I started out the one week build on Monday with a happy heart, a pristine AMT 1949 Ford kit, and a fresh blade in the X-Acto knife. I spent about 2 hours prepping the body: sanding seams, removing mold lines and cleaning up all the trim bits that I didn't want on the finished model. After a wash-n-dry, I shot some primer, and everything was looking good. As per my usual practice, I waited an hour for the primer to dry, and then shot the first color coat. It was a gorgeous dark metallic green, and it went on smooth and easy, nary a ripple in the surface. I put it under the dust cover (a big Tupperware container) to dry, and went about my business.

I checked the paint on Tuesday evening, wanting to see the Ford in all its green glory. Much to my horror, the paint had crazed. I don't know if there was a reaction between the primer and the paint, or if the paint itself was old, but the surface of the paint job looked like it had been shattered into a million pieces. I thought about stripping it and starting over, but the paint was still tacky. Not wanting to tempt fate and chance another unforseen chemical reaction, I decided to let it dry completely before attempting any removal. So that pretty much ended the one-week build for the '49 Ford.

The next victim: AMT's 1971 Duster 340.



I've got 5 days to turn this pile of plastic parts into a completed model. This can't be one of my standard Mopar "factory stock" builds, since I don't have the time to get all the little details right. I'm going to try to keep the Mopar flavor, but do so in a way that will actually allow me to get this sucker built by the deadline. I thought about spraying it flat black and adding some handpainted skulls to the doors, but that seems like cheating.

Speaking of cheating, here's the full disclosure: the previous owner of this kit glued the rear differential together. Technically, the kit isn't totally "unbuilt", but I think it's close enough.

It's approximately 7:45 pm PST on Wednesday December 3, and the build starts...now!

-YL

Well, the picture didn't turn out[EDIT- There it is!], but, I can see it in my minds eye! Awesome choice. I like old Mopars!

Too bad about the Ford finish though. Meh. Sand the craze out of it later and use it for "7-day build #2"!

Cuhail

Pic fixed. It's amazing what an extra space will do to a link, eh?

-YL

Sorry to hear about your paint problem Yoni . I would paint he body first spray the interior one color and build it factory stock nothing to fancy just neat and clean.

Have you ever seen the movie "Dazed and Confused"? You should just paint it primer gray and call it "O'Bannions Car" (I hate that guy!).

I'm kidding of course, but, every time I see an old Duster, I think "OBannion, I hate that guy" !

Cuhail

Four hours later...



The body has been prepped and is almost ready for primer, if you don't count those two huge pieces of plastic sticking out of the rear deck. Those are to fill the holes that AMT nicely left open in the trunk lid for the kit-supplied Go-Wing. I don't know why they didn't just flash the holes over, giving the modeler the option of opening them up for the wing, or leaving them in place for a standard decklid. Anyway, I drilled the holes out so I could glue in some pieces of stretched sprue, instead of fiddling around, trying to cut out square bits of plastic sheet to fit.

The hood has received the scoops from the kit, as well as a coat of primer.

After much fussing, I settled on the rolling stock. The Torq-Thrust wheels are from one of Revell's '32 Ford kits, with the spokes painted dark gray. The tires are from the parts box: AMT Polyglas GTs up front, with Revell's Goodyear Eagle STs out back. I went for the little-n-big look here, to help give the car a bit of a rake. I may flip the front spindles as well.

The engine is together and ready for paint. The chrome air cleaner is from a Revell '32 Ford kit (same one I stole the wheels from), but I don't think it will stay chrome for long.

And now...sleep.

-YL


PS - I'm going to have to watch the movie again, Murph. I remember Ben Affleck's character, but not the car.

A shame about the Ford.

Torq-Thrust wheels will look awesome on the Duster.

Nice work so far Yoni i like your wheel choice they give it that muscle car look.

A quick update: Body in first coat of color. Chassis painted and weathered. Engine parts painted, weathered and assembly started. All interior parts have been painted. All the drivetrain and most of the miscellaneous parts have been painted. Lots of sanding and cutting and prep. Very little sleep. Almost out of beer and masking tape. Two days to go.








And a look back at the mock-up stage. I think it was Thursday...



-YL

Great work Yoni the paint and engine looks very good looks like you will make the deadline as well for me it will be very close.

Looking good

The Duster is coming along, but it's not quite finished.

To be honest, I lost all of Saturday and a good part of Sunday to unexpectedly having to go to work (!), which couldn't be avoided, unfortunately. The last time I got to spend any time on the project was Friday night. Any chance of getting it finished by deadline went out the window sometime Saturday evening. Still, I only started Wednesday, so...it really hasn't been a week.

Anyway, a few quick updates via the Canon Powershot (my DSLR is not working):

The chassis is together. I tried to replicate the factory primer with the body color overspray as best I could, given the time constraints. Everything is lightly weathered, mainly via a black wash and some drybrushing.



I decided to go with a black & white interior instead of straight black. I thought the white would help the body color (purple) pop a little more. The engine is still missing hte air cleaner. I stole a Hurst pistol grip from the partsbox (I think it was from Monogram's '70 GTX kit) and mated it to the kit shifter for a little extra Mopar goodness.



The body has two coats of color on it, but it still needs a black wash for all the panel lines, Bare Metal for all the trim, and some paint for the front and rear marker lights. I'm also considering adding some "hockey stick" stripes from a '70 'Cuda on the rear quarters instead of the kit decals.

I stuck the kit grill in place for a mockup, and then I realized the full-sized one wasn't chrome! I may just overspray it with some silver and add a black wash for detail. The hood is semi-gloss black, and the leading edge of the hoodscoops also needs some Bare Metal.



