W-348 Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Hi all Its been a while since the last update of the Dodge, but now I try to find the time to finnish it. First, thanks for all of the supportive comments guys! Here is some pics of the current situation: The engine is assembled, I installet the ignition wires and fuel lines, interior is also ready. The body has primer it and I think I'll paint it white tomorrow with Tamiya spray paint. The pics: By the way, Niko's Thunderbolt has stalled because the lack of the interior paint... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaleDale Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 (edited) Nice work. Glad to see this is back up and running. If I ever finish my Pro Mod Merc, My next project is a '64 Fairlane GT for the Super Stock GT class (any engine any year from the same company). Maybe I'll ship it to Finland and we can have a match race. Tell Miko I'm building a 1:1 Super Stocker. A '68 Mustang coupe with a 5.0L. Dale Edited November 16, 2013 by ScaleDale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilderness1989 Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 EXCELLENT JOB!! THANKS FOR POSTING!! Tip from an old mechanic: Never run rubber fuel lines, if they were to burst you might become a torch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbman Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 nice cars! my favorite cars super stockers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-348 Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Hi all Back again, I got my Dodge finished after all. Dale, you are more than welcome to Finland with both of the Fords next summer (now we are having -17 Celsius degrees). John, yes you definitely right about the fuel lines. We are also using braided in our 1:1 Stock Eliminator Chevelle, but I think they used to use rubber lines in the early days. The body is painted Tamiya TS spray paints and clear coated. I tried polishing the paint for the first time ever, and it wasnt so difficult. The result looked much better than without polishing. Next time I'll be more experienced. There were some fit issues in the model (for example with the front bumper), but mainly ok. Here are so some pics of the finished model: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terminator-Fox Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Looks awesome Mika! I built that car with my father years ago and it turned out awful lol. I got another one in the stash though, hopefully it comes out as nice as yours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayabusa Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Cool som f-n! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-348 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Thanks Steve & Tack Stefan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted August 30, 2016 Author Share Posted August 30, 2016 Well, it looks like my Thunderbolt was stalled several years ago even though I've had that light brown interior paint on my shelf for a long time. Mika also managed to finish his Dodge long time ago, so maybe it's time to try finishing this build for now... So a while ago as I ran into a paint problem with my '65 Ranchero, I wanted to have something else to work on while I have to strip the paint from that one... And somekind of Vintage Drag Car was on the top of my list. That, plus the fact that I actually wanted to finish something, made me dig out this Thunderbolt as it should be a pretty straightforward build with no major mods needed. I continued working with the interior. Because door panels and backseat were molded in, I thought I'd paint the carpet flat black instead of flocking it. It's not so good looking, but I guess it'll do. Door panels and backseat were painted with Humbrol light brown which wasn't the best paint in the world as it required several coats of painting with a brush... Overall it turned out, well, not good, but let's say decent. White areas on door panels were painted Revell flat white which is definitely not my favorite paints and it doesn't lay down really smooth.... It's not good, but I'll have to live with it. Door panel lines were highlighted with black and roll bar was also painted with Revell's gloss black and installed on place. Next up will be installing front seats and racing harnesses. Then I also added minor black wash to rear wheel centers. It gives just a bit of depth on them and makes them look a lot more realistic than without. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC Norton Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 Well, it looks like my Thunderbolt was stalled several years ago even though I've had that light brown interior paint on my shelf for a long time. Mika also managed to finish his Dodge long time ago, so maybe it's time to try finishing this build for now... So a while ago as I ran into a paint problem with my '65 Ranchero, I wanted to have something else to work on while I have to strip the paint from that one... And somekind of Vintage Drag Car was on the top of my list. That, plus the fact that I actually wanted to finish something, made me dig out this Thunderbolt as it should be a pretty straightforward build with no major mods needed. I continued working with the interior. Because door panels and backseat were molded in, I thought I'd paint the carpet flat black instead of flocking it. It's not so good looking, but I guess it'll do. Door panels and backseat were painted with Humbrol light brown which wasn't the best paint in the world as it required several coats of painting with a brush... Overall it turned out, well, not good, but let's say decent. White areas on door panels were painted Revell flat white which is definitely not my favorite paints and it doesn't lay down really smooth.... It's not good, but I'll have to live with it. Door panel lines were highlighted with black and roll bar was also painted with Revell's gloss black and installed on place. Next up will be installing front seats and racing harnesses. Then I also added minor black wash to rear wheel centers. It gives just a bit of depth on them and makes them look a lot more realistic than without. Niko, something helpful I have found useful over the years is that Humbrol hand painted interiors with flats look great when sprayed the next day with Testors semi gloss right from the rattle can. it puts a nice sheen on all, and, if the hand paint job isn't perfect in spots, it seems to make those areas less evident of that.....just a thought, I have done this a dozen times or so, and it really helps......best,,,,, oh your cars all look great too....the Ace.