LA Dart Conversion / Confusion

[Nitrozilla]

Hi Group. Let me start off by re-introducing myself. My name is Joe Goss. I go by the handles of Kitbasher and Batzilla. I'm a Disabled Veteran currently coming out of a deep depression. Last year was ugly. 'Nuff 'bout dat. I've been lurking and admiring everyone's rides. Now, it's time to get serious. Not on the level of John T or Aftashox, but I do hope to entertain. Speaking of our intrepid heroes, I share their philosophy of, "Build for the build, not to everyone else's expectations of what's accurate or right." I consider myself an artist first, automotive knowledge database last.

First up, my current project, a whacked out LA Dart. I'm a "chassis before body" builder for the most part. I let the build tell me when to start on the body.

I have done a number of things to add weight to the back of the car. As you will see later, I have stuffed 5 ounces of lead fishing weights into every empty space on the engine from the blower to the oil pan and tranny. There will also be a wheelie bar that carries 3 ounces. The fuel tanks are filled and, finally, brass rod has been added to the headers. If I get it right, thanx to Newton, it will sit on all fours and do a wheelstand with a simple touch of a finger on the nose.

Oh, yeah!! I might have made some minor tweaks to the interior. Reworked and centered the rollcage, added gauges, gas and brake pedal, extinguisher, etc. The first person to notice the twin "tank brake type" steering handles for the dual caliper rear brakes gets a cookie.

Wait !!!???? Does the LA Dart have a blue nose? Stay tuned to find out why.

Edited August 2, 2011 by Batzilla

[a/gass]

who cares!it s lookin great.very cool ive been trying the same thing with hemi under glass or at lest weels up lol tryin anyway - nice build. mike

[Drake69]

WOW. Just WOW. This is gonna be sweet!!!!

[Draggon]

Thats some mighty clean workmanship!

[Dragracer]

The Dart is looking good, like the detail & the weight idea.

[LAone]

thats pretty cool. im not too familiar with these cars, but they sure are cool to look at.

[Jantrix]

Very impressive. I like it a lot.

[BKcustoms]

That looks awesome! i cant wait to see it finished

[Nitrozilla]

Thanx to everyone for the good words. It feels good to be building again and even better to see your great responses.

First up this visit? "My God! It's full of Stars!!" Are you sensing that this is more than a simple deviated theme from the original? Perhaps even taking on a patriotic theme of some type.?

What's up next? Disaster and triumph all rolled into one. In my rush to start body paint, I didn't take the EXTREMELY visible body interior into consideration. Normally I will shoot the inside first, mask, then exterior. Now I've got a mess.

How to fix it? I made templates for white duct tape panels. While finishing them, I thought I might just as well spray bomb them white and be done with it. NEVER give up on a project. If you think calmly and locically, anything can be fixed. I even considered another body or stripping this one. Glad I didn't.

Last touch to note are the door handles. Thin plastic for the handle, thinner plastic for the base plate and a chunk of 0.100 solder for the buttons.

See Y'all Tomorrow.

[Nitrozilla]

Here's some shots to hold y'all over until I get the interior body panels in place. Hey Jacen! Thanx for the nod. I'm kinda fond of your name too. "Cept yer folks spelled it wrong. Just ask my son, Jason. LOL KIDDING!!! I think Futurabat is kewl. I'd use it myself if you weren't already.

This is the lead - loaded engine. Some detail still to come.

Next is the wheelie bar and hydraulic struts to control height.

I thought it might be painted black before use to get an idea of how much it wears before replacement. On the real ones, I believe they were made with an infusion of phosphorus so it would shoot sparks as it moved down the track. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. Could be a separate bar (?).

And finally, a gratuitous shot of the interior.

[Dragracer]

The Dart is coming along nicely, like all the detailing,Stars & Stripes look good.

[Nitrozilla]

Somebody PLEASE remind me why I stay in this hobby !!!! What's that? The ego boosts?? The pride of accomplishment?? The accolades of your friends, family and fellow modelers?? Wrong! I obviously don't have enough stress in my life that I need to generate it artificially. Ergo......build a model.

Hopefully, that phase of this build is resolved now as I near completion of the interior panels. Did I say they were gonna be white? My bad. Chalk it up to "creative process liberty." Get it? Liberty? The theme? I sense a connection.......

