Opening
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This photo shows the Box Art for the 1968 Dodge Dart Hemi 2-n-1 being used for the 2024/2025 USACC build. Information on this kit can be found on Scalemates.
The USACC Group Build, in my opinion, is becoming and institution. I don't usually do group builds; however, I love this one. A special thank you to the founders of this group build: Matt at The Luka Cee YouTube Channel and Mark Batson at Hobbydude 007 YouTube Channel
This year Kim from Kims Kustom Garage picked what kit we would be building. He picked the Revell 1968 Dodge Dart Hemi Special Edition 2-n-1. I think it's a great pick!
This page contains a photo journal of my build for the 1968 Dodge
Dart Hemi 2-n-1. The '68 Dodge Dart Hemi is the kit being built
for the Unified Scale Auto Content Creator (USACC) build that
runs from:
September 15, 2024 to March 16, 2025.
In each of the photo boxes is a button labeled 'Display Photo Text'. Click the 'Display Photo Text' button to display the descriptive text for the photo. There can also be other links within the text. At the end of the text is a button to 'Close Text'.
Clicking or tapping on any photo will open an enlarged version of that photo in a new tab or window depending upon how your browser is configured.
My plan for this kit is to build a car that would have been a late model stock car that could have run on the 1/2 mile dirt track oval during the 1970's and early 1980's in Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth, PA The 1/2 mile dirt track is no longer in existence; what a loss!
Opening
Click/tap photo to enlarge
This photo shows the Box Art for the 1968 Dodge Dart Hemi 2-n-1 being used for the 2024/2025 USACC build. Information on this kit can be found on Scalemates.
Photo 001
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As I stated in the lead-in to this project, my plan is to build my version of a vintage late model stock car that would have been seen on a dirt track in the late 1970's. Some of my buddies at the time had cars that they ran at the 1/2 mile dirt track in Nazareth, PA, in Middletown, NY at the Orange County Fair Grounds, at Flemington, NJ and in Reading (pronounced 'Redding'), PA; Jack Zeiner and his brother Tom, both late model champions at Nazareth and the Metzger brothers, Gary and Sterling (pugsly), although never won a championship, were competitive and a track favorite.
Only one of these cars is a Dodge Dart and that is picture '4'. Pictures 1, 2 and 3 are random photos found on the web. Photos 5 through 8 are from the Nazareth Speedway Facebook Page. The 1/2 mile dirt track is no longer in existence; what a loss!
The following numbered list corresponds to the numbered tiles in the photo below. Photos 5 through 8 are cars and drivers from Nazareth, PA:
The numbers on each tile of the following photo refer to the above numbered list. Click a number in the above numbered list to open a larger image of any of the associated tiles in the tiled photo below.
Photo 002
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Decal sheet from the kit. If you want and/or need a copy of this sheet, simply:
Open the image in a photo editor and to keep the proper scale, the image should be: 8.147 inch x 5.147 inch (206.934mm x 130.734mm), with a resolution of 300px x 300px. The size of the image in pixels should be: 2,444px x 1,544px.
Photo 003
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I always like trying something new with the USACC build. I've never used a 3D printed engine and although I like the hemi that comes with the kit, I thought I'd like to put some kind of high performance Mopar Slant 6 under the hood. I had a 225 Slant 6 in my 1966 Plymouth Valiant 200 and I loved it. You couldn't kill it.
I found a Slant 6 HyperPak at VCG Resins and bought it thinking this is the engine I'd be using. Then, a few days later, while looking for racing seats I saw the slant 6 Hemi Turbo, also at VCG Resins. I immediately placed an order knowing this would be the engine of choice for this build.
These images are from the VCG Resin website. The HyperPak is on the left and the hemi turbo is shown in two views on the right.
Photo 004
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These are the parts that come with the VCG Resin Slant 6 HyperPak engine. Since I'm not going to use this engine in this build, and I've never built a 3D printed engine before, I thought I would start by building this version. Some of the parts are very small and I already lost the oil filler cap to the Bermuda Triangle under my bench. It will be easy to make one.
Photo 005
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These are the parts that come with the VCG Resin Slant 6 Hemi Turbo engine. This is the engine I'm planning to use in the build. I didn't know there was such a thing as a Hemi Turbo Slant 6, so I did some research. The performance specifications of this engine are fabulous and I think it would/will give most 8-cylinder engines a run for their money.
Photo 006
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The parts for the Slant 6 HyperPak engine are in primer.
Photo 007
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The parts for the Slant 6 Hemi Turbo engine are in primer.
Photo 008
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This photo was 'super enhanced' to show the body detail.
I'll be removing some of the body detail. This photo shows some of the body detail I'll be removing such as the front and rear side marker lights, the emblems and the door locks. I'll also be filling the location for the door handle.
Photo 009
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This photo was 'super enhanced' to show the body detail.
The right side of the body with body details removed and filled.
Photo 010
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I'll be removing the gas tank and the spare tire well and replacing it with a flat bottom floor for mounting the fuel cell.
Photo 011
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The molded-in gas tank and spare tire well has been cut out of the frame.
Photo 012
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The hole left in the frame has been closed with a piece of sheet styrene.
