Monogram 1969 Camaro SS-PROJECT COMPLETED-07/20

Hello!

Now I wonder what are you going to make out of this baby! Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Hopefully something good. lol . Thanks Pawel.

How did you get everything apart so cleanly?

Apparently you do not glue stuff to withstand the acopolypse, as I tend to do for whatever reason.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one, Joe.

Johnny: I know right ??? Thanks bud.

Greg: You know I guess I didn't get everything glued down to the max back then. The only thing that's been giving me trouble is getting the headlights out of the grille. May have to do some fancy foot work there. Thanks for the good word.

Say good bye to the paint fellas. Currently in a bath of Dot 3 Brake Fluid:



and I just acquired this yesterday....

 Tire / wheel search currently in progress....

I cleaned up most of the interior parts in regards to excessive flash and sprue joins got most of the small parts separated like the steering wheel and master cylinder and stuff like that. I ordered a spare kit just because I needed some parts that were missing or otherwise deemed unusable just this morning.

The parts I need are all there...........

Still on this one fellas. I've managed to strip most of the paint from all the parts.

The body turned out pretty good and still needs some cleaning up. I ended up clipping one of the rear tail light openings at the bottom and knocked the thin strip at the bottom of the opening out so I'll have to work some fancy foot work to get that back in line but it shouldn't be all that bad.

I've got the wheels and tires picked out for it now after a few days of searching.

I started setting up two different stances but I like the second one alot better so I think we'll be going with that one.

This isn't going to be a "numbers matching Camaro" as I'll be changing a few things up to more of a mild modified street car. I'm currently looking for a blank grille with no Z/28 or RS emblems in it. I had 'em on ebay just last night and forgot to visit when I was supposed to and lost it.

Stay tuned...more coming this week.

Oh, this will be awesome Joe. I really enjoy your "refurbish" builds. They're a departure from the norm and lend to some quite clever modeling from you. Not to mention that it's just plain fun to watch the overall transformation. I also like the second stance. glad that you are going with that one. I'll be following along and offering up a healthy dose of "oohs and aahs" Bring it on!

Glad you're here Joe! I didn't wanna spoil the surprise for you in just blabbing it to you. Thanks for the good word bubba.

This is turning out to be a very interesting redo.  Nice start!

Toshi

Thanks Toshi!

Coming along nicely mustang1989.

I tried the same thing recently when I'd lashed the paint up on a build, but the brake fluid has been in the garage at least 25 years, since my time building kit cars, and it picks up condensation anyway which waters it down.

I'll have to get another tin!

Aww, you'll have that interior dressed up real nice and all real lookin' and such.

Thanks for the comments Joe and Pat!!

Sorry for the delay in updates everybody. I've been working on this thing but there are a lot of corrections to make. First off the PE bezels are NOT going to work with this dash ....................BUT I've got a different plan. Here's where we start this morning.....



I drilled out the IP gauges and sanded down the back of them for the scale thickness factor and sanded the Camaro emblem off as well as cleaned up a bunch of flash and sinkholes that I found not only on top of the dash but the face of it as well. I also sanded that Camaro script from the dash.

We'll be slingin' paint on this thing about anytime now:

Dash is complete. I got the film instruments and the "Camaro" script from the PE set. All dash trim was brought out with a silver lead pencil. While it's not the best dash you'll ever see, it's a far cry from what it was.

Very nicely done Joe. Superb work on refurbishing it and giving it a more detailed and realistic look.

Thank you Joe. Hopefully the rest of the interior goes as smooth as this part did.

As promised , I've been working on the steering column along with the dash for the better part of 3 days. First off I took the OOB steering wheel and cut out the spoke holes and shaved off the horn pad. I then drilled two holes in the column. One on the right for the ignition switch, key and key chain and the one on the left for a turn signal lever. I painted the steering wheel spokes with the newly acquired chrome pen that I just got in the mail and installed a PE "SS" horn pad. I then took a PE key along with a PE ignition switch bezel and a PE key chain with a "Bowtie" on it , made a scratch built key ring and put it all together and installed it into the column. The turn signal lever is made from a .019" needle I had in the spares box and I'll be painting a black knob on the end of it tomorrow morning. Any ways here it all is. I'll show the before picture (which I knew I should have taken a more clear "before" picture of the dash beforehand but this is all I've got) and then the improvement pics:

Before:



After:

Your work on the dash is awesome. The steering column is great. Looks like the new chrome pen worked quite well. Seems that I'll have to be getting one of those myself. It really astounds me the amount and quality of AM stuff that is out there for autos. It's really terrific. Amazing stuff Joe. Keep it a comin'.

