California Flash 72 Duster

[dragcarz]

I finally got a warm day and decided to get some color on the body. Some time ago there was a post discussing the Color of the California Flash cars. I have an old Drag Racing Magazine that showed details of the 71 Butch Leal car, as at that time, this was a pretty trick car. It stated the car was painted orange. I went  through my paints and decided that Model Master Chevrolet Engine Orange looked like a very good match. I will let it dry good and mask the stripes.

[AmericanMuscleFan]

Very nice color choice Roger!  Your body shell looks perfect and straight!  Glad you have a good source for the original color because (like probably most people) I thougth the original color was red.  I was probably misslead by some bad internet pics and the fact that the original MPC body was molded in red, was it?  Nice job!!!

[dragcarz]

Y’all can’t see me right now, but I’m doing the happy dance

[dragcarz]

4 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

Very nice color choice Roger!  Your body shell looks perfect and straight!  Glad you have a good source for the original color because (like probably most people) I thougth the original color was red.  I was probably misslead by some bad internet pics and the fact that the original MPC body was molded in red, was it?  Nice job!!!

Yes it was molded in red, ?

[Bills72sj]

Nice work. Following.

[Brutalform]

Coming together really really nice Roger. The stripes look fantastic. 
What is the small bulge on the passenger side of the scoop? 

[dragcarz]

2 hours ago, Brutalform said:

Coming together really really nice Roger. The stripes look fantastic. 
What is the small bulge on the passenger side of the scoop? 

On the real car that was to car it was to give more space between the hood and the distributor / spark plug wires.

[AmericanMuscleFan]

Superb job with the white stripes Roger!  The pics are not in the right order but we can see how you did it and the white covers the dark orange perfectly. I can't see any shade of dark orange in the white so you did a very good covering. Will look fantastic when all the decals will be applied.  Do you plan to cover everything with clear coat?   Well done so far!

[Brutalform]

9 hours ago, dragcarz said:

On the real car that was to car it was to give more space between the hood and the distributor / spark plug wires.

Ahhh. Did the real car have a dual distributor?

[1972coronet]

I bought a resin 'pop of that 1972 Duster Pro Stock bonnet , and had been wondering about that bulge on the right-side of the scoop . Initially , I'd dismissed it as a casting "error" (in defence of the caster , the image did exhibit the bulge) , and that I'd have to merely sand the "offending" lump flush .

Now I know why it's there .

Since I'm going to build my copy of the MPC 1972 Duster 340 annual in Arlen Vanke livery , but as a phantom iteration ( DOHC Hemi from the 1970 Super bee ), I'll just leave the distributor clearance lump intact .

Thanks for the info ! 

[dragcarz]

8 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

Superb job with the white stripes Roger!  The pics are not in the right order but we can see how you did it and the white covers the dark orange perfectly. I can't see any shade of dark orange in the white so you did a very good covering. Will look fantastic when all the decals will be applied.  Do you plan to cover everything with clear coat?   Well done so far!

Yes I hope to apply the side stripes and lettering then two part clear, sanding ,polishing, chrome trim, and then add the sponsor decals. 

[dragcarz]

I found a pic of the bulge on the hood but you have to look close. 

[Straightliner59]

3 minutes ago, dragcarz said:

and then add the sponsor decals.

Absolutely! They should be last!

[Codi]

Roger, if it were mine I'd be smillin' too.  Congrats on passing a milestone on the build.  It's a very cool looking build.  cheers, tim

[magicmustang]

Great job.

In this photo it looks orange. Did he run both colors?

[dragcarz]

No, the car was painted a orange that had a lot of red in it, in magazine photos it some times appeared more red. He carried the same paint screams on his Camaro, and his 65 Plymouth S/S car.

[AmericanMuscleFan]

I admit that it is one of the drag cars with the color that brings the most questions because it seems of different color with each photo that we can find on the internet.  One thing is certain, it's a superb car and the color you have chosen seems to be the best compromise!

[dragcarz]

Small update: The company I work for thought we weren’t doing enough work, as I normally work in the field and drive time is considered, and added more daily assignments and closed another department completely and gave us that work to do.There short sided thinking has resulted in more work than I can complete in a day as we’re returning to field work, so I’ve not had much time to work on the Duster.

I did manage to get the rear axle built. I started with the Dana from the 70 Coronet Kit, I narrowed the axle tubes too much the first time and ended up cutting them completely off and scratch built axle tube with Plastruct tubing. I used the kit leaf springs and mounted them to the rear frame rails as my reference photos showed. I notched the front of the rails to get the ride height correct and formed spring eye hangers. 

[dragcarz]

After installing the rear axle, I thought I was ready for paint and air brushed Model Master Semi Gloss Black, only to notice some sanding scratches, and will have to correct and repaint.

[David G.]

Great work on the body and paint! 

The mods are well done too!

David G.

[Nazz]

Looks like the Duster is coming along nicely. Well done Roger. I'm very interested in how this one turns out.

[dragcarz]

Thanks everyone, Im determined to get it done 

Edited May 30, 2020 by dragcarz

[Scott8950]

I can't wait to see this finished its looking great!

[bytownshaker]

Looks awesome Roger, 

I'm doing basically the same things to a Demon (resin body)

Looking forward to seeing more updates.

Edgar

 

[dragcarz]

23 hours ago, bytownshaker said:

Looks awesome Roger, 

I'm doing basically the same things to a Demon (resin body)

Looking forward to seeing more updates.

Edgar

 

How about posting it , I’d love to see what your doing, I’ve got a Demon in the stash that I’m wanting to build.