Since I’ll be weathering the crap out of this one, I decided to just brush paint the chassis… yeah, I’ll never do that again since I have a dedicated airbrush booth. I also loaded up the underside with some course embossing and Elmer’s to simulate the caked mud we found under there… we’ll see how that turns out.
I brushed on some Tamiya Flat Black and sprinkled on some more embossing powder to hopefully simulate the crappy job of the rolled-on bed liner the previous owners put down. It’ll become flat black again when I shoot the body in the next few days.
I guess I’m bored with my ’82 Mustang model kit or something… which is odd, since I’ve been working on it here and there since March 2018 and I’m still not done with it. I think it’s because I’m trying to make sure I get every little detail just right, and as I go along I think of more little things I can add.
So, I decided to start another project – one I can [hopefully] knock out in a few days, rather than years. Back in August 2020, I went to Austin with my pal Harry to pick up another 1980 Jeep CJ-7 (with a 304 V8 & TF-999 automatic transmission) to harvest the drivetrain and swap into my 1980 Jeep CJ-7 (that used to have a 258 I-6 & T-176 4-speed manual transmission). My BFF Dave came to San Angelo in January 2021 to help finish swapping the 258/T-176 into the ‘new’ Jeep (that he’s affectionately named “Klooge”) and took it home to Phoenix. As it sits, I still need to rebuild, warm-up, and install the 304/auto into my Jeep (“Dookie”). But that’s another story.
“Klooge” was a hot mess (more like a dumpster fire) that needed a LOT more work than we’d thought, which Dave is getting through in short order. One of my ‘things’ is that I like to build models of cars I’ve owned, and technically, I owned Klooge for about 4 months before signing him over to Dave, so I’ve decided to build a mini-Klooge (as I found him) as a result… I’ll build another version once Dave gets him back on the road and the way he wants him.
So, to kick things off, I scored another Monogram 2-n-1 CJ-7 kit from ebay (along with 2 more CJ-7 kits, so I can build one of Dookie when I first got him, along with the one after Dave finishes his work – I already have one of Dookie as he sits now… but after I get done with him [again] I guess I’ll need to get yet another one – sheesh). Today, I decided to get busy on “Old Klooge,” and cracked open the kit. My logic is that since he was such a mess, all I should have to do is pretty much paint everything flat black and weather the crap out of everything. I assembled the frame, suspension, and axles after trimming a ton of flash, then took the Dremel to the frame and ‘tub’ to duplicate some of the rust damage we found. There are a few holes in the frame, along with some rust ‘blow-throughs’ on the sheet metal. I also scored 2 sets of some AR-589 wheels (from another ‘Trucks – GMC 4×4’ kit) and painted one set silver (to simulate the aluminum wheels) which will just get weathered with plenty of dirt and grime (Dave’s planning on coating them black, so we’ll see how that goes). I also pulled apart and cleaned up the V8 the previous owner had ‘glue bombed’ during assembly (that’s as far as they got, fortunately – but they did manage to break the hood hinge piece). Then I cut out the transmission/transfer case cover from the floor, since Klooge didn’t have one when I picked him up. There was also a speaker hanging out of a hole in the dash, so I took the Dremel and punched a speaker hole in the dash panel. After all that, I also found some diamond plate styrene plastic from an online Hobby Store, so it should be here in a few weeks, which will add to the appearance.
Here’s Klooge on the trailer on the way home from Austin. Doesn’t look so bad, but little did we know. The hard top is for my Jeep, but I got the half doors for Dave, since he really liked having them on his ’92 YJ Wrangler “Islander” (which, I scored a Tamiya kit so I can build that one, too). All said, I think I have 6 more Jeep kits to build, so I guess I need to get crackin’.
And here were after spending a little time getting started with the kit.
Next time, I should have some flat black on everything, and hopefully start the weathering process for the engine, transmission, transfer case and wheels. I might wind up taking that giant catalytic converter out of there, since Klooge had a ‘Redneck Dual Exhaust’ when I got him.
I just realized it’s been 3 years (next Friday) since I started this kit. I need to get busy and finish it up!
Didn’t get a lot done yesterday, as I made these discs to help mount the wheels correctly. I’m using wider tires than came with the kit (just like on the real car), so they don’t glue together like they should. I “chucked ’em onto” a Dremel bit with a threaded tip, then trued ’em up on some 400-grit. They fit great!
Got the tires mounted up – they all sit right and still roll… unlike the other kit I made where they got glued on.
I just realized how much my work area has… ‘grown,’ for lack of better terms.
My airbrush workbench has also ‘grown,’ but looks more busy because I was building the WoW case when I took this pic.
