Revells Chi-Town Hustler - They're Finished! 10/19/10

[David G.]

I appreciate the extra time and effort you've put into documenting this build and all its details. You've clarified a number of techniques for me.

Thanks,

David G.

[oldscool]

Fantastic work guys! Why has no one who reviewed this kit told us that the shape of the squared off rear wheel openings are outlined inside the body for those who want to cut them out?! The rounded openings were my biggest disappointment with this kit and I would have bought one right away had I known this. Geez!

oldscool

[Brett Barrow]

Fantastic work guys! Why has no one who reviewed this kit told us that the shape of the squared off rear wheel openings are outlined inside the body for those who want to cut them out?! The rounded openings were my biggest disappointment with this kit and I would have bought one right away had I known this. Geez!

oldscool

I thought they were just hogged out for tire clearance!!! I'll take some more pics tonight or tomorrow, my body's in primer.

[Len Carsner]

I know it's been awhile since the last update but the projects are done and we'll be wrapping this one up soon.

Let's continue, this tine with a couple of tips for the modeler on a budget.

We were given the codes for the paint used on the original and clone CTH:

House of Kolor

Bumpers - Orion Silver BC02B

Body – Orion Silver base with Candy Red KK11

These are the codes given to us by the shop that painted both cars and the same paint was used for the box art cars. In checking around for HOK paint I was given the price of about $95.00 for a quart of each, plus I'd need to buy the the thinners and clear. On my budget, that's going to happen. Now I know there are alternatives out there but instead I thought I'd try to find a suitable paint in the hobby line that would be readily available to the average modeler who's not building a contest grade replica but still wants it to be close.

First up was to prep the body. The black marks you see here are the mold lines you'll want to smooth off. After a washing and drying it was given a couple of coats of Duplicolor primer and set aside to cure.

Here are the paints of choice. Tamiya TS-17 Gloss Aluminum will be the base under all colors, while I'll experiment with Tamiya TS-18 RE Metallic, Testors 1837M Revin' Red, and Tamiya X-37 Clear Red for the top coat.

I saw this done on one of the forums so I can't claim this idea as my own, but for purposes of experimentation I took four white plastic spoons and after priming them I shot them with the silver base I'm using. Once dry I'll shoot each one with a different paint combination, then compare them in sunlight and decide which one matches the closest to the CTH color.

In each of the trials these two samples came out the closest. On the right is the Testors, which is a bit dark but did look close to the box art car. On the right is the Tamiya which more closely matches the pictures online of the car.

In the end I went with the Tamiya. Two light coats and one heavier coat gave me the coverage I wanted and, I feel, a close match to the online images of the car.

While the body dried I decided to tackle the tire. Here's a little trick I came up with to scuff the tires.

I took long bolts and slid rubber hose, in which I had cut long slits, over them. By sliding the tire over the hose and tightening the jamb nuts at the end I had a scuffing tool that cost nearly nothing.

You may have to wiggle the tire around a bit to get it straight on the homemade scuff tool but once its set you can put it in any drill and scuff away. Sure beats doing it by hand!

I mounted the brake rotors to an old paint brush handle and painted them steel, then used the same shade of rd as I used on the chassis for the calipers.

continued....

Edited October 17, 2010 by Len Carsner

[Len Carsner]

Here we have my semi-finished chassis up on its wheels for the first time -

And my semi-finished body ready for decals.

Be prepared to spend a LOT of time on the decals. Each sponsor and contingency decal is a separate item. Go slow and use plenty of decal solvents to ease placement and setting.

One neat item on the decal sheet are these ribbons for the chute packs (and yes, I noticed after the picture was taken how crooked the left one is. It's been corrected).

That's all for this update, and the next one's ready to post. Check back later today for the next installment.

Thanks,

Bill and Len

[Tumbler75]

I don't build drag cars that often, but I do know when one is done with patience and lots of it. Y'all's li'l "mini tutorials" on building these for the average builder is awesome! I'm sorry I haven't commented before now. Y'all are doin' a great job and it's turning out beautifully. Keep it up and I'm watching for sure.

[Hattley]

How opaque is the white on the decals? I ask because on my Mongoose the paint shown through and I had to use two sets.Did you take any precautions here?

Here we have my semi-finished chassis up on its wheels for the first time -

And my semi-finished body ready for decals.

Be prepared to spend a LOT of time on the decals. Each sponsor and contingency decal is a separate item. Go slow and use plenty of decal solvents to ease placement and setting.

One neat item on the decal sheet are these ribbons for the chute packs (and yes, I noticed after the picture was taken how crooked the left one is. It's been corrected).

