Blazer Crew Chief

[kelson]

Awesome scratch building on the heater box!!

[slusher]

Great scratch building Greag!

[NOBLNG]

 

On 5/13/2022 at 1:39 PM, kelson said:

Awesome scratch building on the heater box!!

 

4 hours ago, slusher said:

Great scratch building Greag!

Thanks Guys! I find this kit a little frustrating because it has some nice features…but it also has some issues. Scale issues as I mentioned previously. And stuff that is just missing, like brake master cylinder, gas and brake pedals, and….? Anyways, I’m trying to fix a couple of those deficits.? They give you a nice set of decals, but no guage decals!? I’m fiddling with dash now and If I can print some better guages it should look OK. 

Edited May 15, 2022 by NOBLNG

[slusher]

Nice..

[NOBLNG]

On 5/16/2022 at 8:45 AM, slusher said:

Nice..

Thanks Carl.

There was a .030” gap between the roof and the windshield frame, so I added a bit to the frame. I left a bit extra in the corners so I will have a place for pins to hold the top in place.

 

I decided to try my hand at building a full roll cage. I used 3/32 plastruct tubing with some soft wire shoved inside. It turned out pretty good I think. Now if I can just fish it in and out a bunch of times without breaking it.?

 

 

Edited May 18, 2022 by NOBLNG

[Steve H]

Wow!  Very nice work Greg. Lots of great scratch building. The heater core looks good ?, I wasn’t sure about doing a cage in mine, but you got me thinking now?. Curious how warped your roof was? It looks like yours sits level across the windshield when square on the body, mine isn’t. It won’t matter, as I will be gluing mine in place. I like the idea of pins tho, and may do that on my future Jimmy build. The tires look fantastic after being blasted, big difference. 

[NOBLNG]

Thanks Steve! My roof doesn’t appear to be warped at all. There are just no positive mounting points for it.? So I left the tabs in the corners of the windshield for pins where the factory bolts are located. I will also add brackets from the cage bars to the bedsides also, which will receive holes for pins. I will add tabs on the topper at these locations complete with the pins. That will make six positive mounting points that should keep the roof in place yet be an easy lift off for viewing the interior. At least that is my preliminary thought.?

Edited May 18, 2022 by NOBLNG

[NOBLNG]

The radiator in this kit is pitifully small? I have some castings of a rad that I made, so I modified one to use.  It’s not quite as big as it should be, but better than what AMT gave us. Basically, I filed off the top and bottom tanks and added side tanks made of styrene rectangle stock. I also filed off all the junk (which don’t belong anyways apparently) on the front of the rad support to make room for the new rad.

Edited May 18, 2022 by NOBLNG

[slusher]

Radiator looks so much better, Gregg!

 

[Butter 1]

Hi Gregg. Nice work so far!  Wheels are awesome, I like the radiator and heater core upgrades as well as the drive train upgrade.  The way you hang the exhaust is very clever.

The Yenko big block is one of my favorite engines.  It is very nicely detailed and seems to be in scale.

I really like the way you are taking the time to correct the out of scale issues this kit seems to have. I am glad you decided to share this build with us. I will keep watching.

[NOBLNG]

On 5/19/2022 at 10:31 AM, slusher said:

Radiator looks so much better, Gregg!

 

Thanks Carl.

On 5/19/2022 at 12:35 PM, Butter 1 said:

Hi Gregg. Nice work so far!  Wheels are awesome, I like the radiator and heater core upgrades as well as the drive train upgrade.  The way you hang the exhaust is very clever.

The Yenko big block is one of my favorite engines.  It is very nicely detailed and seems to be in scale.

I really like the way you are taking the time to correct the out of scale issues this kit seems to have. I am glad you decided to share this build with us. I will keep watching.

Thanks Ron. This kit has a lot of minor issues, with the  scale of accessories being one.

[NOBLNG]

Not much progress, but I did finish the dash. I sanded off the guages and most of the glovebox lid. I made new ones out of .020” styrene, which gives the whole dash a bit more depth I think.

Edited May 21, 2022 by NOBLNG

[slusher]

You nailed that dash, WoW!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Looking really good. Very nice work on your corrections and upgrades. And thanks for taking the time to post all of this so we can see what we'll be up against if we decide to build one...which I surely will as a result of seeing your work here.   

