67 GTX rebuild Sinister Snake Update 11-05-21 Finished!

[TFchronos]

This is the rebuild of my oldest surviving model kit and is my second entry to the Cannonball Run cpb. I built it when I was 12 or 13 so it's about 10 years old. My plans for it this time around are to build it up like something from the Fast and Furious movies. It will have the suspension and power plant from a Viper thus the snake part of the name. Bare bones interior, roll cage, something made for performance, haven't decided on a color yet I got a few ideas but just can't decide.

Here's what I'm starting with.

And now. . . wait for it . . .

It's BATH TIME!!! . . . . *looks around*

Alright come out from behind the couch everyone, I'm talking about the car not you guys.

And after 2 odd days it's half done.

And after 2 more days the blue is off, I'm going to try to take the grey off but for now I think I'll used it for sanding. There's a few aspects of the car I want to change.

And that will kick off this build, thanks for looking.

Edited November 21, 2013 by TFchronos

[TFchronos]

Well I've started work on the frame, after some debating on whether or not I should try modifying the stock frame or build a new frame for the Viper suspension, I decided to build a new one and here's were it's at so far.

Thanks for looking!

[hvymtl]

Dude I am impressed!!!!!!!!! might i suggest Viper Snake skin green?

Michael

[DrKerry]

lookin good so far!!!!!

[TFchronos]

Dude I am impressed!!!!!!!!! might i suggest Viper Snake skin green?

Michael

Thanks! I'll definitely keep that color in mind, looks good on them Vipers.

lookin good so far!!!!!

Thank you!

[TFchronos]

Started work on the body the changes are as follows.

Before

The wheel wells were a little to small for my liking so I removed the trim pieces around them and the trim below the doors.

Smoothed up the roof and removed some of the trim along the bottom of the roof.

The gas cap has been recessed to improve aerodynamics (not by a lot though). This idea was borrowed from the Daytona from Fast and Furious 6.

And Finally the most noticeable change the grill. Going for a Fast and Furious look and just a little more intimidating overall I thought it would look pretty good with a wire mesh grill, very similar to the Charger's grill. It will get the wire mesh shortly (next update).

Here's what it looks like on the car. I also cut out most of the engine bay so I could squeeze the wider tires in.

Thanks for looking!

[freakshow12]

I need popcorn! This is going to be good I think

[jrherald420]

Sweet looking build!

[Steak&Brew]

this is gonna be awesome

[Dragfreak]

Very cool!

Edited June 14, 2013 by Dragfreak

[TFchronos]

Thanks you guys!

Here's another update starting with the grill. The mesh is brass screen .006 dia. which was picked up off of ebay. A free sample actually, I bought a larger scale mesh screen a while back. I guess he was trying to promote a new product anyway as soon as I saw it I knew exactly were it was going.

On the car

Continuing with my modding spree I removed the window posts.

I'm also changing the back end a bit. I'm going to body most of it in getting rid of the chrome, I think I'll leave the bumper chrome though idk, opinions welcome. I'm also bringing the tail lights all the way across and relocating the back up lights into the bumper.

I'm also thinking about bodying in the front bumper. I have two and the chrome has worn off one of them so I thought I'd try it out, that will be part of the next update I think. Opinions, idea's, criticism, all of it is welcome.

Thanks for looking!

[dino246gt]

I think chrome bumpers look better, or if your chrome is too bad, you could strip and spray them aluminum, but body color looks too dated to me anyway. And as for the back up lights, Foose always removes them from bumpers, so I think if you want a smooth look, I'd skip that design idea as well, it won't be backing up much anyway, I'd say no back up lights if you're going with a red lense all the way across that back. I don't use outside mirrors on my customs either, keeps it smoother looking, but just like back up lights, if it was a real car, they would be required...........luckily it's a model! Oh, and I love your grille!

Edited June 14, 2013 by dino246gt

[geemoney]

that grill is fine!

[TFchronos]

Thanks for your inputs you guys.

Update time, the engine is sitting on it's own now and the rear end has been resized to fit.

If you look at the body of a gtx it's got a little bow to it, the roof doesn't follow it, it goes up a little. So I thought I'd change that on mine a lower it just a little, not to give it an angry squinted look, just lower it to keep it consistent with the body. Here's how much I was going to lower it by.

It should be noted this is the first time I've ever tried lowering a roof and my inexperience showed. Using a lighter to warn the posts to bend them a little the plastic got to hot to quickly and curled all around. With one ruined I just cut the other side off and proceeded to make my own posts, hopefully I can make them look good, if not I'll have to locate another body. I wont ever be doing that again, here's what it looks like now.

Well see where it goes from here, thanks for looking!

[jrherald420]

Looks like a good time to shave off the window moldings.

[TFchronos]

Here's an update. I'm going to keep working with this body I think I can make the windows look good so I'm on to other things now. This first pic is of the front end piece I had been working on which would have been bodied in. The second is with the chrome bumper, after comparing the two I'm liking the chrome a little more, your opinions on this are welcome and greatly appreciated.

The next set of pictures are of something I've never tried before and that is cutting out the doors and trunk lid.

As always thanks for taking a look.

[Odaroloc24]

This looks AWESOME!! One of the few I actually read all of the posts! Keep it up!

Mike

[codie27]

Lookin good so far.

[Dragfreak]

nice job cutting out the doors and trunk lid I've thought about trying that but I haven't been brave enough to actually do it.

[TFchronos]

This looks AWESOME!! One of the few I actually read all of the posts! Keep it up!

Mike

Thanks Mike

Lookin good so far.

Thanks Codie

[TFchronos]

nice job cutting out the doors and trunk lid I've thought about trying that but I haven't been brave enough to actually do it.

Thanks, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, as long as you have a good blade and a steady hand you will be fine. Making the hinges is proving to be a little bit of a challenge though.

[blunc]

if you haven't done it already, I suggest adding some internal bracing to the body since it will be very fragile with the doors/trunk cut out and the roof dropped a bit.

it would be a shame for it to go all to pieces after this much work.

I have a small scale TA that I'm leaving "cutting the trunk open" till after I've completed all the door panel fitting and interior work since I have to do a bunch of fitting/testing/disassembly during this process.

[blunc]

I betting if you can make a frame from scratch that you can come close to making hinges similar to the real hinges.

[TFchronos]

if you haven't done it already, I suggest adding some internal bracing to the body since it will be very fragile with the doors/trunk cut out and the roof dropped a bit.

it would be a shame for it to go all to pieces after this much work.

I have a small scale TA that I'm leaving "cutting the trunk open" till after I've completed all the door panel fitting and interior work since I have to do a bunch of fitting/testing/disassembly during this process.

Thanks for the advice, it feels pretty strong but I'll see about adding some bracing or something to strengthen it up some.

[TFchronos]

After a few failed attempts some head scratching and a few more failed attempts I finally got the doors back on. The trunk lid will have to wait until I get the back of the interior in before I can attach it. Next I'm going to sand off the rest of the grey and spray a new primer on it then start working on the body work.

I also made custom headers for the engine, stock ended up hitting the frame so I tried my hand at making my own.

Thanks for looking!