My first WIP here; '70 Dodge Challenger T/A, Parts

[Roadrunner]

7 hours ago, David G. said:

Whatever was wrong with it, it looks correct now.

David G.

Several things. There's supposed to be a thin strip of metal down the backside that isn't present (perhaps the front as well, but I can't confirm that), the contour on the passenger side of the grip is all wrong, and there should be three screws on the passenger side of the grip that are also missing. Still though, it looks adequate and I'm happy to be calling it finished.

[Roadrunner]

Bumpers stripped, sanded and given a base coat of Tamiya gloss black lacquer. I’ll hit them with Alclad chrome tomorrow, or perhaps later tonight. (Fingers crossed.)

[Roadrunner]

Painting the Dodge letters on the tail light with Molotow really stumped me (the letters are really delicate), but I finally figured out a way to do it. Here is the result. This may or may not really show up well on the finished kit, but I certainly hope it does.

[David G.]

Dang!

That came out great!

David G.

[atomicholiday]

That looks excellent!  How’d you manage it?

[Roadrunner]

11 hours ago, David G. said:

Dang!

That came out great!

David G.

Thanks a bunch. It still needs some minor tweaking, but if my luck continues to hold, it'll turn out just fine I think.

1 hour ago, atomicholiday said:

That looks excellent!  How’d you manage it?

I created a flat stamp out of plastic bits, smeared a layer of chrome on it, and just stamped the letters. Still a teeny bit of cleanup needed with alcohol, but should work out just great.

[Roadrunner]

I also went ahead and hogged out the wheel hubs. I have a floating spindle (front right), and this should provide the adjustment necessary to correct that.

[Roadrunner]

Bumpers now coated with Alclad Chrome. Front bumper has two sink marks that I hadn't seen before, so I'll go ahead and correct those, then repaint.

[Roadrunner]

I've now gone ahead and spritzed the interior areas with flat black enamel. The enamel didn't get along well with the lacquer thinner at all. I knew there would be a certain amount of overspray, now matter how carefully I applied it, so I didn't bother washing out the polishing compound in the door area recesses before, knowing I'd just have to do it again after wiping away the spray on the exterior.

[Roadrunner]

I'm now calling the interior 100% finished,.... Yay!

[Roadrunner]

Too bad nobody makes VIN dash tags, at least not that I'm aware of.

[David G.]

Nice progress, the interior looks great!

David G.

[Roadrunner]

Windshield now has the wipers spray painted (using aluminum enamel), and looks just horrible, so I'll treat it to some oven cleaner and try again. I had intended to use aluminum BMF for this, but can't find mine, as is all too typical for me.

[Roadrunner]

Interestingly enough, oven cleaner didn't phase it. Regardless, I broke it while polishing anyway, so have grabbed another replacement that I'm preparing right now.

[Roadrunner]

So, BMF chrome becomes the flavor of the day after all. I'm much happier with this now, and can proceed to other "stuff".

[Roadrunner]

I managed to completely mangle the hood paint once more, so I stripped it clean (again). Some of the putty was once again removed, so I’ve applied a very thin layer of Vallejo acrylic; which is really fabulous stuff.

[David G.]

Bummer about the hood...

But hey, victory with the wipers!

Right?

David G.

[atomicholiday]

9 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

I managed to completely mangle the hood paint once more, so I stripped it clean (again). Some of the putty was once again removed, so I’ve applied a very thin layer of Vallejo acrylic; which is really fabulous stuff.

I went through this early this summer.   Heck, my Camaro got stripped 3 times.   Sucks while you're going through it but it'll be worth it in the end. 

[Roadrunner]

6 hours ago, David G. said:

Bummer about the hood...

But hey, victory with the wipers!

Right?

David G.

Right. Thanks for looking in.

4 hours ago, atomicholiday said:

I went through this early this summer.   Heck, my Camaro got stripped 3 times.   Sucks while you're going through it but it'll be worth it in the end. 

That's certainly my hope. Thanks.

[Roadrunner]

Hood given a coat of black acrylic and once again, looks terrible. I'll strip it again and see if I can figure it all out. I have the annoying feeling that this car won't be finished by Sunday, despite all my best efforts.

[Roadrunner]

I must say that there’s been a steep learning curve here for me, but on the plus side, I feel that I’ve learned a lot with this project. Here I’ve airbrushed some more blue on the rear passenger side, as I had polished right through the clear coat, paint and into the white primer, and in several spots too. Naturally enough, I now have a darker patch of blue in this location. This now absolutely knocks out any chance of this going into a competition, but I’ll finish it regardless, then just take photos of the driver side, front and rear. (It seems like the more I mess with this car, the worse it’s getting.) I will not be making all of these errors in the future, trust me, as I’ve been making prodigious notes regarding this effort; what went wrong, what went right, and why.

[Roadrunner]

All interior glass now polished up. Rear window unit looks great, but windshield itself appears to still have some minor scratches, possibly indicating that my polishing cloth needs to go in the washer.

[David G.]

Wow, this one has been quite the challenge, I admire your perseverance!

There are two sayings that I have in my signature line:

"Model builders, we're problem solvers who create our own problems to solve!"

"Each kit I build is really only practice for the next one!"

They've kept me going through some rough builds.

David G.

[Roadrunner]

The first quote sort of reminds me of an old saying regarding alcoholics. "An alcoholic is a person that drinks to escape from the problems that their drinking causes".

[bobthehobbyguy]

On 10/25/2023 at 3:45 PM, Roadrunner said:

I must say that there’s been a steep learning curve here for me, but on the plus side, I feel that I’ve learned a lot with this project. Here I’ve airbrushed some more blue on the rear passenger side, as I had polished right through the clear coat, paint and into the white primer, and in several spots too. Naturally enough, I now have a darker patch of blue in this location. This now absolutely knocks out any chance of this going into a competition, but I’ll finish it regardless, then just take photos of the driver side, front and rear. (It seems like the more I mess with this car, the worse it’s getting.) I will not be making all of these errors in the future, trust me, as I’ve been making prodigious notes regarding this effort; what went wrong, what went right, and why.

You have the right attitude by learning from your  mistakes. The more models you do the better you will get.

A word of advice in general is try to avoid putting pressure to finish a model for a contest. It increases the chances of mistakes. Focus on getting the car done and then see about entering it in a contest. You will be a lot happier in the long run.