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted September 27, 2016 Author Share Posted September 27, 2016 Thanks A.C.! That's a great tip that I have to remember next time, as I think I've seen Testors spray paints in some of the hobby shops in here. Usually it's either Revell or Humbrol Enamels that I use in these interiors, so it is indeed worth trying. Thanks! I've been really busy with building my Chevy II, but anyway here's a minor update on the Thunderbolt. Seats are glued in place and I made seat belts for the driver too. Belts theirselves are made by Scale Dreams and belt buckles are Model Car Garage's photo etch pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC Norton Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Thanks A.C.! That's a great tip that I have to remember next time, as I think I've seen Testors spray paints in some of the hobby shops in here. Usually it's either Revell or Humbrol Enamels that I use in these interiors, so it is indeed worth trying. Thanks! I've been really busy with building my Chevy II, but anyway here's a minor update on the Thunderbolt. Seats are glued in place and I made seat belts for the driver too. Belts theirselves are made by Scale Dreams and belt buckles are Model Car Garage's photo etch pieces. no problem, Nikko, hope you try it at some point, but that Tbolt interior above looks fine. my 68 Roadrunner I posted recently in the drag forum section has the semi gloss interior sprayed, but the photos don't show much unfortunately.....anyhow, your builds are super nice.....best, the Ace.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 Looks like I'm a bit late with the reply, but better late than never I guess... Thanks! Your Roadrunner looks very good too, it's great to see one of them being built as a Drag Car too, you don't see that happening too often... I cleaned up mold seams from kit's headers and applied a bit putty over ejector pin marks. On co-driver's side header there was a hole in the collector where you could glue an original exhaust pipe... That had to be filled with styrene rod and I used a bit putty to smooth it out, too. Then both headers were assembled and prepped ready for paint. Now I just need to decide what shade of silver I'm going to paint them. I'm debating between Revell 91 silver and Humbrol 56, which is more like gun metal shade. Then I did the first mock up to check the stance. It doesn't look too bad, but I think I'll lift up the front end a little. But just a little, I don't want it to be too high either. Minor lifting might make it look a bit better though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted November 16, 2016 Author Share Posted November 16, 2016 Here are a couple of pics, I slightly lifted that front end up. I think it looks pretty good now so I'll leave it like that. Next I'll try to start doing some bodywork to get it in Primer soon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted November 24, 2016 Author Share Posted November 24, 2016 The progress isn't very fast, but front and suspension components are getting closer of being ready to install. I sanded all mold lines and other flaws from the body, scribed panel lines a bit deeper and shot a coat of primer on. There are still a couple of spots that need to be fixed, but that's not my biggest problem now. For some reason the paint reacted with the plastic a bit and now it looks like there is a lot of sanding required... I hope block sanding and another coat of primer will solve the problem, I don't want to strip the paint with this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted December 2, 2016 Author Share Posted December 2, 2016 The paint looks a bit better after it dried completely, but it still needs some work before I can go ahead and spray another coat on... Meanwhile some progress was done with the engine and chassis. I added some little details to the engine, for example oil filter decal, throttle return spring, alternator bracket and wires etc. I also gave that whole engine a light black wash to give it a bit depth, not dirty/oily look. Then I glued the engine to chassis. It fit on place perfectly. Headers had to be glued after installing the engine on place. They were not easy to get installed correctly, but after some work I got them on place. Next step should be front suspension and then rear axle together with driveshaft too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted December 11, 2016 Author Share Posted December 11, 2016 I've been installing some chassis components on place recently. Front axle was not an easy one, as one of the steering rods had to go between headers and oil pan. For some reason I couldn't slide it on place as one piece so I had to cut it into two pieces. Then when everything was on place, I glued that steering rod back together. Rear axle fit just perfectly, and I also started making a fuel line from gas tank to fuel pump, but it's not quite done yet. Here's a mock up with the body. Engine fits nicely on its place. Wheels and tires are not glued on place yet, it's just a mock up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 Here is a minor update on my