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70 1/2 Camaro pro touring


Steve H

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Very cool project.

I always wanted to build one of these, since it is a miracle I didn't die in one, on prom night in the woods of Indian Head, Maryland. I was not the one driving, but was on the back seat with my girl, which made the experience even more....uuuggghhh....memorable! 

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On 12/12/2021 at 5:05 PM, Misha said:

That’s really looking sharp Steve! Enjoying your build at a time when I’m away from the bench, unable to work as I’m in bed with a bout of bronchitis. Lots of time to meander around the forum.

Your channeling of the body on a modern vehicle is very intriguing!

Cheers Misha

Hello Misha, sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. I guess perusing this forum is an upside to not feeling well. Take care and rest up, Santa is coming!! 
I use channeling extensively on my builds. To get the ride height I like it is a necessary evil. I’ve done it on my ‘64 shop truck, ‘67 Chevelle PS, Caddy hearse, pretty sure the Cutlass Ol Camino got a trim too.  Many others too, it adds work, but the resulting ride height is worth it for me. Thanks again for following along. I had a busy couple of days so no update.

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On 12/12/2021 at 7:24 PM, mrm said:

Very cool project.

I always wanted to build one of these, since it is a miracle I didn't die in one, on prom night in the woods of Indian Head, Maryland. I was not the one driving, but was on the back seat with my girl, which made the experience even more....uuuggghhh....memorable! 

Hi Michael, thanks for taking the time to have a look. I just had a look at your old “Eliminator” thread, looking forward to watching that come together. I built that kit as a rat rod a while back, my first attempt. It turned out okay, but I’ve learned a lot since. Your melding of the 2 chassis’s was extremely well done. 
 

 

On 12/13/2021 at 5:57 AM, Beans said:

The interior mod looks great.  At first glance I thought you used a truck tailgate.   Those seats are going to look good.

Thanks for the kind words Joe. I suppose it does have a bit of a tailgate look to it. Hopefully when it’s complete it will be more convincing. Still need to add some speakers, a fire extinguisher and…? 

On 12/13/2021 at 8:52 AM, Mattilacken said:

Sweet progress!

Thanks Anton! I can always count on you for encouragement. Hoping for some desk time tomorrow.

 

cheers fellas, and thanks again for taking the time to look and comment.

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On 12/14/2021 at 9:36 PM, Steve H said:

Hi Michael, thanks for taking the time to have a look. I just had a look at your old “Eliminator” thread, looking forward to watching that come together. I built that kit as a rat rod a while back, my first attempt. It turned out okay, but I’ve learned a lot since. Your melding of the 2 chassis’s was extremely well done. 

Thank you. I need to dig up another half a dozen projects I had started long time ago, but somehow I keep starting new ones. LOL

By the way, the chassis of the Eliminator is melding 3 chassis together, as the front suspension and cross member are from the Phantom Vicky. 

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Hi guys, thought I’d do another update. I’ve been sanding…. a lot… Actually, I haven’t had as much desk time as I would have liked, but there does seem to have been a lot sanding. I’ve been getting a bunch of parts cleaned up and primed, figuring out ride height etc. 

The back interior panel is cleaned up and primed. It’s not “finished” but the shape is there now.

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I was worried that the grill was going to look like a black blob once painted. So I thought I’d have a go at opening it up, I have done this before on a couple of builds and really like the look. The “grill” pattern was quite shallow, so I started on plan “A”, but had a plan “B”. 

Before:
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After some grinding and A LOT of careful sanding, I finally exposed the grill from behind. Success…. Nope. As I guessed might happen, the remaining grill was way to thin to remain.

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You can’t tell in the photo, but a portion of the grill was sanded right thru, so….. plan “B”.

I cleaned up the I inner edge of the surround and added some MCG pe grill from a sheet I bought I while back. It’s not specific for this kit, so not 100% accurate, but I’m happy with it.
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In the next photo you can see the primed grill. I will probably add the Z28 logo, but that decision is for later. Also in the photo is the front frame after filling the inner frame with styrene and notching the front so the radiator will sit lower. The firewall after being trimmed to fit, it’s about 3 scale inches shorter now. The things I do to get these things low…. I need my head examined! I added a back, er, front? to the radiator as it will be visible thru the grill now. The electric fan was liberated from a parts box rad and will be added later.

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Frame before:

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 Finally, I’ve been playing with painting spoons. I’m getting close, I have one I like, but going to try a few more combinations before settling.

Thanks as always for taking the time to have a look, and/or comment More soon! 
Cheers, Steve

 

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Productive update there Steve, the P.E grill looks 100% better.

Sanding sucks at the best of times, but as they say its all in the prep work.

 

33 minutes ago, Steve H said:

The things I do to get these things low…. I need my head examined

What ever it takes to get them low is all worth it I say.

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Great work Steve!  You know how I love opened grill, they give so more realism to a finished project and even if your plan A didn't work as plan, plan B is perfect!

Maybe I'm a little late, but have you considered sanding down the "Chevrolet" letters on the rear interior panel?  Keeping only the buckle, it would have given an even more modern look.  It's just an idea by the way, you're the boss as they say!

