Andrew D Charger Chaser

Now the interior. The Classic's side panels seemed best, except I liked some of the details on the Revel Cabriolet better. Solution: graft the details onto the better panels. The Classic's seat bottoms are terrific, but the Revell Cabriolet's seat backs are the closest to the real thing out of the 3 kit choices. Again, graft them together.

Thanks for the kind words! Got to splice the chopped door posts from the classic body onto the Super's convertible body. Always better to cut and graft too much, then cut it down to size. Then a bit of grinding and sanding to blend it all in.

Howdy folks, I must apologize for being away for a couple of years. Had my hands full with MANY things, including a wedding, some health stuff, plus got really burned out on this project (FAR more difficult than originally thought). Time to get it off the back burner and finished. Hope y'all are doing well and blessed! Ok, let's see where we left off. Major body modifications. Had to take pieces from the two Revell bodies and graft them to the Aoshima to reflect the correct vents, trims and such. Flat windscreen framing on the hardtop was too narrow, so I widened it with an insert of plastic, above and below. I'll worry about the windscreen itself later. The hood was a nightmare, part of the upper section being scratchbuilt.

...maybe...maybe...maybe Hazzard folks are also gifted ventriloquists, and those aren't mistakes at all.....?

Thank you! Yep, I saw, Jeff is already at that age...still amazing to see....

Final step for now was scratchbuilding the large McPherson struts, a vital item for the Super Beetle. The struts themselves were made from plastic tubing, then the springs made by wrapping metal wire around an appropriately-sized plastic rod then trimmed to shape and installed.

The excellent Revell '68 chassis actually fit the Aoshima body *mostly* well. Only two issues to face. First, it needed widening on both sides with a .040 strip (easy fix). The bigger problem was that the aft wheel wells and engine area didn't fit. So I took a saw and cut partway into the plastic at that area so that the aft area could be bent upward, and then fit quite well, considering.

On to project #10: Hughie Hogg's Volkswagen! The first thing I discovered was that it was NOT repeat NOT a true convertible. Rather, it was a chop-top, as evidenced by the sedan-style windscreen, and the bottoms of the window posts still remaining. The second thing I had to learn was the difference between the classic Beetle and the Super Beetle. Some of you already know this, but it was new to me. Although the differences are easy to miss at first glance, I now see clearly that Hughie's ride was most definitely a Super Beetle with the roof cut off. After much more research and guidance from folks at an automotive modeling forum, I realized (after much frustration) that I was going to have to kitbash THREE different kits to do this. 1) Aoshima Beetle 1303S for most (not all) of the body and the bumpers 2) Revell '68 Beetle for the chassis, engine, windscreen, rear body vents, tail lights and much of the interior 3) Revell VW Cabriolet for some of the interior and some of the body details I should also mention part of my research was to go through every Dukes episode in which this vehicle appeared, pause the DVD whenever a good view appeared from any angle, and photograph the scene. I then had the photos made into prints to use as I build. Maybe low-tech, but it works for me.

Amazing list there!! Makes me think with that many neighboring counties, maybe the actual amount of boundary shared with each could be measured in yards....

Amazing seeing the generation of actors/characters we Gen X'rs grew up pass away....knew it was bound to happen, but still....

Not bad; I call it "Wastebook" for similar reasons....

Welcome aboard Kait!

Thank y'all! Actually the Lucifer Mustang would be kewl, but I'm not aware of any decals for it, and they seem a bit tough to improvise....have also considered the Gray Ghost and Black Tillie II, but they only appear once, and to the unwashed masses would only appear like any other car off the street (mostly). And actually I DO have a black '68 Charger from "Bullitt" The next one will be: Hughie Hogg's VW Beetle chop-top (turns out it isn't a true convertible)!!

Hey folks, Had a few requests here and elsewhere to see the entire lineup (so far) of my Hazzard County fleet which has been under construction for the past 6 years. None of these are out-of-the-box, each taking a huge investment of time, research and effort. Greatest challenges were in the tow truck. Next project is already in the research and materials-gathering stage. Hope you enjoy!

Thank you all for the VERY kind words you always so generously lavish upon my work! It is truly my joy, honor and passion!