Anyone doing a correct plain front grill and tail panel to do a 68 Dodge Superbee?

[GMP440]

Since we have the re-released MPC 68 Coronet kit is there anyone casting/3D printing a correct plain front grill and taillight panel to turn the 68 Coronet R/T into a 68 Superbee?

[stavanzer]

Apparently, Not Yet.....

[Mike 1017]

AMT 69 Plymouth Road Runner Grill   – Harts Parts Resin Maybe this will work

But no dodge emblem on grille

[Mark C.]

The Plymouth part is an entirely different animal.

It would be nice to be able to do a ‘68 Super Bee.  We would also need decals and preferably a low-line interior, with bench seat.

[Mr mopar]

1 hour ago, Mike 1017 said:

AMT 69 Plymouth Road Runner Grill   – Harts Parts Resin Maybe this will work

But no dodge emblem on grille

Not even close to a coronet grill !

[Force]

The 1969 Charger 500 uses this grille don't they?
But the only Charger 500 kit is the old MPC kit.

[Mark C.]

6 hours ago, Force said:

The 1969 Charger 500 uses this grille don't they?
But the only Charger 500 kit is the old MPC kit.

IIRC, the Charger 500 grille does not have the DODGE lettering.  More importantly to me is the tail panel, which is quite different in that the R/T tail lights are separate vs being contained within a single trapezoid shape.

[Can-Con]

Looks to me like a simple conversion to me. 

Scrape the trim from the kit tail and add some PE DODGE lettering and a bee decal. Modify the tail light trim with a simple addition of a thin piece of wire around the light section and foil it so it looks like all one piece.

For the front, cut out the grille and replace it with the PE grille mesh from the MCG '67 Camaro and add PE "DODGE" letters.

Edited August 24, 2024 by Can-Con

[Force]

3 hours ago, Mark C. said:

IIRC, the Charger 500 grille does not have the DODGE lettering.  More importantly to me is the tail panel, which is quite different in that the R/T tail lights are separate vs being contained within a single trapezoid shape.

You are right.

[Mark C.]

19 hours ago, Can-Con said:

Looks to me like a simple conversion to me. 

Scrape the trim from the kit tail and add some PE DODGE lettering and a bee decal. Modify the tail light trim with a simple addition of a thin piece of wire around the light section and foil it so it looks like all one piece.

For the front, cut out the grille and replace it with the PE grille mesh from the MCG '67 Camaro and add PE "DODGE" letters.

Might work if the dimensions of the Camaro grille fit the Coronet opening. Not sure how I would make it work, though I’m sure someone of your skill level could pull it off.  The taillights would still not look right unless you dremelled out the dividers and scratch built new lenses/housings.  You could grind the ribs off the panels for sure.

Or, for people with less motivation and lower skill levels such as myself, hope that somebody with the skills and equipment sees an opportunity to digitally print them and offer them as a kit.  In the end it would look better than any scratch built conglomeration that I could come up with, plus there would be less photoetch sacrificed to the modeling gods…

Thanks for the suggestions, though.  For me it wouldn't be high enough on the priority list to attempt a conversion without a readily available kit... hence my involvement in this thread.

Edited August 25, 2024 by Mark C.

[CapSat 6]

It’s a reasonable question. I’m sure a new grille could be sketched up in 3D pretty easily. 

The tail panel is another matter, not because it would be hard to sketch up, but because all of that detail is cast into the body on the ‘68 kit. It would almost be easier to just grind the vertical bars out from the center area, and cobble up any missing trim, otherwise, any new piece would have to be installed only after carving or cutting out the tail panel in the body. 

I’m not an insider, so I have no real idea, but I would be willing to bet that Round 2 has sketched up Super Bee parts for this kit, and that they will eventually follow up with one. 

[spkgibsonfirebird]

Is anyone doing this now? I'm wanting to make one of the hardtops into a 500 model Coronet. 

[Mr mopar]

x2

[Mark C.]

Another thought for the grille is the one from the old ‘69 Charger 500 kit.  The 1:1 Charger 500 used a ‘68 Coronet grille, but I don’t know how the fit would work out from the model kit side of things.  You would still have to add the D O D G E lettering as well, I think.

[Mike Chernecki]

A few years back, someone was selling 3D-printed grilles for the '68 Coronet. I don't remember who it was, but they had all the grilles (plain, Dodge letter, R/T, 500, etc.). I bought one of each, and I have them sitting somewhere.

