Well i thought i would start the beater build off with this old AMT kit of the Joker goon car/ 1977 Dodge Monaco it should be perfect for this build because it's a 4 door and it's ugly, the pic isn't great but i have already added some rust holes and cut out the drivers door and added some framing for the door to sit in. The other kit is being used as a donor for the chassis, suspension and engine because the detail is much better. I will take a few better pics in a couple of days of the rust and body damage and the work on the door. i hope we get a few people to join in.

Nice! This will be interesting. I already see the "rust holes" in this picture. Subscribed.
I'll be be in this one soon.

A perfect choice for a daily beater. Looking forward to seeing it evolve.

I was actually thinking of picking up this kit and making an oldddd NYPD car out of it. How's the quality of the kit? It's AMT so I'm assuming it's pretty good.

Time for an update, i got my base coat of rust on the body now you can see the body damage much better and i also added a big dent in the door and damaged the front fender and hood. From the new pics you can see i had to glue the door back on what a bummer, i will explain before removing the door i should have checked the alignment of the interior bucket floor with the body and new chassis there was a scale gap between the bottom of the door and the interior bucket of about 10 scale inches so back it went the problem is that the old chassis is so thick that they made the interior bucket a little shallow. I am now giving the the body a few coats of hair spray and than i will give it it's final color coat. Steve the quality of this kit on a scale of 1 to 5 i give it a 3 not good but not to bad all the parts are there but the overall fit could be a lot better and the detail is a little soft it is a very old mold.

I have the same kit, and will make it into a NYPD car also, I even have the decals; the kit is not up to modern AMT standard, but is ok, you can make a good model out of it. it has all the equipment to make it a patrol car, even has some weapons. the only thing that needs replacement are the roof ligths.

Happy Modeling

Byron

What is your technique for cutting doors out?
What color and brand did you spray for the rust base color?

I used Testors Model Master rust and sprayed it with my airbrush, i used a seam scriber to cut the door out but you could use the back of an old Xacto knife blade, after cutting you have to check to make shore the gap between the door and sill isn't to large you may have to add plastic to the door as a filler.

A few pics of the dodge painted i went with white and painted the drivers door and trunk a light gray for a little contrast, i also worked on the rust and got a quick coat of paint on the interior some German sand color also for contrast i think i like it, these are the tires and rims i will go with for the rear suspension. Next up chassis and front end and engine work 440 V8 it will be weathered and wired.

wow awesome. That damaged front fender looks real.

Thanks, at first i didn't like it now that i added the rust it looks a lot better, i still need to weather the bumpers as they are to clean.

Robert, can you tell us how you made the dents and damage? Also, what do you see for weathering on the bumpers? If I remember, sometimes the chrome would "peel" on some of the older cars, but I can't remember if it did it on Chysler products. Probably, as in that era, everything rusted and fell apart much easier than today.

David

I think for the bumpers i will give them a light gray wash as that will tone down the shine than i will use a rust all wash making the chrome peel might be difficult i will have to think about that for a while. The dent in the door was easy as the plastic was so thick i just shaved it down with a curved exacto blade, the front end damage took a bit more work i had to heat the plastic over my oven burner being very careful to soften the plastic with out melting it than i pressed the front area that was soft up against my window sill any blunt hard object would work. The rusted body was first sprayed model master rust than left to dry before 2 coats of hair spray were applied i let the hairspray dry before airbrushing the final white acrylic coat than you use an old paint brushed dipped in water and scrub the area you want the rust to show through and the paint just flakes off this method works great.

Very nice indeed! You are teaching an old dog now! What does the hair spray do? Is it more like a clear coat only in matte finish? I have not heard of that being used before!

David

The hair spray is a sealer but not a very good one it can be washed off with soap and water, it's used for a sealer for your base coat and a barrier so the acrylic top coat will but not stick very good that's why it can be scrubbed off with an old paint brush and water give it a try it really does work.

Hey, thanks for that tip! I'll have to try it sometime when the situation warrants it!

David

what era are you making yours? I'm using the old NYPD decals I got from my johan fury kit which I made into an LAPD car

Looks great Robert. Your rust work is awesome.

Steve i believe my model depicts a car from the late 1990's that would make it about twenty years old and these late 1970's cars were very prone to rust damage it will not be a police car, Thanks Jesper, i am working on the engine and exhaust now so i can install the suspension and set the cars stance.

Well it's time for an update i finished the suspension and got all the wheels on the drivers side front suspension will be a little lower when the chassis is glued to the body the body is 85% done, the engine is about 75% done still needs a fan, power steering pump, alternator and belts and a lot of weathering, who knows maybe i will be able to finish on time.

Well it's time for the final update, i can't believe i finished it and i am pleased with the results, there are plenty of pics to look at so check them out and feel free to comment on the finished Daily Beater.

Ahhh this is awesome! The Dunkin Donuts box full. I thought this was not going to be a cop car.
BTW, how did you make that?

Thanks it was a fun build, ah the box of doughnuts was made from 3 separate pieces of ink jet paper so it would take the paint than folded and glued i went to their website to get the correct colors and logo which was hand painted, the doughnuts themselves were made from thick sheet plastic with a hole drilled in the middle than i used a file to make the shapes.

I almost said this was a nice looking car.... But it's looking horrible! (I mean that in the best sense of the word). Real craftmanship making a plastic model look like a old beater like this!

I'm really impressed! From the rust, to the doughnuts, to the ducttape holding the seats and dash together. It's all looking real good!

-Kjell

Thanks kjell, i like building these beat up cars because you can be very creative and if you make a mistake it often looks better than what you first intended to do.