[NOBLNG]

On 5/21/2022 at 4:04 PM, slusher said:

You nailed that dash, WoW!

Why thank You Carl.? The guages are not as nice as I’d like, since I just printed them off the internet.? AMT gives us a really nice set of decals, but why nothing for guages??

On 5/21/2022 at 4:56 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Looking really good. Very nice work on your corrections and upgrades. And thanks for taking the time to post all of this so we can see what we'll be up against if we decide to build one...which I surely will as a result of seeing your work here.   

Thank You Bill! I am not a fit and finish Guy, but missing and out of scale items bug me.? I would love to see what you could do with one of these!?

Edited May 22, 2022 by NOBLNG

[NOBLNG]

Another thing on this kit that grabs my eyes are the seats. They have squared off corners and are not the correct shape.? They must be a very limited production, since it’s pretty hard to find a good pic of this version with the single embossed stripe down the centre.

A little work with a file and sanding sticks and they look much better I think.? I’ve lost the welting detail, but the shape is closer to what it should be.?‍♂️ The kit pieces look like they upholstered a plywood box with no padding.?

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by NOBLNG

[dino246gt]

Wow Gregg, this is another masterpiece in the making from you, just amazing!

AMT decals sheets never gave us gauge decals, oil filer decals, battery decals, the underhood label decals, no they were always a bit lacking.

HOWEVER, as the real modeller that you are, you can source those or make your own, GREAT work on this Blazer!

I love it!!!

[bluestringer]

Wow, it's looking great. Mine will be nowhere close. I wanted to put on some off road tires on mine, but I didn't have any, so went with the stockers. They look a little small. I noticed some missing parts also, no coil, no master cylinder, I'm trying to find some in my parts that would work. 

[NOBLNG]

On 5/31/2022 at 9:14 AM, dino246gt said:

Wow Gregg, this is another masterpiece in the making from you, just amazing!

AMT decals sheets never gave us gauge decals, oil filer decals, battery decals, the underhood label decals, no they were always a bit lacking.

HOWEVER, as the real modeller that you are, you can source those or make your own, GREAT work on this Blazer!

I love it!!!

Thanks Dennis.? I wouldn’t exactly call anything I do a “masterpiece” LOL! I just like to make small improvements where possible.

On 5/31/2022 at 1:28 PM, bluestringer said:

Wow, it's looking great. Mine will be nowhere close. I wanted to put on some off road tires on mine, but I didn't have any, so went with the stockers. They look a little small. I noticed some missing parts also, no coil, no master cylinder, I'm trying to find some in my parts that would work. 

Thanks James! Yeah, this kit has its issues but it will look good on the shelf once done.

Edited December 31, 2022 by NOBLNG

[Steve H]

Hi Greg, lots of nice work going on here as usual. The dash looks REALLY nice ?. I always wondered what the stock seats were “supposed” to look like…. Regarding the gauge decals, the GMC version actually has gauge decals. I haven’t decided if I will use those or some after market ones. Having said that, I guess I’d actually have to start building mine to need decals? Your gauges look great to my eye. 
 

Cheers, Steve

[NOBLNG]

Well I needed a break from another project, so I decided to get back on this one. I managed to get the interior finished this morning. I made my own door handles, window cranks and arm rests. The rear armrests I had to shorten the pads and make new mounts from .033” wire. I also made a turn signal lever, shift lever and shift indicator.  The T/C shifter is a straight pin that already had the right size and shape head for the knob.?

Edited December 30, 2022 by NOBLNG

[stavanzer]

Wow, what a great lesson in scratch building and accurizing.

That Interior looks great!

[NOBLNG]

3 minutes ago, stavanzer said:

Wow, what a great lesson in scratch building and accurizing.

That Interior looks great!

Thanks Alan.

[NOBLNG]

I added some pedals too that I made from brass rod and styrene bits,  since there was nothing in the kit.

And I am slowly getting the body ready for paint. I installed a battery box for a resin battery since the battery in the kit is horribly undersized.  After a coat of primer, I found some more rivets that need removing.

Edited December 29, 2022 by NOBLNG

[NOBLNG]

I have the driveshafts built and the drivetrain and exhaust system installed. Now onto some bodywork.?

I figured out a way to locate the roof with pins and still have it removable too

Edited December 30, 2022 by NOBLNG