Revell ‘71 Plymouth GTX

[atomicholiday]

My next project is the Revell ‘71 Plymouth GTX.  This is being built for a group build on another site.  Never done a GB before and now I’m signed up for two!  Hope I’m not getting in over my head here, but it’ll be fun regardless.

As some of you know, I spent last summer trying to up my painting skills.  This was the last kit I shot before the weather turned.  Color coats went on beautifully.  They were allowed to cure for a couple of weeks.  Then, clear coats were going really good too.  But it was getting late in the evening and I was losing daylight, and the next day’s forecast was not good.  This would be my last shot to get it done until next spring.  You can see where this is going I’m sure.

 I went too heavy with the final coat.  It was looking really good too, but in the morning the results were pretty bad orange peel on the roof and trunk lid.  Haven’t touched it for a couple of months now, so I’m going to try to wet sand it out, and hopefully it didn’t affect the color coats.  But if so, no big deal.  We’ll be stripping it off and starting again.  Wish me luck.

[StevenGuthmiller]

I think you might be too late already.

From what I’m seeing, the color coats have already been affected.

 

 

 

Steve

[atomicholiday]

48 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

I think you might be too late already.

From what I’m seeing, the color coats have already been affected.

 

 

 

Steve

I think so too,  Steve.   I'm not going to put a lot of time into the rest of the body until I see how the roof looks afterwards. 

It's a bit of a bummer too,  because I was pretty happy with how the side scripts and front emblem turned out. 

Edited January 2 by atomicholiday

[ubermodel]

If the rest of the paint wasn't affected similarly, I've got three words for you - retroactive vinyl top.

Edited January 3 by ubermodel

[StevenGuthmiller]

46 minutes ago, ubermodel said:

If the rest of the paint wasn't affected similarly, I've got three words for you - retroactive vinyl top.

Very good idea!

If you decide to go that route Jeremy, I would be more than happy to offer any help that I can.

 

 

 

Steve

[slusher]

In the past I would go and buy a new kit at Walmart. I was working also. Kits are more expensive now I feel for you buddy but you can recover from this..

[atomicholiday]

On 1/3/2024 at 9:27 AM, slusher said:

In the past I would go and buy a new kit at Walmart. I was working also. Kits are more expensive now I feel for you buddy but you can recover from this..

Thanks Carl.  No worries.  I got this.  After last summer, I'm a master at overcoming!😁 

On 1/2/2024 at 7:03 PM, ubermodel said:

If the rest of the paint wasn't affected similarly, I've got three words for you - retroactive vinyl top.

 

On 1/2/2024 at 7:52 PM, StevenGuthmiller said:

Very good idea!

If you decide to go that route Jeremy, I would be more than happy to offer any help that I can.

 

 

 

Steve

Now THAT is a good idea.  @StevenGuthmiller - if I go with the vinyl, I will gladly accept your offer.  I've never tackled anyhting like that before.  Would I need to strip it first or is this something that could be done without disturbing the rest of the paint?

I'm planning to tackle the roof and trunk today to see what lies beneath the orange peel.  I'll post back when I know more.

Hmmm.....

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, atomicholiday said:

Thanks Carl.  No worries.  I got this.  After last summer, I'm a master at overcoming!😁 

 

Now THAT is a good idea.  @StevenGuthmiller - if I go with the vinyl, I will gladly accept your offer.  I've never tackled anyhting like that before.  Would I need to strip it first or is this something that could be done without disturbing the rest of the paint?

I'm planning to tackle the roof and trunk today to see what lies beneath the orange peel.  I'll post back when I know more.

Hmmm.....

 

The only real difficulty would be adding the chrome molding between the top and the body.

Other than that, you should be able to add it without disturbing the paint if you're careful.

 

 

 

Steve

[atomicholiday]

Wet sanding went pretty much as expected.  The top coat definitely affected the color.  You can see from this picture, I didn’t even get through the orange peel when it started messing with the color coat.

Since the trunk lid has issues too, I’m going to strip and repaint.  Since I have to strip it anyway, let’s put vinyl on her!  
Steve, what supplies will I need?  I can gather that while it’s soaking.

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

5 hours ago, atomicholiday said:

Wet sanding went pretty much as expected.  The top coat definitely affected the color.  You can see from this picture, I didn’t even get through the orange peel when it started messing with the color coat.

Since the trunk lid has issues too, I’m going to strip and repaint.  Since I have to strip it anyway, let’s put vinyl on her!  
Steve, what supplies will I need?  I can gather that while it’s soaking.

 

Honestly, all that you really need is some thin, narrow plastic strip for the molding separating the top from the body at the base of the C-pillar.

My recommendation would be Evergreen .010 x .030 styrene strip.

It’s extremely thin and pliable and will look in scale.

If you prefer to go thicker and sand down to an acceptable thickness, that’s fine as well.

Measure and mark the location of the moldings and then glue them in place with a MEK glue, or plastic cement of your choosing before any paint is applied.

Then it’s just a matter of masking and painting.

My suggestion is to paint the body first and do any cutting and polishing of the paint before doing any painting of the top.

