Wednesday....... the day I saw the light! !
Posted by Dr Diecast at 12/20/2007 8:16 AM and is filed under uncategorized 
Yep.... finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Well the light as in the UPS truck driving off with that last "had to be there" Xmas order.
So as we know the 93 Camaro "problem child" was the last project I had to get shipped and I spent most of yesterday assembling it. Finally about 3 pm it was together and I took a couple pics of it. This was a very hard conversion to do. One that I doubt I will get much in the way of compliments on since its just a Camaro but in the end a very hard one to make.
Well..... I shipped the car last night and sent off the pictures to the wife. The husband does know the car is being made as he saw it last Xmas. So..... I get an email this morning from her saying... I hope the no pinstriping isn't a problem with my husband but I guess we will see.
What did I type about this just yesterday ? I knew that this would become an issue. The scale of the stripe was so small that it looked shitty on the car and I feel the overall appearance is much better the way it is but..... I will probably hear about it. At this point im pretty much done with this car. Unless it shows up damaged or something is really wrong with it I have to wash my hands of this project be it good or bad.
See..... as I looked the paperwork over it jogged my memory about this car and how I was a nice guy..... nice enough to make the rear spoiler for free........ nice enough to give her FREE insured shipping and a discount on the tire and wheel swap to help keep the cost down for her. Then....... after finding out about the ground effects being even nicer by creating them for FREE also..... after which I was informed by the husband that there were side skirts too...... and again created them for FREE. Now here it is hours upon hours later and the car is done...... I have lost no less than $275.00 in labor which was a price estimate NOT actual hours which are more ..... and they are going to have a problem with the stripe. If it was a single color dual line I could put a thicker single line on the car and it would have been noticeable but this was 2 very different colors and 2 very thin stripes....just couldn't make it look right, sorry. This isn't Mc Donald's where there is a manual telling you how to do everything.
Ok..... lets look at this conversion if you care. First off the starter car is a convertible. Once its taken apart I the use the parts from the Firebird hardtop (also taken apart) to trial fit the first thing I notice is the windshield off the firebird is wider as is the center roof bar. This means the dash will more than likely not fit correct and neither will the rear window. I set about cutting the Camaro body to get the center roof section to fit and still allow my to use the mounting tabs for the roof and rear window. See the windshield and roof section up to the center section are one piece. On top of the roof section is split in 2 like they are fake T-tops. So of course the windshield part needs to be masked and that roof section needs to be filled with putty and sanded and filled and sanded...... but not sanded totally smooth but sanded enough to make it one piece but leaving the raised trim around the outside edge. So im sanding the section inside the 2 1/2 x 1 3/4 area so I can keep the raised edge and achieve the proper look.
OK....... so thats done but now I have to fit that center section....... which means cutting the Camaro body and doing some grinding on the center section, lining it up and checking proper height and width along with the windshield/roof so it all lines up. Then I can use some JB Weldstick to secure the center section to the body. Once dry I can then grind any excess away from the inside and sand, fill and re contour the outter body area where the center section meets the body. This of course takes multiple sand and fill passes to achieve the proper look. So now I have that done but I need to fit the rear window. So remember this is a convertible body...... with a full trunk...... and now I have to put a large oval rear window in it..... so I have to measure this for cutting purposes while making sure I leave the mounting tabs on the underside of the body.
Once that is measured and cut I trial fit the window..... which is wider then where it needs to go. I cannot trim anymore of the body since , yes the mounting tabes are there. I then use the grinding wheel to shave a little off each side of the rear window to get a close fit. This is a major pain in the ass...... and very time consuming. Its not like, oh well....... toss that out and start over if I make a mistake, there is no time nor cost for that. So its a long slow process of little off this little off that. Now that the window is fitted I can do some bodywork on the deck lid area to tighten up the gap between the window and the deck. Again, filling, sanding and repeat. So now that its finished and looking somewhat correct I have to work on the actual body lines associated with the hardtop roof lines by the rear window. These are the little seam lines as they run up near the base of the rear window. Cant just fill that in and not make it look right so that then gets done.... since the convertible has none this is just trial and error to get the right look.
You guys still with me ???............. pretty freaking boring huh ? This is the life of a diecast modder. Of course in the end this all ends up looking fine but the hours invested of course doesn't reflect the time I am going to spend to make the interior look correct. That basically was another couple hours with my sectioning the Camaro interior and the Firebird interior until they lined up and could be fitted in the body correct. See its the unknown that makes this job both interesting and frustrating in the same breathe. Creating something from scratch is simple......you create as you go...... but when modifying you have the problem of working around the way the car is built.... and its not really built to be taken apart nor is it built to be modified. So when pricing projects its just a guessing game. The paint work is really the only thing I know for sure as far as pricing goes but everything, or anything for that matter, that gets modded is just a guessing game..... there is no manual as I have said before so..... we all do the best we can with what we have both mentally and logically and sometimes we win and sometimes we lose.
