1 bad55 stan Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 This is a cool project.Like Carl said should look great with the black on it...Nice work by the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie8575 Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Very nice, Bob. Charlie Larkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spkgibson Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Nice job on the conversion, Thats the same way I made my '72 Demon a few years ago,The Elky looks perfect, Very nice color choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron5150 Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Very nice job so far, this is a neat project, I've never really seen to many modeled camino's so this is awesome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ellis Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 Got some Bare Metal Foil on tonight. next will add Model Car Garage SS emblems and put it all together. Maybe a SS 402 instead of a 454? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 (edited) Very nice work! What color are you planning to paint it? (Whoops, posted that Q before I got to Page 2). I have an original AMT '69 in need of restoration so I appreciate your comparo with the '68 body. I'll keep those things in mind when I do mine. I have the Jimmy Flintstone '72 Elky body and an AMT (real AMT, not the ex-MPC) kit for a donor, but the thickness of the resin in the area where the windshield goes keeps me from starting on it. Apparently this is a common problem with Flintstone bodies as I have a couple others the same way, and have heard others complain about it. Maybe I'd be better off just using my '72 and a '68 Elky and doing what you're doing. I doubt it would be any MORE work. I want to paint it Spring Green. Edited September 6, 2014 by Snake45 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ellis Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 (edited) Snake, this has been discussed in a lot of posts here and on Facebook, but it is worth repeating. The problem with making a different year El Camino out of the AMT '68 El Camino, is that the width of the recent AMT Chevelle kit is wider than the previous AMT Chevelle kit that originated from the AMT '68 Chevelle. The current AMT Round2 '72 Chevelle is based off the original '68 Chevelle kit as well. This is why it is virtually impossible to add an AMT '69 Chevelle front bumper to a newer AMT '68 El Camino and create a '69 El Camino. Jimmy Flintstone used the original '69 El Camino with an AMT '70 or '72 Chevelle kit and it fits. Finding an original AMT '69 El Camino can be difficult and expensive. It also has errors in the door windows. The original '69 El Camino is on the bottom. The new kit is really a great kit with more details. I removed about one inch from the front of the two kits; the '72 Chevelle and the '68 El Camino. I did not use the whole '72 front clip because it would be narrow. I had to use a bit of Evergreen Styrene as shim to make it fit as well. The attached photo show the cut. The '72 hood must be sand down to reduce the thickness on the side edges. Otherwise, it will be to high. Edited September 6, 2014 by Bob Ellis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 I think the current Round 2 "AMT" '72 Chevelle is actually the old MPC. It's different from the old (from the '80s) AMT '72 Chevelle kits I have. I'm not surprised that it's too narrow. Several of the MPC kits of that era are too narrow and/or undersized completely, including the '68-'69 Camaros and Firebirds and the '69 Mustang. As I said, I have an original AMT '69 Elky so I got that covered. I want to do a '68 Elky as one of the Air Force U-2 support cars. I've collected a handful of pics of these rare monsters over the years and I can't really tell if they're '68s or '69s, and if they're SSs or not (they did have the 396 engines, just not sure if they came down with the SS trim), but I'm just gonna take my best guess and do it on the '68 kit. You sound like the "go-to guy" on Caminos. Thanks for the tips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w451973 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Nice build and thanks for the heads up on these. I never new there was a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ellis Posted September 7, 2014 Author Share Posted September 7, 2014 Probably not a good idea cutting up an original El Camino. Better to use newer kits. MPC and AMT made 1971 and 1972 Chevelles. You may be correct that the MPC is more narrow than the AMT version. The current 1970 and 1972 ERTL or Round2 Chevelle kits are derived from the last AMT Chevelle called Red Alert. The MPC was last seen as a MPC kit called SSlasher or SS454 during the '80s. That kit has been missing quite a few years (30+) and was ruined after MPC turned it into a NASCAR kit in the '70s. You can still see damage where restoration as a stock Chevelle was not that great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 I'm not going to "cut up" my original '69 Elky, other than to remove the incorrect chrome trim off the lower body. Now that you've brought it to my attention, I might add the window frames. The current "AMT" '72 Chevelle looks different from the '80s AMT '72 I recently built. (It might have even been from a Red Alert box, I don't remember--lost the box years ago.) The grille in the current one looks like the grille in the old MPC kits. Maybe Round 2 has retooled it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ellis Posted September 7, 2014 Author Share Posted September 7, 2014 Snake, you are right about the '72 grille. The Round2 grille is funky. The grill I used came from the Matchbox or early ERTL AMT 72 Chevelle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozono Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Sweet........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc @ MPC Motorsports Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Probably not a good idea cutting up an original El Camino. Nobody told me that. I have two of the vintage Modelhaus resin 1969 El Camino bodies that haven't been made since AMT came out with the new tool 1968 El Camino in the 1990's. I also had a body and a few parts from a previously built AMT 1969 El Camino annual and a body from an original AMT 1970 Chevelle SS from the "Motor City" series with a busted roof. I performed a nose transplant on the El Camino body to make a 1970 El Camino. This is all I have done for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ellis Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 Marc you did a great job grafting a '70 nose on the '69 El Camino. You have to get the model finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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