2017 Camaro SS

[jmurphy18]

I picked up this project to build as I have a 2018 black on black SS in my garage and I thought this would be a good one

Here is he sprue parts




Chrome and windows

Instructions




That was every page of the instructions. As you can see not a lot of steps
I washed all ther parts and I purchased some oven cleaner tonight to strip the wheels so I can paint them black like my car

[barryf1fan]

[Twokidsnosleep]

Boy are you gonna see the difference versus the NSX Tamiya
But it will be a labour of love for your own car replica and you certainly have the skills to deal with a crappy kit
You are close to my heart here, I have three model car projects in the stash to build of cars I have owned...Honda, Mustang and a BMW

[jmurphy18]

Thanks so much Barry!

Scott you are so right! It bit me today

[jmurphy18]

Update: as noted bu Scott this is not a Tamiya kit. This AMT kit is suppose to be pre painted and finished in the 2017 “Fifity Anniversary “ paint scheme. Suppose to be a finished product ready for polish.... Well this had 6 mold lined, & casting flash on the body. I noticed this after I primed so I did a second layer of Mr hobby 1500 with Mr Hobby leveling thinner. The only bummer is the hood has a imperfection that shows on the hood. Spot is smooth, just a casting error I have 6 coats of primer on this and it still shows
Here is the premiered parts

[Hawkmoon]

You have now truly joined the world of kit bashing, as a kid all we had in the UK were Airfix and the odd exotic Revell/Heller kit. Airfix were very clever the box artwork was painted by a professional artist to depict the model to be built but the contents rarely gave you what was depicted although close. Then in the early 70's Tamiya kits started to appear in the UK, these kits were a revolution at the time with there detail and build quality. My first Tamiya kit was a 1/35 Jagpanther from that period and I marveled at the detail shown in the machine guns ect being used to a sticky thing that resembled what it was meant to be.

With care most kits can be made into a decent finished model but with some they should be left to the more experienced modeler [ not saying your not] and even saying that there are kits that only deserve to be left on the shelf of doom or just not bought at all.

One to look out for if its going cheap on fleabay it could be a bad kit or someone selling something that they do not re-alise its worth [rare].

I always check a kit I fancy on the Scalemates website for history and most of the time there is a review of the kit there. Dont get me wrong there are little gems out there if you know what to look for but for the most you will not beat the mainstream kit makers for quality after all they want you to buy again.

[jmurphy18]

Thanks Hawkmoon for that great tip on Scalemates. I will pay more attention to that. I bought this one as I have an 18 SS in the garage and this is close I just checked the bodywork and it looks OK except that spot on the hood. I think I am going to have to live with it. I will try 4 coats of X-1 and see what that does to this spot...
HAGD

[jmurphy18]

Update: well folks. I have layed down 6 coats of Mr Hobby 1500 finishing primer cut with Mr Hobby leveling thinner 1:1. I have just started sanding the body a second time. I did some work today on tHe hood, front end and left side. I now see whazt Hawkmoon was talking about. he original finish is crap! There are spots showing up under the primer that I am having to sand down. The hood had 10-12 spots on it in multiple locations looking like the airbrush spit yet it was below the primer layer. I am now sanded below That funkier gray down to the original black coat on the hood

My passenger door looks just like this. Have not done the roof and drivers door yet. Just not sure if i need to re primer the car or just lay down some X-1 on this smooth surface

[Hawkmoon]

Hi John , instead of trying to cover a bad undercoat/topcoat [the one the kit came with] with more paint I think your best bet maybe to just strip the whole lot off and start again with the paint. At least you will know whats going onto the plastic and you will recreate the excellent paint finish you had on your last car.

[jmurphy18]

Thanks Hawkmoon! I think you are right! I am spend an awful lot of time sanding to remove the spots and drops that I should not have to. Thanks for stating the obvious that I was to blind to see .

[Twokidsnosleep]

Hi John , instead of trying to cover a bad undercoat/topcoat [the one the kit came with] with more paint I think your best bet maybe to just strip the whole lot off and start again with the paint. At least you will know whats going onto the plastic and you will recreate the excellent paint finish you had on your last car.

