1968 Chevelle SS 396

[ModelcarJR]

Just starting this tone and its one that I have built before which is a very nice kit.  I'm going to do this one just like the box with red exterior (Tamiya Italian Red) and black interior. It will have one twist that I realize will not be factory but I saw one online with no black on the bottom and it looked good. I painted it yesterday and today I am beginning to rub it out and it looks pretty good so far.  Thanks for looking! ?

[1972coronet]

Lower trim levels/ non-SS models were sans the black painted rockers & lower fenders. 

Are you planning to replicate the 325hp, 350hp, or 375hp engine?

[slusher]

Nice color choice John!,

[NOBLNG]

Looking fine John.?These are very nice kits.

Edited April 24, 2022 by NOBLNG

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, John, Carl and Greg!  I appreciate your comments!  John, as with a lot of kits, I would have to remove the "SS" emblem from the grill and rear panel and that would be hard to do and probably end up damaging both of those pieces. I putty and sand but then I would have to re-chrome or use a chrome pen and both might not achieve the desired result.  So I am just going to build an SS 396 without the black lower portion, a "day 2" car. 

I finished rubbing out the body and hood and have a few pieces of foil on it.  After foiling the body, I move on to the interior.  Thanks for looking!

 

[Jack L]

Looking good . Are you going to be at the IPMS Houston show next weekend .

[Leica007]

Looking forward to seeing more of your excellent detail work, especially the interior. Always impressed by your builds.

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks Jack and Lei!   I appreciate your comments!  Yes, I'll be there this weekend.  This build probably won't make it but I have plenty of others to enter.  

Finished the foil.  Thanks for looking! 

[ModelcarJR]

Interior is done!  Paint is a little rough in places but looks OK to the naked eye.  Semi-gloss black and flat black with chrome pen for the trim along with a few kit decals. I will paint the gear shift ball black, just forgot.  Thanks for looking! ?

 

[bisc63]

Shaping up!

[flamepainter]

Really nice color choice on this one! I really like the all the intricate details in the interior and exterior. Looks very realistic! Great job, looking forward to seeing the completed project.

Jim

[bluestringer]

Looking good Really nice details. This is the first kit I got when I got back into the hobby about 8 months ago, and I totally made a mess of it. I need to get another one and try again. 

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Rusty, Jim and James! I appreciate your comments! 

This one is moving along as I completed the engine and chassis and now have a rolling chassis.  I also had good fortune today at the IPMS contest with 2 1st places, 2 2nd places and a 3rd place. It was a little complicated but they split the Street Stock category between muscle cars and non-muscle cars. I swept muscle cars and have a 2nd in non-muscle cars and also a 1st place in Street machine. Photos are below starting with the current build and then contest photos. 

Street Stock, muscle car 1st 2nd, and 3rd:  1969 Chevelle, 1965 Chevy Impala and 1968 Dodge Charger R/T

Revell 1949 Merc (1st, Street Machine) and AMT Pro Shop 1957 Chevy Bel Air (Street Stock, 1st, non-muscle car)

Edited May 1, 2022 by ModelcarJR
correct text

[NOBLNG]

Congratulations on your wins John! They all look fantastic.?

[slusher]

Congratulations John!   Well deserved….

[Keef]

Congrats on your wins!! I have the 68/69 Chevelle kits in my stash. I’ve been trying to get motivated to build one and this has my brain going 90mph now lol. Love the yellow one and of course the Charger as I’m a big Mopar guy lol.

[Jack L]

it was nice talking to you . always great to see your builds.

[RDean58]

That Chevelle is coming along nicely. I've got one that I did the black bottom on it first. I actually started to build the 68 Chevelle and El Camino together but ran out of steam on them. I should resurrect them and get them completed. What bummed me out was when I compared the kit interiors to real life cars and realized neither one was accurate, although the Revell interior is a bit more accurate than the El Caminos.