[spkgibsonfirebird]

4 minutes ago, Mike Chernecki said:

A few years back, someone was selling 3D-printed grilles for the '68 Coronet. I don't remember who it was, but they had all the grilles (plain, Dodge letter, R/T, 500, etc.). I bought one of each, and I have them sitting somewhere.

I'm looking for the 500 version. Any help would be great 

[Mike Chernecki]

19 hours ago, spkgibsonfirebird said:

I'm looking for the 500 version. Any help would be great 

PM Sent

[Abnormal]

On 11/6/2024 at 6:17 PM, Mike Chernecki said:

PM Sent

Hello, I'm also interested in a '68 Coronet grill (with lights) to fit in a '68 Revell Charger.
Would it be possible ?

[br67]

maybe you print the grille and tail lamp panel from this commonly available 3D 68 Coronet 4 door?

[Abnormal]

20 hours ago, br67 said:

maybe you print the grille and tail lamp panel from this commonly available 3D 68 Coronet 4 door?

Hi, For my Dodge Charger 500 project I need a plain grill, and I also need it to fit in the '68 Revell front, plus I don't print.

[br67]

I got a local 3d printer guy to resize and print the front grille and rear panel from the Andrey Bezrodney files

[CapSat 6]

On 11/5/2024 at 4:19 PM, spkgibsonfirebird said:

I'm looking for the 500 version. Any help would be great 

I think the '68 500 trim would be very similar to the R/T. It would be different from the base Coronet and Super Bee grille and tail that's being discussed. 

You would probably use the tail as it is from the R/T kit, remove the "R/T" emblem, and replace it with a "500" emblem. 

The 500 grille would be much like the R/T grille, but you would need to remove the R/T emblem, and add a center post/ applique to the middle. The 500 grille would be a good thing for somebody to sketch up, although I don't know if there would be any real demand for it. 

The real trick to doing a '68 Coronet 500 would be the chrome trim that appears in the side scoops. I think they were 500 2 door only.  Note the side scoops in the pics below were custom, for the TV car only, but the grille and tail were more or less stock '68 Coronet 500. 

I'm trying to work up a Coronet 500 Convertible from the new kit, to look like the Mission Impossible car..

 

Edited Thursday at 02:53 PM by CapSat 6

[CapSat 6]

Here is a good pic showing the 500 trim...

[CapSat 6]

On 11/24/2024 at 7:29 AM, Abnormal said:

Hello, I'm also interested in a '68 Coronet grill (with lights) to fit in a '68 Revell Charger.
Would it be possible ?

You could do it the way Dodge did it- use a grille from the new ‘68 Coronet kit. Scrape the “R/T” emblem off as best you can, and fit it to the ‘68/ ‘69 Charger grille opening. I have a 1:1 ‘68 Coronet grille somewhere in the basement. I got it super cheap at a swap meet about 25 years ago. I figured if I ever lucked into a ‘69 Charger, it would go on it, or at worst, it would make good wall art. 

Round 2’s new grille has been rendered more accurately than the old MPC piece, but I haven’t checked it for fit. 

The MPC Charger 500 grille (tooled around 1987, for the old General Lee kit) seems to have been created to fit that kit specifically. It looks just a little off to me as a result. My understanding is that the 1:1 ‘68 Coronet grille is a direct fit for the Charger 500. 

Lastly, Harts Parts does a resin repop of the old MPC ‘68 Coronet kit grille. I think it’s $5 on their website. It is different from the new Round 2 piece. When you compare them, the new one does look nicer, but if you like this one better, it might be the way to go. 

MPC 68 Coronet Grill – Harts Parts Resin

You might need to compare them and test fit them. I’ll get some pics up comparing them tonight if I can. 

I’m using a Harts’ piece for a Charger street machine build I’m doing to recreate a model I built in the early 80’s. I took a General Lee, which at the time had a 500 body, and added a John Heyer resin cast ‘68 Coronet grille to make it into a 500. This was before MPC’s 500 kit was available. It was easier than modifying the back window, and back then, it wasn’t unheard of for rare muscle cars to get the street machine treatment. Rare muscle cars such as these were still cars to those who had them (although valued and revered), not insanely priced, and absolutely mythical to teens like me in the 80's! My build was Testors yellow, with a black painted Daytona stripe, jacked up in the back, with fat rear tires, and ‘70 Challenger bucket seats, Centerline wheels, a 440 Six Pack, and side exhausts, in other words: 80’s  I stupidly ripped it down for parts several years later. 

Edited Thursday at 07:33 PM by CapSat 6
added link