Thanks Joe. I hear you on the AM stuff for autos. It blows me away sometimes at the amount of stuff that's out there.

tempestjohnny

Gees when I'm through with all these plane GB's you're giving me the idea to start a car

 

That dash is the spittin' image of your reference pic. Nice work.

But where's the woodgrain steering wheel rim? (Just razzing you, I read what you said about woodgrain. Yuck)

Tell me about this chrome pen, should you feel the urge. Results on the steering wheel spokes look good.

Greg

Tell me about this chrome pen, should you feel the urge. Results on the steering wheel spokes look good.

I just got through buying a chrome pen from this company called Art Primo. They come in a variety of sizes and I got the smallest one since I do a lot of chrome trim work. I used it for the first time a couple of days ago on my Camaro steering wheel and dash trim and have to say that it works great!! It will also work great for stuff like aircraft landing gear oleo's.

Here's a short video if you are curious.

redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_148535903601811&key=bbb516d91daee20498798694a42dd559&libId=iyd48sw6010004m6000DAk6vzee2z&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fcustom-model-society.boards.net%2Fthread%2F497%2Fchrome-pen%3Fpage%3D1&v=1&out=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FmqZgAy6kRG0&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fcustom-model-society.boards.net%2Fthreads%2Frecent%3Fpage%3D2&title=Chrome%20Pen%20%7C%20Custom%20Model%20Society&txt=youtu.be%2FmqZgAy6kRG0

and where to buy one of these bad boys at:

redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_148535906951415&key=bbb516d91daee20498798694a42dd559&libId=iyd48sw6010004m6000DAk6vzee2z&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fcustom-model-society.boards.net%2Fthread%2F497%2Fchrome-pen%3Fpage%3D1&v=1&out=http%3A%2F%2Fartprimo.com%2Fcatalog%2Fmolotow-liquid-chrome-4mm-marker-p-4634.html&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fcustom-model-society.boards.net%2Fthreads%2Frecent%3Fpage%3D2&title=Chrome%20Pen%20%7C%20Custom%20Model%20Society&txt=artprimo.com%2Fcatalog%2Fmolotow-liquid-chrome-4mm-marker-p-4634.html

You Know ;

 You make me afraid . I am so old school I never even thought to use a silver pen or pencil for detailing a dash or anything else . I have to try it ! T.B.

Tanker - Builder

You Know ;

 You make me afraid . I am so old school I never even thought to use a silver pen or pencil for detailing a dash or anything else . I have to try it ! T.B.

 

that looks awesome !!!!!

Thanks crown!

Mustang 1989 ;

   Now , question is , where do I find that product in New Braunfels or San Antonio ?

Tanker Builder: You find it here: http://artprimo.com/catalog/molotow-liquid-chrome-4mm-marker-p-4634.html

Ok gang. It's been a little bit since I posted any updates here and I'm trying not to bore everybody to death with a picture of a floor mat here and a picture of foot pedals there so I'm waiting till I feel that I've got some substantial progress before posting. Additionally , if I spend all my time taking pictures then I don't get much done at the bench. I build slow enough like it is.

Here we are with the dash in place, carpet / flocking put down everywhere except where the seats go and floor mats down. Folks I'm doing the very best I can with what I have here so there was just no hope of getting the floor mat on the drivers side to go under the pedals unless I wanted to cut that area of the floor pan out and graph in a "blank" piece of styrene and drop the pedals down from the back side of the dash. That's more work than I wanted to do so I cut the floor mat just short of the pedals and did most of my fancy foot work with the pedals themselves to try to make up the shortcoming. I've got the shifter plate along with the shift pattern insert on the plate installed on the center console in this pic and will be adding the PE gauge bezels and gauges as well as the shifter lever soon to round out that console.

The two front seats with the chrome emblem picked out with that chrome pen:

and the back seat that I robbed from the spare kit since my original Camaro build did NOT have a back seat at all in it. Yeah ....the roll bars are going bye bye for the revamp and I'll be installing this seat along with seat belts for the front and rear seats. I'll also be filling in those openings for the roll bar with some sheet styrene.