Thunderbolt... Dashboard, steering column and steering wheel had to be painted with the same color as the rest of the interior, but they needed a glossy clear coat on them as they're not upholstered with any kind of material. Interior is painted with Humbrol Enamels, so that was my choice for dash and steering wheel and column too, but right away I knew that Humbrol Enamel clear won't work as it turns yellow by the time. Some people had been saying that you can't spray an automotive gloss clear on top of Revell/Humbrol Enamels, but I gave it a try on a scrap piece of styrene and it worked perfectly. So, now the steering wheel was sprayed with that stuff as well and I like the end result. I'm still debating if I should try painting that Ford emblem on the steering wheel... It's so tiny that it might end up as a mess... Dashboard is getting there too. Pretty much everything else is done but a clear coat. Cauge decals are taken from kit's decal sheet, but it didn't have any decals for that additional meter mounted under the dash. So I painted it gloss black and wiped black paint off from the raised letters and needle. I also added valves to front wheels and did some minor black washing on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PorkChopPaws Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Incredible work ,what did you use to scratch build the linkage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted December 24, 2016 Author Share Posted December 24, 2016 (edited) Thanks Brian! I used a set of different metal wires for the linkage, I think it's mostly copper that I painted but I can't remember for sure... Then there are some pieces I cut from beer can aluminum. Now I'd replace them with Photo Etch pieces, but back then I didn't have any... Hope this helps. A few days ago I shot another coat of primer to the body and it looked pretty good. So today I sanded the body very lightly and painted the first coats of color on it. That metallic blue is really thin so I had to shoot several really light coats of paint on it. Now I'll let it dry a couple of days and then I'll finish the painting by a few more color coats... Edited December 24, 2016 by W-409 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted December 25, 2016 Author Share Posted December 25, 2016 Finally I decided to paint that Ford emblem to the steering wheel center. As it is so tiny, it's not perfect, but I think I can live with it. Then I added just a little black washing in there too. Dashboard and steering column were clear coated earlier and now I just glued everything together. Tachometer is from the kit, I just painted a part of it with Revell's silver and I also used the same method on that cauge face as I used earlier on that another cauge below the dash. Cable was made from spark plug wire. While the dashboard assembly was drying I glued wheels and tires on place. There's not much to do with the chassis anymore, but still some work with the engine bay though... And finally, the interior was finished. Shifter is from the kit but it required some cleanup as there was pretty much mold flash. Dashboard assembly was also glued on place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted January 19, 2017 Author Share Posted January 19, 2017 Next thing was to spray a couple of more light coats of that blue on the body. When the paint was wet I still wasn't completely sure if it's going to look good enough or if it still needs a couple of more coats of paint. Luckily when the paint dried, it looked pretty good so I could move on... So next up, decals! I didn't want to build any specific race car, rather something that could have been running back in the day. So I found a few decals from my parts boxes that looked decent on the T-Bolt. Those "Fagan's Speed Shop" decals on doors were very tricky to install as they broke up into several pieces when I tried to install them. I had to fix them a little with paint, but luckily I found a Revell Enamel that was almost a perfect match. Unfortunately there's only one picture of this body with decals on as my pics from co-driver's side were all out of focus... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reeves Racing Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Looking good Niko. The interior and engines look super clean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Thanks Mitch! This has been a fun project, and I'm really happy to see it's coming finally closer to finish. Today I clear coated the body and luckily it looks good so far. Hopefully it's still good when it's dry, even though I'm not sure if there is enough clear for polishing or do I have to spray another coat on top of it. We'll see about that when it's dry... I also painted the class markings on side windows. I had no decals for them so I painted them by free hand and a tiny brush. I'm pretty happy with them even though they're not perfect. But to be honest, they do look better in person than in this closeup picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted February 14, 2018 Author Share Posted February 14, 2018 Finally the Thunderbolt is back on the bench. The first thing was to paint the area between those side moldings white. The kit had decals for it, but they just didn't fit on place at all. So my only choice was to paint it by brush. After a bit of thinking my only choice was to use a regular brush paint called Miranol from a local hardware store as it was the only white that would cover good enough. Of course the paint needed a bit of thinning before it could be used. Once I get BMF applied, I think it should look pretty good. So the next job was to polish the body. This will take some time, but I started from the easy part which is the roof. It turned out pretty good, now I just hope that I don't polish through the clear coat while polishing the rest of the body... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.