'68 Dodge Charger R/T - WIP

Bart Goesaert
nice start, very clean cutting..., now on to that interior...

Dominik Weitzer
Thanks. Thats of course the "easiest step"
Now I've cut the doorpanels in peaces. A testfit showed up, how small the entrysection will be? Hm, I need more details for this. So I searched for an Original Charger and -Bingo- in my neighborhood is one for sale at a us-car dealer. I will make a date to take a closer look. Interesting.

BTW, I decided to build a second charger the same way.
One with the Hemi and vinyl roof, the second with the 440 magnum, perhaps without vinyl roof.

Christian W
On my CorvMad I sanded only the edges of the doors thinner to get the impression of things material when the doors are open.😉
Well done so far on both Charger. I like that kind of work - as long as I don't have to do it *lol*

Dominik Weitzer
Long time ago...i started this one :-D . just kidding.
i made some progress step by step on the doors. but this will came next in pictures.

I started building the engines. The Kit i use has both in side - one HEMI, one 440 (or so).
Why i build two engines? because i started a second one for me.

As i cutted the doors out and made a test fitting with the interior, i also thought about painting, how it must be glued togehter for that and other stuff...that is, what i made in the meantime (experimented, lot of small steps, a lot of brainwork) and forgott to show the steps day by day....so i decided to built one for me. My own Charger will be the testobjekt for the doorhinges, all fitting issues that will definitly come up and other things to check out. and also, i like this callenge a lot!

Dominik Weitzer
Sorry for a lot of pictures.
to get the doors worked like the original, it took a lot of time and tests. The original doors are opening "inwards", that means, that i had to thin out as much as i can to make that possible. At the end, it worked, the hinges are working as wished and so i copied that to the second Charger.
A lot of taping doors in correct position to the body, interiorpanels, completing body with chassis....i think, you know what i mean.
With the result im really happy. It came out so far as i wished and it "must" be.

Next step will be filling the B-Pillar and doors. also the gap between siller (?) and floor.

Christian W
That Looks awesome with the opened door! On the pics you've sent me, I didn't notice, that there are not two HEMIs on the Picture :|

Rafael Lang
wow, amazing job!

Bill Newcomer
Very impressive. I have never cut any doors or trunks open. Not sure it is my skillset. I am suprised the wing window frames survived the process. Following.

Munkyslut
Wow! Those are big doors, cutting that amount of plastic out of the bodyshell took a great deal of care, big respect to you Dominik 👍

Bart Goesaert
Very nice result

Dominik Weitzer
sooooo....some scratching and glueing on the B-Pillars and inside the doors to cover it all.

Dima
Seems that the internal/external cuts do not match. What you gonna do with that?

Dominik Weitzer
Do you mean the B-Pillar / Lock pillar from the body and the rear side panels looking wide over it?
It is a massive part.
look at this: 2040-parts.com/left-..ock-pillar--i603315/

the rest of the gaps will be filled and sanded.

Dima
Yeah, I mean that. So, that is by design, interesting. I also have the 68' Charger R/T kit and would like to practice in opening the doors on it. Thank you for your job, looking forward to updates!

wilky
I've found that whenever doing these types of modifications that it often pays to do a test version.
It's always easier after the first one and you learn how to do the procedures and figure out how to do it better.
I mainly modify my 1/32 slot cars not kits so I have to disassemble first which can create it's own dramas of breaking items that you're trying to pull apart that have been glued together
Have you heard of Blue stuff from Green Stuff World.
I'm waiting for some to arrive.
It's a reusable molding wax, that you can make epoxy resin castings.
I'm going to see if it can help with the multiple scratching.
Rather than having to scratch build every time.
Just make one component, make a mild and then replicate as many as you need.
Best bit is once you've made your components you can reheat it and make the next mold.
I can see it being excellent for making engines and the like.
Especially say for a diorama of a workshop where you could replicate parts from one kit rather than buying another kit just for some items.
Maybe even extending purchases like replicating a whole bench of tools rather than buying multiple times .
As long as you don't sell the items copied from other manufacturers I don't think there's any issue with copying anything you need rather than buying multiple times

Dominik Weitzer
got ya. I had the same question, after i cutted out the doors and the interior sides in pieces. I searched the web, becaus i couldn't believe, that Revel did such a big mistake in the "moldinglines" from the doors.
it is so, that the rear interior goes so far into the space of the door. the Lock pillar is really massive. on some offered cars you can see it, if they made good pictures.

