KWT Posted April 30, 2018 Posted April 30, 2018 (edited) Growing up in the 80's, I was thrilled by the cars of prime time TV. Shows like Knight Rider, The A-Team, Magnum PI, Miami Vice and Simon & Simon filled my week from one day to another. But like most kids from that era, nothing grasped me quite like The General Lee. And being from a tiny town in the south, were dirt roads covered the county, I guess it kinda felt like I was watching everyday life. It was great. Simple times... simple life... simple world. Unfortunately, I didn't get into modeling until after "The Dukes" had went off the air. Models of "The General" were long gone. There wasn't an internet for me to search for one.. heck we didn't even have a computer til I was in my mid 20's. No hobby shops anywhere near me, except for the 10 ft section at Wal-Mart... or the occassional trip out of town to "the bigger Wal-Mart and K-Mart". So in the late 90's when "The Dukes" became popular again, outta nowhere, I was stoked to find a General Lee on one of our trips outta town. I built it... I wasn't impressed at all... BUT, it was the General, so I didn't really care. I built to the best of my limited ability... and that sucked too.. lol. she's sit in a case for 20yrs. The roll bar looked terrible inside and didn't fit right, so I discarded that. The back window as everybody knows, is nowhere close to what it's supposed to be. The front end doesn't fit and the suspension made it sit with the nose up and back squatted. And those decals.... upside down star in the middle, and black lettering... but, it was the General, so it was fine... Soon after, news of my child coming, I left the hobby. 20yrs, more or less... have passed since then. After getting back into modeling, I decided this is one of the cars I was going to revisit. After seeing the Revell 69 Charger, I thought that would make a good base. So I bought one, but I didn't know what I was going to do with the vinyl top. Soon after I bought the AMT General again for part... ugh... Then I joined here and found a vast new world of info I knew nothing about... I ended up getting the 68 charger kit, ran across the wheels and tires while searching Fireball Modelworks... just looking at what he had. And then found Slixx decals... I've been slowly piecing this together for the better part of a year. Now that you're bored, on to the build... I started by prepping and painting the body. I know the debate on the color... I've read it several times. It's a corvette color call "Flame Red"... no it's Hemi Orange... no it's not... yes it is... Well, I didn't have either. But what I did have... Hugger Orange... So... Hugger Orange it is... not to shabby, if I do say so myself. I painted interior light sand with details here and there. And I added a roll bar and CB from a Revellogram 3n1 kit... Then painted up the wheels and scratch built a brush guard... Then my boss went into to hospital, and I was forced into performing his job and mine... so she then sit like this from January til about a 4 weeks ago... because of being behind from his absence, and the refusal to hire anyone new, overtime has become a way of life... so I've been piecing her together 10 mins here and there a time... and she's almost ready to be unveiled... Here is the last shot before I put her under glass... Thanks for looking... Edited April 30, 2018 by KWT
Spruslayer Posted April 30, 2018 Posted April 30, 2018 (edited) Not boring to me I love to know the back story to the builds posted here It gives me a perspective to understand how the model evolve's to something that brings back memories The Car is looking awesome too! Edited April 30, 2018 by Spruslayer
KWT Posted April 30, 2018 Author Posted April 30, 2018 I used to sit and watch this with my grandparents... well, they'd watch.. I only watched if the car was in the scene lol
Oldmopars Posted May 1, 2018 Posted May 1, 2018 (edited) I love what you are doing, and your build is looking great. I can relate to this, I went through the same thing wanting to build an accurate General Lee for my wife who is a big fan of the show. I got the General kit and found it to be very bad, so I got the Revell kit. However this was several years back and Slixx and Fireball were not around, so I had to make due with what came in the 2 kits. I was and still am proud of mine, but I think it may be time soon to do a little updating. The last 10-12 years has not done it any favors. Edited May 1, 2018 by Oldmopars
Oldmopars Posted May 1, 2018 Posted May 1, 2018 BTW, According to the story line of the show, the orange paint was a mix of stuff Cooter had in the back of his shop. Who knows what the real color is, but I know Hugger Orange is and Hemi Orange will both work. Even at "Dukes" events, the cars are all slightly different shades of Orange.
BeakDoc Posted May 1, 2018 Posted May 1, 2018 Man, I love the General. Childhood Friday nights revolved around the Duke boys. I painted mine Hemi Orange over a base of flat tan. I thought it turned out pretty good. I think I read somewhere that the cars for the show were actually painted AMC Big Bad Orange.
spencer1984 Posted May 1, 2018 Posted May 1, 2018 (edited) I've been there myself with trying to get a build pulled together and finished. Thanks for the back story, nice job on the updated General! Edited May 1, 2018 by spencer1984
Oldcarfan27 Posted May 1, 2018 Posted May 1, 2018 17 hours ago, BeakDoc said: Man, I love the General. Childhood Friday nights revolved around the Duke boys. I painted mine Hemi Orange over a base of flat tan. I thought it turned out pretty good. I think I read somewhere that the cars for the show were actually painted AMC Big Bad Orange. Orange is orange, I don't think too many people are going to harass you for that. Just make sure the car NEVER has any dents or damage, even after hard jumps or run-ins with Roscoe P. Coletrane! Can't let anyone see the automotive equivalent to Superman as a weakling.
mustang1989 Posted May 2, 2018 Posted May 2, 2018 Dang Jeremy! I do like these kinds of builds. All of your updates are looking great. I've got one of these in the stash and I built one as a kid and its funny now that I see it mentioned here but I never knew the actual color of the GL. Will be watching pal.
Ich_Will Posted May 2, 2018 Posted May 2, 2018 (edited) I built the MPC kit as a kid and burned it with fireworks (along with the A-team van and Daisy Dukes jeep). LOL Yours is much nicer. Good build! Edited May 2, 2018 by Ich_Will
KWT Posted May 2, 2018 Author Posted May 2, 2018 Thanks Scott, Chris, David, Bill, Patrick, Joe and William! I do appreciate it! I posted the finished build under glass Reliving my childhood... que Waylon
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