Cuttin' up the new Revell 'Cuda

[jeffs396]

Here's what I've been tinkering with...

Obviously cut the lid off, pretty straight-forward, but had to sand flat the panel forward of the trunk lid, as well as the quarter panel tops.

I cut down the top-of-door moldings to replicate the 1:1s better, I think this helps the somewhat 'high-sided' look of the kit body. Shaved just a bit off of the bottoms of the rockers too:

Here's what 19" Pegasus aluminum sleeves look like wrapping the cut-down and dull-coated stock kit wheels, as well as the corrected wheel opening on the body:

Edited December 22, 2013 by jeffs396

[Skypower]

That is awesome. Gonna be so cool. I wish I could had that kind of talent.

[Ramfins59]

That's looking good Jeff.

[o-man]

Great start! Will be watching your progress.

[FASTBACK340]

I agree, looking good Jeff! Nice seeing the new stuff getting sliced up! Drivetrain ideas yet?

[slusher]

Very nice and a solid start Jeff.

[PappyD340]

Teriffic start Jeff, I'm liking it already!!

[Erik Smith]

Those wheels look great.

So you shaved the over-done flares? A tedious job that looks like it came out perfect.

[Ira]

Great Start Jeff!

[jeffs396]

Thanks for the nice comments everyone!

I agree, looking good Jeff! Nice seeing the new stuff getting sliced up! Drivetrain ideas yet?

I'm thinkin' the kit supplied drivetrain John, as the other mods will give me plenty of additional work!

Those wheels look great.

So you shaved the over-done flares? A tedious job that looks like it came out perfect.

Still a little tweaking to go on the wheel openings Erik. Gotta get some primer on to see exactly where I'm at and better pics too, white styrene on a white background isn't the best for showing progress

[jeffs396]

You gonna use the 71 Cuda boot?

No, don't have one on hand. It's 1/24th anyway, not sure how much it would have to be cut-down. The one from the AMT 1/25 Challenger fits well, I think I'll use it. Would like to find an uptop to modify to fit too, but not sure if one's been made that's close, '72 Cutlass maybe???

[Maindrian Pace]

Looking great, Those 19" Pegasus sleeves are darn useful, I wish there was still an easy way to get them.

-MJS

[Guest]

Looking good Jeff! Is there anyway to modify the kit roof for an up top? I've thought of taking a kit roof,cut sections out of it and turn it into the frame. Then cover it with something like masking tape or .005 styrene and add a texture to it.

[Jordan 191]

Those wheels are great.

[shucky]

Jeff looks great. Are those the standard Pegasus tires or something else?

[am73grand]

Love this!!!

Those wheels are killer!!!

[66belair]

Looks great with top off.

[iBorg]

A couple of thoughts.....

I would look at the up top from the AMT Challenger. With some seams added to it, it could work well. Also check the height of the interior. I've found it to be very tall with the kit chassis. I am going to use the Revell chassis with an MPC body. To do that, the Revell chassis bucket cannot be used. A lot of work but the Revell door panels are much better than the MPC parts.

[george 53]

Mike, WHAT AMT Challenger COMES with an UP TOP??? The convert DOESN'T have a convertible "UP" top. only the boot.

[Rob Hall]

There are no convertible uptops that I know of for a 1/25th Cuda....the only thing close that could probably be tweaked to work is a resin '69 Camaro uptop.

[Guest]

Mike, WHAT AMT Challenger COMES with an UP TOP??? The convert DOESN'T have a convertible "UP" top. only the boot.

Mike's talking about this kit (I think). But, it's not actually a convertible uptop. It's an option vinyl hard top. It could possibly work with some effort.

[jeffs396]

Jeff looks great. Are those the standard Pegasus tires or something else?

Mike, neither front nor rear tires are Pegasus...the rears are unknown (Corvette?) Goodyears, size 335/35R/20 from the parts box, and fronts are from the Cuda kit for the 'custom wheels'.

Guys, I've played around with the remnants of the kit lid that I cut free, and also the optional top from the Challenger kit Roger posted a pic of, and both would require tons of work to look like a softop. I think either modifying an existing convertible uptop or scratching one as Roger suggested would be the best option. An uptop for me is not a deal breaker, it looks good top down with a boot too

Thanks for the continued interest everyone, hopefully I'll get some progress over the next few days...

[shucky]

Thanks for the info! They look fantastic the way you configured them.

[Ron Hamilton]

Jeff,

Your conversion is excellent!!!! I would think that modifying the up-top from the Revell '72 cutlass would probably be the way to go. The slope of the back section is similar, and there is enough up front to tweak. the only issue could be where the bows are. You may have to slice it up to fit.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Ron Hamilton

[MrObsessive]

First I want to say I LOVE this conversion! Any modeler that's brave enough to cut into plastic to make it what he or she wants is OK in my book!

Now about the top..........why not simply modify the roof into an uptop that you cut off? I did this on both my '58 Impala, and the '64 GTO I was working on years ago. The basic shape would already fit--------you would just need to add top bows, and give the sail panels that correct "droop" that most convertible tops have. This would save you from buying a kit for just the top, and having to modify it when it's really not for the same car.

Here's a pic of what the top should look like. These are off a Challenger, but both it and the 'Cuda shared the same top frames.

Hope this helps you out!