Rockford Posted July 27, 2020 Posted July 27, 2020 This car is a bit of a learning project for me, because up until this build I'd never had the guts to cut and shut body parts. I wanted to recreate a Camaro a friend had owned here in Liverpool because it was just gorgeous. It was a bog stock car with a lame smog era 350 and a TH350 trans but it looked like it had landed from another planet when you compared it to the junk we drive here in GB. I had to lose the front snow plow spoiler because it is supposed to be a Z28, so I bought another Z28 kit, cut the front of the rear arches out of that to marry into the front fenders once the huge spoiler was gone. I didn't have the guts to fill the T-tops in at the time so i just glued them and added drip rails and have regretted it ever since. Rather than filing the Z28 hood's huge NACA-scoop down I chose to fill the one that comes with the blower hole cut into it. I was fairly successful with that but learned a few lessons doing it. I also tinted the glass using food dye. I'm particularly proud of the wheels on this one, they were very fiddly to paint and one thing I did do with this build was file a flat spot onto the bottom of the tyres to replicate the deformation of the tyre due to the weight of the vehicle, just compare it next to the Trans-Am which has exactly the same tyres. It makes the model look so much more realistic instead of perching on the pinpoint of four balloons! The underhood molding on this model is soooo bad I just gave up and left the brake master cylinder etc... Anyway, that's the story.
Oldcarfan27 Posted July 27, 2020 Posted July 27, 2020 Great job on both! Gotta love the shape of those 2nd gen F bodies.
espo Posted July 27, 2020 Posted July 27, 2020 Great looking Camaro and the Trans Am looks good also.
Tom Geiger Posted July 27, 2020 Posted July 27, 2020 Great looking model. You took some chances, learned a bit and will do more next time. That’s what this is all about! I always enjoy reading about people’s experiences with cars, especially from other countries! So I will share! 1979 was the era of really poor craftsmanship on American cars. I worked for a company that suddenly was doing very well so all the executives got company cars. I was a young guy and a car person so I defaulted you being the office car manager. I bought and maintained these company cars. The new ones, especially GM cars were so awful that when we took delivery, I’d drive the new car for a week or two. I drove a lot between company offices, the airport and banks so I could put on some miles! Anyway.. as part of my duties I wound up driving a rental brand new Camaro Berlinetta. It was silver and very pretty. The second day I had it, it rained and I discovered the windshield wipers didn’t work. So I made a dash for the Hertz agency to have it looked at. I sat to wait and after a bit their agent came out and said they were giving me a different car. Not only were there no wipers, but no lights, horn etc. He said that entire area of the fuse box was missing and the car needed to be picked up by GM! They gave me a Monte Carlo instead and that one performed well the entire time I had it.
Rockford Posted July 27, 2020 Author Posted July 27, 2020 Fascinating story Tom, we suffered similar over here. I remember a salesman picking up a brand new Austin Montego from a dealer that had supposedly been PDI'd. As he pulled up outside the company i noticed something hanging down below the rear axle, turned out to be a shock absorber that hadn't been bolted in and was swinging in mid air. Those cars were so poor we used to adjust the doors by pulling on the A or B pillars they were so weak.
Spottedlaurel Posted July 27, 2020 Posted July 27, 2020 Nice work on down-speccing it. Tinted glass has worked well too, very subtle but effective. It always pleases me to see a standard, lower-spec car of something usually seen in sports trim. I went to a show last year and there was an immaculate '77 Camaro Type LT, appeared to be completely unmodified to me and looking fantastic in a coppery orange colour with a beige and caramel interior.
Rockford Posted July 27, 2020 Author Posted July 27, 2020 It is good seeing what was the common all garden version of some cars. They've been rerunning Kojak recently and in one episode there was beautiful cream Firebird with a half vinyl roof, from the front screen to the rear edge of the drop glass, it looked fantastic.
Spottedlaurel Posted July 27, 2020 Posted July 27, 2020 19 minutes ago, Rockford said: It is good seeing what was the common all garden version of some cars. They've been rerunning Kojak recently and in one episode there was beautiful cream Firebird with a half vinyl roof, from the front screen to the rear edge of the drop glass, it looked fantastic. Sounds similar to the Avenger Sunseeker? Well, maybe not too similar, but the vinyl roof at least....
doorsovdoon Posted July 28, 2020 Posted July 28, 2020 Nice work, good job on the wheels. My cousin had one of these when he was living in Pennsylvania, it was a very faded blue with surface rust, and really loud!
shoopdog Posted July 28, 2020 Posted July 28, 2020 Excellent work here Stephen! All your detailing turned out great but I really like your tail lights.
bisc63 Posted July 30, 2020 Posted July 30, 2020 Very nice color on a clean build. Your time spent on the wheels paid off in a big way; very realistic.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now