Maisto '69 Firebird--Now with Snake-Fu

[Snake45]

More than two years ago I bought this ugly Maisto '69 Firebird at the local toy show for $10. (Maisto Designer #1: “Boy, some of those Jadas sure look like big Hot Wheels, don't they?” Maisto Designer #2: You think those look like Hot Wheels? Hold my beer....”) 

It's obviously based on the inaccurate old MPC '69 Firebird, scaled up from 1/25 to 1/24. One of the biggest eyesores of the MPC Firebird (and their '68-'69 Camaros) is the “hip” line on the rear quarters. This comes all the way up meet the rear side windows, and it shouldn't. The crest of the “hip” is an inch or two below the bottom of the window line, and parallels it. Look at pictures of real 1G Camaros and Firebirds and you can see what I mean. Now look at that area on the Maisto and you'll see what I'm talking about.

The last two MPC '60 Camaro kits I built, I figured out how to improve the looks of this area quite a bit by carefully filing, sanding, and reshaping it. You can't QUITE carve the correct shape out of the kit meat, but you can sure make it look hella better. I did exactly the same thing with this diecast, except instead of taking about a half-hour per side, it took about two nights in front of the TV for each. I think you can just see it in the After pics.

This work of course meant I had to repaint the thing. I wasn't a fan of the Hot Wheels-like dog puke green anyway, and it wasn't especially well applied, so no big deal. This was my first diecast repaint. I didn't bother to strip it, I just roughed up the green with a Scotchbrite pad, giving extra attention to the edges of the black stripes. I masked off the tail panel to preserve the taillights and Pontiac emblem. As I previously mentioned, I didn't want to polish this body with its one million sharp edges, every one a potential disaster, so matte black it was. The body got one coat of Touch N Tone black primer as a true primer, which showed a couple little flaws to be smoothed out, and then one wet coat of the TNT for a color coat. Spoon-testing showed me that this paint (like nearly all mattes/flats) could pick up scratches and bright spots from handling, so I gave one final barely-wet coat of Krylon Matte Clear as a protectant. This gave me exactly the sheen I desired.

From there it was all 1st degree Snake-Fu: Sand the tire treads, detail the grille, white stems for the headlights, and Silver Sharpie for the trim. The headlight “buckets” got Sharpied, too, as I noticed that these areas were chrome on real '69 Firebirds. Oh, and I removed the tampo and wipers from the glass pieces and polished them out. I never did find a suitable replacement for the wheels, so had to work with them. The spokes look like giant 5-armed Maltese Crosses, not particularly attractive. With any other paint job I'd have done the spokes in Black Chrome Trim, but felt that was just two much matte black on one model, so I painted them Model Master Gun Metal, which is a very dark matte metallic gray with a bluish cast. Still don't like 'em that much, but they're now way better than they were.

So there it is. My fellow modelers and diecasters, may I present to you—Nightbird! The name is a tribute to Stevie Nicks and Robert “Waddy” Wachtel. (Come to think of it, I could have gone one step cuter and called it Birdylicious. ) It's not great but it's hella better than it was, and it's now fit—just barely—to sit on my shelf. Thanks for looking, and as always, comments welcome! 

[randyc]

THat looks about as good as you could make it, with those big wheels.   And I like the matte much better.   

[Geno]

A+ Rich, you made it look soooo much better.?

[Snake45]

On 3/20/2020 at 8:11 AM, randyc said:

THat looks about as good as you could make it, with those big wheels.   And I like the matte much better.   

Thanks, Randy! 

 

1 hour ago, Geno said:

A+ Rich, you made it look soooo much better.?

It was a very low bar. 

I thought you'd NEVER show up, Geno! I gave serious consideration to your enthusiasm for the idea of squirting it in matte olive drab and calling it Warbird, but then came up with a new black primer I wanted to try, and found some pics of a nice-looking murdered out '69 Firebird on the net. 

Now if my old friend Gramps will weigh in....

[Gramps46]

Yeah I am here, been dealing with the HVAC folks.  Everything I own is falling apart, leaking, or breaking down including yours truly.

I do prefer the black a lot more than the green.  Somehow it fits the character of the car better.  Ya dun good.

[Snake45]

Thanks! My day is complete! 

Seriously, I know this section doesn't get nearly the traffic that the styrene Under Glass does, but if I get comments from you, Randy, and Geno, I'm happy. -Ish. 

[randyc]

20 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Thanks! My day is complete! 

Seriously, I know this section doesn't get nearly the traffic that the styrene Under Glass does, but if I get comments from you, Randy, and Geno, I'm happy. -Ish. 

Ain't that the truth!