1970 El Camino

[Art Laski]

This posting is of a replica of my father-in-law's El Camino. He gave me an old diecast of a '70 El Camino and some of the actual paint used on his own car and asked me to paint the model. I took it a little bit further! Some of the things I did to it were strip everything and repaint all of it (only the body was painted on the DC), turned the big block into a small block by siamesing the inner exhaust runners on the manifolds, added a breather line, textured and painted the bed, scratch-built rear shocks, scratch built the steering wheel spokes and added wood gain to the rim (thanks to John Teresi's tip!), added decals and plates etc., and picked up some GMP Weld Wheels (They were out of production and expensive, but they make the truck).

Here's a pic of a die cast similar to what I started with. This one is a lot cleaner than what I started with.

Here's the real truck:

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Real Interior:

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Real Engine:

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Thanks for looking!

-Art

[Art Laski]

Just a few more...

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[TheCat]

Really nice job on that die-cast.

[W-409]

Very nice job with it. That paintjob looks very good on it, and I like that engine a lot. Nice details all over, that chassis pic' is really autentic looking. I like that stance and wheels and tires too. Good looking all the way, but one thing, which is disturbing me with this model. That frontend seems to be a little too sloping. I mean, that in real thing it's upright. Maybe that's just because of the picture, but that's not your mistake anyways. Nice job with Camino!

[John Teresi]

Art......Wow!!!!.......I bet your father in law was just tickled pink........you did such an AWESOME job......I have always been afraid to re-do a diecast......I have seen some really cool ones and this is the best re-done diecast I have seen......and you pumped it out fast.......can`t wait to see what you got up your sleve next?......and the pictures are great too!!!........thank`s for sharing buddy.

[Jantrix]

NICELY done! That's some very cool work. I'm sure your dad in law was thrilled.

[Eshaver]

Don't ya wish G M still made classy stuff like that today ? Ed Shaver

[Art Laski]

Really nice job on that die-cast. B)

Very nice job with it. That paintjob looks very good on it, and I like that engine a lot. Nice details all over, that chassis pic' is really autentic looking. I like that stance and wheels and tires too. Good looking all the way, but one thing, which is disturbing me with this model. That frontend seems to be a little too sloping. I mean, that in real thing it's upright. Maybe that's just because of the picture, but that's not your mistake anyways. Nice job with Camino!

Thanks, guys. Niko, I'm not sure exactly what looks off to you specifically, but the die cast certainly has a lot of inaccuracies for sure. If I had the time, I could have spent a long time fixing things, especially in the engine compartment!

-Art

[Art Laski]

Art......Wow!!!!.......I bet your father in law was just tickled pink........you did such an AWESOME job......I have always been afraid to re-do a diecast......I have seen some really cool ones and this is the best re-done diecast I have seen......and you pumped it out fast.......can`t wait to see what you got up your sleve next?......and the pictures are great too!!!........thank`s for sharing buddy.

Thnnks, John. It means a lot coming fom you. I really appreciate the tip on the wood grain. I was very pleased with the result!

Working with die cast was certainly strange for me. I have one more project to do for my father-in-law which is a copy of his 37 Ford. This will be a bit different because it will be a hybrid diecast/plastic in 1/25. I have a Revell kit, but it's not a humpback like his car is. But he gave me a diecast that is a humpback and is the same scale and looks like it will drop right onto the plastic kit, which is awesome because the kit has a lot more detail. I probably won't get to it until the end of 2011.

NICELY done! That's some very cool work. I'm sure your dad in law was thrilled.

He was definitely very surprised how much it resembled his car, especially the wheels. I was also quite surprised I was able to find them at all. I thought I was going to have to scratch something, and it just wouldn't have turned out the same.

Thanks again for the comments guys!

-Art

[Art Laski]

Don't ya wish G M still made classy stuff like that today ? Ed Shaver

For sure, Ed! It's a great ride...