Bill.B Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Having watched every episode of the Dukes of Hazard many, many moons ago, I always fancied building the General Lee so recently I bought MPCs version of the famous Dodge Charger in 1/25 scale. Now I’m guessing that the mouldings are very old (possibly late 60’s?) so the fit and finish of parts leaves heck of a lot to be desired, but I guess in the day they were pretty much par for course. Anyway, I’ve wrestled and sweated with this kit for the last two months, but have eventually beaten it into submission.....sort of. The surface finish of the rock hard plastic is horrible, and the parts only fit where they accidentally touch, it really is that bad, so lots of filler, sanding and swearing is required to rectify the built in errors. I’ve scratch built the interior rear view mirror, CB aerial and door mirror as none were supplied in the kit, and I’ve cut and repositioned the front axels as the wheels are designed to be fixed ahead which looks a bit of a stiff pose to my mind. Also, I’ve drilled the bodywork to recess the filler cap, added lead wire HT leads to the engine, a radiator top hose and I had to scratch built the bull bars on the front of the car as the kit version was completely inaccurate. The steering wheel spokes and exhaust pipes have been drilled and slotted, and I added a more accurate roll over hoop inside the car. Other than that the car is built straight OOTB! 🤪 The paint is Zero Paints ‘General Lee’ Hemi Orange, and most of the chrome is a combination of a Molotow chrome pen and Bare Metal Foil. The base is simply made from balsa wood scraps, and the dirt road is simulated with PVA glue and table salt. The whole base is airbrushed with various Tamiya acrylics and then detailed with artists oils and some Humbrol washes. It’s not a build I’m particularly proud of, but I am pleased I found the will to persevere and that I didn’t give up. So, without further ado here is the General for your critique....... The basic (grotesque) kit of parts. The radiator fan blades aren’t even moulded 90° apart and the decals are thick, very thick! Pre-weathered state. Post weathering with Revell powders. 27 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TANK63 Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Looks like you’ve made a silk purse out of a pigs ear of a kit. I looked at my kit and then thought the bin looked best place for it. Might give it a go now having seen what you’ve achieved with yours. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunpowder17 Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Love it , looks great especially on that base. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill.B Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 38 minutes ago, TANK63 said: Looks like you’ve made a silk purse out of a pigs ear of a kit. I looked at my kit and then thought the bin looked best place for it. Might give it a go now having seen what you’ve achieved with yours. Thanks, but I think it’s more of a duffel bag than silk purse, the basic kit ain’t that good to be able to spin silk out of it. 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Very, very well done! Looking at the final result you wouldn't know that it gave you so much trouble. The slightly dusty look is perfect. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Army_Air_Force Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 I had this kit in my youth, moulded in orange plastic, but I can't recall the manufacturer, I probably still have the car in the loft somewhere. Lovely job on this one and it instantly brings back memories. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Army_Air_Force Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 3 hours ago, Bill.B said: ......... The radiator fan blades aren’t even moulded 90° apart......... Looking at photos in the manual for the fullsize car, the radiator fan is possibly correct, and I'm sure I've come across other fans of this design in the military vehicle world, though I can't find any pictures at present. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Excellent. Fond memories of the Saturday afternoons of my youth! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooper645 Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Fantastic final result. The weathering is spot on and finishes it off perfectly with that display base. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galaxyg Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Great result. I love this car and I've occasionally thought about getting the kit of it, although I'd read many times before it was a crappy kit. Your initial description only reconfirms that so I think i'll stick with admiring yours instead. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Looks good to me too. I watched an episode of Graveyard Carz the other afternoon. They are restoring an actual film survivor (only just!) General Lee. The boss, Mark, is fanatical about accuracy, and he said the film & TV cars were painted in 1975 Corvette Fire Red. Which is actually Orange. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Awesome build. Brings back some memories of when there were only three channels on the television... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Superb job, brings back lots of memories Must go now as me mum is calling through for me Tea ! cheers Pat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I bet your dad will be muttering about you watching stupid American rubbish... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abandoned Project Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Very nice. At least you weren't stupid enough to go and buy a real '69 charger after watching the dukes of hazzard. Yes I am speaking from experience. Nicest drive I have had. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordairgtar Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 (edited) That tool isn't that old. Maybe the late 1990s, early 2000s. The first General Lee kit from MPC had the wrong body (Charger 500) with the flush rear window as opposed to the tunneled window your kit has. I don't think the body based on the tooling yours was made from is all that accurate being I think the rear window seems a bit smallish. Edited January 26, 2019 by lordairgtar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricLightAndy Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 Nice job, never get tired of seeing these built. I built the flush window version and modded it to have the butresses... should have just bought this version. Andy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 Very LOVELY.. OUTSTANDING build Sir. Back home in USA one still sees classic cars on the road and this one is NO exception. Good job. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homerlovesbeer Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 Lovely job mate. Really nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev The Modeller Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 Oh yes, I loved the Dukes of Hazzard brings back great memories lovely build 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapam Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 A fantastic build of an iconic car! I can only imagine how much work is needed to get the kit looking that good! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruskin Air Services Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 Built this kit back in the early 1980's bought it from a hobby shop in Thirsk North Yorkshire and as I recall mine was molded in hard orange plastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busnproplinerfan Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 I built the glow in the dark version of this, very simple not great kit, but this one looks well done. Only thing missing are the cameras hanging off it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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