Dodge Stealth Official Beater

[89AKurt]

Built this for the Lee Iacocca memorial build, AMT kit (not snap-tite).  Started July 11, 15.5 hours later on July 13 calling it done!  Built Box Stock, no corrections, no added parts, not lowered.  Used nail 'polish' for the paint, Bare Metal Foil used as light reflectors.  For AMT, it was well done, the big problem was the turbo pipe from the back turbo to the left fender, that's why the hood does not close all the way.  I bought this on sale for $8.10 when I heard the Union demanded it be pulled for Pace Car, hoped it would become a collector kit, you can buy one off eBay for $8-$9, so it didn't even keep up with inflation!   I adapted what I read in the book Extreme Weathering, mainly dumping salt onto the wet primer coat of paint, then wet-sanded, also sanded the decals.  Added some dents, and broken air dam.  Other techniques are clear flat with Africa Korps and/or Leather added for weathering as dust or dirt.  Circle template used to cut masking tape for the wiper tracks.  Drilled exhaust tips, Molotow pen used for the tips.  Bird droppings were the last detail.  No license plate decal!  It was a nice break from fuzting with the Paris-Dakar. 

[PappyD340]

Nicely done, weathering is awesome!!

[Cpt Tuttle]

I guess that's what happens when you are sandblasting stuff too close to your car....  Different build, and I like it!

[89AKurt]

8 hours ago, PappyD340 said:

Nicely done, weathering is awesome!!

Thanks!  Avoids fretting over getting a perfect paint job.

1 hour ago, Cpt Tuttle said:

I guess that's what happens when you are sandblasting stuff too close to your car....  Different build, and I like it!

More like when gravel flies when drifting corners.  I'm a non-conformist, thank you. 

[Dragonhawk1066]

I like it! Great job on the weathering!

[ewetwo]

Looks great.

[Jonathan]

Nicely done. Really like the wear and tear.

Looks like the owner at least put tires on it recently.

[Rusty92]

Looks like a fun little kit. 

[89AKurt]

18 hours ago, Dragonhawk1066 said:

I like it! Great job on the weathering!

 Thanks!

15 hours ago, ewetwo said:

Looks great.

Appreciated.

14 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Nicely done. Really like the wear and tear.

Looks like the owner at least put tires on it recently.

Thanks.  Yea, I'm sure they aren't the correct size, these were on all the models.  I did scrub on rough sandpaper, but kept some tread on. 

3 hours ago, Rusty92 said:

Looks like a fun little kit. 

It was, except for the longest turbo pipe.  Two parts were not described well in the instructions, the rear halfshafts are slightly different length, and the brake booster needs a locating pin.  Fun to start and finish in no time flat.

I am wishing that I cracked the dash, and made the seats at least faded by the sun.

[89AKurt]

I digress, was not happy with such a clean interior, so I dusted with tile grout.  Also flattened the tires at the contact patches, to fix the 3 wheel problem. *Now* it's done! 

[martinfan5]

Nice weathering Kurt.

[Jim N]

Great job!  The weathering is outstanding.

[spencer1984]

Great job on the weathering, this looks awesome

[David G.]

Very convincing.

David g.

[Bainford]

Cool subject and great weathering. I like the vibe on this. I am very impressed that you managed to get so much quality work done in such a short period of time.

[Rider]

Great  weathering, it looks like you had a blast. 

[Dann Tier]

You are a weathering MASTER, bud!!!!

[1320wayne]

Superb build. Excellent job on the weathering.

[Faust]

Mega awesome!

A.

Maze.

Ing.

Beater Stealth is awesome, Pace Beater is better! I love to build loser cars pristine. It's nice to see a "collectible" car beaten.  

Say, what's this about the union and the pace car kit? I've seen these at shows all over the place. Never bought one because I have the red, non-pace version. 

 

[Dominik]

On ‎22‎.‎07‎.‎2019 at 1:54 PM, Bainford said:

Cool subject and great weathering. I like the vibe on this. I am very impressed that you managed to get so much quality work done in such a short period of time.

x2. in round about 16 hours? very cool!

