Boyd Coddington’s Chezoom

[showrods]

This WIP has so far been epic.  Something tells me that the final build is going to be legendary.

[OldNYJim]

16 hours ago, TooOld said:

Interesting that you used Vallejo Plastic Putty . I've been told that it's very thin , dries to a rubbery consistency , and is not sandable . What do you think ?

Hey buddy!  I’ve found it works just fine for what I’ve been using it for - and I like that the tube has a super-fine little nozzle to help apply it.  I’ve been letting it set up for 48 hours before sanding and I haven’t really had any trouble at all - it just works like you would hope it would!  

That said, I haven’t tried anything other than a few little pinholes and imperfections so far - but I did have a sink mark on the hood that needed some attention so I’ll try that and see if it works ok there too!

@showrods - thank you!!  

Still working away on some little bits so I can get some major components painted and start posting some interesting stuff - lots of priming and filling and sanding work.  
 

I’ve been trying to figure out how best to replicate the color of the real car.  Now, I know Testors MAKES (made?) the exact color for this car…but it isn’t the right color.  Well, it kinda is; apparently the real car was shot in a standard GM teal and then had a blue and green pearl coat laid over that, whereas the Testor’s paint is a straight metallic green.  A good starting point, but the more complicated process they did on the real car explains somewhat why it could end up looking either teal…

…or a much more blue-toned color…

…or an even BLUER green/blue teal:

…or just a plain old metallic green…

…or even close to black or purple…

…depending on the light.  Of course, these photos are from a variety of sources and different qualities and processed differently - but it makes for a challenge to match the color when it looks so different so many different places.

So, using some spoons and a variety of base colors I’ve been messing with spoons the last couple of evenings.

 

From top to bottom we’ve got Testor’s Chezoom Teal over light gray, olive green, black, dark blue and light green.  Obviously the grey primer and light green are out, which leaves these three possible contenders:

Seen here under a bright LED lamp, I think of these three the left spoon is probably closest - which is the version with the black base.  In regular daylight the blue base (right spoon) looks the closest…but then under a light it’s WAY too blue.  Next test I think will be shooting some blue pearl over these (particularly the teal-over-black) to see if that lightens it up a touch and gives it the same flip-flop quality that the real car has where it can be REALLY dark green, or almost a man electric kingfisher blue.  

Soon as I figure this part out I can actually start painting some of the big parts and detail and assemble some stuff!  
 

More soon (and comments and ideas welcome on that color…) - thanks for looking!

[showrods]

Testors made "CheZoom Teal Pearl" in a 3 oz spray can - now discontinued I believe.

Pactra makes (made?) "Chezoom Teal" - polycarbonate - for RC cars.  I have no idea whether this type of paint can be used on styrene but I have no doubt that others know...

Edited August 13, 2021 by showrods

[OldNYJim]

On 8/12/2021 at 11:06 PM, showrods said:

Testors made "CheZoom Teal Pearl" in a 3 oz spray can - now discontinued I believe.

Pactra makes (made?) "Chezoom Teal" - polycarbonate - for RC cars.  I have no idea whether this type of paint can be used on styrene but I have no doubt that others know...

You’re right!  I’ve got the acrylic bottle paint version of that here, which is what I’m trying to work with - and I’ve ordered a handful of the currently-available teal enamel that I’m told is a match.  The R/C paint is much more easily available, it seems like, but I’m not sure how much I trust it over styrene.

That said, my paint experiments continued today and I think I got it figured out.  Mixed up some Future with bright blue Pearl Ex powder and tested that over the black/teal basecoat combo that I decided was ALMOST right and got REALLY close to what I think the real color should be.

The clear/Pearl Ex mix, ready for a light coat or two:

A bunch of suspension and engine parts, ready for clear:

And the results after pearl blue and then a gloss coat:

In daylight the blue pearl seems to flip and flop and give that kingfisher blue color that you see on the real car, but in the low spots and less bright light it dips down to dark emerald green and almost black.  I think we got it!

The weather was really nice here today, perfect spraying weather, so I shot some filler primer on the body so that I can see how much more work that’s going to need:

And everything’s in the dehydrator now baking overnight so I can maybe start assembling some small pieces tomorrow.

More soon!

[iBorg]

This is one of those kits I bought with great anticipation, opened it and realized it was unbuildable to create a good result. You're proving me wrong. 

This is a great build!

 

[OldNYJim]

22 hours ago, iBorg said:

This is one of those kits I bought with great anticipation, opened it and realized it was unbuildable to create a good result. You're proving me wrong. 

This is a great build!

 

Thank you sir!  I don’t do a tonne of replicas, but it’s fun doing some research and trying to get close to the real one as best I can!

 

Today’s project was the diff and rear suspension.  I haven’t been able to find a tonne of pictures of the rear end of the real car, but it definitely doesn’t look too much like this:

Kinda blocky and bulky and doesn’t look a bunch like a C4 Vette’s rear suspension (which is what the real Chezoom ran).

