1970 Dodge Charger.

On to the next installment: Front clip, hood fitting and engine compartment mods. Previously I touched on the hood gap issue and frt bumper fit. I'll get into more detail here about the issues and how I corrected them. The hood gaps were too tight at the fenders. A little paint and the hood will never close or worse, paint will chip off every time you open it to show off the engine comp. I carefully sanded the hood edges down on an old cutting board. I tape a piece of 320 grit sandpaper to it and use it to square up anything that needs it. Gotta remember, when fitting the hood, doors or any other component that opens and closes. Put as many ancillary components in place that could affect the fit of said hood, door, etc for checking purposes. In this case, the fire wall, core support and front bumper/valance panel. The hood fit a bit looser with the core support in place but not enough ( Remember to always allow a little extra room for your paint) 4 passes on each side of the hood and it fit like a glove. Later I discovered that the gaps got real wide when I fit the front bumper. Yeah, failed to follow my own rule here but; stripping the chrome off the bumper and taking a file to the inside of the fenders and the bumper edges where they touch each other solved the issue. Next was the gap at the cowl, It was huge and since the hood butts up to the front bumper there had to be a reduction in this gap to keep it all looking proper and fitting with out flopping around. A strip of .010 styrene bonded to the hood edge with some plastic welding glue. Sand it all flat, a little filler primer to even it all up and Bobs your uncle! NOTE: If you use a bit more glue than you think you need here, as the parts bond and the glue melts the plastic at the joint evenly from end to end. You shouldn't have to fill a seam at all. It will disappear when you sand it all flat.

I did say engine compartment mods didn't I?: I closed up the hood hinge gaps/holes/slots what ever you want to call em. I call em unwanted... I filled the gaps in the firewall and fender aprons with strip styrene. Filled and sanded the parts smooth. Then permanently mounted the firewall to the body. I know, I know. Its part of the interior tub assembly and makes mounting the interior side/door panels a bit challenging. I aint scared!! It'll be just fine. Besides, this gives me a bit of wiggle room when it comes to mounting the int' tub and chassis. We all know how this stuff likes to not line up as advertised soo, call this insurance. Next installment will cover the re-engraving of some panel gaps and scribeing around the trim so it stands out and does not disappear under a coat of primer...Stay tuned! and thanks for following along!

The door shuts are one area i forget until after the paint is on,

Todays installment: Wheel lip trim and a coat of primer. The kit wheel lip trim is actually not bad for a change but...It will get oversized and look out of scale with some paint on it, not to mention the definition between the fenders/quarters and the trim will become obscured with paint application. I like to define the trim edge with some panel line enhancer, this tells me when to stop while sanding the trim off. Once the line is gone...STOP...Otherwise you will sand a bevel in the wheel lip edge and create more problems later.( You really want a sharp edge here when your done) You'll see why in the next installment. You could use a sharp blade but, you have to stay parallel to the body. Hard to do with a sharp hobby blade digging into plastic. Easier with a sanding block and some 220 grit paper. ( just about the only time I will use 220 grit on plastic) Don't forget to tape off all panel lines and what not you don't want sanded off.

Like I said, there were a few discrepancies: First shows the low spots on the right front fender. See the dark areas, one just below the body line forward of the wheel opening (That's what happens when you sand along the tape line too much instead of towards the tape) and one down low even with the marker light but close to the forward edge of the fender. There was also a body line that didn't line up between the passenger door and quarter.

Heres a shot of the corrected door/quarter line. Note how crisp the body line is now too after blocking.

MAN!!!!! Lots of attention paid to the body on this one Pete! I managed to save most of the gap issues on my Charger hood but this brings the correction on these to a whole new level. WOW!!! This...………...is gonna look good when it's all said and done. Real good.

I agree wholeheartedly Pete. If the first impressions are off then the whole thing seems to have a "bloody nose" feel to it.

Now for the paint: When I paint a model, I use solvent based enamels and lacquers as well as automotive paint products. I try to stick to a few products that I know well, this limits variables that can cause problems. But, that said I will try a new product from time to time. In this case its Scale Finishes base coat clear coat paint system. I have used S/F enamel paints for years with great success, applying them over primers I love to use for their fine properties and stability. I always do a test patch (Spray out) for the purpose of compatibility and this is a new product for me soo...No brainer, good thing I did too.


