Polar Lights '65 Dodge Coronet Quick Build

[Snake45]

I believe this kit is being reissued again soon, or perhaps already has been. Couple weeks ago I Snake-slapped a prepainted one (bought at Walmart a decade or more ago) together out of the box and thought I would share a few construction impressions.

This is the most precision-eered kit I've ever seen. Take your time and ALMOST everything goes together perfectly. It's not really a snapper, but I'd call it a "press fit." The ONLY glue I used anywhere on it was gluing the engine block halves together, and then the front (timing) cover onto the engine. Everything else, I just press-fit into place. Even the exhaust pipes lined right up with the exhaust manifolds, amazing!

Avoid the temptation to test-fit things. The pegs and their holes are so precise that you'll probably only be able to get them together ONCE without breaking them, which will complicate things. A thin layer of paint will interfere with fit, and will have to be removed from the pins. In fact, I had to do a slight bit of trimming/reaming on many of the holes to get the pegs in. Once in place, everything is tight enough to stay put without glue.

In final assembly, notice that there are two tabs that fit into the upper radiator wall, while the rear of the chassis also fits into tab slots at the rear of the body. DON'T install the front bumper until you have the assembled chassis installed in the body, as the bumper serves to lock the lower part of the chassis (subframe) in place. If the bumper is in place first, this will be very difficult to do without breaking something, or at least cussing a lot.

Don't install the wheels and tires until you have the chassis in the body. I was dreading putting the wheels on the stub axles, expecting to break at least one, but they snapped right on easily--probably the easiest part of the whole build.

BTW, the distributor is for a 6-cylinder.

The ONLY parts interference I found in the whole build was between the front windshield mounting tabs and the firewall. I got everything together, but the chassis was bowed down and visible. I carefully took everything apart and trimmed the front edges of the windshield bosses and filed some clearance notches in the back edge of the firewall for good measure, and then everything fit just fine.

The worst part on the whole build IMHO was the grille. The "open" areas are so shallow that I found it impossible to black-wash them, leaving the chrome, and get it looking good all the way around. I ended up just painting the whole open area semigloss black, as was popular back in the day.

The only things I painted on this one (I started with a prepainted issue) were the engine and the firewall. The engine is molded in blue, but I don't think it's the correct shade of blue. Google-image showed many engines in orange, which might or might not be correct for '65 factory new but looks cool. I used Testor Orange from a rattlecan over white primer. Model Master Italian Red lacquer was a pretty close match to the body's red paint for the firewall. The body “chrome” trim is tampoed in silver, but it's a very “flaky” silver and looks like silver car paint. I went over it all with Silver Sharpie, which doesn't have the flake. The only interior detailing I did was some Silver Sharpie and Black Chrome Trim work.

 

I thought it should have been a one-day slap-together, maybe two, but it took me the better part of three days to finish. It's a good looking model for the time and effort expended, IMHO.

The next one I build will be heavily modified as Dick Landy's AWB funny, but that will be a completely different story.

I hope this post will be helpful to someone. Thanks for looking and as always, comments welcome. Model on! 

[drodg]

I built two of these this fall.  They are pretty good looking when all said and done.  I totally agree with you about the grill,  it just doesn't look real correct no matter what you do.   Great job.   

[#1 model citizen]

I have at least 6 of these kits, ht. & conv. in different colors. I haven't built any yet & wondered how well they built up. I don't recall seeing any built or reviewed before, so I wondered if they were junk or what. I may now have to get 1 out and get it on a shelf! Thanks for the review & build tips!

[Bob Ellis]

I have a couple of these kits too. Still in the box.If Modelhaus still in business, I'd say buy their grille.

[Hmann68]

Very nice! I’ve got one too, it was a gift a while back from a buddy. Good to hear it’s a nice fitting kit. Yours looks great, I always liked the rear pillar lines on them. 

[Scalper]

Wow that’s clean.  Nice work. 

[shoopdog]

Very very nice!

[GoodbuildNY]

Looks good Snake. I was curious about this kit so thanks for the write up. 

[BeakDoc]

Awesome job. Been wanting to see one built up on here. I have the convertible in Polar Lights and the recent AMT repop of the hard top persuasion. Might have to pull em out and slap em together.

[drodg]

18 hours ago, #1 model citizen said:

I have at least 6 of these kits, ht. & conv. in different colors. I haven't built any yet & wondered how well they built up. I don't recall seeing any built or reviewed before, so I wondered if they were junk or what. I may now have to get 1 out and get it on a shelf! Thanks for the review & build tips!

They are not junk and they build into pretty nice replicas.  I have a 1:1 Coronet 500 and except for the grill it looks pretty right on to me.  The nice thing on this kit over the AMT original are the wheel covers if you build it stock.  My 1:1 car is bright red and the bright red on this kit after polished looks pretty similar.  

[Scott8950]

Snake it looks awesome... i have both the red and black hardtops one will become a awb landy car... The lindberg 330 chassis is almost a perfect fit for this kit.

[Steamboat]

Very nice build.

I have the convertible which I built long ago when they first came out.  One of my favorite models, and it has the Torq-Thrust wheels.  As I remember, it had a huge warp in the body that was nearly impossible to get right.  It sits on 3 wheels to this day.  

[Brutalform]

9 hours ago, drodg said:

They are not junk and they build into pretty nice replicas.  I have a 1:1 Coronet 500 and except for the grill it looks pretty right on to me.  The nice thing on this kit over the AMT original are the wheel covers if you build it stock.  My 1:1 car is bright red and the bright red on this kit after polished looks pretty similar.  

I agree. Even though I haven’t decided what to do with mine yet. What are you gonna do? Especially when the Johan version can cost you a couple of Bens, if you can even find one. This car might have a few incorrect things, but it looks pretty good to me. 
 

Btw, nice job on this one Snake. Would enjoy to watch you build the Landy car. 

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Brutalform said:

Btw, nice job on this one Snake. Would enjoy to watch you build the Landy car. 

Thanks. Dunno when I'll get to it, or be hit by the inspiration. I'm rounding up references and parts. I just realized that the S&M '65 Plymouth was also AWB from the beginning, so I'm thinking of doing them both at the same time. Jenkins' Black Arrow and Dyno Don's Comet ended up AWB but both started out with stock wheelbases, so those I'll build stock-bodied. I have all four kits now to do all four iconic cars. 

[Dann Tier]

Quick builds are alot of fun, and you did a Great job with this one!!

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[PappyD340]

Real nice!

[slusher]

Super nice Snake, i enjoyed the read. I have a red one if I have any trouble I know who to ask...

[ewetwo]

Nice Snake. I built one of these and they are a nice kit.

[ATHU]

Awesome work, looks great!!

[Bucky]

Great looking Dodge! Red MOPARS are hard to beat! I built one of the pearl white convertible kits, and don't recall any troubles with it.

I have 6 or 7 more, in both hardtop and convertible versions. They can be pretty good slump busters when those major projects get ya down!

Thanks for the great tips on this kit!

[Deuces ll]

Beautiful!.. ??