This ensures that you won’t inadvertently polish or sand portions of the finished top.

I will usually mask the top off after priming and keep it covered until all of the work is completed, and then unmask and mask the body for top painting.

If you plan on doing the top in black, I find that Duplicolor black sandable primer is an excellent choice.

Once the body is masked, I’ve discovered that an excellent solution for the top seams is to measure and mark their location, and then mask the   outer edges of the roof, and to spray a couple of coats of paint down the center.

Whatever paint you choose, as long as it can be over sprayed with the Duplicolor primer will be fine.

You’re just using the paint to add thickness to the center panel to create the seams.

I recently tried this on a convertible top and it worked beautifully!!

 

 

Once the seams are finished, unmask the outer portion of the top and give the entire top a couple of coverage coats of the black primer.

Finally, the texture stage is achieved by spraying a fine mist coat or two of the black primer from a couple of feet away over the entire top.

This is one circumstance where a fine orange peel is a good thing. 😁

Once all this is complete, unmask the body, and foil the C-pillar molding.

Another great trick is to rub the top lightly all over with your fingers.

The oil in you skin will “polish” the surface of the little bumps in the texture, leaving the background more of a flat finish and creating contrast and a very realistic looking finish.

I know.....a lot of information there. But it’s really pretty simple, and in the end, will net you a MUCH more in scale and realistic looking top than most other techniques, such as using masking tape for the texture.

In my view, masking tape is FAR too heavily textured for a 1/25th scale vinyl top.

If you should choose to use my method, feel free to PM me at anytime should you need any further suggestions.

 

 

 

Steve

 

[atomicholiday]

13 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Honestly, all that you really need is some thin, narrow plastic strip for the molding separating the top from the body at the base of the C-pillar.

My recommendation would be Evergreen .010 x .030 styrene strip.

It’s extremely thin and pliable and will look in scale.

If you prefer to go thicker and sand down to an acceptable thickness, that’s fine as well.

Measure and mark the location of the moldings and then glue them in place with a MEK glue, or plastic cement of your choosing before any paint is applied.

Then it’s just a matter of masking and painting.

My suggestion is to paint the body first and do any cutting and polishing of the paint before doing any painting of the top.

This ensures that you won’t inadvertently polish or sand portions of the finished top.

I will usually mask the top off after priming and keep it covered until all of the work is completed, and then unmask and mask the body for top painting.

If you plan on doing the top in black, I find that Duplicolor black sandable primer is an excellent choice.

Once the body is masked, I’ve discovered that an excellent solution for the top seams is to measure and mark their location, and then mask the   outer edges of the roof, and to spray a couple of coats of paint down the center.

Whatever paint you choose, as long as it can be over sprayed with the Duplicolor primer will be fine.

You’re just using the paint to add thickness to the center panel to create the seams.

I recently tried this on a convertible top and it worked beautifully!!

 

 

Once the seams are finished, unmask the outer portion of the top and give the entire top a couple of coverage coats of the black primer.

Finally, the texture stage is achieved by spraying a fine mist coat or two of the black primer from a couple of feet away over the entire top.

This is one circumstance where a fine orange peel is a good thing. 😁

Once all this is complete, unmask the body, and foil the C-pillar molding.

Another great trick is to rub the top lightly all over with your fingers.

The oil in you skin will “polish” the surface of the little bumps in the texture, leaving the background more of a flat finish and creating contrast and a very realistic looking finish.

I know.....a lot of information there. But it’s really pretty simple, and in the end, will net you a MUCH more in scale and realistic looking top than most other techniques, such as using masking tape for the texture.

In my view, masking tape is FAR too heavily textured for a 1/25th scale vinyl top.

If you should choose to use my method, feel free to PM me at anytime should you need any further suggestions.

 

 

 

Steve

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to show how it’s done Steve.  I’m going to give it a shot.  If it comes out half as nice as your convertible I’ll be happy.👍 And if this technique works for me, it’ll be a game changer.  There are several projects I have in mind that just beg for vinyl.

Interesting about the primer.  The level of gloss is perfect for vinyl.  I would have thought it would be much flatter, even after rubbing a finger over it.

Looks like I need to get this thing stripped.

 

[atomicholiday]

Some quick mock ups before it gets stripped.  Actually, as I’m thinking of it, I’ll probably fix the ride height before removing paint.  
This kit comes with two front suspension setups, one being lowered.  My first mockup is with the “stock” ride height.  Definitely has that tail dragger look.  Too much so, actually.  So the lowered setup was swapped in.  Something still looked off.  Comparing to pictures online, I think what really needs to happen is to use the stock front end, and raising the rear until it’s level.

One other thing I want to address: the tires are set to far back into the wheel wells compared to the 1:1.  

Here’s the stock front end-

…and here is the lowered setup.

Notice how far back the tires set back into the wheel wells.  Then compare the 1:1 pic posted earlier.  I’m also considering swapping to a slightly meatier tire.  Nothing crazy though.  It should still look stock.

