Monogram Pontiac Fiero

[galaxyg]

I've been waiting a couple of years for one of these to come up for auction *and* at a price I was prepared to pay. That time was this Monday just gone, and by Saturday it'd arrived and was on my bench. This is my first Monogram kit experience and only my 4th American car from what is now 124 builds. I like the look of this car even though it's reputation, engineering and sales never matched up to the promise of the idea, although I think Pontiac nailed the exterior styling very well. That could not be said of the interior. Near the end of it's life when GM made a load of improvements, then cancelled it shortly after. The box is a bit beat up but the kit inside is all good. I may keep these nice period wheels but I've seen photos of the Fiero with bigger rims and it does take them very well.

 

 

Almost everything is moulded in red. The worst colour to cover up.

 

 

There's a horrible chrome tree with - ironically - two engine parts that are red on the real car, but chrome in the kit. Go figure. There's also the worlds most pathetic decal sheet, and some hard vinyl tyres as well.

Looking at the unassembled kit you can see Monogram and Revell were kindred spirits even before they were joined as companies. Lots of detail including where it can't be seen. Dodgy moulding and fitment, horrible tyres, no brake discs, two-piece wheels, front wheels that don't steer.

 

 

The car will be this colour - Vauxhall* Caribic Blue from a rattle-can from. The bottom 1/6th of the bodywork will be silver - there's a natural split line and I've seen quite a few pics of these two-tone Fieros.

*for USA readers - Vauxhall is the brand name under which GM sold cars in the UK, so this is - at least - a GM colour.   Vauxhall was sold entirely to the French a few years ago leaving GM with little presence in Europe at all.

 

 

Sink marks that need attention.

 

 

There is a choice at this point - side scoops(on the left)  or side louvre/vent. I will go with the louvre/vent.

 

 

The underbody is quite nicely detailed and looks a lot nice once it isn't red.

 

[slusher]

Very nice start. I knew a guy who had a gold one..

[espo]

Nice to see one of these getting some attention. As for the kit, remember this was a tool created almost 40 years ago and was sort of the way kits were done at the time. The real car was sort of peppy with the optional 2.8-liter V6 and manual transmission. A common engine swap at one time was to put a Cadillac "North Star" engine that was a V-8 duel overhead cam engine. Look forward to seeing what all you do with your build and the color you chose looks great. 

[ea0863]

So cool! I remember working for GM in 1981 and going to the Milford Proving Grounds in Michigan. I saw this sporty red car in one of the parking lots, and pulled over to check it out. It was one of the very first Fieros still in testing. Two seconds later the GM SWAT were all over me fearing that I had somehow gained illegal access and was going to photograph the car. I might have, but that was about twenty years before cell phones with cameras...  

[atomicholiday]

I love these old Fieros.  Always wanted one when they were new.  Cool build.?

[galaxyg]

The rear bumper was my test part for how happily Tamiya Mica Silver and Hycote Double Acrylic car paint would play together. As it turned out, very happily. In fact the Hycote paint goes down very well indeed. Not quite a smooth as Tamiya TS paints but pretty close.

 

 

Priming the body

 

 

Silver body undercoat.

 

 

With the lower body masked off the top coat goes on, in some very warm summer weather to help it dry. There are 4 thin coats here and that covers it very well.

 

 

Masking removed. That mark on the door is a bit of dust, not a paint fault.

 

 

Baking in the sun.

 

 

From top left. 1. The horrible chrome wheels. 2. After 5 minutes in Mr Muscle over cleaner. 3. Primed and then painted in Tamiya Gloss black. 4 Final paint in Tamiya TS83 Metallic Silver. At this point I'm leaning towards using the kit wheels, so I want them to look as good as they can compared to any other possible choices.

 

[StanGlover]

You gotta keep the factory wheels! They set off the rad ‘80s look of the Fiero so well in my opinion. 

[StanGlover]

On 8/6/2023 at 8:50 AM, galaxyg said:

 

I've been waiting a couple of years for one of these to come up for auction *and* at a price I was prepared to pay.