But i will not replicate the exact forms from this parts! it have to be functional while using the interior parts. if i would do a exact replica of these parts, it would take much more work as is. The doors itself, the hinges, the dashboard and so on. I keep in mind, that it must be practical while painting and final assembling - and good looking when the doors stay open 😉
The goal is, the doors are functional, looking closed "perfect" outside and while taking a look inside.

Christian W
@wilky
That "blue stuff" will be set on my Shopping list. That sounds very simple and good. The last months I built a lot of molds. This could make it faster and easier to reach the target.

wilky
Christian, I stumbled on a YouTube video about it.
I'm positive that it'll help out especially with scratch build items that require multiple copies.
I can't wait for my order to arrive

Brian Grandstaff
Very nice work! Looking forward to your updates.

Disaster|Magnet
You just have to glimpse that wheel arch and B pillar* to know it's the General Lee

*Is it still a 'B' pillar if there are no others between the rear and the front screens?

Dominik Weitzer
Thanks buddies!
@ wilky: good point! i have this blue stuff on my bench :-D ...but never thought to replicate the scratch made things. Your ideas to use it is really good!

@ Disaster Master: thats a good question. i always say B-pillar to the middle one - doesn't matter of existing with metal or not :-D . even in the parts catalogue it is named as "Lock pillar".

Danny Meer
Bit late but following 😛 Love chargers 🙂

Dominik Weitzer
no worry Danny, i've done long steps till now.

what happend?
See the pictures. that was easy to describe :-D .
O.k., i had to glue the sidepanels on the floor because i will sand the doorentrys and will have less gapes as possible while finish mounting when all is painted. So i had to make my choices, what colors i will have for the interiors:
one black/white, the second black.

i installed the magnets for the doors to hold them in place and - i like that a lot! - it makes a really beautiful "klack" when closing the doors. Now, i will say: that operation is well done! Now i can go ahead to the vinyl roof trim and starting the work to paint them.

what still pays off: that I build one for testing. then the second one runs much better and "construction defects" do not repeat themselves.

Danny Meer
I take my hat of for you sir 👍 really looks fantastic!

Bill Newcomer
I love your tutorial pics on what you have done to get where you are. I can tell that I won't be cutting up any of my Chargers. Way too much work with my skillset.

Adam Gudynowski
Good job so far 👍

István Szücs
I love it!

Christian W
The chassis looks great so far.

Dominik Weitzer
Some work done.
The doorentrys to the B-Pilalr are well sanded as wished, fitting very nice. So it was time to see more results and i made my first decision for the paint. One will be bright blue.
So i painted (both Charger) parts similar on the sprues, primed both undercarriage and interiorparts. After that i painted the first one bright blue and completed the rear axle. The front will be attached as the body is completed. Thats the only way, while mounting the body possible don't brake anything on the front.
Thats why those testfittings interior/body/undercarriage are very important.
I'm very happy with this weeks progress.
Now? on to the bodys 🙂

Dominik Weitzer
short step told, lot of work made.
the interiors are ready detailed and also painted on the outter sides with bodycolor and clearcoat.
then i went to the body parts. the first layer of primer is on, and i'm surprised, that i have only about four/five spots to fill and sand. i painted the bodyparts also inside (doors, hoods)

Dominik Weitzer
After a while with work on the body, the blue one is defintily ready for assembling.
i have some issues on the white after painting i have to sand out and paint new. i decided, to kepp the white (only the body!) one hold and complete the rest of both.
i sanded the bodies and fillered them partially. After wet sanding and primered, i started the first layer of the bodycolors. I had some scratches under the first layer of paint, sanded them out and painted again. in those steps, i painted the doors, hoods and bodies seperatly.
after they layed for a couple days to dry, i checked the "quality" and was a little bit surprised, that i have on the white one a lot of ghostlines...well done. i will keep the white "on hold" to make the base for a perfect paintjob nice and go forward with the blue.

