1968 Dodge Dart Hemi 2-n-1
USACC 2025 Group Build

3D Parts Used

This is the first kit I built where I used 3D printed parts. Following are the 3D parts and manufacturers used:

  VCG Resins & MCV Products

• VCG Resins - Mopar Slant 6 HEMI Turbo Charged Concept Engine. Used in this build with scratch built piping.
• VCG Resins - Mopar Slant 6 HyperPak Engine, SQ8520980 with, A833 4-Speed Manual Transmission Long & Performance Bellhousing. Not used on this build.
• VCG Resins - 5 Pc Antique Mopar Battery Pack, SQ3543954.
• VCG Resins - Multi Piece Fuel Cell, 8-Gallon, SQ3563954.
• VCG Resins - Wilwood Master Cylinder with Proportioning Valve and Standard Booster, SQ1347319.
• MCV Products - Full Set 15" Old School Slotted Mags with Street Strip Tires (Hoosiers), MCV-W5.
• MCV Products - Racing Seat
• MCV Products - Quick Release Seat Belt Kit with Red and Black Belt Material, MCV-SB1.

Scratch Built Parts

The following parts were scratch built:

• Shifter and Shifter Knob
• Shifter Boot
• Roll Cage, Built onto the Kit Roll Bar
• Trunk Floor
• Cut open the trunk lid and added hinges
• Exhaust Pipe, Solder
• Engine turbo piping
• Fuel Cell hold-down straps
• Battery tray
• Battery hold-down clamps and rods
• Screen windshield and grill

Paint Colors Used

Mopar Slant 6 HyperPak Engine (Not used in this build)

Following are the colors I used on this engine:

• Engine block, oil pan, intakes, head, and water pump - Tamiya X-6 Orange and Tamiya X-7 Red in a ratio of 2.5:1. It can be a ratio in either way depending on how red or how orange you want the engine. I used 2.5 parts X-7 Red to 1 part X-6 Orange for this build.
• Valve cover, transmission, bell housing, pulleys and altenator is Vallejo Metal Color 77.716 Semi Matt Aluminum
• Exhaust Manifold - Vallejo Metal Color 77.723 Exhaust.
• Starter, Air Cleaner, Oil Filler Cap, and Alternator bracket in Tamiya X-1 Black.
• Oil Filter - Tamiya X-6 Orange
• Distributor - Base and stem, Tamyia X-1 Black, Cap - Tamyia XF-59 Desert Yellow, Cap Clamps Vallejo 77.716 Semi Matt Aluminum, Vacuum Advance Valve - Tamyia X-12 Gold Leaf.
• Carborator in Tamiya X-12 Gold Leaf.

Some of the parts are extremely small and I lost the oil filler cap and the vacuum advance valve in the Bermuda Triangle under my bench. I made a new oil filler cap from a piece of Evergreen 0.080"/2mm rod.

Mopar Slant 6 HEMI Head Turbo Slant 6 Engine

Following are the colors I used on this concept engine:

• Engine block, head, oil pan, water pump - Tamiya X-6 Orange and Tamiya X-7 Red in a ratio of 2.5:1. It can be a ratio in either way depending on how red or how orange you want the engine. I used 2.5 parts X-7 Red to 1 part X-6 Orange for this build.
• Valve cover and Alternator - Vallejo Metal color 77.716 Semi Matt Aluminum
• Transmission and bell housing - Vallejo Metal Color 77.712 Steel.
• Exhaust Manifold - Vallejo Metal Color 77.723 Exhaust
• Air Intake Manifold and Piping - Vallejo Metal Color 77.711 Magnesium
• Compressor and Turbine Sections and Belt Pulleys - Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum
• Starter, Air Filter Housing, and Intake Fuel Injectors - Tamiya X-1 Black
• Filter material - Vallejo Model Color 71.270 Off White
• Fan Belt - Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black
• Oil Filter - Tamiya X-6 Orange
• Distributor - Base and stem, Tamyia X-1 Black, Cap - Tamyia XF-59 Desert Yellow, Cap Clamps Vallejo 77.716 Semi Matt Aluminum, Vacuum Advance Valve - Tamyia X-12 Gold Leaf.

The piping that came with this engine doesn't make sense to me, in that I can't figure out how it can be used, especially for the air injection side of the turbo. One of the two pipes that came with the kit can be used for the exhaust side of the turbo. To make the air injector pipe I used a piece of Evergreen #212 0.080"/2.0mm rod.

Proposed Colors for this Build

I thought I'd paint the body burgundy and the interior either light tan or beige. I paint with water based acrylic for everything because my spray booth has no way to be vented outside. After a long search, the only paint manufacture I found that has burgundy is Mission Model Paints. I've used Mission Hobby paints in the past and found them to be fine, but very finicky with getting the ratio of paint:thinner/ reducer:polyurethane intermix correct, along with airbrush air pressure. Also, because of the Mission Model paint chemistry, their thinner/reducer, their polyurethane and their primer needs to be used so the correct chemical bonds are achieved. I'm Okay with that because I stopped mixing paint brands and additives a long time ago and have been sticking to using all products from the same manufacturer. Mission recommends using a ratio of:

• 2 parts paint
• 1 part thinner/reducer
• 1 part polyurethane intermix
• Airbrush pressure in the range of 10 - 15psi

Before I remembered that ratio I decided I would prime a couple of test spoons with grey and black primer. I added the thinner/reducer to the primer and apparently used WHY too much thinner because, although the paint sprayed well, it started beading up a-bit on the spoons. I left it go because it would be Okay for what I was trying to do, but I also knew I'd have to look up the correct ratio's when I do the actual painting.