Great progress Joe. All the detailing you are doing to the interior are really enhancing the appearance of realism. I think that the alterations you had to do to the  pedals and floor mat pass muster. I was curious to see how that chrome pen would work on more minute detail and it looks like it does well. Everything is looking excellent my friend.

Amazing detail work, now I'm going to have to build a car too!

Toshi.

Joe: Thanks buddy. I may end up giving the rest of that floor mat a shot yet. Thinking.............

Toshi: Thank you for the good word. All I can say about auto building is to be careful. This stuff is addicting.

Looks  fantastic 

Chevy key fob!?  Revised gages? New script?  And then

a CHROME pen.....

Joe you made a silk purse out of a sow’s ear and your haven’t even got to the outside !  

p.s. thanks for the lead on that pen. I have been using a similar type of pen but it's a ball point type, yours sounds more precise and manageable –seeing your pictures.

Thanks Steve! Haven't seen you around in a while buddy. Hope all is going well for you.

mustang1989

Thanks Steve! Haven't seen you around in a while buddy. Hope all is going well for you.

 

Thanks,  All is well,   just been "out an' about".  Then decided to clear and clean off my bench, could only find a gigantic pile of “stuff” where I remember seeing it last.  The excavation is slowly moving along, so took a break to see what was going on and wow, here you are, creating another gem. 

Thanks Steve.

This interior just keeps getting better with each addition. I've got the door handles and window cranks as well as the Camaro badges on the door panels and the console is finished. The shifter is a bobby pin that I bent and sanded the shifter ball to get rid of a seam it had. Center gauges are from the PE set I bought. I'm going to buy another set of floor mats so I can fix that drivers side floor area. I'm not happy with that but I'll fix it. Here we are so far guys:

Oh Yeah. The interior is shaping up very nicely. All the detail work is quite superb Joe.

Thanks Joe. Got a dang cold so I slept in this morning as it hit me freekin' hard last night. No bench time this morning.

Outstanding looking interior. I like this pic angle as it shows the really nice effects you were able to get on the trim with your chrome pen. Very impressive. By the way, I hope your feelig better and that you're on the recovery side of your cold.

Thanks Joe. I managed to get most of the way recovered over the weekend. I'd rather be sick over the weekend than to either miss work or be sick at work.

Well guys, the floor mats came in the mail yesterday and I went right to work finishing the interior. All I have left at this point are the door lock rods/ knobs at each door but that'll be one of the last things to take care of with this model. I will, however, go ahead and drill the holes in the door panel. Here it is with floor mats at all four seating positions , the front seat belts installed and a Hot Rod magazine to round it all out.

I just hate these engines that are molded in two halves with the oil pan included. 

 After taking care of the seam lines and priming , I carried the black basing over from the aviation side and applied it here.

I went ahead and black based the intake manifold as well. I shot the block with some home mixed Chevrolet Engine Red and shot the coat on and then shot the intake with some "Aluminum". After that I applied a subtle wash to bring out the detail of both pieces. 

thats a work of art !

So I picked up this 1/25 scale Revell Camaro for any spare parts I might need along the way, a few of which I have used. I've gotten some commentary on how bad the old Monogram Camaro was in terms of size and overall accuracy in which I can say that those comments are right on in almost every sense of the word. Nevertheless, my original goal was to restore my first auto build and I will be staying true to that course. However there is a temporary set back with the engine.

I test fitted the 396 that I've been building up into the mocked up build and I'm glad I did. Talk about what looks like a mouse motor looking 396 in there between the fenders!!!

The more I looked at it , the more I saw a distinct difference in not only scale but from the last BB Chevy I built that went into my '54 Panel. So I turned right back to the AMT BB Chevy for an engine build. Both are the "same scale" at 1/25 but look how much bigger AMT's BB is as opposed to Revell's.

  I also grabbed a set of 1/24 scale rocker covers from the Pro Stock Camaro kit that I've got for extra "bulk". They fit perfectly.

Yeah..................a no brainer right?

Another thing that I liked about AMT's BB is that it also comes with a bracket for that alternator so I don't have that "mysterious floating alternator" hanging off of the belt out there.