Photo 013
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The trunk lid has been cut open and hinges will be added. I'm opening the trunk so the fuel cell can be seen, but also, in street stocks, some teams did not pipe the fuel cell to the outside of the body and would lift the trunk lid and put the fuel directly into the cell.
Photo 014
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I will be attempting to use the roll cage from #####. I'm planning to cut the side out as shown in this photo.
Photo 015
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After cutting off the sides of the roll cage, to get the roll cage side to fit in the Dodge body, the bottom strip of the roll cage must also be cut off.
Photo 016
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One side of the roll cage has been cut to what I "think" will fit in the '68 Dodge Dart body? I dry fitted the parts and they seem to be fine; however, we all know that sometimes things don't work out the way we want them.
Photo 017
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Both sides of the roll cage are cut to the proposed size to have them fit in the '68 Dodge Dart body. I will be doing a final test fit using some white glue to hold everything together.
Photo 018
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This is a back view of my scratch built roll cage. I made a small helper to keep the top rails at the same height. All I did was took a piece of thin cardboard, measured the height from the floor to the bottom of the top roll cage bar and then made a fold, making a 'V-shaped' cardboard 'work horse'. This kept the upper parts of the roll cage the same height and also held them in place until the glue setup.
Photo 019
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The is the scratch built roll cage from the side with the helper still in place.
Photo 020
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I scratch built a roll cage. I had tried to use the premade roll cage from the Tim Richmond Folgers Chevy Monte Carlo NASCAR; however, it just didn't fit. And, it was an overkill for the late model dirt track series. I used the roll bar that came with the kit and built on to it using Evergreen 212 0.080"/2.0mm rod.
This photo is of the right side as it was built on the frame and floor pan. The joints will be filled and made to look like welds.
The next couple of pictures are of the roll cage from different angles.
Photo 021
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I scratch built a roll cage. I had tried to use the premade roll cage from the Tim Richmond Folgers Chevy Monte Carlo NASCAR; however, it just didn't fit. And, it was an overkill for the late model dirt track series. I used the roll bar that came with the kit and built on to it using Evergreen 212 0.080"/2.0mm rod.
This photo is looking at the front as it was built on the frame and floor pan. The joints will be filled and made to look like welds.
The next couple of pictures are of the roll cage from different angles.
Photo 022
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I scratch built a roll cage. I had tried to use the premade roll cage from the Tim Richmond Folgers Chevy Monte Carlo NASCAR; however, it just didn't fit. And, it was an overkill for the late model dirt track series. I used the roll bar that came with the kit and built on to it using Evergreen 212 0.080"/2.0mm rod.
This photo is looking at the left side as it was built on the frame and floor pan. The joints will be filled and made to look like welds.
The next couple of pictures are of the roll cage from different angles.
Photo 023
Click/tap photo to enlarge
I scratch built a roll cage. I had tried to use the premade roll cage from the Tim Richmond Folgers Chevy Monte Carlo NASCAR; however, it just didn't fit. And, it was an overkill for the late model dirt track series. I used the roll bar that came with the kit and built on to it using Evergreen 212 0.080"/2.0mm rod.
This photo is looking from the back as it was built on the frame and floor pan. The joints will be filled and made to look like welds.
The next couple of pictures are of the roll cage from different angles.
Photo 024
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The differential and the rear leaf springs are installed. I installed them because at the time I thought they were going to be the same color as the floor pan and frame; however, since, I've changed my mind and will be making the differential, Steel color and the leaf springs Magnesium color.
Photo 025
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The left side of the chassis with roll cage and tires mounted showning the stance.
Photo 026
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The right side of the chassis with roll cage and tires mounted showning the stance.
Photo 027
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Front view of frame showing the stagger for short track dirt racing. The inset is a brief method for calculating the stagger based on track corner radius and size. There is much more to consider, but I though this inset would give viewers who are interested a tickler to do more research on this topic.
Photo 028
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Left side with body dry fitted showing what the stance will look like.
Photo 029
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Right side with body dry fitted showing what the stance will look like.
Photo 031
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Front view with body dry fitted.
Photo 032
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Some of the parts have been primed using Vallejo 74.615 USN Light Ghost Grey Primer. I find this primer works great with Vallejo paints and with Tamiya acrylic paints; therefore the parts shown will be painted with either Vallejo and/or Tamyia.
The spoons in the photo have been primed with Mission Models MMS-001 Black primer and Mission Models MMS-003 Grey primer, and I already used too much thinner. [I] find Mission paints to be very 'touchy'. The reason I'm planning to use Mission paint is because I would like to paint the body, Burgundy and the interior, Beige. The only water based, acrylic, Burgundy paint I could find was Mission Model Paint MMRC013. I also didn't want to mix the burgundy color so I thought I'd use the Mission paint, even though [I] think it's very touchy to use. I want to see the finished colors on the different color primers. I didn't have Mission Models white primer, but that's Okay. I think the gray is light enough to give me a good idea of the look.
NOTE:
I've used Mission Models Paint before and when it
works, it works really well, and when it don't, it
don't. According to their website, the paint
chemistry is such that their thinner/reducer,
their primer, and their polyurethane mix additive,
add to the chemistry of the paint to make it work.
So...we'll see what happens.