Revell Dodge Viper in progress

This build was a test of a few things I wanted to try. I'm a Dodge enthusiast but the 90s muscle cars dont come close to the style of the 60s 70s. I've lowered the suspension 2mm by bit of cutting and bending. I've added heater hoses, heater tap and wiring loom to right hand side of engine bay. Also corrected heater box by adding a piece to lift it and opening the duct. The engine has had the intake manifold sanded away from underneath to open gaps. Replaced fuel line and vacuum line moulding with copper wire. Added spark plug wires. Made 2 injectors with wires but isn't right. Added throttle shafts in throttle bodies which has a linkage to throttle cables (not pictured). The dash has been drilled out, gauges were printed and stickytape on top, then superglued to back of dash. The dash is lighted with an led but not going to worry about wiring it. Working on the bonnet at the moment, gaps all over the place, also front wheel arches need rounding out.

G'day there Stuart, and welcome to this forum.
Firstly can I say "If it's not a   , it's not worth building!" Just kidding!....
I am a Ford buff though, but I love seeing what other members are building.
Mate, I like what you're doing so far and I'll keep tabs on it's progress. So keep us
up to date. And again, welcome aboard.

Thanks Jezza. I'm new to this forum thing, I apologize for any errors. As it goes for preferences I'm valiant/dodge. But got to say I'm Ford over holden.

Nice work so far Stuart. Keep up the good work mate.

Thanks Tom. Hoping to have more to show soon. I've had an paint issue with any luck I'll fix it.

Cool viper in the making.
Welcome here.

Hi there. I've had an error. To course of sanding. This is the first time I've used tamiya lacquers and they don't fill scratches. It's my error, not doubting tamiya products in any way. I'm in the automotive trade, using automotive methods. So here is the damage.



I've glued 240 grit to a icy pole stick to quickly remove paint but also picked up some highs and lows in the body. I then moved to 600 grit to remove those scratches.

Using the back of my knife I've removed paint from the door gaps. And around taillights. Because I added way to many coats trying to eliminate the scratches.

Just to let you know in habit at work I started with a course scotchie pad. Bit of sanding with 320 to clean up some edges, then I primed with tamiya primer. That's where I stuffed up. Without realizing the damage I'd done. I blocked it flat and started with base, colour and clear. All tamiya lacquer. It shrunk back so I rubbed it flat and coloured again. Which shrunk again. So styrene is now at 600 grit and I'll try again. Lacquer seems to be the hobby thing and friendly with styrene. But I've had really good finishes automotive paint, which is a gamble because the thinners dissolve styrene.

Hey there Stuart... you probably already know mate, but a simple way to remove an unwanted paint job,
is to chuck the painted item/s into a bath of "Brake fluid".  It does no harm to the polystyrene and after about 
4 to 6 hours you just lightly scrub away the dissolved paint under a warm tap using a kitchen scourer.
(don't forget to wear rubber or latex gloves!).  Back to original plastic. Clean up, re Prime and repaint.

This is a Falcon Ute I built a few years back.  Recently I decided to repaint & rebuild it differently. So it was
carefully dismantled and parts chucked into "Brake Fluid".



All paint gone!... a bit of a clean up then ready for primer and paint!....As that Merekat on telly says.....  Simplezzzz

when i sand with wet and dry i use 1200 1500 or 2000, in my opinion anything less is a bit too coarse, i get excellent results with Tamiya spray cans

I appreciate the advice. No I did not know that brake fluid would strip it. But sanding it with a flat surface I found a lot of imperfections. I'm glad I made the mistake. Lesson learned.

Hey Jezza. Mint looking ute.

What for it's rebuild!.... 

I'm staying with Tamiya spray cans on this one. Thanks for the advice. Paint is better now. Moving on to decals, first time using Tamiya mark fit. I haven't done large decals in a long time. Forgot how nerve racking they are. Got the roof stripes on with a lot of massaging with Mark fit. Seems to soften the decal while you smooth it out, not a quick process. Rear panel was a nightmare, stretching and cutting. I'll try the mark fit on a dry decal to flatten edges.

Thats why there is no rear picture on the box.

Viper looking good resprayed.
Ute look's cool too.
I put a body in brake fluid forgot about it and three days later found that the body turned to plastic string

I'm keen to spray tamiya clear over the decals. Tamiya doesn't recommend it. And googling seams to be a 50 50 opinion. Any thoughts.

G'day there Stuart... mate the Viper is starting to look real smart. If you're after a really good clear finish that won't upset the paint or decals, try this one...
  It's a polyurethane (Exterior & Interior) enamel gloss and I swear by it!. Gives a beautiful finish. One very light coat
followed by a slightly wetter coat about 10 mins later. Spray in a dust free environment and let cure overnight.
You can get it from Bunn***s Hardware, or most hardware stores.  

i spray Tamiya over decals but only light coats, i found that heavy coats will wrinkle the decals

Thanks for the advice guy's. I'll do some samples. I remember as a kid losing interest in a build because paint and decals not working out. Thats one very nice nova.

For what it's worth I use Auto 1 etch primer and Holts Dupli colours and a two pac clear. I have the ability to balls up any paint job so I never know if it's me or the paint. Pine o clean will also take some paints off as well especially if they haven't had a long drying time.