WIP Monaro V2

I needed a break from my Delorean build, as well as a chance to practice some things on a build that didn't matter too much, so I dug out this one which I have been looking at for a while. I plan to use this to try out a few things I haven't done before - I'm going to open at least one door, maybe the boot, in addition to converting it to RHS and redoing the front.
I know Fusionrr is converting a GTO into a VZIII Monaro, but I kinda prefer the look of the original V2 model. So here's the box, and what I'm hoping to turn it into...

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/BoxSmall.jpg
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/ref2Small.jpg



Been at this one on and off for a couple of months, but progress has been slow and I didn't think I had much to show for it. The kit is a snap-together, so is pretty basic, but it's nice and simple to work with! Much scope for improvement. The wheels, for example:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Wheels1Small.jpg
I like the rims - you often see them on Monaros in the street. But that's the brake disc and caliper attached to the back of the wheel. Two parts, with a hole for the axle. I removed the rim part of the wheel back and made a single rim, then sanded down the centre until I had just the disc...
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Wheels4Small.jpg

Finally:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Wheels5Small.jpg
The stub axle is a piece of styrene rod glued into a slight hole drilled in the hub of the wheel, with a piece of styrene tube for reinforcement. Seems to be holding! I cut off the snap fitting on the front strut and drilled it out to take the axle.
While working on the front suspension, I realised that the kit is designed so the wheels are not steerable. With a little work, I managed to rectify that.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/SuspensionSmall.jpg

The tie rod was molded to the sump guard/ suspension arm piece. I cut it off and made ends from brass rod, epoxied into holes drilled in the tie rod. The parts that the tie rod ends go through were molded as part of the tie rod, so I removed them, attached them to the struts and drilled them out. It seems to work, and still leaves clearance for the engine and exhausts.

Thanks for looking! More later...

Ambitious but great idea.

nice work!!

Some small progress. Working on various parts at the moment. Improved the seats, from this:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Seat1Small.jpg

To this:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Seat3Small.jpg

Needed to move the petrol filler cap, and work on the front of the car - that's going to be the biggest issue for me I think, as it's a fairly major change - a lot of putty! Here's a mockup:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/MockupSmall.jpg

And I've opened the driver's-side door and made a working hinge (much to my surprise!)... Here you can also see where I've reversed the firewall for RHS.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/HingeSmall.jpg
That's about all for now. The epoxy's setting on the hinge, so I'll resist the temptation to play with it!

Nice, start, but, considering the kit youre starting with, you have your work cut out for you...

Ok, finally enough for a respectable update! Progress has been slow on this, working out what I have to do, and how to do it. This is my first attempt at serious modification of a kit, so it's all new to me!

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/IMGP0350.jpg
Here's the driver's door completed, with the doorsills done.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/DashConvert.jpg
Using Willimo's tutorial (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=351455), I converted the dash to RHS. Not as clean as I'd hoped, but better than I expected!

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Engine2.jpg
The engine's pretty much done and ready for the chassis - hope to have that together tonight...

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/FrontPrimed.jpg
And here's what's really been taking the time. Still a lot of work to be done here, but I think it's looking fairly Monaro-ish. At least now it's primed, I can see what still needs to be done.

Thanks for looking!

Great job so far.

Dang Bob, That looks excellent so far. Will be keeping an eye on this one. I still have to do the GTS Coupe.

Great work so far! I like how you've fixed the wheels and the suspension. You're really going to make a gem out of a just fairly passable kit. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do here.

Ok, starting to see it coming together here. Chassis is finished:

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Chassis.jpg


Body is primed and ready for some colour to go down. Here's a dryfit:

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/mockupfront.jpg

And the engine in the body:


http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/mockupengine.jpg

Here also you can see the colour I'm going to be using (on the arches). It's called 'Delft blue', and I think it looks magic. The first monaro I spotted in the street was that colour, and I've loved it ever since. Unfortunately, being metallic, most of what you can see here is flash bounce... it looks like this....

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/IMAGE041.jpg

I'm going to leave the primer for a week to harden before I start on the colour, so I'm working on the tub at the moment. Hope to have some pics soon!

Thanks for looking!

Dylan.