I didn't have burgundy or beige in my Mission Model Paint stash, so I order a bottle of each through ebay. The day the burgundy paint showed up at my door we, here in Eastern Pennsylvania were in a very cold weather cycle. Temperatures were in the single digits during the day and negative at night. I was worried that the paint might have froze, but when it came I shook the bottle and it was thankfully still liquid. I left the paints set for several days and then went to use them. The beige was very thick, even after using the Mission recommendations, but it sprayed on the spoons very nice and very smooth. It clogged up my airbrush so I had to tear it down and clean it before using the burgundy.

I mixed the burgundy in the prescribed ratio but I noticed the paint just didn't look right when it was coming out of the bottle, but hey, I never painted with burgundy so I thought maybe this is what it looks like out of the bottle. When I started spraying, there was no color coming out of the airbrush. The only thing that seemed to coming out was the thinner/reducer. I emptied the airbrush, tore it down again and throughly cleaned it. I made sure the inner workings of the brush were fully dry and tryied the burgundy again with the same results. All I can figure is that the paint must have been frozen at some point in it's travels. It was at this point I decided I would not use Mission paints on this build, but I still want to paint the body burgundy.

I made the decision to use Tamiya acrylics and Vallejo paints. I looked up what colors are needed to make burgundy and found the following recipe:

• 2 Parts Red
• 1 Part Blue
• 1/4 Part Yellow

I have Tamiya X-7 Red, x-4 Blue, and x-8 Lemon Yellow, and decided to try it out. I mixed the colors using:

• 8 drops of X-7 Red
• 4 drops of X-4 Blue
• 1 drop of X-8 Lemon Yellow

That ratio did not work well. The paint was very dark and did not look anything like burgundy. I tried several other ratios and finally came up with what I think looks like burgundy and a color that I like:

• 10 drops of X-7 Red
• 1 drop of X-4 Blue
• 3 drops of X-8 Lemon Yellow

This color is actually nicer than the original Mission Model burdundy. With this success, I decided to use either Tamiya XF-55 Deck Tan or XF-59 Desert Yellow for the interior. I hadn't primed the parts that would be painted using Mission Paint because I would need to use Mission primer, but now that I'll be using mostly Tamiya and Vallejo paints I finished priming everything using Vallejo 74.615 USN Light Ghost Grey primer because I fine this primer works as well with Tamiya as it does with Vallejo paints.

Following is a list of parts and the proposed color(s) of each.

TAMIYA ACRYLIC

• Body, wheel - Burgundy as per the mix specification above.
• X-1 Gloss Black - Brake booster, Ingition box.
• X-7 Red - Fire extinguisher body, Battery caps.
• X-11 Chrome - Front & Rear Shock Cylinder Rods, Fire Extinguisher Mounting Bands.
• X-12 Gold Leaf - Ignition Box
• X-18 Semi-Gloss Block - Steering Wheel
• XF-1 Flat Black - Radiator, Battery, Front Suspension, Front Stablizer, Roll Cage, Driver Window Net, Racing Seat Inner Cushion & Head Rest, Front and Rear Bumpers and Tail Light Assembly Bar.
• XF-15 Flat Aluminum - Brake Master Cylinder, Fuel Cell Hatch, Fuel Cell Mounts, Fire Extinguisher Nozzle, Floor Shifter Knob.
• X-52 Flat Earth - Drive Shaft.
• XF-54 Dark Gray - Fuel Cell.
• XF-55 Deck Tan - Interior Floor, Door Panels, Dashboard
• XF-56 Metallic Grey - Battery Tray.
• XF-59 Desert Yellow - Steering Column.
• XF-80 Royal Light Gray - Trunk floor.
• XF-85 Rubber Black - Tires.

Vallejo

• 71.270 Off White - Front & Rear Shock Housings.
• 77.701 Aluminum - Racing Seat Outer Frame & Head Rest Support Arms, Racing Pedals.
• 77.707 Chrome - Seat Belt Buckles.
• 77.711 Magnesium - Rear Leaf Springs, Rear Shocks Mounting Ring and Tab.
• 77.712 Steel - Rear Axle, Differential, Front Shocks Mounting Ring, Drive Shaft Universals.
• 77.723 Exhaust Manifold - Exhaust Pipe.

Problems with this Build

The Revell 1968 Dodge Dart HEMI is a very good kit; however, there were a few small problems that were easily resolved:

1. The interior tub side door panels did not have a good fit. Even after a lot of sanding and shaping, the fit was better, but not good.
2. The interior tub was also a-bit high. When it sat on the frame and the body was put in place, a small portion of the frame can still be seen. At first I thought it was my scratch built roll cage hitting the roof, but that wasn't what was preventing the body from fitting over the tub. There are two tabs on the back side of the tub that fit to the underside of the body. I cut them off and the tube fit nicely. If you go to my photo journal for this build and view Photo 053, the two tabs on the back side of the interior tub can still be seen. These are the tabs that I eventually call off.
3. When the body finally sat properly on the frame there was approximately a 1mm to 2mm gap between the back side windows and the tub. That was easily fixed by adding two strips of 1mm thick styrene along the side of the side of the tub.