[Keef]

I’m watching this one 🤓

[atomicholiday]

Fixing the ride height and depth of wheels in the wells turned out to be way easier than expected.

First issue to tackle was finding tires that looked right to me.  Digging through spare parts, I came across a set of old Monogram GoodYear GT Radials that looked perfect.  Only problem is the kit supplied rims and wheel backs were too large.  Fortunately the Revellogram ‘70 Challenger kit has the tires I wanted and the correct rallye wheels.  And to top it off, they mount exactly the same way as the GTX kit wheels.

 

Here’s the Good Year on the left next to the GTX kit tire.

The Good Years are meatier and just wide enough to look more like factory.  Problem solved.

Next, rear suspension lift blocks were sourced from the Revell ‘68 Firebird kit.  Only two will be used, one for each side at the rear.

Here’s the mockup with Good Years and lifted rear suspension.

 

About the tires.  I know recent issues have the logos removed.  I might dig through the stash and find a set.  Then I’d add white letter decals.

 

[atomicholiday]

I’ve decided to try doing spark plug wires for this build.  To that end, the kit distributor was reworked.  First, a .06” hole was drilled through the entire part.  Then a piece of styrene rod of the same size was glued into place halfway in.  This was done to give it a more secure mounting area in the engine, which will be drilled to match.

Next, the hole for the wires was opened up to .085”. Finally the wires were glued in.  I know many people use CA, but to give me more working time, I used two part epoxy.  

This is the second time I’ve done this, and for some reason, I really struggle to get the wires into the hole.  I see why people go with pre-wired distributors.  I ended up putting six wires in at the start, and then pushing the remaining wires in one at a time.  Hence the epoxy.

Here’s the result before paint.

[atomicholiday]

Just got these in the mail from Keith Marks and I gotta say, they look awesome!

Edited January 15 by atomicholiday

[Keef]

1 hour ago, atomicholiday said:

Just got these in the mail from Keith Marks and I gotta say, they look awesome!

I ordered a set in red from him for my 71 GTX. Yes he does make awesome quality decals. 

[atomicholiday]

Distributor is done now.

I’m rapidly approaching the point where I need warm weather so I can paint.  Might be a while though.  Last night was -6F😱

[Keef]

That distributor looks awesome! I’ve started doing that(using kit part) because when I tried making my own they looked like total butt. 😂🤣

[atomicholiday]

On 1/15/2024 at 4:40 PM, Keef said:

That distributor looks awesome! I’ve started doing that(using kit part) because when I tried making my own they looked like total butt. 😂🤣

I know a lot of people swear by aftermarket distributors.  I haven’t tried one yet and I’m sure they’re great.  But if I can save a few bucks and get results I’m happy with, why not?  And so far I don’t mind putting in the time to do it.  Worst case scenario, I screw the part up, and then I’ll try an AM part.👍

 

Quick update for this build.  I got all the paint stripped finally.  Had to do it in two stages.  First, a good soaking in 90% iso alcohol to get the lacquer off.  But that won’t touch the primer.  Originally I’d stop there, but since this kit is getting a vinyl top, I wanted to take it down to bare plastic.  

So after the lacquer was removed, it got a bath in the purple pond for a while.  That will take primer off with no problem.  

So now we’re back to where it all began, in bare plastic.  

 

 

[atomicholiday]

I decided to try opening up the grills.  Never done it before, so why not.  I started out with a scrap grill just to see how it would go (not good).  My test part started falling apart and splitting.  But it was a valuable learning experience.

So feeling super confident (cough cough), I started on the lower valance.  It was a much simpler piece than my test part, and it went well.  So with that experience under my belt, it was time to tackle the main grill.  Not an easy job, and my nerves are shot, but I think it turned out pretty decent.

Now I need a break…😁

Edited January 21 by atomicholiday

[Moparman18064]

2 hours ago, atomicholiday said:

I decided to try opening up the grills.  Never done it before, so why not.  I started out with a scrap grill just to see how it would go (not good).  My test part started falling apart and splitting.  But it was a valuable learning experience.

So feeling super confident (cough cough), I started on the lower valance.  It was a much simpler piece than my test part, and it went well.  So with that experience under my belt, it was time to tackle the main grill.  Not an easy job, and my nerves are shot, but I think it turned out pretty decent.

Now I need a break…😁

Nice!

[slusher]

Looks great Jeremy!

[atomicholiday]

Was a little warmer today (49 F), so I took advantage and got some paint on the engine.  I’m trying something I picked up from another member, and went with black primer to try to get some added depth.  It's hard to see in this pic, but I think it worked out ok.  The air cleaner was done in lighter primer in an attempt at making the orange pop a little more than the block.

The transmission and other details will be painted after this cures.

Edited February 1 by atomicholiday

[atomicholiday]

Got some paint on the interior.  The seats, dash and door cards are all shot with my go-to for vinyl, Krylon satin black.  I’ve used it many times for this in the past and been very pleased, but for some reason, this time it came out a little glossier than I would like.  Not sure if it was a different batch, or weather or what.  It’s not terrible though, so I think I’ll let it go.