After a busy week, the interior is pretty much done. I just need to weather the front seats a bit, and later I'll add a couple of details.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Interiordrivercomplete.jpg

My first attempt at flocking - I found it a bit easier than I expected. Came out not too bad...

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/interiorcomplete.jpg

Also my first experience with the BMF, on a couple of little details: the pedals and the gearstick and handbrake being the more obvious ones.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Dashcomplet.jpg

I didn't put seat belts on this one, simply because I couldn't be bothered!

Going away for a few days. When I get back, the painting of the body begins.

Thanks for looking.

Dylan.

cool i didnt know they had a GTO model, but seeing how simplified they made it ill pass on that kit. I dont like the new kits by Amt but you make the kit look as if it was a top notch model. Keep it up lookin good!

Well, on my holiday, I finally went and bought myself an airbrush. It's a Paasche VL, and I bought a compressor to go with it, so now I just have to learn how to use it!
I did the initial mist coat on this using PowerPlus automotive paint, decanted from the can and applied using the airbrush. I figured the paint was pretty forgiving, and a big area was a simple canvas to practise on. It worked, but then I realised I didn't have anything that would thin the paint - the Tamiya acrylic thinner just made it a large blob. A quick run down to the automotive shop solved that one - if anyone wants to know how to thin it, PM me and I'll let you know. It's pretty potent and dangerous stuff.
So the wet coats have been applied with the can, although touch-ups will be done with the airbrush. Here's how it's looking:

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Paint1.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Paint2.jpg

Still thinking about how to make badging. And I have to fix the headlights and things.

Thanks for looking. Comments and constructive criticism are welcome!

Dylan.

Couldn't help myself - put the body on the chassis and took some daylight shots...

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Paint5.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Paint6.jpg

More later!

i don't know why but that one in 1st painted post look better
it shine more
At least excellent work with interior:icon16:

must....................lower..................... .............ride.........................height

Looking good though!

Finally some more movement on the Monaro. Not much, but I'm back in the mood! I've lowered the ride height, so it looks a bit more realistic. You can just about tell from my crappy picture. Working on the badging at the moment.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Lowered.jpg

Looking great till now , realy like the opened up door :)

Excellent work, everything looks great. Nice colour choice for the body too :)

Looks really good. From what you've started with to make what you have is incredible...the bodywork looks flawless. Liking the door opening too, and the colour of the paint, though it does look more purple in your last picture. Ride height is good too. Keep it going.

Can anyone spot my deliberate mistake?
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/paintbubbles.jpg
That's mostly polish in paint bubbles, but since it's metallic paint, I can't sand it. Looks like an evening of polishing in front of me. There's only a few spots like this though - the rest of it's looking pretty good.
I'm planning to try and fashion the metal badging by putting down a strip of BMF and making a decal that hopefully matches the body colour to put over it, leaving the badge part clear. I don't know if this'll work effectively, but I don't know any other way to try. The other option I suppose is to PE the parts, but that's a bit above me! If anyone has any tips, I'd be glad to hear them.
Other than that, I just have the clearcoat to do, then the lights and the window trim. Hopefully.

Small update:
The body is painted, clearcoated and polished, and I'm finishing off some details. I've also done the window surrounds and the rain channels in the roof with semi-gloss black.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Body.jpg
The headlights are just BMF pressed into the headlight sockets:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Headlight.jpg
I masked the glass and sprayed the inside, then separated the various panels - they didn't really fit as a single piece:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Glass1.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Glass2.jpg

More soon!

Looking nice so far Bob!

I keep hoping that my next post will be to say it's finished! But sadly, it's not. Yet. A little more movement - the taillights fitted with covers painted, and the glass in. Some tidying up needed around the light covers, but I'm pretty please with how they turned out.

One thing I learned here - if you've got to take a drill to your kit, do it BEFORE you paint it.... I had to repair a couple of dings in the duco!

Next post, hopefully, will be the final one!

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/RearDriver.jpg
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/rear.jpg
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s204/evilbob2001/Monaro/Rearpass.jpg

It looks grate! :thumbsup:

Oh,metallic blue... *sigh*

Keep up the awesome work! :D

It's finished! Completed thread here. (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=912597)