That's all for this update, and the next one's ready to post. Check back later today for the next installment.

Thanks,

Bill and Len

[Len Carsner]

How opaque is the white on the decals? I ask because on my Mongoose the paint shown through and I had to use two sets.Did you take any precautions here?

The decals you see are single layer, no doubling up or special precautions needed.

Len C.

[Len Carsner]

Second update today, expect the wrap up on Tuesday.

Dive in!

Here, final sanding is preparing the CTH body shell for a bit more primer and the color/clear topcoats. Tom Creeger points out that the most noticeable surface blemish to be dealt with is the mold line adjacent to the C pillar.

Note in this view that progress is being made in blending the mold line into the top of the fender panel. As the sanding takes place, using the primer helps identify your progress in smoothing out the mold line.

This series of four photos give us the first look at the luscious automotive candy red that Creeger applied over a base coat of Testors Metallic Silver. Once the base coat was thoroughly dry and cured out, Tom methodically applied even coats of the candy red building up the uniform coverage and enhancing the depth of the color coat.

It’s recommended to paint the hood and body as separate parts. Make sure that equal paint coats are applied to both pieces during the painting process.

continued...

[Len Carsner]

This series of six (6) images present the CTH chassis/driveline in all its glory. At this juncture we’re nearing the wrap-up of the major assemblies of the CTH underpinnings. From front to back, top to bottom and side to side, the basic Revell kit parts make up into an amazingly accurate replica of this vintage funny car. Tom Creeger’s simple, basic yet delicately executed electrical wiring/fluid lines provide just the right touch of realism.

If you’ve been following along as we’ve drilled pilot holes, run coated wire and craft braid, studying these images carefully should aid in duplicating Creeger’s work.

Here we can begin to see what all our hard work has been about. The pulse is beginning to increase seeing the freshly painted candy red/metallic silver CTH body resting next to the nearly finished running gear sitting up on all fours for the first time. From any angle the classy bright red surfaces of the Chi-Town Hustler seem primed and ready for the full graphics treatment of the kit decal sheet.

At this point, the colorful CTH markings are being applied, They appear to be well defined, plenty opaque and both Len and Tom say they don’t curl up when wet and lay down smooth and trouble-free as shown here. Creeger recommends attaching the hood in-place to the body shell prior to applying the dual flame graphics as shown here.

Ready to see the finished cars? Check back on Tuesday when we'll show you both my box stock item and Toms' incredibly detailed version.

See you Tuesday!

Thanks,

Bill and Len

[Hawk312]

Where do you guys get this "craft braid"? I just searched Michaels to no avail.

Love the builds btw.

[Tumbler75]

Simply stunning work! I really like the colour and it does come close to the 1:1. I can't wait to see them finished up and displayed for all to see. I agree, where did you get the braided craft wire? I looked at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and HobbyTownUSA with no prevail. Much appreciated. Great work!

[Len Carsner]

Crossing the finish line! A photo finish!

A bit of history…

Legendary drag racer Pat Minick and noted drag racing car designer John Farkonas, worked with Greg and Kathy Mosley of the Mosley Mopar Museum to bring back/create not one but two versions of the historic 69-70 Chi Town Hustler funny car!

The legendary 1969-1970 Dodge Mini Charger driven by Pat Minick was treated to a through restoration to resemble its full racing glory from back-in-the-day. The restored CTH is now on full-time display at the Mopar Museum.

The "exhibition" Chi Town Hustler is an exacting duplicate of the original though a new build of the nitro burning Hemi powered funny car. The fiberglass body for example was cast from a mold created off the original CTH body shell.

The original ‘69 Charger NHRA funny car was legendary for its long smoky burnouts and eye-popping performance. The team claimed the car had a 90 percent win-loss record in 1969. Minick did the driving, Austin Coil tuned the engine, and John Farkonas was the behind the scenes engineer. The car was built with an offset roll cage for the driver, one of the last funny cars to be built in that manner. The “Hustler†ran a best quarter mile time of 6.96 in 1970 and ran its best top speed of 206 mph in 1969.

The cloned version of the CTH was created to complete in the NHRA nostalgia Funny Car Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Revell with the backing of NHRA and the car owner Greg Mosley, made a major commitment in creating virtually from scratch a new-tool model kit of a nearly 45 year old racecar.

Conclusion…

Len Carsner, Tom Creeger and I (Bill Coulter) have had the privilege to build and review this new Revell kit and provide model builders far and wide a first hand view of the procedures.

Presented here are two version of the CTH for you consideration. Len’s car is built pretty much from the box with an over-the-counter paint finish.

By contrast, Tom Creeger’s CTH sports a mostly automotive paint finish and most importantly some low-buck but very convincing driveline detail.