Yep

[jmurphy18]

I tried the blue EZ off oven cleaner. It did not hit on much like nothing happened. Sigh. I used Laquor thinner & finished the hood. But the body still needs to be done. I will look at that tomorrow

[Twokidsnosleep]

I tried the blue EZ off oven cleaner. It did not hit on much like nothing happened. Sigh. I used Laquor thinner & finished the hood. But the body still needs to be done. I will look at that tomorrow

We have all had to do this at done point.
Hell, I had three cars in a row need full strips for various reasons

[jmurphy18]

Update: I went out and got some yellow EZ off cleaner. This works better than the blue can. I was able to strip the body today of all the old crap. Took two spraying to get everything off. BTW this crap burns like liquid fire when it hits your bare arms and legs while scrubbing with a toothbrush Not what I was trying to do it just happen. But the body is clean. I will finish sanding it tomorrow and get all the imperfections out. Fill in the 4 dents in the bumper. I hope to prime Wed/Thu. I will be using the badger primer in black to shoot the body.

[barryf1fan]

Stinks you're having to go through this with this kit... it will be worth it in the end, though

And, yeah, that's why your mom (and mine) were dressed up like hazmat agents going to get E.T. when she would clean the oven.

[jmurphy18]

Thanks much Barry! I get to do all that sanding & prep work today. But I want this to be right when I finish

[Hawkmoon]

Sounds good and from what you have said the body shell needs work just to get it right for spraying. Looking forward to your paint job now

[jmurphy18]

Quick Update: I got the body painted with Tamiya X-1, sanded down with 12,000 and I just had to apply some Splash P2K today. I beat the heat of the day and I was able to lay down 3 coats on the body. I grabbed a quick shot in the spray booth before I put in the Tupperware bowl. Shot is crappy but I did not want to take the time to do a good shot and get dust in the finish. But it did look good.


Next Thursday I can post a shot to show the completed body and hood, spoiler, back panel and mirrors.

[barryf1fan]

Yes, that is more like it. Can't wait to see the body put together. Keep up the good, albeit, tedious work!!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Watching

[jmurphy18]

Thanks guys! Sitting in a Tupperware bowl now till next Thursday:)

[jmurphy18]

Update: I got the engine built & not super impressed with some of the fit. They had the exhaust manifold glued to the valve covers... I had to redo the fit to have them mount to the block as proper

I also primed all the small parts and the chassis in Ultimate black

I hope to paint some of the chassis parts tomorrow

[jmurphy18]

Update: I got quite a bit of work done done at his week. I made progress on the chassis and was able to finish the bottom of the car and all the lower chassis parts. I mixed the paint and faded the metal paint on the muffler pipes to give them a heated look. The tops are up in the body cavity but are purple like my test piece.


Well it has been 7 days since I layed down the Splash P2K so I took it out of the container. Paint looks great but very reflective. The blue in the body is the blue shirt I am wearing I did not notice till I got ready to post.


I also finished the interior today. Just had to run out to the garage to check colors as kit was all black with no details.


Sat I will prime the remaining parts so I can finish the remaining black parts.

[Twokidsnosleep]

I would pop the hood and make sure the exhaust manifolds don’t really come out of the valve covers
Oopsy

[jmurphy18]

When I put the engine in I just had to reposition the exhaust manifolds. I tried to do it right. ....
Guess where they fit properly........

[jmurphy18]

Final Update: Well folks I am going to call this one completed. I go the time to finish the SS so that it looks right close to my 18 Camaro SS so I am calling this build done. I took some shots in my light tent. I was going for outside but the rain has made me change my mind
Side view

Front view

with the hood removed


Rear view


The real deal. My 2018 Camaro SS. https://www.jmjstudios.net/Current-Proj ... -mVf8zmt/A

[Twokidsnosleep]

You have done a fantastic job with a very questionable kit


Never met an AMT kit that I didn't hate, just so much work to make it decent

[Hawkmoon]

Top work John and what a turn around on the paint job full marks on turning a pigs ear into a silk

[Kingdan]

Yeah that's turned out great I like black cars for some reason but can't bring myself to buy one lol nice work

[jmurphy18]

Thanks guys so very much!!!

Dan, nothing shines like a black car and nothing shows dirt like a black car except a white one......
Owned both

Now I got 3 of the darn things........ My daughters car is black and you know who washes & waxes that one

HAGD & Week folks!

[barryf1fan]

Thing came out looking great, especially all things considered!!

Never done an AMT kit - and from the sounds of it don't want that frustration - and probably never will. The paint turned out fantastic, nice job on it, man! Looking forward to the C7R now . . .

[jmurphy18]

Thanks so much Barry! and thanks on the C7R. Just started last night. Lots of ejector marks on the hood and body I am having to remove