While I'm not thrilled about missing the deadline, I'm actually quite happy with the way this kit turned out, considering I only have three days (about 14-16 hours) in the build.

-YL

Looks great so far Yoni. Impressive amount of work in only 14-16 hours.

I agree with Jesper awsome work in such a short time keep those updates coming.

Thanks for the kind words, fellas. I'm doing a little detail painting on the interior tonight (dash and door panels), and repainting the grille in the "proper" silver color. I'm hoping that I'll have the whole thing together by Wednesday or Thursday, barring any major mishaps or changes in my work schedule.

-YL

A quick update: everything is together and ready for final assembly. Well, almost.

True to form, I couldn't leave well enough alone. While I was liked the final color (Tamiya Lavender, TS-37), it seemed to me that it was lacking a little something. After rubbing out some of the orange peel, I decided to topcoat the car with one nice, even coat of Testor's Grape Pearl, to give the car a little sparkle. The paint went on great, covered well and gave me just the pop I wanted. The only problem is that the Testor's paint is an enamel, so (you guessed it) it will be a few days before it is really dry enough to handle. Since I painted it Wednesday, it will probably be Saturday before I can move on to metal foil and final finish.

But like I said, everything else is together and ready. Once the body is finished, all I have to do is add the glass, mate the body to the completed chassis and then attach the air cleaner, kit-supplied heater hoses and bumpers.

I'll add more pics when she is really (finally) done.

-YL

Believe it or not, the enamel paint is still drying. I've moved the body under a heat lamp to speed up the process.

Good thing I have other projects to work on in the interim...

-YL

Well, she's done. The enamel topcoat took forever to dry, but I'm really happy with the final color. Final assembly was a bear, as the chassis was a very tight fit into the body. Lining things up properly took no small amount of manual dexterity and a substantial number of bad words.

Just to be different, I added a set of '70 'Cuda "hockey stick" side stripes with the appropriate engine callouts. These came from a Fred Cady decal set that I've had for the better part of 15 years, and they went on without a hitch. I like they way they look on the Duster, as they go well with the interior colors and add a little visual interest to the rear fenders.

All in all, I have about 19 hours in the project. That's a little over 2 1/2 hours a day, over the course of 7 days. If I had started the build on time and left the paint alone, I think I could have finished within the deadline. Maybe.

One other bummer - I'm having serious camera issues. I've snapped a few basics pics with the old Powershot, but I hope to put up some better photos at a later date.



-YL

Yoni your Duster looks good i like the stripes also and the older style rims and those tall rear tires give it a nice aggresive stance. You do good work Yoni so i think better pics would help show all your hard work.

Great looking Duster Yoni, good call on the “Hockey Stick” decals. Love the pic in the second photo…screams Muscle Car. I went through my stash seeing if I had one…BINGO I have. I also found a set of fatties that will need some extra work stuffing them under. I thinking painting it Hugger Orange w/ flat black hood.

Great Work,
Joe

Yoni,
I'm sorry I haven't replied to this thread before now. I've actually been following it every step of the way. The car is turning out great. I freakin' love the hocky sticks. Where the heck did you get them? I've never seen those decals before so naturally I've got like 9 built Cuda's and all have billboards and no hocky sticks. I gotta get some........NOW!!!

Anyways, awsome job. My Cuda' (the real one) is actually painted the same color........well the parts that aren't rusted are anyways.

Hermon

Excellent work Yoni. I love the paint job and the hocky stick decals.
I also like the wheels. Great job.

Hunter

Thanks to all for the kind words.

Joe: Orange was actually my first color choice for the Duster, but switched to the purple at the last minute. I think it would look great in orange of any shade. I also went with the Revell Goodyear Eagle STs in the rear because they just squeezed into the wheelwells without any mods. Going with a tire that's any wider than 3/8" (real measurements) will require some rework of the fender lip and/or the wheelwell. The rake comes from the tall rear tire and flipped front spindles. It's hard to see in the photos, but the front end is so low that the k-member is only about 1/8" off the ground...errrr, tabletop. Overall, the kit was a good build, and I'd definitely recommend it.

Re: the hockey stick decals. I purchased these from Fred Cady many moons ago, circa 1993. Sadly, Fred retired and no longer makes or sells any of his huge line of waterslide decals. This particular sheet, #286, came with a complete set of 1970 hockey sticks with the "Hemi", "440", "383" and "340" engine callouts, in both black and white. Also included were the appropriate air cleaner decals and markings for the hood scoop(s). Like all of Fred's products, these were very well printed and look great. Even after sitting in my decal box for the better part of 15 years, they went on without a hiccup. I know that FC decals show up on eBay frequently, so you can check there if you're interested in finding a set. Hermon, I will keep my eyes peeled for them, just in case.

Happy New Year to everyone!

-YL

Yoni, that stinks about the decals. There has gotta be someone on kitmaker that could reproduce decals like that. Anyway, if they are rare and in limited supply, you made the right decision putting them on your Duster. The way the quarter panels lay, they just look "right".

Hermon

It's been a crazy 2009. I haven't done much model building over the last few months, so I decided to ease back in and do a spot of detail work on the Duster.

Here's a quick shot of how she looks now...



I'm going to paint the side marker lights, add the rear spoiler, finish up some bits under the hood, and maybe throw on a license plate. I'll post some pics to show the update.

This will then be a 5-day build + 6 months!

-YL


PS -Whoops. Don't know how I managed to triple post this, but I did.