[swede70]

Excellent weathering technique.  Thanks for sharing...

Mike K./Swede70

[1930fordpickup]

Looks great. 

[89AKurt]

On 7/17/2019 at 11:35 PM, martinfan5 said:

Nice weathering Kurt.

Thank you!

On 7/19/2019 at 10:38 AM, Jim N said:

Great job!  The weathering is outstanding.

Appreciate it!

On 7/21/2019 at 7:35 PM, spencer1984 said:

Great job on the weathering, this looks awesome

Thank you too!

On 7/22/2019 at 4:30 AM, David G. said:

Very convincing.

David g.

Thanks Mr. Phoenix I feel sorry for you. ?  That '56 Chevy in your picture an El Camino idea?

On 7/22/2019 at 4:54 AM, Bainford said:

Cool subject and great weathering. I like the vibe on this. I am very impressed that you managed to get so much quality work done in such a short period of time.

Appreciate you taking the time to tell me that!  Felt GREAT to start *and* finish a model within one season.

On 7/22/2019 at 5:02 AM, Rider said:

Great  weathering, it looks like you had a blast. 

Thanks, yes I did.

On 7/22/2019 at 7:59 AM, Dann Tier said:

You are a weathering MASTER, bud!!!!

Yea ya, it's not that hard, I'm telling you. ?

On 7/22/2019 at 3:24 PM, 1320wayne said:

Superb build. Excellent job on the weathering.

Well thank you, considering what I had to work with, appreciated.

On 7/22/2019 at 3:58 PM, Faust said:

Mega awesome! ----- A. --------- Maze. -------- Ing. [edited for space ?]

Beater Stealth is awesome, Pace Beater is better! I love to build loser cars pristine. It's nice to see a "collectible" car beaten.  

Say, what's this about the union and the pace car kit? I've seen these at shows all over the place. Never bought one because I have the red, non-pace version. 

Really appreciated!  It's interesting how loser cars are more rare than desirable cars on the road, when I see any Pinto I have to look in amazement that's it's still running.  There is a Datsun B210 running around here too, the one with the funky side windows.   There was controversy about using a Japanese sourced car with Dodge slapped on it, which was common practice in Detroit soon after the "gas crisis".  Just before the big day, the prototype Dodge Viper was deployed.  What's funny, many of the engines in the race cars were not 'Merican. ??  I would bet your red kit is more rare than these, typical of my investment strategy.

On 7/24/2019 at 4:20 AM, Dominik said:

x2. in round about 16 hours? very cool!

Yep, slapped together.  Parked my OCD. 

On 8/15/2019 at 11:12 PM, swede70 said:

Excellent weathering technique.  Thanks for sharing...

Mike K./Swede70

Thanks, and you're welcome!

On 8/15/2019 at 11:46 PM, 1930fordpickup said:

Looks great. 

Don't be fudging the truth, it looks like a hunk of junk!  Thank you.

I completely missed all the kind comments.  There has been a topic about protocol recently, I think it's rude that I didn't reply, my apologies. ?

[moparfarmer]

Very nicely done rendition of the Stealth..There were lots of them on the road but where are they now? you see lots of other oldie Asian tin but no Stealth..They were quick and well built too, just never caught on I guess..

[89AKurt]

Thank you too!  Yes that's an interesting observation.  When I was doing research, found a forum for "those people" who were enthusiasts, just like most any make of car there are forums where people help keep them alive (I'm on the '67-'72 Chevy Trucks forum and Civic X and was on MINI North American Motoring).  Not many members, not much activity.  I would bet getting parts is an issue, if not made in huge quantity to begin with.  Willing to bet there was an Achilles Heel that killed them.  It was also a design aesthetic thing, purely subjective of course; the "cab forward" theme was Chrysler's thing, with the bucktooth front overhang being prominent, don't think the 3000GT looked as bad.  The wing location was just weird.  It just dropped into obscurity.  Mitsubishi's version didn't fare much better, but their Lancer Evo rally sedans became the bomb, didn't they?