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1/25 1971 Challenger


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Now that I have a bench...

Here's my project. It starts with the donor kit:

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And here's what came with the resin set:

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I scored this on ebay for around $25. It's cheaper than waiting for the old MPC kit to come up, which would likely go for better than $200. And this is probably a resin cast of the relevant parts from that kit anyway.

So. The build, as these usually do, starts with the mill. There's just one issue; the resin interior has a slapstick auto console and the trans that's on the kit motor is a manual 833. This means a trip out in the yard...

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I found a 426 hemi from a '74 'cuda that happened to have a Torqueflite on it:

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It's an old build, and came apart easily:

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And with the trans pulled off the kit motor:

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The kit motor isn't the finest example. The oil filter is hollow in the back and the alternator hangs in mid-air. But it'll do as a representation of a 383, which is what I would have in my '71, if I had one.

Meanwhile, work started on running wires:

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It's currently wired up and painted but I haven't had time for pics yet. More later.

Ken

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I started my first one a couple years ago-a 1960 Chevy panel wagon on the Monogram 1960 Impala donor chassis. The resin was just the body shell with no interior and it stalled when it came to scratchbuilding an interior. Reference pics are hard to come by ;)

Here's the mill:

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There's still plenty of tweaking to do, but you get the idea. the coil is on the inner fender so that one's not plugged in yet.

Ken

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  • 4 weeks later...

Doing some bodywork and getting things ready for paint. Most of the parts will be car color and I hope to shoot it all at once.

One of the issues with resin bodys is the door & trunk gaps. This one, another one I have and some of the on-line builds I've checked out show some rather sloopy lines. Plenty of crud that needs to be cleaned out. I got most of this one taken care of already but if you look close at the door bottom/rocker, you'll see what I mean:

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I also wanted to go with the kit supplied shaker hood. It was a bit narrow so I had to build the edges up with some strip styrene. It's also a bit flat so I've had to do some tweaking here and there:

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I've been doing this with the understanding that I still have the resin R/T hood to fall back on but as I was taking the comparison pics I noticed that the resin set didn't come with the chrome inserts that would be the scoop openings, and I doubt I could find some. Shame too, 'cause it's a rather cool looking hood:

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Hopefully it'll be in the booth this weekend.

Ken

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And a splash of color:

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The resin is very contaminated and a real PITA to clean. Good thing I didn't hose the shell yet. And FYI-the pics don't really do the color justice. It really pops in person.

Ken

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Body shell, primed, final sanded and ready for paint:

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Fun fact-resin is really prone to static cling. Never noticed this with the cockpits and accessories I usually work with but it's a nightmare here. This'll be fun to paint...

Ken (still working :tumble: )

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The first car I ever bought with my own money was a '73 with a cooked 318. I dropped a 360 in it and for some reason spent the next 6 months dropping driveshafts out of it. The drivers door hinges finally rotted off the body so I junked it and pursued the Duster.

It was red tho. Not like this:

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And with the components:

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Panther Pink. Plymouth called the same color Moulin Rouge, and I see Dodge stole that name and are painting the new ones the same color. I say if they're gonna bring back the name, bring back Plymouth too.

I went black with the hood because without the vinyl top, there wouldn't be anything other than the stripe to break up the color. And I wanted to go with white door panels and seats, but I had concerns that the paint wouldn't stick well enough to the resin interior to mask it. I still have to paint the front and tail light panel Argent. I think I'll be substituting Metallizer Steel for that-it looks about right.

But I'll let this dry a few days first.

Ken

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Dry fit with the interior done:

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Have quite a ways to go. The body isn't nearly dry enough to mask. The rear bumper needs to be chromed-it's resin. I'm missing one of the retainers for a wheel so I'll have to go look in the yard later. And I have no idea how I'm going to do the R/T stripes yet.

But it looks cool as hell sitting on the workbench ;)

Ken

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Thanks Gregg. That pink is more purple in person, but at any rate it's a striking color for 1970 (and a half...).

More pretty pics to consider-the wheels are painted & mounted:

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And here's where it stalls. It's still not dry enough to mask and spray the front & rear. Interestingly, the resin shell dimensions differ from the original plastic. It's wider and a bit taller up front. The shaker scoop is too low in the back so I'll have to shim that up somehow. The kit's rear bumper is also too short so it looks like I'll be foiling the resin one.

Ken

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  • 3 weeks later...

Time to call this one done. I'll play hell trying to find R/T stripes for it, so I'll leave it as is until the day comes...

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Not without it's issues. The body on this one is taller than the donor kit and the engine sat too low for the scoop to sit on without mods. No gas cap. The rear valance fit was horrific and I expect it'll pop off someday and fly across the room. The stresses holding it on caused the body shell to draw up the back of the chassis plate changing the rake of the finished model. I'd bump the shackles up to compensate but they're also under the valance. And the chrome foil I had died. I had to piece the chrome together in 1/4 to 1/2 inch chunks because the foil cracked on the backer sheet.

But I have a '71 Challenger for the display and THAT part I like :)

Ken

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Let me get this straight, the car you were building had an incorrect transmission so you decided to swap it out for the correct one? :wacko: :blink: I must say that from where I'm sitting you have got some serious issues. :woot.gif: That said you have done a truly amazing job. :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:

You must have been doing this for some time now to have such a huge collection of spare engines. Hell, my local junk yard doesn't have that many motors laying around. :rofl:

All joking aside this was an amazing build. I loved the work you did on the motor. This has me chomping at the bit to break out a car kit and get cracking.

I look forward to seeing more of your car builds. :thumbsup:

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  • 4 months later...

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