Concept Camaro & Firebird

[Custom Mike]

Here's a pair I finished up about a year ago, the Camaro came first, then it was suggested that there needed to be a Firebird to go along with it. Both are Revell based, the Camaro is the 35th Anniversary (2002) with a '69 nose, hood and tail light panel added. I pulled the rear bumper in about a scale foot, tilted the tail light panel in slightly at the top, and then proceeded to sand my butt off. Paint is all Orly nail polish, the base coat is Platinum, the top coat is Hawaiian Punch, and it's all topped off with Dupli-Color clear. The stripe decals were custom made by Keith Marks, along with the license plate. All other decals came from the '69 kit, with the side marker lights coming from the '98 Firebird kit. The interior and chassis are the stock '02 units, with slight modifications to the front of the chassis and radiator so it would fit the new nose. Rims, tires and disc brakes are from Pegasus Hobbies. Now onto it's sister, the Firebird. This is the 1998 kit, with the '68 giving up it's nose, hood, and tail light panel. The spoiler came from AMT's old '69 Trans-Am kit, and it needed to be narrowed to fit the rear end of this one, then grooves were cut into the hatch to drop the spoiler and get the right angle on it. I opened up the fender vents and added stainless mesh behind them, and replace the kit grilles with the same mesh (Blacked out). Interior and chassis are like the Camaro, basically stock kit units with slight mods and flocking. Rims, tires and disc brakes are from Pegasus again, with the back tires replaced with larger units to try to add some rake. A chin spoiler from the '69 Camaro was added and extended around to the wheel wells, then the decals from the '68 kit were applied, along with a license plate from Keith Marks. Paint is House of Kolors Lime Time over Kandy Silver, with what was intended to be a ghost stripe down the center, but the Gold base didn't really work too well for that. Looking back on these, the nose of the Camaro ended up way too stubby, and the Firebird looks kind of "squared" off at certain angles, but I consider both of them to be pretty nice, and the lessons learned on these two are being put into practice on my Concept Charger. Enjoy the pictures, and let's see if anyone can tell me what the license plates mean!

Edited October 18, 2007 by Mike S.

[made007]

Great work you did there, both are great ideas, i will try some of this in the future,............Maybe not

[Trans Am Erik]

Lookin good Mike! I found these out on the net about the same time i found your Charger. I diddn't know that they were yours til I saw your icon. Nice job blending the first and fourth gen bodies. I LIKE that Firebird, but you know I'm partial! My '07 Trans Am went into primer today and it's shaping up.

[kk916]

Those turned out WAY cool, I like that they are another variation of the firebird/Camaro concepts. They remind me alot of a Vette I took some pics of at the Concourso in 2006.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/Gre...so/DSCN1724.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/Gre...so/DSCN1727.jpg

[Custom Mike]

Jose, give a custom a shot, the worst that can happen is you get stuck, and go back to building stock stuff. I know I had quite a few failures before I pulled one off, I'd hate to see some of them now! K.K., I've seen a resin version of that Vette, one day I'll actually buy it! Erik, hurry up an get that T/A painted, I want to see it!

[Matt T.]

Awesome craftsmanship! And great blending of styles too. You should try one based on the Camaro Concept now.

Edited October 24, 2007 by Matt T.

[Custom Mike]

Matt, I've got a friend on another Forum doing that right now, so I'll wait until he finishes his before I do one. His idea is really solid, and I don't want him to stop because I blew past him--he's new at the custom stuff, so I want to encourage him. So once he's done I'll take a crack at it. Right now my Concept Charger is taking up most of my time, along with a few painting projects for friends, but I plan on something being done to the new Camaro in the future.