Just as a side note and as a defense to those who are telling me that the Monogram Camaro has some severe dimensional and accuracy issues. Here is the Monogram Camaro body on the left and the Revell one to the right. First off I just don't see how a 1/24th scale model could be this far off in size difference................but that's just me. Secondly there ARE some serious differences in the body lines and curves throughout the body on the Monogram one. Wow! Still................this is all about sentiments so forward with my original intent I go.....

Man that's a nice Camaro!  Let's see... a green light, 3,000 rpm on the tach, light off the clutch and heavy on the pedal would be just about right!  Might even overtake that 89 Fox body sedan in the next lane!   

Mopar Madness

Man that's a nice Camaro!    Might even overtake that 89 Fox body sedan in the next lane!   

 

Good to see you that you got the interior all trimmed out. It looks great. Pretty interesting the difference in size and shape between the two. Someone apparently needs some remedial math. So, let me get this straight, you have components from Revell, Monogram and AMT. Well then it seems that your "Frankenstein" wouldn't be quite right unless you have some more additions from, say, JoHan and Polar Lights. (not sure if either of those make Camaros though). 

LOL! Thanks Joe.

I had what I call lots of progress yesterday. I'm back in the fight again after re-hashing the engine size ordeal and am back on the road with this puppy. First off this thing had a nasty mount hole in the oil pan for the Chevelle that it was supposed to go in so I had to fill that in with super glue, sand flush and smooth out:



Then I had the sprue attachment points to contend with which always seem to show up in the most unwanted places like at the ends of cylinder heads, smack dab in the middle of the transmissions.........on the bottom nonetheless and places like this timing cover. This stuff bugs me so I got rid of that from the timing cover and the rest of the attachment points on the engine pieces:



I also got this cool decal sheet with a bunch of oil filter decals on it. Nice touch for the bottom end as well as the PE oil pan drain plug. I toned the engine paint down and brought out the molded in detail with an airbrushed coat of Tamiya Smoke.





I carried the fuel pump over from the other engine but replaced the starter with the AMT offering because it had better details than the Revell starter did.



I tried something new with the exhaust manifolds. I primed them in flat black and shot a very light coat of Alclad II Polished Aluminum on them to give them a true iron look. I was happy with the results but the pictures don't seem to capture the dark steel/ iron look that they actually are. Believe me, they aint this flashy:

That is some dynamite progress Joe. It is indeed sometimes head scratching why some kits are molded with attachment points in very disadvantageous spots. Whether it be on highly visible ones or very difficult to sand ones. Love the oil filter decals. That's a sweet touch. You're on a roll my friend. Keep it going. 

I missed a lot, catching up.....

That interior is absolutely awesome, Joe.

A belated thank you for the info on the Molotow Chrome Pens. Wow, they look too good to be true. Out of stock already at Art Primo, but they'll be back and in meantime they are in stock elsewhere.

As usual, your engine block finish looks real. I still don't know how you do that.

Thanks Joe and Greg.

No problem there Greg on the the Molotow pens. Hope you get yours soon. As for the engine block finish...............I've got an idea.

Been a while since the last update folks. I had a bit of trouble out of the paint. I actually had this thing primed and painted as of last Friday but then things went wrong...........REALLY wrong. I had sanded all of the molded emblems from the body and primed with Tamiya Primer. Using automotive paint (Mystic Teal Metallic) I began to shoot the color onto the body. It all looked superb! I mean it was the best coat of color I've laid down yet , and then.....................it went south................in a hurry! My emblems all came back but instead of being raised they were sunken in. I'll Illustrate:

Additionally there were small ripples in the plastic!!!!!!!!!! Dammit!! I've since stripped all of the paint from the body and have been sanding all dang week. I put some plastic sprue shavings in a jar and mixed some Tamiya thin cement with it to form a liquid plastic and applied it to all areas where the emblems were, let it harden and smoothed all of those back out. I still have some touch up to go but should be ready for AIRBRUSHING this paint on in thin layers by the end of the weekend. I just shot the paint on way to thick is all that happened and the bad thing is ...................I know better. I finally got it back in primer this morning:

So far so good there. I'll let it dry for a couple of days and try the base coat again with the airbrush.

While all that's going on I ended up switching out the rocker covers with a set of Baldwin Motion ones. I shot a coat of Tamiya Smoke over 'em and brought out the "Motion" letters. I drilled the holes out for the rocker cover "wing bolts" that I'll be installing at a later point in the engine build.  I also switched out the intake manifold and painted that this morning. Belt and alternator are now mounted and I'm fabricating an alternator mount for it so we don't have that mysterious floating alternator out there.