I wet sanded the body, installed the doors and hood and gave him the final layer of blue. So i have the same color on the parts.
This is very important for the opacity and the "alignment of the metallic particles!"
This prevents the risk of a color difference between the body and doors if they are individually painted.

After let it dry for a couple days, i wet sanded the parts and painted the first (and after the same procedure while drying) and second layer of clear - in my view perfect 😄
For me, always the finish from the paint is the important and hardest thing during a build. if this works, nothing can stop me now 😄

Christian W
Picture #81 - awesome!! This looks incredible! The detail painting is great.

Bill Newcomer
I love the color.

Chaz Gordon
Nice masterclass in making opening panels where they aren't there already. A very rare sight on a 1/25 kit. I have some 1/16 that don't even have opening doors (yet). I will be using this when I get round to my 55 Nomad.

Dominik Weitzer
Thank you very much!

Dominik Weitzer
Whats going on?
The kids are in holiday, i have more time to work on those Chargers.
I finished the dashboards with decals and steeringwheels, made the BMF on the body and painted the first set of the Rims for the white Charger. Also i painted the headliner white, glued the Windshield and rear window in. Domelight glued - ready on this part.

Next step was to install the Doorpanels and glue the doors in place. "Point of no return". After that, i fixed the doors with tape and glued the dashboard in place. Lay it by side, started to build the seatbelts.

Chaz Gordon
Looking good, how's the white one coming?

Dominik Weitzer
I had some trouble with the paint. I have different ghostlines under the paint and have to start the paintjob again. In the meantime i built the interior and engine similar. i think, next week or in two weeks it could be done with the paint and working on it again😉

Tom ...
Thoroughly enjoyed reading your excellent build log, Dominik. Thank you so much for taking the extra time to do document it all in such detail. Definitely inspires me to try harder, and be smarter!

Christian W
Beautiful 🙂

Spanjaard
Amazing job so far. That kind of surgery is not so easy. And the hinges look really great. I love the blue colour you are using. What paint is it?

Tom ...
I'm guessing TS-50.....

Dominik Weitzer
Thanks Tom Spanjaard and Christian😉
Tom is Right. I used tamiya TS-50.

Dominik Weitzer
Some progress on detailwork on both.
I finished the rear parts while working with bmf, black paint and painted the "R/T"-Badge by hand.
Next was the redwall tires for the blue one. I painted them gloss clear and put the decals on. after that another layer of clearcoat gloss and finaly a flat clear coat. The needed about five days to dry completely.
Another work was to built seatbelts.

After that, it was time for marriage the blue one.

In the meantime i worked also on the white on. Sanding, painting and so on, i painted also the vinyl roof. I used thick paint and a sponge...but the result was not as i wished. It came out really glossy.... I tryed to paint it with flat black...
In the past i used tape for Viny roofs. Why try anything others than always worked? So that will be the next work.

István Szücs
What did you use for the vinyl roof?

Nigel Chapman
Just discovered this build. I liked the door hinge lesson, something I've been having a go at on my Transit. Not as easy as I thought

Dominik Weitzer
Istvan, I tried to take thick paint and a sponge. But the result was not the look I wished.
For the next try I used masking tape😉

Nigel, for my next built I'll show it again 😄 . It looks like, it sn't that easy, but just try it! Learning by doing😉
I've built my first working doors about eight years ago and had to start by zero again on this build. All is fine! Take the time it needs. If it doesn't work, you can glue the doors in place and nothing happens😉

Christian W
Did you show the car with the first door opening? Was it that Olds 442 Convertible?

Nigel Chapman
Thanks for the encouragement Dominik, I'm almost there (I think). The door thickness seems to be the issue so some careful sanding will be needed.

Dominik Weitzer
Christian, not yet. Perhaps I will show the olds coming days. Pictures are made😉

Nigel, I only thinned out the front fender, where the door is swinging in. All other I let it as it is.

