MPC '69 Camaro (Guilty Pleasure Kit)--Pic Added 11/17/16

[Snake45]

I have some kind of weird soft spot for the old MPC '69 Camaro. I've built four over the years, the first in 1969, the last in 2012 or so. Found another one—I think it's the last—in the Snakepit and couldn't resist seing what I can do with it.

 

This really is a wretched backbirth of a kit. It was based on the original MPC '68 molds, which weren't too bad, but they only did a half-assed job of converting it to a true '69. Hence the low wheel openings and weird body side contours. Now I could fix all that, but with the accurate Revell kit available, why bother? I thought this half-breed body might be the perfect use for some of those modern dicky wheels in one of the “Resto-Mod” kits. We'll see if that works out or not.

 

Here's what the thing looks like out of the box:

 

 

I cleaned the body off completely of all chrome trim, emblems, etc, except the window trim and the SS on the rear panel. Scibed in the panel lines at the front fenders, tulip panel, header panel, front valence, rear panel, and lower quarter/rocker panel. Spent several evenings in front of the TV sharpening and refining the body contours, and filling a couple low spots.

 

 

 

 

 

Body and hood went to the paint shop for primer yesterday (second coat). Last night I glued extensions to the ill-fitting spoiler and rear valence, and this morning spent about three hours making those parts FIT the way they SHOULD. Sigh.

 

 

 

In the above photo you can see what I'm doing with the rear SS emblem. I foiled it, painted black around it, filled in the SS letters with white paint, then scraped the paint off the raised borders of the letters with a toothpick. The rear panel will be painted black. I haven't trimmed the foil off yet. Before I paint it, I'll trim as close as I can, and then mask the letters with liquid mask.

 

Here's a couple more shots of the body and hood in primer. It went to the paint shop today and got its first coat of color. The spoiler and rear valence got their first primer. Might need some refinement and then will be painted later. I'll have them all caught up by the time the body is polished out.

 

 

 

 

Oh, well, it'll look a little different from all the other '69 Camaros on my shelf, anyway....

Edited October 17, 2016 by Snake45

[hjracing]

Sounds like another cool project from Snake!

[Snake45]

I'm doing it Pro Touring, more or less, and am using the 18" wheels and tires from the "Resto Rod" issue of the AMT (ex-MPC) '69 Mustang. I posted a question down in the Questions section about disk brakes and got some great help and ideas. So I made some disk brakes out of four 1/2" washers and some scrap plastic. Finished the shaping on the first one and took a couple pics to see what it would look like (I'll be painting the calipers bright red before I'm done).

I drilled lower axle mounting holes on the front end of the chassis, and I think this stance will look about right. The front wheel has the disk brake in it (it slipped out of place because it's not glued to anything yet, just sitting in there), the rear is just a plain black wheel back. Which looks better?

Meanwhile, in the paint shop, the color is on and I'm working on building up a good clear coat to polish out. Using Krylon Crystal Clear, which takes several coats to build up to a polishable finish (the stuff dries VERY thin).

[Snake45]

Scratchbuilt bigass disk brakes installed, paint and clearcoat on, still needs to be polished out.

[W-31]

Looks spot on, what a way to polish a turd!

[Snake45]

The paint job died today. Was polishing out the clear and went through in three different places. The first two, I figured I'd just touch up but third time was the deal-breaker. Fortunately this paint won't be that hard to get off--it should come right off in rubbing alcohol. I'll never use that clearcoat again (Krylon Crystal Clear). Next time around I'll clearcoat it with Testor One-Coat Wet Look, which goes on pretty thick, or my old standby, Model Master Clear Top Coat Enamel, airbrushed.

That Krylon clear is nice and clear and dries fast but also dries VERY thin. I had at least eight coats on this thing but it wasn't enough. Sigh.

Well, I got the interior finished, anyway. The paint job re-do will just set the project back a week or so. At least I didn't have any extensive puttywork that I might lose in the strip. The primer underneath should stand up to the alcohol (it has before) and even if the putty gets wiped out, it's only in a couple simple places.

Edited October 24, 2014 by Snake45

[Bob Ellis]

How old is this black '69 Camaro. A recent re-issue?

[Snake45]

How old is this black '69 Camaro. A recent re-issue?

Oh, no. I think it's from the '80s. You can see part of the box in the latest pic. It has Pontiac V8 and OHC6 engines, and a Firebird steering wheel.

The last issue from these molds I know of was the AMT-boxed Yenko. This issue went back to the standard exposed headlights/grille, though not the same part as the original annual kit. And they did something with the roof on the Yenko kit. It's not the same as all earlier versions, and it doesn't look right.

[slusher]

Real nice work on those disc brakes Snake. Good looking shade of green...

[Snake45]

Good looking shade of green...

It's Testor Mythic or Mystic Emerald. It has much less sparkle or flakiness than some other colors in this line. I don't think it looks TOO far off the MCW '68-'69 Chevy Rally Green that I did my Revell Yenko in. If/when I ever get this one finished, I'm gonna dig that Yenko out and photograph the two side by side. I think if you had to, you could pass this stuff off as Rally Green.

[Snake45]

After a 2-year hiatus, pulled this one off the Shelf of Doom and have been trying to drag it across the finish line. Here's the finished interior. It's all from the kit except the seats. I forget what they're from, maybe one of the AMT Resto-Mod kits. Thought the red inserts would make a nice highlight matching the brakes. I painted the floor flat black but the rest of the gut is just the kit black plastic (except of course for the "wood" and chrome trim). What looks more like black plastic than black plastic, huh? I think this it basically a Firebird interior anyway. Ah shucks oh well.