Still got some detailing to do the rocker covers but that's small stuff.

I love the rocker covers!  Those manifolds look quite convincing too! Nicely detailed.

Mopar Madness

I love the rocker covers!  Those manifolds look quite convincing too! Nicely detailed.

 

would look better with some bolt heads though...

PANZERJAGER

 

Mopar Madness

I love the rocker covers!  Those manifolds look quite convincing too! Nicely detailed.

 

 

 

 

would look better with some bolt heads though...

 

 

PJ: I'm going to be using some wing bolts. See those holes in the rocker covers? They'll be going in there. Stay tuned.................

Looking great Joe. The body issues, that is called ghosting. To avoid it, apply very light mist coats of primer, 3 or 4, then a couple of medium coats, then your wet coats. No guarentees, but it will lessen the chance.

That is definitely a shame concerning the paint job. Yet, I have no doubt that you will have looking sharp in no time. That "ghosting" effect is a new one on me. Never seen that before. The engine is looking absolutely terrific. Looking forward to your next update.

Dont worry Joe you have this paint thing in the bag.

I've been takin' notes so I can apply those good ideas as I hack and slog my way toward completin' something some day.

I do really like how the interior and engine came out (even with out the wing nuts )

Thanks for the input and the replies folks and after a long absense from this thread we'll crank 'er up again.

After a botched attempt at the first coat of paint and having to restrip and reprime it I've got COLOR!!! I ended up applying another coat of primer and smoothed all the imperfections out (a couple of freekin' dog hairs and some dust particles) and dispensed the paint into a paint jar and shot it through my airbrush. I had ALOT better results this time around fellas, however this paint does not play well with the air brush. Even after thinning the crap out of it I had difficulty in getting a uniform spray pattern to come out. I can't complaint too much as I'll be able to make this work out good in the end. These pics were taken after the results from my Badger 200. After these I decided to break out the much simpler Badger 350 and had a lot better luck with the pattern and a more consistent coat. I'm really going to be very happy with this color on this car is all I've gotta say:

Engine is still coming along. Resin Holley test fitted onto the motor complete with throttle shaft and throttle lever.

 way to go, GREAT color.  

Uh did ya notice what seems to be a "slight" overspray on the windows? an' that they are wrinkled too     Ha Ha got 'cha

Thanks Stevie. lol. Yeah................... I noticed. lol

Excellent paint job Joe. It looks right nice. The engine is also looking absolutely fantastic. Good to see you back at it on the Camaro.

Thanks brutha Joe!

I've managed to get the carburetor on with the fuel lines and fuel filter as well as the ignition system all taken care of. Looking back I wish I would've included the barrel nut for the fuel line to fuel pump connection but it's installed now so there's no going back now. I'll be coming up with a throttle return spring and bracket soon.

hey thats outstanding job ! but what happened to the metalic teal ?

crown r n7

hey thats outstanding job ! but what happened to the metalic teal ?

 

Ok after 35 years of xerox  i didn't think I was color blind  lol

That's the engine detailing we know and love from you Bro. Sweet!

Nick: LOLOLOL!!!

Joe: I really appreciate that good buddy!!

I've got the chassis as done as it's gonna get. I spent a lot of time removing seam lines and injector pin marks from the replacement rear leaf springs and axle. I tossed the original rear diff cover in some brake fluid and sanded it to a more realistic scale thickness and Alcladed it and also cleaned up the traction bars and chromed those. I cleaned the replacement front suspension up and outlined the front spring detail with a Molotow chrome pen. The base chassis assy is all original and has only been touched up with paint. I touched up the raised brake line and fuel line details with some Aluminum paint using a detail brush and applied a wash over the original silver painted fuel tank just to bring out some of the details.

 

 

While I was on the subject of chassis , I thought I'd mock up the suspension one more time. I've changed the original tire layout up since the beginning and have decided to go with this stance with the rear tire juuuuust even with the upper part of the rear wheel opening. So far............I'm happy with this!



Here we are mocked up with the spare body:

The chassis is looking great. Excellent job on the detail painting. Looks the part to me. I like stance with your new wheel selection. Sharp.

