Joe, you don't know how to do oob factory stock! All joking aside, should be good and the engine off the bat is looking great.

Thanks Brandon, Joe, Cliff, Chad, Lew and Lee. 

Cliff: Hope I'm doing this thing justice. lol 

Lew: I remember that 06 GTO very well. I always liked the cars but totally hated the securitiy system in that thing. Don't loose a key is all I've gotta say. lol 

Lee: Thanks pal. Hey....there's a first time for everything.

Ok folks. It's been a couple of weeks since my last progress post but I'm trying not to "update" everyone do death. I've been payin' alot of attention to progress pictures (some of which Cliff sent to me of his personal car) and trying to get it as close to those and from things that I can remember back when I used to work on these cars when they were brand new. I managed to acquire a Revell Camaro kit which had the dual outlet muffler which drops right into place on this chassis so I'll be using that one instead of the single outlet muffler that came with this kit. The muffler is just laid into place for display purposes for now. I'll be stripping the chrome from the whole assembly and cleaning all of the flash and mold lines from it as well as hollowing out the ends of the pipes. I used alot of different tones of black on the surfaces that required that color to add more depth and detail to the overall look of the chassis. The differentials on these cars always had a rusty appearance so I finished that part up in a semi rusted state to depict a "soon after new" appearance after the car had been on the road for a month or two. I used Matte Aluminum BMF on the heat shield detail just in front of the differential and used a dark to medium gray on the fuel tank and storage cavity in the back of chassis to add some contrast.

I cleaned the wheels up, added the WS-6 center cap decals and coated them with a light coating of Tamiya Smoke to get rid of the toy chrome look. I also gave the tire tread areas a light sanding to give 'em that "road wear" look (uh-oh....looks like I might've missed one ). Pretty happy with these.

I'm really glad that I chose to lower the car some because there would've been a whole LOT of air between the tires and the top of the wheel openings. I might try to lower the front just a smidgen more to get it where I want it...

Sweet Joe.  I like the smoke idea, that factory chrome in those kits looks ridiculous.  The Revell Viper was the same.  Looked like toy parts. 

Thanks alot Chad. That trick with the Tamiya Smoke has made a big difference in my past auto builds. 

The Tamiya smoke trick is new to me, too.

Looking good, Joe. You're sticking to your word so far.

So far.

Excellent progress there Joe. The wheels and tires do indeed look sharp. Glad you discovered the "smoke" technique. You are doing some righteous work OOB.

Looking good.  Tamiya smoke on chrome is one of the best tips I've learned over the past year.  

That looks good!!! The new muffler looks just right and I hadn't heard of the Tamiya smoke trick. Will remember this for the next time I use chrome. Thanks! 

Thanks Greg, Joe, John and Cliff. 

Yeah that "Smoke" idea was a real eye opener for kit chrome.

I just finished the interior up this morning. The door panels were giving me a lot of trouble at first in regards to painting the two tone effect but I managed a way around it.

Just remove the hard to mask area.

and then just mask and paint the rest of it:

Oh wow, looks just like the real thing!!! 

Though my car still has coat of yellow pollen all over the black. I need to clean it off when summer hits. 

Interesting strategy!  Looks sharp - I dig the magazine

Cliff: Thanks man. Say....you need to get all that pollen off and take 'er for a spin bro!

John: Thank you as well. I picked a magazine with a Firebird on the cover.

Really marvelous looking interior Joe. Your solution to the panel painting appears to have worked out splendidly. You are one clever fella. I like that about you.

That shades of grey interior looks outstanding, Joe.

I don't quite get what you did after you removed that part of the door panel and cleaned it up though. There is a hole left, what did you do with it?

Great solution. It looks wonderful. Well done.
BK

mustang1989

Cliff: Thanks man. Say....you need to get all that pollen off and take 'er for a spin bro!

John: Thank you as well. I picked a magazine with a Firebird on the cover.

 

Lol, that's where all the pollen came from! Rolling down the windows, taking off the top- it seems to all suck down into the interior! 

Looks better than the real thing.

Joe you're being true to your goal of finishing this one quickly! That looks pretty sweet.

Nice interior Joe!

Joe: Really appreciate the comments good buddy.

Greg: Thanks for your kind words as well. Hope I explained the whole door panel painting process to you the other day. Always good talking you and Joe. 

Brandon: Thanks for popping in and for your comments bud.

Cliff: LOLOLOL!!! Got 'er all cleaned off yet? 

Steve!!!!: Long time no see pal. Hope all is going well for you brother.

Chad: I appreciate you stopping in bro. Thanks for the encouragement.

Lew: Thanks for dropping in and comment bro. Always good to have you along.

Been working on the body for the last couple of days. Shot the color coat on yesterday morning and managed to sand out the few dust flakes that did manage to make their way into the color coat this morning. After cleaning the body up I decanted and shot the Wet Look Clear on. Man I love this stuff!!!! 

That turned out gorgeeeeous brother. 

So, have you stocked up on Testor's Wet Look? Is that even an item on the current chopping block?

That looks spectacular!! Definately a head turner and ticket getter.

BK

Mustang: WOW! That is a 'wet look'! Beautiful!!! 

Haven't cleaned my car, it's rained almost every day for the last two weeks... 

Wow!

Looking better than factory new!

Nice gloss to it.

Gorgeous red paint job.

JOE RIX

So, have you stocked up on Testor's Wet Look? Is that even an item on the current chopping block?

I am wondering the same. I see you used Tamiya red, both on rattle cans. Do you  spray from the rattle cans or decant them? (sorry if I've asked this before).

I might just make a Hobby Lobby run today and see if they have any. I keep forgetting. OTOH, don't want to fall in love with a product that is going away.

I read some reviews that the Wet Look actually has little metal flakes. Is that true?

Joe: Thanks again buddy. No stocking up yet but I plan to. Going to have to see if this stuff is indeed on the chopping block and if it is then I can have a little time to find a suitable replacement.

Brandon: Thanks again bro.

Cliff: Thank you for your encouragement as well. I hear you on washing it before a rain. That seems to always happen to me. I'll hold out till it looks clear and then BAM! Out of nowhere I'll run into unforcasted rain. 

Lee: Always glad to have you along brother.

Lew: Thanks and you're right. A little too glossy but on this car I really like it that way.

Steve: Thanks again!! I'm gonna have to go check out what projects you've got going on. 

Greg: I appreciate the kind words and yes....decanted....always decanted. I'd be a fool to take a short cut and waste paint and time. lol. As far as buying some goes...DO IT. You'll absolutely love the results. If you're going to decant it just be sure to let all the air bubbles make their way out of the jar. This only problem that I've seen so far with Wet Look is that is extremely aeriated. I dunno bout that metal flake thing. Gonna have to do some research on that.