Okay, okay…if you’re like me you’re seeing lot of red at this point. These next four images are not Len’s or Tom’s…they are a mixture of both models. The point we’re making here is that this new Revell CTH kit builds nicely whether you choose out-of-the box or detailed, model car paints or automotive.

From this view there are some subtle differences that should help you tell the difference between the OoTB and the detailed version of this fine kit. Look closely and you’ll see that on Len’s build the Strange Engineering decal is straight horizontal while it’s slightly canted on Tom’s version. There are other subtle differences but I’ll let you find them.

These next four images should help identify which version is which now that the bodies are displayed in their open and up position. Again, it’s pretty much only the delicate added driveline details on Creeger’s model that is so revealing.

continued....

[Len Carsner]

These two views of the CTH chassis from down under show that by simply following the paint color call-outs on the Revell CTH kit instruction sheet, a well-defined and realistic tube frame and FC driveline can result in a very nice finished model. Note the added detailing on Creeger’s model really enhances the final results.

Both versions of these CTH models are real eye-candy when displayed with the body in the up position. Whether OoTB or with additional driveline details, anyone would be proud to display either model in your display case or at a model car show.

These three views of the chassis/driveline (sans body) serve to provide a clearer view of the OoTB and added detail built versions of the Revell Chi-Town Hustler 1/25th scale models.

Not likely to ever happen but, this signature shot of Len Carsner and Tom Creeger’s dueling Chi-Town Hustlers gives us an imaginary view of what it might look like if the two 1/1 funny cars ever took a nostalgic pass together down the old quarter mile. Hey…you can't blame us guys for dreaming!

Final thoughts…

Len, Tom and I remain convinced that this new Revell Chi-Town Hustler 1/25th scale plastic kit is about the best version of this vintage subject that we’ve seen. This kit stands as one of the most accurately scaled renditions of this type of historic drag car. The attention to scale fidelity challenges anything we’ve seen before.

The complaint has always been in the past that kits of these iconic drag cars have either been too generic, homogenized or maybe stylized is a more fitting term here. Where tube frames and roll cages often scaled-out to be the diameter of sewer pipe, with these new Revell nostalgic funny car kits, the accurate scaling of such core parts in such a kit appear to be spot-on to our eyes.

Revell has certainly taken a big gamble putting considerable eggs (ie: thousands of dollars) in one basket here but considering the median age of today’s model car building public, they might just be on to something of considerable magnitude this time around.

Nailing a vintage race car of any type is risky business whether you’re manufacturing a kit or building a model. The CTH has existed in three different versions over the last 40 plus years…the original, the restored version and the new clone. The age-old question is which version is correct? In reality they all are for what they represent. Each of us might have a preferred version but we can’t expect Revell to put all of them in one kit box. What Revell has created here is a striking replica of the CTH that really captures the spirit and essence of this legendary race car, for yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Is this a 100% perfect model car kit? Probably not but all three of us were impressed with the way this thing went together. There were no fiddly things or parts and/or assemblies that just wouldn’t go together. This is a well-engineered kit that was a delight to build and it squarely sat on all fours the first time up on wheels/tires.

There was a minor glitch on parts call-outs on the kit instruction sheet. No deal breaker here as the exploded views still clearly show how everything goes together correctly.

There were questions about the craft braid Tom used to represent fluid lines on his CTH model. Though none of us has actually purchased this product for a while, I called the shop where most of this stuff came from and hooray…they still carry the product and I was told they’ll ship just about anywhere if need be.

Here’s the pertinent information:

Busy Beaver Arts and Crafts

937-429-3920

busybeaverarts@sbcglobal.net (email)

http://busybeaverarts.com/ (website)

Allison says they currently stock three brands of craft braid:

- Amy’s

- Darice

- Pepperall

She thinks it comes in three diameters.

Our object with this project was never to see how rapidly we could assemble the CTH kit. As we’ve always done, we took our time and showed you just what to expect from this new Revell kit. We trust you’ve enjoyed the trip and learned something new in the process.

Please stay tuned… we’re not done yet!

Len, Tom and Bill

[Tumbler75]

Stunning builds either way! They look like they are ready to hit the strip and see who's got the bigger set. LoL Anyone would be proud to have them or jus' one on their shelf. Keep up the great work. The extra detailing really brings this kit to life. Can't wait to see your next build/tutorial.

[Hattley]

That's art!

[Greg Myers]

Thanks for the best build up ever.

[niteowl7710]

Not my normal taste in subject matter, but it's been fun to watch anyway for the techniques and for a sneak peak at the kit. Final assembly and eye candy is excellent.