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