I guess I should migrate some of my builds over here. This is one from last year.
About 10 years ago a guy at work gave me 3 kits he had bought for his kids. All three had been started to some extent. Two were write off glue bombs (the engine and interior in my '60 Chevy pickup came from one) the 3rd was this one.
It has sat on a shelf in the basement since I got it so the box is really dusty!
Some very messy brush painting had been done, the door was very sloppily cut out (the kid was 10) and some minor assembly had been done but it is not beyond hope. Gonna take some work though.
Not sure what the plan was with that front seat. Needs to come apart and be completely primed and repainted.
Looking at it initially I thought it would be a simple glue back together. When I checked the fit of the windshield I discovered there is actually about an 1/8th of an inch missing. Think they used a hacksaw blade or utility knife to open up the door. Good thing it will be dirty!
I decided that the door was going to be open so had to figure out what I was going to do with the interior. This was the first issue of the kit so it only had the very basic contents inside with a lot of detail missing. Looking through clips from the movie didn’t help much as you only get a few very brief looks. A person on another forum told me there was an updated kit so I pulled the instructions for that and BINGO I now had a blueprint. The main things were the horrible package shelf and the lack of the roll bars.
Your progress is looking very good. A very long time ago, Hobby Lobby had this kit on their shelves and I so regret not getting it then with a 40% coupon.
I agree! Thought I do like the new “Mad Max” movies I still think that the original movie was and still is a classic. Same theory with the Planet of the Apes movies. I wonder if anyone has a 1/24 3-D printed figure of Mel Gibson’s character for this kit?
Looks like you have a good start on this kit. Following as it has always been on my list to get and if I find one in any condition for a good price I will nab it. Can’t wait to see the results of this “save”.
PS - Don’t forget to add the little music box somewhere in the car.
Based upon the directions for the upgraded kit I made up a “wire” rack instead of the solid platform provided. Looks chunky in the pictures but once black will almost disappear in the interior. Chopped off the geometric shapes posing as gear and split them up.
A basic roll cage based on the upgraded kit instructions made up and installed. A few more odds and ends of stuff and a repaint and calling the interior done.
Moving back outside for a bit.
Almost gave up on the door a few times and I amend my original statement of thinking they used a hack saw to open it to they had to have used a Skill saw! Still working on the greeblies for “detail” but I do have a decent fitting and functioning door. It would not pass muster on a shiny show car but will do just fine on this beat up old girl.
The kit supplies the whole door panel as if straight from the showroom but in the movie there is no panel at all so I made a basic base for inner door pan. Will add some stuff for interest but most will be hidden by pouches and manchette anyway.
A lot of the interior detail is visible over about a 5 second part of one scene in the movie. I must have watched that 20 times because it all goes by so fast that even trying to grab a still shot was a challenge and 100% movie accurate pretty much impossible." Close enough" ruled on this build
The door for example is based on this partial shot of the restored movie car which had a lot of liberties taken on how it actually looked in the movie.
Everything primed with black rattle can automotive primer. Came out so good that this will also be the main body colour. Gonna’ be plenty sick of black even if I will be using 5 “different” shades/sheens of it.
Door fit now that I can actually see it is pretty good. Not perfect but fine for this purpose. I plan to leave it open anyway.
Chassis put back together and detail painting done. Most is all molded solid but at least the paint gives some definition. Factory fresh at this point but won’t be for long.
Tanks and gear painted up and given a wash of tinted Future to start the weathering process. A tarp made from a foil sour cream container lid rolled up to fill some space on the rear seat.
Ready for dirt and flat coat.
