Challenger Reference - Project Scalextric

[HomeRacingWorld]

Just for reference. Taken from Speedhunters.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I have a couple of white kits I need to get busy on. Excellent reference material, as usual, Harry. Thanks.

[HomeRacingWorld]

You are welcome.

Did not like the looks of the stock fronts. Too small to my eye. Decided to change things.



The 20105 was too low a profile. I used the 21 size and turned them down in the Razor until I achieved the look I liked.
Used Duplicolor Perfect Match for the color. Seems to look ok.
Used a BRUSH to fill the seams at the outside edges of the insert. It filled the gap nicely this way.
Toothpick lettering and a coat of Future. Fine Sharpie for lug detail.



Sitting as mock up, but I like it well enough.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Yep, that was one of the major details I didn't like about the Scaley car. Those wheels are not robust enough. The other thing that bugged me was that the wheel/tire combination didn't fill the fender the way the 1:1 car's did, and the Scaley chassis-mounted exhausts didn't have that tasty flare like the real car did. I have been toying with making my own chassis instead of using the Scaley one, but I may just modify the Scaley to do what I want it to do. I have been going back and forth about the paint, too. This is one of those cars that have a color shade that is better exemplified by Duplicolor than by Testor's, Tamiya, or Model Masters (also Testors). I still don't have a decision about that. It would be a foolish expense to buy all of them and compare, since there will only be three cars that I ever intend to paint like this. I have some great decals, and the other things I would fix are easy to do.

[HomeRacingWorld]

I will address the numerous reasons why working with the original chassis is not preferred.

1. Look at front axle. Simply put, it's molded with bad alignment. One side looks like it hit a Armadillo and looks folded into the fender. Use your caliper and measure each side. Take wheels off axles and measure, you will see.

2. Motor mount on endbell side cracked.

3. No way to float body with design it has. Front and rear clip assemblies especially tight in the body. This alone was enough for me.

But I am just being picky here. More to come on this...

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Maybe we can tag team this thing. I can move these cars to the front of the line easy enough. I haven't begun to get set up for the project, after all.

[dge467]

Nice reference pic's, and great modifications. I noticed that the front axle seemed a bit too far back in the wheel opening on mine.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I have a question... The real car had its factory vinyl roof intact. Scaley got that right, more or less, but the surviving car has been given a completely wrong gloss black painted roof. Anybody know what the story is? I wonder if this is another example of some rich twerp deciding to fool around with a historic car, like the crazy pink Cougar that Scaley did?

[dreinecke]

Looking good! I didn't sweat the wheelbase tho, but yes it is off slightly.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Thanks guys. Kind of turning into a "Semi Live" coverage event, so here are the rears.



Same wheels/paint/technique. Just 21125's instead for that slightly wider patch as it should have.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Interesting story on the roof...

In the Trans-Am Series, teams would "acid dip" the race cars to etch away metal, thus making the car lighter.
At Laguna Seca, the first race of the season, the Challenger team was last in line for technical inspection. Since all the factories were participating in 1970, the first inspection of the year was highly detailed.
After the Challenger had passed tech inspection and was accepted, the team offered John Taminus, the Chief Technical Inspector, a beer. John rested his elbow on the roof of the car and it dimpled in (from too much time in the acid bath).
When that happened, he told them that they could not run the car until the roof was replaced.
Within an hour of that incident, the Challenger team had received permission from Dodge and torched the roof off a Challenger that was sitting on a dealer's showroom floor in downtown Monterey.

If you look at the restored version by Richard Goldsmith, the paint is more of a satin finish. Depends on the angle of the shot. So in any case, I think Mr. Goldsmith has honored the car pretty closely :)

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I had heard about a car that was too long in the acid bath, but I never knew which car it was. That's a great story.

So, a satin finish black roof is the best way to go, eh?

[Retro Racer 44]

I have one of those. I severely chopped the chassis to lower the body, which sat way too high when compared to google pics of the Sam Posey original. I removed the red front that comes with the car. To my knowledge it was only red at Mid-Ohio for one race, and grey all the rest of the time. That said why did the manufacturer chose that one oddball livery that makes it look more like a toy IMO. The only way to get float on that car is to cut cross the front and back of the chassis and glue the valences to the rest of the body.

To get the body down it was necessary to carve away the bottom of the interior. I am afraid Sam's little plastic image sits on the chassis, not the interior.

I really like the body, and the car runs well now, but I am sure at some point I will make a brass chassis for it.

Keith

[HomeRacingWorld]

Correct on all counts Mr. Retro.

I would say satin would work just fine.

[dreinecke]