Well, the 79th running of the 24 Heures du Mans is history. And, once again, so is my 24-hour build…
For the past few years, my wife and I have built model cars during the running of the race. We start when the race starts, and we try to be finished by the time it ends the next day. Usually, I like to build an endurance racer, especially one that's run at Le Mans. And I usually try to build a kit from the stash. This year, though, I couldn't find a kit close enough to the top of the pile that I wanted to build. Due to the time limit, the build is almost always out of box, or close to out of box–no added doo-dads and the like. I have a few kits of the Jaguar XJR-8 and XJR-9 that I'd like to build, but I'd really like to do them up right proper like. and an OOB build might not be the best way to do that…
This year, we did a 24-hour build for the Rolex 24 at Daytona since we didn't go to the race, and I built a street car (Tamiya's 1/24 scale 1999 Toyota Celica). And, since I couldn't find an endurance racer I thought woult fit the bill, I chose to build another street car. I was torn between two kits–the MPC modified reissue of the 1970 Coronet Super Bee (actually, a very nice kit–it combines some of the old MPC kit body and other parts with the 1990-era MOPAR chassis and engine) and the Revell 2009 Dodge Challenger.
Since the auto makers started to make "retro" styled cars (the late 1990's Ford Mustang seems to have started the trend) and resurrect old car names, I've only liked two of them. Ford did a real nice job with the Mustang–although I was never a huge fan of the FoMoCo Pony Car (yes, kids, the Mustang was initially THE Pony Car that spurred Chevrolet into making Camaros), the new styling has an air of cool about it. The other one I like is the Challenger. Again, they styling cues taken from the original make using the Challenger name permissible in my mind. (I won't get into how I feel about Chrysler using the "300" badge or calling that behemoth "Charger", or Chevy's lame attempt at reviving the Camaro–the former two just don't work and the latter looks like a comic-book gangster car.)
The Super Bee would have been nice, but to do it justice, the painting of the body and chassis needs to be done in what can be a time-eater. So, the Challenger won…
The kit was built out of the box–I even used the kit decals. See the mini-review below for details.
I wish Revell would have made the blacked-out grill and taillight panel as separate parts–it would have made painting a wee bit easier!
It looks like a proper muscle car, no?
And yes, it has a Hemi…
One thing that ChryCo did when they brought back the Charger and Challenger was to yet again reinvent the Hemi that made their progenitors famous. One thing they didn't do? Anyone who remembers the MOPAR muscle cars from the late 1960s and early 1970s should remember the High Impact colors (here's another link for you). You know, those colors with names like Plum Crazy, Go ManGo, Sassy Grass, SubLime, Panther Pink…anyway, the only "throwback" colors they offered were Hemi Orange, Tor-Red (now called Torred), and B5 Blue. I couldn't let that oversight go. What you see is what a 2009 Challenger would look like painted in SubLime Green. I liked this kit, so I may also do one in Panther Pink. I'll save Plum Crazy for the Super Bee…
Revell really did a nice job on the kit–it is simpler than their full detail kits from back in the day, yet more involved than their ProFinish inspired kits from the late 1990's. The interior is a separate module from the chassis pan, with separate side panels. The seats are nice–the recline lever area is kind of clunky, and if you are into opening doors and such, you'll probably want to finesse them a bit–and the dash is quite well detailed. Decals are provided for the gauges, climate control knobs, and the Nav/Entertainment/Display system. I couldn't get the decals for the climate control knobs to lie down using Future–maybe some Solvaset would help here. Kit instructions call for semi-gloss black on everything, but I used some dark gray flocking for the carpet. Change up the final finishes to add some interest–use semi-gloss, flat, and gloss overcoats on various parts.
The body is well done–parting lines are very fine and easy to remove. The instructions call for the addition of the nose and tail clips late, but in dry fitting, they didn't fit very well. There is a natural seam on the 1:1, but I glued them on and filled the gaps. Doing this makes the installation of the chassis pan a bit of a nail-biter, but it can be done. We were out of Tamiya's white primer, so I laid the paint directly on the bare (but cleaned with alcohol!) plastic. Paint on this one was Tamiya's TS22 Light Green. It covered quite well. The semi-gloss black areas are Testor Acryl Semi-Gloss Black, applied with a brush. I do wish that the grill and taillight panel were separate–painting the black areas was a bit of a chore. I got a respectable result, but it isn't as nice as I would like it to be.
The engine assembly is quite nice and when installed looks the part. You could go hog-wild adding plumbing and wiring if you wish. Revell gives you a great starting point. The suspension is not bad–the only gripe I have is that the metal rod that is used as the rear axle is nice and shiny–if it weren't such a pain to remove, I'd remove it and give it a shot of steel or gunmetal paint. It doesn't show if you don't pick the model up…
The only niggles I found were the windshield installation, which I did after the interior and chassis were installed–you can do it before, but you may wind up popping it loose when installing the chassis. The same goes for the rear side windows–you should do those first, since they get trapped against the inside of the body on the lower edges by the interior pan. The instruction and assembly sequence for the motor needs some studying before you commit the glue. Also, the headlight and signal light lens part numbers are reversed–dry fitting will show you what lives where.
The kit decals were used throughout, and responded well to Future used to set them except for the climate control knobs. Solvaset made the stubborn ones lie down, although I didn't try it until all was buttoned up (I've had issues with Revell decals and Solvaset before)–it would have set those decals onto the climate control knobs better than Future did…
All in all, though, I enjoyed the build. You will too.
While I was building the Challenger, my wife built this:
That's Tamiya's 1/24 scale Porsche Boxster with a Porsche 911 front clip. Tamiya's auto kits go together quite nicely, indeed.
I wonder what next year's build will be? I have a year to figure it out…
Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.