Candy Camaro

Hi everyone!
Thanks for stopping by the Lateral-g Artwork section, below is my building diary, if you don't feel like reading it all, just jump to the end for a summary.  You are now about to hear a little story about a little car the became famous in it's own little way.

Introduction

It all started in late February, year 2005 when me and a buddy decided to build something rather extreme for an upcoming show here in Sweden, the IPMS Open 2005 (International Plastic Modelers Society). The show was on the 1st of April, so building-time was something we didn't have on our hands.  After some initial searching on the Internet we both agreed on building a ´69 Camaro G-machine, candy red was the color of choice.  Starting with a 1:25 scale Revell ´69 Camaro Yenko /SC (kit no.2826),
sponsored by the local hobby shop, the building frenzy begun.  Less than a month to go, we tried to split the work evenly to optimize our building pace.  The attempt failed miserably, my buddy did some minor work on the interior and fitment of interior parts, some minor work here and there while I did “everything else”...

Bodywork

Primary goal was to get a good paintjob and a clean look, so quite a lot of time was spent on getting the body perfect. Since I'm a great time-optimist, I decided that I had time for a few body modifications:
-Opened two front ducts
-Built a “tip” in the front
-Opened the trunk lid (molded closed)
-Shaved off all the trim, emblems and door handles

After some epoxy-puttying and rescribing panel lines I started the paint-prep.  The whole body was carefully sanded with 600 grit abrasive, washed, primed, sanded with 1000 grit abrasive, washed again and finally painted with a silver basecoat through my airbrush. The silver basecoat was followed many thin coats of candy red to give it some serious depth (pictures don't do the paint justice, as always with cameras).  After a few days of drying, I started wetsanding the body, VERY carefully,
starting with 3600 grit abrasive and moving up to 12000 grit. Once I got rid of all the orange peel I buffed the paint to a nice shine and the paintjob was completed.

Engine

As I came across Scott Gulbranson´s Twin Turbo Chevy 434 I decided that I had to replicate it (sorry Scott, no time to ask for permission), what a suiting engine for a G-machine!  The kit 427 big block was a great starting-point, nicely detailed block and transmission, wonderful fitment and twin turbo friendly :D  A LOT of scratchbuilding was needed to replicate the Banks TT-kit and give the engine another level of detail. Below are a few of the modifications I made to the engine:
-Machined aluminum pulleys
-Scratchbuilt pulley bracket
-Scratchbuilt turbo system
-Scratchbuilt turbo manifolds
-Added ignition cables
-Scratchbuilt DFI system
-Scratchbuilt dipstick

The block was painted using different metalizers (Alclad II), the start motor and oil filter was painted the same color as the body.  During the final installation, I ran into some fitment issues, the turbo manifolds were hitting the upper a-arms!  Not only did I ran into fitment issues, I also managed to drop the finished engine not once, but three times (!). It was not out of stupidity, nor out of mindless handling, I still today believe that this build was never meant to be completed in time. Must be some kind of Camaro-curse...  Or is it just my bad karma that's giving me what I deserve?

Interior

Well, time just flew by and the build wasn't exactly going as planned. At this time I seriously didn't think we would make the deadline.  For the interior, we wanted anything BUT the original look of a ´69 Camaro:
-Seats from a Porsche GT3
-Custom built dash
-Custom built center console
-Machined steering column
-All aluminum steering wheel
-Machined shifter
-Scratchbuilt metal pedals

The backseat was removed in favor of some 12” subwoofers. A custom rack was also built to hold two amplifiers (Rockford Fosgate imitations).  Fitment was a real challenge for my buddy, the custom dash really gave him a hard time, so did the custom built rack.

Trunk

Since the trunk lid was molded closed, there was no trunk detail, everything had to be scratchbuilt. To go with the Pro-Touring/G-Machine theme I wanted a fuel cell and a battery case in the trunk, all had to be scratchbuilt.  Making the lid open and close properly was another challenge, took some time to figure out a proper-working mechanism but as soon as I worked that out it was only a matter of building the hinges out of aluminum tubing and brass rods.

Chassis

Here is where I wish I had spent more time, the chassis on the model is actually anything but Pro-Touring. Leaf springs, no subframe connectors, no coilovers...but when it comes to scale models, looks are more important that “performance”.  For my next project, the chassis will be a totally different story...stay tuned and I will show you what I mean.  My buddy built a crazy exhaust system out of 2mm solder wire and some rectangular exhaust tips. The leaf springs were painted to match the color of the body, candy red.  Brake disc were taken from a Porsche GT3 (some donor car eh?) and the calipers also painted to match the body color.  The somewhat gigantic wheels are similar to American Racing Torq T`s, only about 22” on all four corners...I personally don't like the way it looks, but there was no time to compromise and we had to go with what we had at the moment. With a little more time on my hands, I'd have used 17” in the front and 18-19” in the rear.

The final assembly

Well, judgment day was upon the Camaro, one day to go and still 214343+ pieces yet to be assembled.  I didn't sleep the night before the show, I stayed up all night and finished the little sucker.  You may have noticed that some parts are missing in the pictures, the cooling hose and radiator struts for example. Well those parts can easily be added afterwards I figured, now it's about damn time to get the model to the show!
Several improvements have been made since these pictures were taken (minutes before the show), all the fuel lines are installed, the exhaust tips have been shortened, the brake discs was given a black wash to highlights the holes etc.

What happened next?

Well, the military geeks in the IPMS jury at didn't care much for the Camaro, but I had sooo many others giving me compliments about it that I just forgot about the contest.  After IPMS, we took the Camaro to several other shows (car specific) and dominated the “Street Machine” division. It claimed, I think, 5 or 6 1st price awards.  The Camaro also received a special price by Finnish master modeler Juha Airio, and got a small feature in a Finnish car magazine (V8 Magazine).  A big Swedish car magazine (Wheel Magazine) made a full feature about the Camaro in August.  I am truly honored that my little piece of plastic and solder has been appreciated by so many.  Stay tuned for more scale creations by me in the future!

P.S I've got a bunch of images during this build, just send me a email or pm
if you've got any questions or feedback D.S

Info

Kit: Revell ´69 Camaro Yenko /SC (kit no. 2826)
Wheels: Pegasus 23” T´s
Paint: Humbrol no. 11 basecoat, Tamiya clear red X-27
Engine: Modified 427 BBC, scratchbuilt Banks Power Twin Turbo-system

Thanks for looking!

Sincerely yours,
Fredrik