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"Lee 1" wreck from "Repo Man" -- PROGRESS PICS


Andrew D Charger Chaser

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For those who didn't know, the Charger wreck used in Episode 4 "Repo Men" was the same car that made the jump at the very end of the show's opening credits.  LOVED this car the first time I saw it as a kid, did not know how important it was until decades later.  

Replicating this wreck in 1/25 will be a VERY ambitious project.

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If I can't replicate the body damage, the entire project is pointless.  If I only heat up and bend the plastic body it will look toylike, as the body thickness when scaled up would be akin to a couple inches thick.  Not convincing at all.

THE SOLUTION: Make aluminum foil copies of the body sections to be damaged.  

Let's try it on the hood first:

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Once damaged to taste, the foil is filled from behind with tons of gap-filling superglue and plastic strip reinforcements.

Then to the body itself, the same treatment but MUCH bigger. LOTS of superglue to fill it all from behind.  Then priming and sanding in appropriate areas.

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The interior needs special work.  From what I can see in the episode, the interior panels under the rear windows were removed along with the back seat, although I've read that only the seat was removed to install the full roll cage.  

So, I had to remove the rear panel and totally rebuild it as the interior structure that the panel would normally cover.  Was a 2 full day scratchbuilding job, daunting at first but well worth it in the end.  

The carpet will be well worn and stained soon.

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This leaves me speechless. We are in the midst of greatness. You have the hands of a surgeon, the skills of a master craftsman and the passion for Hazzard of a genuine Duke boy.  I'm calling my best friend and telling him he's been replaced.  What a super fan! Thanks for sharing this and it will fun be fun to see it evolve. 

Edited by RogerDuke
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ROLL CAGE

Tip: Do NOT use the roll cage from the MPC "General Lee" for this project.  Wrong style, wrong design, wrong size.  

I also found some drawings online which purport to be the actual design sketches for the original.  They do match what I see in all the photos.

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FRONT BUMPER

Need the front bumper to look like bent metal, and not a bent plastic model part.  Made an aluminum foil cast of the central section; removed that plastic, attached the ends to the foil cast. 

Very carefully bent and dented it to match the photos.

Filled with CA glue with wire reinforements for the structure.  Primed, will be coated with Alclad chrome tomorrow or Thursday.

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Final bodywork touchups and priming, and ready for paint.

Tough to match the exact color, since in the episode (the way I'm making it) it was disguised/obscured with gray scratchwork all over it, and the recovered wreck was apparently quite weathered and faded.  Did the best I could.  Finally settled on a mix of 5 different blues and greens.  It's actually darker than the photos show....

I settled on: 2 parts Testors Gloss Dark Blue (#1111); 2 parts Testors Dark Beret Green; 1 part Model Master Dark Sea Blue; 1 part Testors Gloss Green; 1 part Gloss Light Blue.

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