Joe This just gets better and better.

I'll drink to that !!

Coming along great, Joe.

Which paint brand is it that you say isn't playing well with your airbrush (body blue)?

I'd never heard of that "ghosting" issue either. It must have something to do with the way the plastic flows in the mold. Sort of like metal castings?

Thanks Joe , Nick, Steve and Greg.

Greg: The paint I'm using is automotive body shop paint which is the correct General Motors paint code (79U) Mystic Teal Metallic used on 97-02 Camaros. It's lacquer based and if one isn't used to it can be fouled up real quick like I did on my first attempt at spraying the body.  The ghosting issue is a result of laying the paint down too thick. I think it has something to do with the way the emblems are molded and the fact that the paint is a little "hotter" than model style paint.

Ok folks. I believe that the 396 is done enough to where I'm going to put it in the chassis and get started on the exhaust system. I temporarily installed the center section of the fan on the front of the front just for picture taking purposes and will remove it so I can use it on the backside of the other fan I have for a future build. N E ways..............here she is:







And this one I throw in for all my friends at work. They always tell me that I have a giant clothespin hanging out in my garage.

the valve covers wing nuts tight enough lol. thats the cats meow Joe

Preciate that Nick!

DA-YANG!! That is some downright righteous work there my friend. Flat out awesome. You are an artist with fine minute detail. 

Remind me again. Exactly why won't you work in 1/72?

Thanks Joe.

You funny guy.

I quit!! Steller engine Joe!

mustang1989

Ok folks. I believe that the 396 is done enough to where I'm going to put it in the chassis and get started on the exhaust system. I temporarily installed the center section of the fan on the front of the front just for picture taking purposes and will remove it so I can use it on the backside of the other fan I have for a future build. N E ways..............here she is:

And this one I throw in for all my friends at work. They always tell me that I have a giant clothespin hanging out in my garage.

 

Love this shot.

Outstanding detail work on this

Thanks Lee and Bob. You guys do your fair share of inspiring me in my builds ya know.

I installed the engine / xmsn assy a couple of days ago and checked out the stance again with the spare body in place. I should be receiving my silver bearing solder in the next day or so and will get started on the exhaust system. I still need to lower the rear another scale inch I'll be happy

 We'll be moving forward from here though:

Well folks here's a weeks worth of applying bare metal foil and painting details on the body. I should have sanded those door key bezels off and used the PE ones I've got but hey, I'll chalk it up to a learning experience. I'm very happy with the outcome of the paint on this one. My hand can be seen in the reflection on the front fender.

Very nice paint but wasnt it going to be a metical Aquaish?

Thanks Nick. LOL. It still is a metallic teal/ blue / purple.

Cool it's just that Mazda? pic some time ago nice cyan .

That is really amazing Joe. All that elbow grease you put into sanding and polishing truly paid off in spades. Absolutely gorgeous.

Oh Boy !

 I know I haven't commented for a while . I have to say these three things . I paint with a Badger that NOAH ( In the form of my wife ) Gave me over fifty five years ago !

 Never have had a problem .

 Now come on ! I know you are smart enough to figure you have to use primer under real automotive lacquer on a model , Because it's " Hotter " .

 I finally got my Molotow pens . My LHS got some , and didn't tell me until I went down there looking for a paint set for figures . He had all the sizes available . Well , he did have ! I bought them all . Plus some refill fluid . 

 This pen system is great on boats , ships and planes too ! Hey Like the stance on the car and the engine , but where is the wood grain in the interior and the wood wheel ? LOL. I like the wood accents if done right . Chevy just NEVER got it right .

 Have you ever seen the dash on a 65 Corvair ? I duplicated the dash panels with " Bird's Eye Maple " . Steamed to fit the original shape . The top of the doors and quarters inside recieved this treatment too .

 LOL, when I traveled to Georgia in late 65 , a gas station attendant ( remember them ? ) Wanted to know what kind of furrin car it was . She wore NO Chevy Logos of any kind nor door handles either !

 I asked him why he thought it was " furrin " . He replied " omly them furriners bend and shape wood that nice , Plus that fancy wood ain't on no Merican Car ". I have put real wood on my cars if it looked right . Ever since .

 I love what you did with the car and you are right , No one is aware , really , of the size and detail difference in the kits . Darned good job my friend !  T.B.     P.S. Sorry I got so long winded !