This is my second most favorite primer for model painting ( my first is no longer available locally) Its a lacquer base and compatible with almost anything I use for a top coat. I can put Scale Finishes, Speis Hecker and Dupont/Axalta over it as well as all Testors paint and all Tamiya paints. Never had a problem until now. The S/F base coat is HOT. It ate the primer and the plastic spoon under the primer causing crazeing. First pic is over Mr Color Grey 1500 second is over black Mr color 1500.



I will do spray outs over different color primers until I find the one that gives me the most accurate color match with the least amount of coats applied. I tried this base coat over Duplicolor rattle can primer in a darker grey. Still not compatible. It finally did work and give me the best color match over Plastikote oxide red primer. (This is the stuff I can no longer get locally) Figures right?



You can see the color looks identical to the product in the bottle when applied over the red oxide, and no crazeing. This is why I always do test patches, This would have ruined the car body if I had just gone ahead and painted it. Crisis averted!
Next installment : Door scoop/gill locating and mounting and...Engine choice and some preliminary work with engine.

PS: I still have to see if this base is compatible with the clears I like to use...

Now, I did make a decision on the engine choice. Yeah...440 6-Pack for this one. I always do hemi cars so, it was time for a change. I used the 440 magnum engine from the original release of the 69 charger from Revell. had to glue the block halves together to mock it up in the chassis with the 4 spd trans. Low and behold! Motor mounts are in a different place causing the engine to sit crooked between the rails. Also, the trans mount is different. 69 chassis trans mount is a slot with a key on the trans tail housing. 70 chassis is a raised pin with a hole in the trans. Had to move right engine mount forward on its post and cut down/slot trans mount to accept the 440. Funny how the chassis pans are virtually identical but you cant put a 440 in this one. Revell did simplify this kit with the introduction of the fast/furious charger. No more poseable front wheels...No extra engine option (hemi only) Mounting pins for the wheels instead of the floppy locking disc/wheel backs. One piece dash is new too (Like it) So, some trade offs in the name of simplicity but hey, at least the hood doesn't have grooves in the underside for making it a blower hood. I hate those grooves. Best method for ruining a good hood/paint job...



Waiting on the 6 pack carbs/intake from Fireball model works (Really well detailed parts) Just gotta wait about 3 weeks for em to get here. Guess they have a bit of a backlog...LOL... Meanwhile I squared up the engine block, heads/deck surfaces and oil pan rail on the bottom. Yeah just dragged it across my sanding board. This little process just makes the engine components fit soo much cleaner/tighter. Also added some detail to the ends of the cylinder heads. Most B/RB engines 360 C.I.D to 440 C.I.D engines (Except the 413/426 max wedge) Have a core/soft plug on the ends. I like to add this detail whenever possible to my builds. It just adds that extra little bit of detail/depth.



Next installment: Belt line trim removal and why...And...Some finish paint on the model!!! Thanks for tuning in!!!

That's a great tip on the core plug in the cylinder head Pete. Straight up killin' this build. YES!!!!

I will say that is weird about the engine mounts on the 440.

I am impressed by the amount of work you are putting into this kit. Congrats on doing so and keep up the good work! When you get to the exhaust tips, take a sanding stick and angle them a bit since they are molded flat.

I built this kit a while ago and it was built mostly out of box with the exception of a wired engine and Zimmermanz Wheels.

You're an artist at work Pete!

Todays installment: Belt line trim. That's the trim on the door/quarter edge at the base of the window openings. It was barely there to begin with, I re-scribed it and figured I would see how it fared after some primer.

I was not happy with it. Edge is too thin and it will disappear after a few coats of primer/paint soo...Time for a re-deux. I started by scribing the existing trim off the body.Yup! carved it all up like a Christmas goose!

After removal of the old. I had to build up the area with some .010 strip plastic to get the proper body line and shape. Gotta have something to put the new trim pieces on.

Next step was put a few coats of filler primer over the top and blend the strip plastic into the body proper.

Once the primer was dry, I sanded it all down to get the lines even/blended into the body with a small reveal at the edge(the edge will be the definition between the trim and the body. This didn't exist in kit form. Hence the reason for the re-do.

This is where it will stay till after final primeing. I usually add these trim items after final prime/before finish paint. This way they dont end up with edges that are too soft/buried under too much paint.

Your really doing a great job on this Pete!