Here is the first attempt at ‘carpet’ using some course embossing powder (need to pay attention to the label next time):
And here’s the second attempt, with the lower door panel carpet pieces, and some cream-colored flock to make ‘sheepskin’ seat covers:
I even left the pile of brown gravel I scraped off from the first attempt in the picture. Hopefully, I’ll get a good shot to get this one finished this coming Labor Day weekend.
Well, I got the trim cleaned up quite a bit between the use of isopropyl alcohol and liberal use of fine tip Sharpies. I also took the Molotow 1mm Chrome Pen to the emblems, door handles, locks, and the hood ornament. I used the chrome pen, then the red fine tip Sharpie, then the blue, then a toothpick since the white paint pen tip was too big – not a decal! The original car had burn thru places from the detailer hitting it too hard with the buffer on the real car, so those burn-thru spots are actually somewhat authentic, even though they’re a side-effect of too much polishing.
I cut the .05mm fine tip black pen down to a wedge shaped tip and hit the seams on the doors, hatchback, and gas filler door, which came out OK… maybe a little too much on the hatch seam, though. Still gotta paint the reverse lights, but I’m liking how it’s coming out.
The ’79-’93 Mustangs had this weird beltline trim that ran all the way around the car, along with the cool ‘louvered’ trim pieces behind the quarter windows. My ’82 GL came with some chrome pieces around the windows that made the car look like a grandma’s car, so I blacked ’em out to look a bit sportier.
I still have some spots to clean up and tweak a little with the Sharpie, thanks to the Testors masking tape lifting up in a few places. But all-in-all, I think masking and airbrushing the black trim came out pretty good.
I wasn’t happy that the kit had no provisions for any kind of sychronized steering (both front wheels are turnable, but kind of pointed off in whatever direction they wanted like Marty Feldman’s eyes). My solution, make a scratch-built rack & pinion to hide the incorrect tie rod I made using a paperclip. I ran the ‘clip through the inside of one of those straws that came on a WD-40 can.
Since I’d already painted up the interior panels/engine aprons, I decided to add some details as well in the way of electrical harness runs, brake lines, some hoses, battery cables, the battery and washer bottle, and cut some slots in the firewall for the paper clip hood hinges I had to make as well. I also added a couple of hoses to the air cleaner which I’ll hook up to ‘something’ under the hood once it all goes together. On the interior, added the carpet panels on the lower door panels, along with the window cranks, door handles, and the little trim pieces. There wasn’t a lot of decoration in these cars.
Well, the first run with the new airbrush station was a success in my book. The paint job however… mixed reviews. It was looking really good until I shot the clear, then things changed a little – the color went a little darker than I was hoping for, but it’s probably actually closer to the factory color. I also got a little bit of trash in the clear, along with the Pledge Acrylic as clear coat didn’t lay down as shiny as I was hoping (gotta do a little bit of polishing now).
All in all, I’m still pretty happy with it.
Now, if I can just get it polished and add the black trim without messing it all up.
1. Pledge Acrylic Floor Finish can be used as a suitable clear coat for plastic models sprayed [directly from the bottle without thinning] through an airbrush. 2. Make absolutely sure the area around the spray booth is clean and free of debris (like dust, fibers, etc.), otherwise they’ll wind up in your work. 3. I love airbrushing [again] – it’s a helluva lot of fun… especially when you don’t have to move the car, unpack everything, do the work, then pack everything back up to get the car back in the garage and secured at the end of the day. 4. Cameras don’t magically charge themselves (no pics this time).
Today after adding a few more finishing touches to the work space (tunes, a trash can, cutting mat, a new caster to replace the broken one on my old computer chair, etc.), I got to shoot some paint. I have no idea what to use for ‘primer,’ so I found some interior acrylic ‘Feather Gray’ at the hardware store, thinned it out, and shot it through the El Cheapo Harbor Freight airbrush. Getting the right mix of ‘thin enough for the AB was a challenge, but I eventually got some “primer” laid down on the Mustang body parts. I have no idea if it’s even going to stay stuck, so I’ll let it sit for a few days before checking it out – it’s stuck to my fingers quite nicely, however. If it won’t stick, no worries – it’s water based, should come right off, and I can start again once I find some real primer for the airbrush. I also learned a few valuable lessons today, in the way of securing the work, setting the flow needle, and making sure the airbrush actually stays together while cleaning it. Good times!
I joined an airbrush forum and had a question about there being an adapter for Paasche airbrushes, since their hoses and fittings are different than the ‘standard.’ I took this pic to hopefully show the difference between the hoses and fittings.