After installation of the panels for the hood, roof, rear pillars and sides, I needed a pair of custom trim pieces for the rear deck and doors.

After a couple of templates, I had my pieces ready to go. The cut outs are for the wheelie bar strut mounts.

Just as I suspected, easily visible anywhere. If I can trim the rear window to fit, I'm going to mix a little Future floor polish and some blue food coloring (a tip I read here), and give it a dip. While I sand down the edges of the glass, I'll leave enough to drill a hole to loop a wire thru for dipping, then remove after it dries. My mother did raise a fool. Thankfully, it was my brother. lol

[MrDemon340]

thats nice i like the dart body style heres a wip pic of my ladart

[MrDemon340]

resin trunk lid opend hood chasis from 75 dart sport

[Danno]

Cool.

[W-409]

Your build looks great! I like those colors, blue fits nicely to the frontend of that car. Engine looks good too, detailing is great. But pictures are bit blurry... I might suggest using super macro setting of your camera. It's a little flower in some button. That will work fine, and with it it's easy to take sharp pictures.... But those pics aren't the worts ones, I've seen anyway. (and that wasn't an personal attack )

[djway3474]

Is Commander Bowman going to drive it and all its Stars? Nice detail work

[Nitrozilla]

Thanx all. That's some feel good comments. Sorry Niko, my phone doesn't have a macro setting and resolution is high as it will go. I do have a better camera for the finished project. Phone camera too easy. djway, Sorry, I've heard Dave is otherwise occupied, but I have a driver named Hal that I've shared emails with. We're in negotiations.

[Nitrozilla]

I'm done with the interior body panels. What a difference !!

Before:

After:

I can't believe I'm actually polishing the inside of a car body..........Not sure if I've sunk to a new low or soared to a new height.

Tomorrow, either my homemade decals will be a failure (3rd time) or an Epic Success. I may be begging and pleading for help. lol

[High octane]

Joe your LA Dart project is lookin' good and nice detail also.

[Nitrozilla]

Houston, we have (another) problem. Just a minor delay folks while a fellow board member and I figure out what to do about my decal dilema.

Since I was going to reveal the theme in this next post, I'll show you the decals that aren't working, while I await replacements.

[Dragracer]

The Dart is lookin' good!,I like the name & the project idea.Our men/women in uniform deserve the respect.

[pharr7226]

The engine detail and paint are impressive. Adding weight to the rear for a poseable wheelie is a fantastic idea. I also like your use of templates in your build. What issues did you have with your decals? I'm looking forward to the next installment.

[Nitrozilla]

Have you ever had one of those projects where everything you make or do, only works on the 3rd attempt? I'll give y'all a fer instance. I spent 1 1/2 hours carefully shaping the rear window to fit within the body templates. Outstanding !! Perfect fit !! Now for a little blue tint. (Backstory, sold my 3rd collection a year ago, so, no airbrush yet.) Tried tinting some Future floor wax with blue dye. 2 drops made it very dark, but several dippings and nothing was building up. I washed it all off and shot it with Transparent Blue. On the first light coat, the can sputtered, ruining it. Now the window is a template for clear blue sheet plastic.

As for the decals Rick, the ones I made all curl up when applied. Used Decal Set & Decal solvent. No good. Sigh. It's just the nature of the build. I don't get angry at the plastic, I get even. Sorry it's slowing it up. I wanna see it done as much as everybody else.

Richard, I wasn't a Marine, but, "OORAH !!

Things will hopefully go smoother soon. There's light at the end of the tunnel.......... Hang in there, I will.

[Nitrozilla]

I'm getting over the window tint disaster. Tried saving the old one, may it find friends in Model Windshield Heaven. Scratched, cracked, opaque, warped, stepped on...it doesn't matter, they all go to MWH.

Finished chassis at 95%. Final steps are upper driveshaft shield, install motor, hook up fuel tanks and fire it up !! I mean final touch up.

Got the word my decals are winging their way across the country to me. Hopefully, done this weekend.

After I finish my next project, the Jungle Jim tribute, I've got a surprise. No self respecting wheelstander drives itself to an event now, does it? I guarantee y'all will flip out when I reveal the pair of trucks I'll need for the project. I promise wicked kewlness.