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1968 Dodge Dart Revell kit


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Almost finished my Trumpeter Superbug, so i'll be starting on the Dodge kit some time this week. Looking in the box, there aren't a lot of parts, unlike an aircraft kit. I can see some parts will have to be scratch built or robbed from other kits. Lots of pics available on the 'Net for chassis mods. Hopefully i will start Wednesday or Thursday.

Don

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Starting in on the build. Getting ideas on what parts to use and what i may have to aquire from other kits. I'll build this as a Hemi car with the old school SS hood scoop. The kit has an ok engine with dual quads, will use that. Rear diff is a Dana 60 that will have to be narrowed. I like how they include two styles of interior parts, stock or race. The trans is a standard behind the Hemi, i think i will swap the 727 auto from the 440 in. The stance the car has is very important for the Pro Street look, been trying different tires and ride heights, i think i will settle for the look in the below pics.

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Starting in on doing the backhalf frame setup. I've cut away the floorpan behind the front seats as this is all changed for a narrowed frame. I'll be using a ladder bar set-up, little easier to do than a four link. I used some Evergreen rectangular stock to bend up a frame rail. The problem is it would not hold the shape. I had to take some sheet stock and sandwich the rail between two sheets. This enabled the rail to keet its shape and give it strength. Pics below show one finished rail and one in the sandwich. Just have to trim and sand the second rail. These were built long as they will need a fair amount of adjustment to work properly. I'll finish the rails tonight and i should be able to fit them to the floorpan by tomorrow night.

Finished rail

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Rail sandwich

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Don

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Finished up the frame rails and finished doing the back-half last night. Was all pretty straightforward, using rectangular and sheet stock to do crossbraces and the tinwork. I have to admit, the frame is a little out of alignment, nothing bad enough to have to start over. If i was going to do more auto stuff i would build a frame jig to ensure alignment. The rear end is a Dana 60 that came with the kit. I cut and narrowed the unit to fit and glued backing plates to the axle stubs. This gives me reference points to location and height so i can get the ladder bar lengths and shock heights figured out.

This pic shows the floorpan dry fitted along with the rear end and tires.

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View of the backhalf and tinwork

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Ride height with wheels. I might drop the back down a little more.

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Don

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Been a long time between updates, sorry guys. I redid the back half frame, cut away the stuff i did and built a new set-up. I'm using a four link set-up from another kit along with a Ford diff assembly. Everything else was scratch built.I used rectangular styrene stock for the frame rails and sheet stock for the tin. I also decided to use larger tires in the rear, but was still able to fit them nicely under the body. I did have to open up the front and rear of the back wheel arcs to accomadate the slicks.

First pic shows build directly astern.

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Side pic. I think i might drop the front a little bit, have to build/dry fit the engine to see how much clearance the headers need.

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Next three pics show the back half conversion. It's all under a coat of grey primer.

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Pic shows some of the tinwork in the interior. Little rough, but won't really be seen.

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Will start on the interior next.

Don

Edited by dmthamade
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The 4 link came from this kit

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I used the complete diff assembly, links and mounts. They came with wheelie bars moulded together with the link assemblies, but i cut these off. Tried to do a ladder bar setup from scratch, but that didn't go well. Tonight i did a 6 point cage into the interior using Evergreen rod stock. stuff bent easily and held its shape. I sprayed on a coat of flat black, will probably use as a finish color.

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Don

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Really nice. Love the unibody alteration. I've seen plenty of WIP pics from guys doing the same thing to their 1:1s.

Ken

There's a lot available on the Net as reference to do a chassis and tinwork, or even the nearest car show. I find doing the scratchbuilding on this build to be easier than anything i've done with aircraft. Anyway, i've done some work. I painted the interior and chassis with flat black, then hit it with semigloss clear. The interior will be pretty simple with all black overall and small details in silver. Pic below shows overall pic.

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Managed to put a coat of paint on the engine. It's a 426 Hemi with crossram intake. Uses two Holley carbs. I will be wiring the plug leads and rad hoses, have to think about the fuel lines.

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For mags, i'll be using some MoPar factory Rallye wheels. Always liked the looks of these but there are none wide enough for the rear tires. I bought a set from Perrys Resin and widened two by sectioning a scrap wheel half and supergluing it to the resin Rallye wheel.

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Will concentrate on the engine now, i stripped all the chrome from the plated stuff with oven cleaner and then scouring with Comet abrasive cleaner, parts look more detailed now without the chrome or clear coat on.

Don

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Awsome work! I wish I had the skills that you have. I have a Mustang 429 that I would

love to make into a pro street.

RYAN.

It really isn't that hard to do the back half mods. There is a lot of reference available on the 'net. The mustang would be easy to do as a pro street, even relocating the springs inwards would be a relativly easy task. Plastic sheet stock and round stock makes scratchbuilding fairly easy. Finished most of the engine work tonight, i did use an aftermarket wired distributor. There will be no cooling fan installed as i will be using an electric fan behind the rad. The headers were painted with Citadel Chainmail, washed with Promodeller washes then weathered with Tamiya burnt blue to simulate tarnished/burnt chrome. The chrome parts that came with the kit were stripped and painted. The overall engine did get a wash with Promodeller Wash. Few pics for the night, the headers are held on by blutack, will be glued in when the engine is finally installed.

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Don

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Did a little more work last night, managed to get the wheels painted and washed, tires installed and glued onto the chassis. I dropped the front end a little bit, was a little too high. Except for the exhaust system, master cylinder and driveshaft ( which i lost!! ) the chassis is complete. I have to confess that the interior didn't get much more than a black paint job, kinda like my aircraft cockpits. Some pics below.

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Just a couple more pics.

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Dropping the front gave it the typical Pro Street rake, any lower the oil pan will be in danger of hitting. At the stage now where i should decide on the final color, i do like the colors Chryco used on their factory muscle cars of the period, although a basic color would be nice too.

Don

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Don,

She loks fantastic. I really love the wheels...and the exterior work looks very sharp.

I also love the detailed engine..GOOD stuff there Don. :jaw-dropping::jaw-dropping:

THE REAR looks awesome and I can't wait for the end...She is gonna look pretty good !

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Weather has been really nice, so model building has slowed down. I did manage to paint the front and rear bumpers and grilles. I then used a wash of flat black, water and soap. I had stripped the chrome from these and other parts as the chrome hid some detail. A consequence is the parts aren't as shiny as they should be. Anyway, a couple of pics.

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Don

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Thanks for the feedback, guys!! I put the color coats down tonight, went ok til i sprayed the blue. Didn't go down well because i mistakenly used gloss blue, not flat. Came out really grainy. Will strip and redo, might even try another scheme. Any feedback for or against this scheme?

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BTW, i'm a big fan of US Navy Bicentennial schemes. Can you tell?

Don

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I like it-totally 70s.

Ken

The 70's..... i think i'll go with plan B. This scheme was gone 10 minutes after the pics were done. Oven cleaner works so well on fresh Tamiya paints.

Don

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Oven cleaner works so well on fresh Tamiya paints
wow you dont play around you know rubbing alcohol works great too and its much cheaper

So what its going to look like ??

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