 

Same here, I’ve been looking casually for a while but haven’t won one yet…

[slusher]

Beautiful color and paint!

[espo]

I agree with Carl on the paint color. Looks better than what the factory offered when new. 

[kelson]

That color combo should look fantastic when done!.

[galaxyg]

The beginnings of the dashboard.

 

 

The interior of the Fiero is made out of multiple shades of grey plastic, carpet, fabric and different plastic, with black and silver all over the place too.  Mine will reflect this, and at least it's visually more interesting that "Paint all parts semi-gloss black".

 

 

The floor is very lightly textured so I use my usual technique of sandpaper spraypainted for the more 3D texture.

 

 

Door handles are separate parts. I make these the same grey I plan to use for the seats.

 

 

 

Final carpets.

 

 

The seats are covered with flash and the fronts and backs fit with a very noticeable seam. The following pics are me dealing with that, with several rounds of primer and filler until eventually complete, sprayed grey and then oversprayed with Mr Hobby Matt. The sides of the seats will be very visible through the non-existent side windows, so important to get them looking good. 

 

 

The probably completed interior. I might add some seatbelt retainers.

 

 

I didn't take any good pictures of the engine as I was building it, so here are two of it completed. I can just imagine the conversations in the Pontiac marketing department... "Let's make it red". "Yeah". "Yeah...". "Then people will think it's even more like a Ferrari". "Yeah..."

 

 

Clearcoating the body with Tamiya clear - my last can and something I plan to stop using for this very reason - it's reactivated the week-dry paint on this one bit of the body only, so I'll have to respray that little be and re-clearcoat.

I will stick to Mr Hobby clearcoat in future.

 

 

Test fitting body, interior and chassis. It all fit very perfectly. No warp. No gaps. No fuzziness or vagueness. Very nice.

 

 

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

One of my favorites. Good luck on this build. One of my coworkers a long time ago had a Fiero GT with the 6 cylinder. 

[64Comet404]

Great job on the Fiero! I almost bought one similar to the model (6 cyl/5 speed, but a SE), but the clutch was an ON/OFF switch! 

Surprised the Tamiya Clear reactivated the paint. I've heard so many positive reviews about Hycote and Halfords sprays over the years that I thought they were formulated with plastic models in mind!

Vauxhalls? We have wiped those from our collective minds over here. The word "Firenza" (Viva HC) has been known to cause strokes and seizures when mentioned to elderly Canadians...

[galaxyg]

Clearcoated and polished body.

 

 

 

 

Masking off the rear and sides.

 

 

Inside of the engine cover.

 

 

[slusher]

Fantastic work and paint on your Fiero build!

[SpikeSchumacher]

Looking really good!

[jaftygas]

Can’t wait to see it under glass.

[galaxyg]

The side rubbers - magic marker.

 

 And the rear lights - Hasegawa self-adhesive mirror finish.

 

 

Clear red on lenses - this stuff is great.

 

 

Weathering the underside.

 

 

Fitting the rest of the rear end.

 

 

 

There's no real positive fitment for the wheels insofar as the stub axles are a lot thinner than the inner wheel holes. They don't sit straight and as soon as you pick up the car, all 4 wheels fall off sideways like a clown car.

 

 

What it looks like with other wheels. 100% more "cool" but 100% less 1985 Fiero.

 

 

 

Back to the Fiero wheels - a blob of bluetac helps sort the fitment and retention issue.

 

The supplied decal for the plate was awful so I've used one I had printed last year with my initials on it (MFH) and the year of my birth (73). Why Florida? It looked distinctive with the two oranges. And I was also able to find artwork for it. This is the last pic from the WIP.

 

[mustang1989]

On 8/28/2023 at 1:03 AM, galaxyg said:

 

 

What it looks like with other wheels. 100% more "cool" but 100% less 1985 Fiero.

 

 

That may be about the Fiero wheels versus the ones you tried out here but DUDE........that changed the whole look of an already good looking build for the better. WOW!! 

I like what you did with the tail lights on this. Coming along very well and I love the color.