 

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Greg, Carl, Keith, Jack and Robert! I appreciate your comments The funny thing is that I have never owned a muscle car but have ap lways admired them both up close and from afar!  

Robert, your 68 is looking good, the interior detail is close enough, get on and build it! 

Edited May 1, 2022 by ModelcarJR
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[ModelcarJR]

Body is mounted and thee engine compartment is complete, except for the heater hoses.  I had a bit of trouble tucking the chassis/interior assembly into the body and I don't remember having that issue when I built this one before.  I figured out that if you tuck the front end in first, it goes a lot easier and I didn't continue to knock the firewall out. Only a few hardware pieces and this one will be done!  Thanks for looking! ?

 

[ModelcarJR]

Well, I had an unusual modeling day yesterday.  First, I was working on the mirrors yesterday and one of the mirror mounts flew out of my tweezers, hit one of the wooden sides under my desk and into the carpet monster. I thought it should be easy to find since I heard it, had an idea of which way it went and with a flashlight would appear somewhere under my desk.  Wrong! I looked for over an hour, my wife looked and neither of us could find it! So I went into several problem solving alternatives:

1.  I could open another 68 kit on the shelf and take a mirror out of the box.

2. I could steal a right side mirror from a previous build of this kit.

3. I could search other kits for a similar mirror. I have no extra mirrors like this in the parts box.

4. I could build it without the mirror and ignore the mounting slot in the right side door.

None of these possibilities seemed reasonable to me at the time.  If I took it from another kit in the closet I would render that kit incomplete.  I suppose I could fill the slot on the right door with putty on the next build and only use one mirror but I didn't think of it at the time. I couldn't find a kit with a similar mirror that I wanted to take it from, although I didn't look at every kit. I really considered taking it from a previous build of this kit but it had taken a 2nd place at a contest a couple of years ago so in the end I didn't want to risk chipping the paint when I removed the mirror. Here's a pic of that factory stock build:

 

So I looked on e-bay and found a set of mirrors for $6.99.  So I went ahead and bought them even though the shipping was almost as much.  As the saying goes there's a sucker born every minute and I guess I am one.  I should have gone to Hobby Lobby and bought another kit with their 40% off sale this week and paid about $18 for another kit instead of $13 just the mirrors. So I have completed the build for now, except for decals and the right side mirror which will be here Monday.  Thanks for looking and I hope everyone has a good laugh! 

[slusher]

I can’t drive to Hobby Lobby for 13.99 but nothing wrong wit buying a part or going to Hobby Lobby and buying a couple kits…

[espo]

A member, I don't remember who, posted an idea he was using to find dropped parts. He used a vacuum cleaner with the hose attachment and covered the end with a nylon stocking. He would run this over the area and the suction would pick up the dropped part and the stocking would keep the vacuum cleaner from eating the part. One thing I have done in the past is to get one of those Carpet Savers that go under a desk in an office to use under my desk that I use. This at least made it somewhat easier to find things. A tip, the part will tend to land around the base of the desk feet as it will make a slight low spot on the plastic saver under the desk. 

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Carl and David! I appreciate your thoughts. My thought on the carpet savers is that they would bounce the part farther away and based on work experience, I always roll my chair over something because the chair moves faster than my brain. And I couldn't install one under the table legs now because this is a heavy desk with a return on the left side that I had to build in the room. I can't lift it now. 

Here is another bit of good luck I had at the contest last week regarding the vendors.  I  bought several kits that were discounted substantially as the day went on. I also splurged on one since its supposed to be a nice kit and at least I didn't have to pay shipping.  Here are a few of the buys:

These three kits were sold for 3 kits for $25.

These were $10 apiece.

These were as marked.

And this one I splurged on for $36.

It was a good day all around and I will enjoy building every one of these kits. Thanks for looking! 

[Butter 1]

Nice collection of models!  The interior of the Chevelle looks fantastic. I probably have the mirror you are looking for in my carpet along with a host of other items.