So, using the few reference pictures I could find, I did some slicing and dicing and building and got something a lot closer to what the real car ran:

I had to use a little artistic license to make it play nice with the frame and interior tub, but it’ll look a lot better than the blobular assembly that Testors put in the box:

Back at the front of the car, spent a little time today doing some detailing on the steering rack that I made last week - used some micro O-rings, dollar store craft wire, photoetch and a model railroad bolt…came out ok I think:

And finally, gave the body a first round of sanding having primed it yesterday - found a few imperfections that I hadn’t seen before…still need to do some work on that front quarter:

More soon!

[showrods]

I'll be very shocked if this doesn't actually run after it's finished ...?

Edited August 16, 2021 by showrods

[PatW]

Doing Good Jim!

[Lowlife ! !]

 

Great work on this !

Its one of the few models Id love to get, and actually build box stock !  

Think you nailed the colour too, look forward to more on this !

[cobraman]

Very nice work Jim.

[slusher]

Jim, I was reading and looking at all of your paint test and trying to get your color right.  I do believe you found the right combination. I give you props on you search and color find…

[OldNYJim]

Thanks fellas!  Making some progress at the bench again today - I’ve got plenty of little bits of detail that I want to add, but right now I’m trying to get everything prepped for primer and color before I blow through it all again and add all the interesting stuff.

Did some work on the dash, first off - it’s actually not THAT far off the real car - looks pretty simple and basic, but so does the real one…

Added some little missing details and machined an aluminum center for the wheel to match the 1:1’s:

That white block on the steering column will be for the turn signal lever - still need to make that but that’s a pretty simple part…

Spent some time getting the body straight - only part that needed more attention than normal is blending the grill to the fenders to lose the seam that isn’t present on the real car:

And then when it was all straight on both sides, I shot the whole thing in black:

Then four coats of Chezoom teal, thinned:

Then finally Pearl + clearcoat to give the blue flip that the real one has:

Once those have dried a few hours I’ll shoot some clear (unless I get distracted by the car show down the street and go to that instead…) - found an appropriate clear to use on this one!

More soon!

[bill-e-boy]

Looking good

That Testors Boyd clear is like rocking horse droppings these days - this is the perfect subject for it

 

 

[slusher]

Looks great Jim..

[Belairconvertable]

Looks lovely! It makes me want to start on my alternomad model!

[Dennis Lacy]

Making good progress. The color looks PERFECT! 

[OldNYJim]

Thanks fellas!  A little more weekend progress…

Got the front suspension put together, with that scratchbuilt steering rack that I made earlier, home made sway-bar and some machined shocks:

The wheels aren’t glued on yet, but I wanted to make sure everything still fit right…

Got the rear suspension handled too:

Then got some clear on the body:

Gave it a 24-hours in the dehydrator to bake:

And it’s leveled out pretty nicely overnight!

Far from perfect, but good enough that it’ll polish out nicely I think…

And finally for today, shot the interior parts with Model Master light gray, with some white mixed in.  The interior of the 1:1 car was white, but I wanted some distinction between the glossy bright white dash and the parts that are supposed to be leather, so I went for a slightly darker shade for these bits:

Next up I’ll figure out the right color green for the cloth inserts on the seats to match the real one:

More soon!

[Dennis Lacy]

Man, you’re doing a helluva nice job on this! Chassis looks great with the added details. 

[gotnitro?]

Gorgeous work! The paint looks perfect 

[crazyjim]

Wonderful detail and paint.

[oldrevellfan]

Nice attention to details !

[OldNYJim]

Thanks everyone!  It would’ve been Boyd’s birthday today so I spent a couple of hours today working on some little bits…

Masked the interior pieces ready for the green cloth inserts that the real car has:

Studied the handful of interior photos I’ve got in my reference folder and mixed up some acrylic green to match:

Then shot them with matte clear with a couple of drops of translucent black mixed in - tada!

The tops of the doors and the dash are white as best I can tell, so I remasked and shot those this afternoon - I went for Createx pure white for these, because it’s a really nice high-pigment opaque white that covers really well:

Once that was dry I shot the white with some Rustoleum clear lacquer to make them nice and shiny like the real parts…I’ll give those some more attention and detailing tomorrow…

Whilst I’m messing with interior parts, one of my reference shots shows that the carpet has white piping, so I added that in the places where you’ll be able to see it:

Then started working through and adding ‘carpet’ itself:

Got lucky and found an embossing powder that was a good match for the reference pics I found…it’s technically silver, but its not particularly metallic-looking and it’s close enough for the girls I go with ?

A few hours later:

Couple of little touch-ups needed but nothing major…

Here’s my best reference pic of the interior, for comparison:

Still need to make those little pieces under the pedals…

Whilst the glue’s drying on the carpet, started some work on the engine…got those distinctive Chezoom logo decals in place:

These decals were REALLY fragile - I could see them breaking apart as I applied them, but I got them on there safely…and with that done, started adding some little bits of detail to the engine - added some PE bolts to the valve covers, PE bolts to the pulleys and a little detail to the alternator too whilst I was at it:

Plenty still to do - more soon!

[250 Testa Rossa]

Looks amazing!

[Outlaw_Pitbull_0411]

Awesome work!!! I need to waste money on this kit soley for wheels lol.

[Steve H]

Very nice as usual Jim. The additional details throughout are fantastic! I reckon this will be one of the finest examples of this kit ever built. 
 

Cheers, Steve