My first car model EVER!!!! Please help!

Can't help you on opinions of the kit itself, sorry.

But as to basic paints: semi-gloss black, aluminium, silver, gunmetal, titanium gold (gold/silver mix) is most of the colours I tend to use on engine and dash. You might need white, yellow etc for some of the buttons(?) Don't know if you may have a wooden dash, though - totally unfamiliar with muscle cars, as you can deduct! You may also want chrome (esp Alclad) for exhausts, maybe some transparent blue and orange to get a burned exhaust look - some of the darker above-mentioned colours can be used for weld seams, too. Very handy colour for just off-black that I use a lot (and you might have in stock, since it looks like you do tanks) is German grey from Tamiya.

Good luck and show us the progress!

You'll want to research some body colours. The Mopars came in some pretty bright colours. I've always like the nickname of InViolet Metallic "Statutory Grape".

Try http://www.autocolorlibrary.com for some original color chip charts. Note that monitors do vary in colour, but it will get you in the ball park. I've always preferred the brighter colors for muscle cars. I mean, who wants a tan muscle car? I think the paint job should serve as a warning for the butt kicking you are about to receive in a race!

You might find a rattle can offers the best painting solution. Not only do they come in the more appropriate car colours, but I find ABs don't spray a wide enough pattern.

Revell kits are usually pretty good. I've got an AMT 69 Barracuda and a Revell 71 Plymouth GTX in my stash. I'm not crazy about the AMT kit, but Revell doesn't offer a late 60s Cuda. I really wanted a 67 Cuda to replicate my old car, but no luck...

Thin solder wire works well for brake and gas lines. Mopar liked using fake wood a lot, and I find that challenging to replicate. You might want to scout out Scale Auto forums for some hints.

Good luck, and don't forget, most muscle cars don't get the extreme weathering a tank does!

QUOTE: Originally posted by SeaBee Can't help you on opinions of the kit itself, sorry. , maybe some transparent blue and orange to get a burned exhaust look - some of the darker above-mentioned colours can be used for weld seams, too.

Sorry to hijack tigertankmans thread but would you mind going into a little detail on using transparent orange and blue on exhaust, sounds like a good idea but I can imagine how bad it could look done wrong so a few tips on how you use it would be appreciated. Thanks


Tigertankman, you can find many factory auto colors in spray cans at auto part stores like Kragen or Napa, Duplicolor is one company that specializes in this, I generally use it for engines since they have practically every factory motor color including the ones for big rigs. They also have many factory body colors as well. Krylon also carries some but they are mostly heavy equipment colors although school bus yellow might be an interesting choice for a muscle car. Krylon Fusion is another spray paint you probably don't use much in armor, it is designed for plastic and I have had very good luck with it, much more forgiving than most rattle cans, unfortunately it is only available in about 6 colors (Red, blue, yellow, white, black and green IIRC).

If you don't already use Future you might want to try it out, it provides a glossy clear coat and does a good job hiding minor blemishes.

The 69 Super Bee is a mid 80s Monogram tool, I built one back in the day. It is a simple and straight forward kit that goes together without any problems, and the result is a nice looking musclecar. If I had to pick one flaw with the kit, it's that the headlights seem a little too small. It doesn't affect the overall appearance of the finishd model too much, though.

The engine should be orange, bell housing flat aluminum, and the tranny cast iron. Suspension and chassis components are semi gloss black, and the chassis itself is red oxide primer with body coloured overspray. The engine compartment on Dodges is body colour. A 69 Super Bee is usually a low trim level Coronet with a monster power plant, so no need to worry about wood trim in the interior.

A couple of links
http://moparmusclemagazine.com/featuredvehicles/25719/

http://www.american-musclecar.com/AMC/samplepages/sample69sbee.html

http://regcars.homestead.com/photobees.html

http://www.hemmings.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/dealers.detail/hmn_vehicle_id/217736%26CFID%3D23410169%26CFTOKEN%3D33760212&h=375&w=500&sz=186&tbnid=pAvEDw68MToJ:&tbnh=95&tbnw=127&hl=en&start=19&prev=/images%3Fq%3D69%2Bsuper%2Bbee%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG

Thanks guys! I'll just have to gather up all that paint and then I'll be a' buildin' away!

Sorry for the delay, been out of town a bit.

The idea with the exhausts is something like this: do your base layer (silver/chrome). Then you a/b some thin dark metallic lines for weld seams, maybe add some more colour (transparent blue or some orange, maybe titanium gold) on bends, etc. You'll have to have a look at the real thing's exhausts to see more or less how it should look like.

I have two examples: an F1 and a bike I built a while ago: Please excuse the errors in the builds, have learned a lot since!

Oh, you can see a lot of this technique in the MotoGP group build! (I will put up a few pics of my effort shortly, but the guys who allready posted will most likely have done this as well...

You will find that Testor Model Master "International Orange" is a close match to the Mopar big block orange for the engine block. Testors recently released a variety of model car spray paints in the "Muscle Car" colors. If I remember right the Mopar purple was called "Plum Crazy". The Model Master paints also have a series of custom car colors including pearl colors. They also have a series of semi-gloss car interior colors.

Before you paint the body do a dry fit of all the body parts and the interior and chassie. You do not want to be scratching paint if something does not fit and needs an "adjustment". If you have not spray painted gloss paint, especilly enamel, practice before you paint your car. If the paint is too thick it will accumulate at the airbrush tip and spit. If it is too thin it will not cover well and it will also run easily. Enjoy the build.

Just keep you mind on it and make sure you DON'T zimm it