Dominik Weitzer
Short update - bad news...i deleted the pictures from the progress on my mobile (wich i take while i'm building) while i thought i sent them to my desktop (wich i take for writing the WIP)...but i was wrong. I've not sent the pictures, so they are gone.
The last steps of completing are missing and that makes me sad.

so long, i overpaint the engine from the blue charger, wired it new and married all together - i will make pictures from the completed soon.
The same with the white one. Married and after i was looking around, i made the Vinylroof new. I used tape as i used years before on another build and that was the right choice. See the last pictures from the progress. The black color is wet, as it dries, it looks fine.

Bill Newcomer
All of them look fantastic. Not sure if you know this but that era of Mopars have body colored engine compartments.

Tim Heimer
Don't know how I missed this cool project!

Dominik Weitzer
Thanks Tim!
Thank you Bill! unfortunately it is too late to change that. in the www there is the chance to find 50/50 black engine compartments. i will do that on my next charger.

Rafael Lang
If you use an Android Samsung phone, try this! Open the galery, click in the 3 dots in the right above corner and search the trash!

Tom ...
The vinyl looks awesome!

Dominik Weitzer
Thanks Tom. I'm fine with it.
Rafael, thanks for the tip. I've cleared the trash also manuel...that wa stupid, because I clean regular the gallery like WhatsApp. You have so many junk over a week to sort out 😄

But! I've found some pictures on the mobile from the end of the progress from the blue one.
The engine installed and the muffler didn't connect. So I filled the gap.
Mounted the front bumper, made my own rear pipes and at least I mounted the wheels in the way I wanted the stance.

Christian W
Superb 😄

Nigel Chapman
Like the blue one. Is that an original paint shade ?

Dominik Weitzer
Thanks!
Nigel, the color is called "Bright blue", i've attached a picture from my reference car 😉
....and the bright blue is in the showroom 😄 1968 Dodge Charger R/T brightblue | Album by Dominik (1:25)

Dominik Weitzer
Loooong time, forgot to upload the white one. Here it is:
1968 Dodge Charger R/T white | Album by Dominik (1:25)

Chaz Gordon
If I'm going to pick one (and I am) my favorite is the White one. Two outstanding builds though, love the extra opening panels. Very helpful build thread, as I have recently acquired 5 58 Impala restoration candidates that will need their Door hinges rebuilding, and at least one will get the Trunk opened

wilky
Picture 129 looks like a real car

Dominik Weitzer
wilky, picture 129 is from the real car that i choosed as referenz. Nigel asked about the color😉

Thanks Chaz. the white one i like also more than the blue.
i like to see your 58 Impalas - my alltime nr1 american classic car. i love it since i was a kid....more than 30 years. i "can't get enough from the 58" thought 😄

wilky
Okay, that explains why then it looked like the real car.
Whomever owns it is very lucky

Nigel Chapman
Hey Chaz I saw those 58 Impalas for sale. Looking forward to your builds.
Dominik, thanks for the picture of the real car, it's still the blue one for me.

Chaz Gordon
Nigel, that was a pretty good deal, surprised I got it for the price. A single unmade kit goes for more. Its an odd lot though, 5 shells, hood and doors, 5 interiors, 4 chassis, 4 engines, 6 dashboards, not a single tyre. Theres an untouched chrome sprue, so i can make all the bumpers and grills in resin. Im planning a camino, a nomad, stock, lowrider and Modern Electric

Skyhiker
I remember riding in one of these cars at 130mph!

Nigel Chapman
Chaz that was a brilliant deal. I ended up going for a job lot of 10 kits, luckily I got an excellent price as well. Your choice of builds sounds great especially the Modern electric.

Dominik Weitzer
now i'm interested Chaz 😄

Chaz Gordon
I've started a general Pre-project thread here - to stop hijacking other people's builds with my chatter.
Acquisitions and Mergers | Album by Volvo Man (1:25)

Dominik Weitzer
I've no Problems About hijacking Chaz😉

Chaz Gordon
Haha, there is an ulterior motive, I get all these good ideas from mates, then I have to try to remember where that reply was posted.

Dominik Weitzer
...hmmmm….i know that from someone… 😄