Keep up the good work!!! 👍

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On 12/21/2021 at 5:29 PM, Keef said:

I have 2 of these Camaros in my stash(1 Baldwin Motion and 1 with red car on box) and following your build is giving me ideas and motivation to try new things when I build one of them. Looks amazing so far!!!


Hi Keith, I have the Baldwin Motion one as well, not sure what I will do with that one yet. Glad I can give you some ideas sir, looking at your builds I’m sure it will be beautiful when done. I will keep an eye out for the WIP!! 

 

On 12/21/2021 at 5:42 PM, Cool Hand said:

Productive update there Steve, the P.E grill looks 100% better.

Sanding sucks at the best of times, but as they say its all in the prep work.

 

What ever it takes to get them low is all worth it I say.

Hi Luke,  ya, I’m quite pleased with the grill. I should be stockpiling my styrene dust and recycling it!!  

On 12/21/2021 at 5:42 PM, AmericanMuscleFan said:

Great work Steve!  You know how I love opened grill, they give so more realism to a finished project and even if your plan A didn't work as plan, plan B is perfect!

Maybe I'm a little late, but have you considered sanding down the "Chevrolet" letters on the rear interior panel?  Keeping only the buckle, it would have given an even more modern look.  It's just an idea by the way, you're the boss as they say!

Keep up the good work!!! 👍

Francis! You’re in deep trouble mister! That might look really good, hmmmmm. A bit “cleaner” looking maybe without the letters. MORE SANDING!!! It’s  definitely not too late, I’m going to give that some thought, good idea. Thanks for the compliment on the grill. I was almost certain that I was going to need plan “B” as the depth of the grill molding was very shallow. 
Thank you for the input, I’m always open to suggestions, especially from a master builder like yourself. 
 

Thanks for having a look and commenting guys.

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Speaking of sanding………

I thought it was about time to deal with the headlight area. 
Started with this mess.  I’m not sure if my kit was particularly bad or if this is normal?

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The bezels seemed very “flat” and wide at the outer edge. The actual car seems that the bezels should be tapered and almost come to a point where they meet the body. Apart from that there are mold seams and… well they don’t look good. I decided to drill out the  turn signals which will be used as air inlets. I have a plan for the turn signals, more on that later.  The difference from the 1:1 car is that my air inlets are for the engine, not brake cooling. I also decided that it would be easier to drill out the headlights to do the shaping work on the bezels. I will dig in the part box for new headlight reflectors.

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After second round of cleanup…

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Still at least one more round to go, probably 2. However, it is starting to look better in my eyes. 
It looks like the Pacific Northwest is in for some cold, not nice weather in the coming week or two. Sooooo, it sucks I won’t get out on my mountain bike, BUT, it should be fantastic hobby weather. We actually might get a white Christmas which is fairly unusual here, so that could be fun. Love having an indoor hobby!!

Thanks for having a look, cheers, Steve

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At long last, an update. 
I appropriated some headlights from an old glue bomb Chevelle. Filed and sanded to snug in the headlight openings. I will use the kit lenses over these.

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The wheels for this build are the make or break of the overall look. I’m not reinventing the wheel here, (Ha!) but I thought I would share how I got from A to B. sooooooo….

Started with some Aoshima wheels that are almost identical and already the perfect colour, bonus! However, I really want the deep and deeper offset. After a RIDICULOUSLY long search through the stash, I found a suitable donor for sleeves. (Unfortunately, the only blank sleeves I had on hand are from wheels that will be used soon) So I went out to my shop and used my poor man’s lathe (a drill) and removed the wheel backs. 
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The new sleeves needed some thinning and finessing to fit.

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Then with the sleeve installed marked wheel to remove back. Then back to the poor man’s lathe to remove wheel back…

E81CDC50-6881-4310-A392-24440F8425F7.thumb.jpeg.6708b586dbb545f8be089ff4eb8ef918.jpegF9DCE824-1E0A-4A9A-9D55-1638A2BC53B0.thumb.jpeg.62d24ded8bd4bfa76d51f98b65f76bfc.jpeg38A3E1FD-C3CC-46CB-871D-F44695839603.thumb.jpeg.0491263bf20df33c0391360d8a803366.jpeg

I removed most of the outermost lip on the wheels so there was more surface to glue on the new sleeves.0E66A484-5198-4CB7-BF87-C3E6C466718F.thumb.jpeg.b25157c4c3e9fd213318c45be365c10a.jpeg

Painted the sleeves Tamiya semi gloss black. Then the moment of truth, attach sleeve to wheel…

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And a comparison to the 1:1 car…

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 I’m very pleased with the results!! Exactly the look I was going for. I will do some cleanup and paint the back/inside of the wheels. 

Finally a quick mock!!

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Now I will figure out track width and start building. I have a lot of the chassis parts cleaned up and primed, and I’m close to having ride height sorted out. I’m also going to find a good source for wheel sleeves and order a bunch!! If anyone can suggest a good source it would be appreciated. 
Cheers, Steve

 

 

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Excellent work on the wheel mods, got that nice deep dish in the rear now.

Hobby Design, T2M Tuner Model Factory make aluminium wheels sleeves.

Also check out some of the the 3D printing guys, might be able to ask them to print some sleeves.

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