Scratch building quarter panels for the Revell 1981 Carmaro Z28

[Kent_Frazier]

I bought this kit because I owned a 1:1 1980 Z28 and was excited to build my former car. After reading the review on this site and opening the box and looking at the parts I am very disappointed. I've now decided to use this as a platform to learn new things. I remember seeing an article in a car magazine about a custom 1980 Z28 with a whale tail and extended quarter panels. These modifications have always stuck with me, but I've been unable to find any photos of this car online. 

What I remember is that the quarter panels were "flat" around the doors, not blended back into the body and the rear ones housed an oil and transmission fluid cooler. They extended out several inches from the stock body. I know I'm not describing this very well, but I can see it in my head. 

How would I go about building something like this? I'm guessing some styrene sheets and putty, but I don't know if there might be a better way. 

I did manage to find one photograph of a car that looks similar but I'm not sure what the rules are about posting/ linking photos from other sites.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[peteski]

No problems linking to external photos/websites or uploading photos to your posts.  Fire away! Unless new members maybe have some restriction for uploading photos. I don't think so.

Edited May 1, 2024 by peteski

[Kent_Frazier]

Here is the image I mentioned in my OP.  The end closest to the door on the front quarter panel is what I meant by "flat". In the magazine, the rear quarter panels were similar and then blended to the rear. 

[peteski]

Wow!  I have never seen these before.  Were the entire bodies molded from fiberglass, or were the flares add-ons, just blended into regular steel bodies?

[Kent_Frazier]

I'm not sure. I seem to remember the ones in the magazine were fiberglass add-ons and it was a street car, not a racer.

[NOBLNG]

I’ve never tried it, but possibly spray foam sculpted to shape? Good luck with your project.?

[Kent_Frazier]

4 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

I’ve never tried it, but possibly spray foam sculpted to shape? Good luck with your project.?

Spray foam? This might be too much for someone just getting back into the hobby, but it is giving me lots of ideas.

[jokar124]

1 hour ago, Kent_Frazier said:

Here is the image I mentioned in my OP.  The end closest to the door on the front quarter panel is what I meant by "flat". In the magazine, the rear quarter panels were similar and then blended to the rear. 

A similar kit was made by MPC in the 1980's, and may possibly show up as a future reissue:

 

[Kent_Frazier]

Thanks. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for that one.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Doing it from scratch may seem pretty daunting at first, but I've done a fair bit of this stuff both on real cars and models, and it's not really hard if you think things through.

This 1/12 scale Datsun 240Z widebody convertible was a study for a full-scale project that died on the vine...though I still have the design rights and all of the full-scale parts that were purchased except for the body shell itself.

Though it's quite different from the body kit in the OP's photos, the basic techniques for developing the custom panels are the same.

Here's the trick to making flares. .010 styrene lips added to the original fender openings. Character lines in the fenders extended outwards and tapered into the body with .030 styrene. Fill resulting areas with bondo. Sculpt to shape.

Similar technique is used to do nose cheeks. Bulge has been removed from hood, filled with sheet styrene, 'glass reinforced.

 

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It all comes down to "make what you see".

Doing the Camaro widebody is pretty straightforward, as the sides are relatively flat panels that are molded into the original fender shapes, without a lot of compound curves.

Find a good profile shot of the car if you can, resize and print it in 1/25 scale, then make patterns for the slab sides directly from the photos. Make two identical sets, attach them to the main body...paying very close attention to symmetry, and mold it all together with bondo.

Again, pay very close attention to symmetry every step of the way.

And if you want to get really trick, after your bodywork is done, you can pull molds from the panels and lay up scale-thickness real fiberglass parts.

The front splitter is a little more tricky, but if you break it down into simple shapes, carefully make those, stick them all together in the correct orientation, and then mold everything in, it wouldn't be particularly difficult.

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I designed and developed this Porsche 904 rebody kit for the 914 for another client long ago, using much the same techniques. This photo shows the almost completed mold plugs on the car, coming out of my basement shop.

 

 

Edited May 2, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[Russell C]

7 hours ago, Kent_Frazier said:

.... I remember seeing an article in a car magazine about a custom 1980 Z28 with a whale tail and extended quarter panels. These modifications have always stuck with me, but I've been unable to find any photos of this car online. ......

Stuck in "the widebody '80s era" guy that I am, that description sounds vaguely familiar. My gradeschool science teacher had a stock '78 or '79 Camaro brand new, coolest car in the teacher parking lot. The other MPC '80 Camaro is the Night Prowler, sorta similar to what you are describing. They sometimes pop up reasonably affordable on eBay as built-ups. The flares are add-ons, it looks like. I've been tempted to get one of those and de-tune it a bit to look more like the Koenig Specials Mercedes boulevard bruiser, where better looking wheels and tires than what's in the kit would really help the look of the Night Prowler.

Edited May 2, 2024 by Russell C
typo