Thanks Nick, Joe and TB

Those Molotow chrome pens are da bomb aint they? Still on this one fellas. Just on a bunch of fiddly stuff right now like sanding those stupid locating pins/ pegs from the back side of the headlights and front turn signal lenses. You know the ones that give SCREAM "toy car" look by having dots in the middle of the lenses much UNLIKE real cars have. Yeah.....those. I also sawed the front grille in half and since I had two grilles with the "Z/28" badges molded into the grilles I ditched the sides with the emblems on them and joined both blank halves to give me a complete "blank" grille in which to neatly install a PE "SS" emblem into the middle of the grille. I'll try to post progress pics this weekend when I have an outcome.

Basically we'll be going from this:



To this:

 Another grand tour of modeling artistry.  The impressive thing is if “they” give you a lemon you make lemon aid with it.   

An' its looks good too. 

Thanks Steve. I appreciate that.

 I managed to get the master cylinder, brake lines and fittings completed a couple of days ago:



and I got the obnoxious rear license plate under way. I'll install a couple of license plate retaining screws at the top of the license plate to top it all off.



I've got most of the kinks knocked out of the grille after making some cuts and sanding back to the join areas. I've got the section all glued in and ready for paint. The headlight lenses are spare pieces and are being used for masking devices. See those stupid dots in the middle of the headlamp lenses? Yeah.............those! They'll be gone by the time I'm done with the grille.




Here's a quick mock up of the engine compartment. Still have to mark the heater hoses for the clamps I'll be installing on them at the firewall connection, radiator hose fabrication and install and I'll be adding a windshield washer bottle on the radiator core support. I'll also be lifting the heater hose that has a little too much sag to it so that both heater hoses are routing closer together.

That master cylinder is going to look spectacular in that engine compartment.

Thanks Nick! I'm hoping it turns out ok.

Well, you darn sure are not losing your touch. Magnificent detail work. The engine is especially looking masterful. Now to knock out that punch list. Lovin' it Bro.

I'm on it Joe and thanks.

Sneak peek shot. Still got a lot of work left to do. I've gotta figure out what's keeping the "real" car body sitting up in the front some and have to level things out a bit in the rear due to being a little high on the drivers side but we're getting there.........

and with the completed SS grille and lower air deflector( from the more accurate Revell release) glued in place. Keep in mind that the whole front end is NOT glued onto the body yet hence the large gaps between the facia and body in front of the wheel wells and at the sides of the grill to body. Still working on correcting the stance at the front and still gotta bumper to go but that'll be one of the last things that gets installed.

It's all looking absolutely terrific Joe. Wow! Your work on the grill came out fantastic. Superb workmanship there my friend.

Thanks Joe. I've still got a ways to go but it's getting there one step at a time.

That's the exact same color as the stock 69 I owned when I graduated HS Austin in 79, awsome. It had a 250 in it LOL

looking awesome . wow 79 

Thanks Steve and Nick!! 

Steve: I think I know what color you are talking about for a color back then. Has kind of a dark green tint to it. The color that I'm using on this car is from the late 90's / early 2000's and is called Mystic Teal Metallic. It is a color changer from teal to blue to purple at different angles.

mustang1989

Thanks Steve and Nick!! 

Steve: I think I know what color you are talking about for a color back then. Has kind of a dark green tint to it. The color that I'm using on this car is from the late 90's / early 2000's and is called Mystic Teal Metallic. It is a color changer from teal to blue to purple at different angles.

 

Sounds like a familiar kind of story on my end. I owned some form of musclecar from when I was 16 years old all the way until I turned about 41 years old. Sometimes I still miss driving them but I don't miss working on/ tinkering with them every day and I sure as hell don't miss throwing money at 'em left and right. lol 

Ok folks....................been out for the last 5 days on vacation up to north Texas at good ol' Lake Texoma. Had a blast but it's now time to get back to buildin' on this one so I'll be seeing you all around here with this thing.

Pretty color!

Thanks podna! It's Mystic Teal Metallic. GM paint code 79U

well I hope you had a good vac. I here the bass fishing is good in Texas. The the car looks great .I in plastic stew with different builds lol. 

Thanks Nick. Had a good time for sure. Thanks for the comments on the car. Ya know.......I just realized..............I'm almost done with this one and have absolutely no clue what my next auto build will be.

