Greetings and apologies for my silence,
Mostly wrapped up in school and stressing about post-grad. educational options, whereas a certain spare 1:18 Lane '68 Pontiac 400 Ram Air II engine and a half-finished wheel/tire conversion dating from three years ago proved too much a temptation across recent weeks. Yes, nice homologation specials are collected and converted too. The full-on racers become all-consuming and shut other life out, hence a limited thing whilst facing school challenges. Thanks Jon for adding so many nice T-G articles in recent times - they are very much appreciated as is all else you do and all that others contribute.
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A very old project here, with wheels and tires forming the centerpoint of what was attempted no less then three years ago. Other projects quiet, whereas brief stab to simply added wheels and tires to this project predictably led to more work. Crying out for foil and markings, but otherwise happy and presentable. Wished to wait until complete before posting, but require a feedback fillup to steady myself. Thanks for examining this post...
Mike K.
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Wheels and tires: Hwy 61 Goodyear Polyglas GT in the F60-15 size mated to modified GMP Rally II wheels. The GMP wheels have been trimmed of their outer trim ring, whereas the stock issue outer rims/lips from the ancient 1:18th ERTL '70 1/2 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am issue were cut free from the standard and uninspired Rally II's and reused here. Tamiya Mica Silver seems the closest match, whereas the wheel center caps were washed out with paint thinner before Tamiya transluscent red was applied/pooled to finish matters. If nothing else, here we have very nice '70 1/2 footwear and accidental accuracy given that the first year second generation Trans Ams did indeed make use of a 14 center wheel stamping with the welded-on rim stampings proper making up the dimensions to afford the buyer a 15 inch wheel. Like most diecast model car wheels, they are pretty much zero offset and hence mated up to the standard wheel backs without huge difficulty. Front ride height reduced a bit, whereas that strange tendency to have the rear axle of these Firebirds oriented too far forward relative to the driver's side wheelhousing has here been corrected. Track just a touch wide, and will be taken in a bit prior to final assembly.
Shell: Grille surrounds painted silver - masked grille mesh proper with an inset panel and simply taped off top borders to preserve chrome plate. SD-455 specific underhood braces cut clear off - not hard and touched in with care. Front filler panel and cowl area painted semigloss black - Tamiya tape employed as well as a Silly Putty mask around the cowl area - great stuff it is to mask difficult areas in-situ. Strange extension of rubber seal seen on base of forward edge of C-pillar filed back to a contour resembling what is normal, whereas all cast-in rubber trim painted black in anticipation of applying foil. I hate applying foil, suffer nightmares from past experiences, and yet it is so needed here. Oversized TRANS AM markings deemed correct for '73 and later, will likely be replaced with early Monogram kit release of '70 1/2 Trans Am. Later releases not licensed as Trans Ams, hence only Firebirds sans T/A markings - go figure.
Photo-etched lock cylinders to come - easy to add and they afford a bit of substance to something otherwise undifferentiated concerning media seen. Top of glass 'soft masked' before applying sun screen band (using a coil of Silly Putty and artfully applying paint in an indirect manner so that the tint would 'dust' underneath the extremities of the seal), whereas a 1:18th ERTL '70 1/2 Camaro Z/28 has afforded this model an inside rear view mirror. Exterior door handles are standard 1:18 Welly '72 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am items and represent a huge improvement. Interior bucket half '73, half '70 1/2 with manual trans forward floor mated to '70 seats and upholstrey patterns. Testor's Lacquer GM Nassau Blue in an aerosol can splendid match for interior and comes with my recommendations. Shot on a muggy day and the results really impressed - perhaps the finish may have been too glossy if shot under 'ideal' circumstances? Huge door doglegs painted same Nassau Blue to disguise awfulness. Cowl vents blackwashed. Coming along then...
Chassis: Really quite unenthralling but for paint. Spare 1:18 Lane Pontiac Ram Air II '68 Firebird powerplant installed here, mysteriously transformed into a fair '70 Ram Air III - proof that expensive spares in my care eventually find life beyond the grave. Less than amazing Lane carburetor replaced with a quite fair 1:18th Hwy. 61 '69 Chevrolet Camaro (350 powered) GM Quadrajet. Welly shaker with seal substituted, filter housing/base with two snorkels to come. Have to cast spare snorkel and not at all looking forward to it. Water pump and accessory drives refinished in Pontiac Aqua or semigloss black for the assemblies come through from Lane painted silver. Fan shroud cut to remove overflow/sealed coolant system tank ala later Firebirds/SD-455, etc. Master cylinder from 1:18th ERTL '70 1/2 Camaro Z/28 soon to be added, anticipate doing little more short of adding a battery - likely from a 1:18th Ertl Authentics '67 Impala SS with proper clamps. Exhaust outlets sanded and reshaped, whereas centers drilled out and flat black paint applied inside.
M.K.
...fuzzy and not ideal, but nevertheless fairly good.
...as if there were any doubt as to what the project is. This 1:1 example seems to wear black PMD center wheel caps, but early press examples did wear the '69 and earlier caps, so no foul declared.
M.K.
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