Well folks I've got the engine compartment finished. There are some things that are wrong and more things I could've added to the actual bay itself but hey, ya gotta know when to say "when" at some point. I chose to do a simple "fill in" at the passenger side rear of the engine bay where Monogram placed the battery initially and install it in the correct location. You'll see that the two rectangular holes for the hood hinges have been filled in and the molded in crappy wire details were removed from the firewall, the original master cylinder was overhauled and detailed along with the added brake lines and a windshield washer bottle was added (along with the battery) from the newer Revell Camaro release. Radiator hoses were constructed out of 16 gauge electrical wire and a dullcoat applied over both. Hose clamps were made from spare PE frets. All of the molded in detail on both fender wells was removed which instantly improved the engine bay appearance to me.

That engine is looking good Mustang. Did you get the washer fluid container out of the newer box as well?

Thanks Steve. Yessir I did. It started off as a clear part.

Well it looks like the real thing 

Completely dynamite detail. I really love what you have done under the hood. Looks every bit the part of realistic. Yet again your patience and attention to detail has paid off immensely.

'Preciate that Joe and Steve! 

I finished up with the chassis as of this morning. The base chassis is all original down to paint and detailing through much younger eyes. I did do some repair painting here and there and applied a light wash on the fuel tank to bring out some of the detail.I think I touched the chassis up when I was around 16 or so with all the details. The front suspension, rear differential and leaf springs are all replacement parts and I had to make a custom driveshaft using the end pieces and some aluminum tubing. The mufflers are from the newer Revell Camaro release and the lead and tailpipes are silver solder. And with that......we're off to emblems and bumpers and a few touch ups here and there.

Looking really good.

Very nice, indeed.

Yes sir super job 

Very impressive my friend. I like the fact that you opted to retain some of your original work. 

Thanks for the encouragment fellas.

Alright folks! Time to wrap this one up! When I started this project in January I thought I was looking at a 3 month project. What followed was a seven month venture to pump some life into my first ever auto build which dates back 35 years. All in all the old build was in decent shape as I'd managed to keep it encased since first building it at age 13. When I left home at age 19 for the Army I left this build and several others behind where it stayed all this time until I finally picked it up from my parents house and put it in my display case here at home where it's spent the last 5 years. When I started on it 7 months ago there was no engine and the interior was.......well ........you know ...........very "Monogram" basic. I had alot of work ahead of me which I found out throughout the course of the re-build. I ended up using a total of five other kits to piece some of the missing pieces together (one of which was a newer Revell Camaro release kit to "update" this old dog of a kit with some of the parts that Monogram had failed to put in their kit) , hood and wheels were donations from good friends here on the forums (thanks be to Dee Cee and Paul). Powertrain/ drive train was from the AMT Chevelle SS396 kit. I ended up spending ALOT of time in the interior as well as the engine compartment. All badging is from PE fret for the Revell Camaro kits and the paint is GM paint code 79U--Mystic Teal Metallic, a paint that was used in the late 90's/ early 2000's on GM vehicles (Camaro's / Firebirds being in that line up). I also opted to transform this into an SS which took a little fancy foot work with the grille but I managed to pull it all off okay. I'm pretty happy with the results although the kit (as well as me) had it's limitations. lol. I'd like to thank everyone who followed along and encouraged me along the way on this trip back in time.

With that.......here's the shots.

Before:

Money Shots:

What a diffrence! I really like that engine! 

Stunning smooth paint better than the real one !

Jim  

That is a remarkable transformation Joe. You have pulled off an amazing rebuild. Really fabulous work on the detail and the paint job is absolutely gorgeous. Now, you can sit back and enjoy it some more for many years. Thank You for sharing your journey with us. It was epic and worth every moment.

Joe, you turned a sow's ear kit into a silk purse. Especially your engine and interior detailing. Excellent.

I very much appreciate all the kind comments. You guys are A-OK in my book.

Hells yeah those are Money Shots!

SprueOne

Hells yeah those are Money Shots!

 

Joe,      Absolutely a spectacular transformation. It was well worth the effort to reclaim this milestone of your youth.  

Sorry I haven’t commented earlier, but I was correcting the theory of relativity; well really only the last part.

Thanks Steve. Haven't seen you around in a while. Hope everything is going ok for you.