I need to touch on another interesting trend in not appreciating what goes into this kinda work. If you build the car or price the car alot of times the customer doesn't get it and then you watch as they make an ass of themselves they either try to insult you into cheaper pricing or just think they can get it done elsewhere for alot less. The last option normally ends in dissapointment. I mean we all want the most we can get for the least amount we have to pay but in reality how often does that work out. Ok, maybe when buying a stove you can shop and shop and save some money but in diecast modding you cant, for the most part.
Case in point..... as I was talking with another diecast modder the other day. He was contracted to build a car for a customer..... one that took a long time to build. Once done the customer decided they didn't want the car and the modder put it on his website where it has sat for a year now I think. So now comes along the dipshit customer who originally ordered it, says to the modder something like........ well I see you still have the car I wanted you to do..... so I will give you X amount of $'s for it. That X was about half of what was originally quoted. How many people are so stupid that they think INSULTING the modder is going to end in them scoring a car for half the price ? I mean really...... how stupid.
This brings me to a customer I had years ago. Nice guy outta Vegas... wanted book ends done...... 2 69 Chargers to match his and 2 69 Chargers to match his brothers. I take the order for the 4 cars. Each pair is different in that they had modified the original paint colors from stock. The B5 Blue was greener then stock and the B3 blue was much lighter. So..... he pays the $800+ deposit and I go about doing the cars. Once completed I email him the pictures and he calls, tells me he loves them and wants me to ship them and bill him net 30. Im like this isn't a business to business transaction..... I wont do that. Then he says well send them COD...... I said I would but will only accept cash. See he claimed his CC was at its limit so he had no room to use it. Well......... he then says I would prefer to pay by check for the COD since I can leave it for the driver. Then said I wouldn't do that but he can mail me a check and once cleared I would ship the cars. Well...... it was then he told me he lost all his money (gambling) and couldn't pay for the cars and was intending on writing me a bad check. Nice of him huh ?? So I of course said I will give him some time but hes like broke, broke and said it wont happen. Then....... after I tell him im sorry but im keeping the cars and his deposit (50%) he says thats ok ....... these aren't worth anything to anyone else so I will wait till you put them on Ebay to get rid of them and buy them there for alot less than what I owe you.
Nice huh ?........ those 4 cars are even now after 4 years still in parts in my junk bins never to see the retail light of day again. So I was out the "profit" on these of $800+ and again shows how little people care about what goes into these. Lastly, price shoppers are the best..... you want a price.... you get a price, you want to think about , thats fine...... you then come back a year later for a price again.... I don't know, thinking it will be cheaper ? but no its the same...... the again want to think about it. OK.... it doesn't bother me at all either way...... then ANOTHER year later and his car still not finished comes back again..... but now I have changed my prices so it goes up a little and AGAIN he says... ok , let me think about it. Now I see hes playing the pricing game.... people, LOL, they crack me up but yanno I guess if he can find someone to do it cheaper then my original price from 3 years ago he will think hes happy. Oh well, we all have our way of thinking I guess....... so be it.
Ok... im out
So as we know the 93 Camaro "problem child" was the last project I had to get shipped and I spent most of yesterday assembling it. Finally about 3 pm it was together and I took a couple pics of it. This was a very hard conversion to do. One that I doubt I will get much in the way of compliments on since its just a Camaro but in the end a very hard one to make.
Well..... I shipped the car last night and sent off the pictures to the wife. The husband does know the car is being made as he saw it last Xmas. So..... I get an email this morning from her saying... I hope the no pinstriping isn't a problem with my husband but I guess we will see.
What did I type about this just yesterday ? I knew that this would become an issue. The scale of the stripe was so small that it looked shitty on the car and I feel the overall appearance is much better the way it is but..... I will probably hear about it. At this point im pretty much done with this car. Unless it shows up damaged or something is really wrong with it I have to wash my hands of this project be it good or bad.
See..... as I looked the paperwork over it jogged my memory about this car and how I was a nice guy..... nice enough to make the rear spoiler for free........ nice enough to give her FREE insured shipping and a discount on the tire and wheel swap to help keep the cost down for her. Then....... after finding out about the ground effects being even nicer by creating them for FREE also..... after which I was informed by the husband that there were side skirts too...... and again created them for FREE. Now here it is hours upon hours later and the car is done...... I have lost no less than $275.00 in labor which was a price estimate NOT actual hours which are more ..... and they are going to have a problem with the stripe. If it was a single color dual line I could put a thicker single line on the car and it would have been noticeable but this was 2 very different colors and 2 very thin stripes....just couldn't make it look right, sorry. This isn't Mc Donald's where there is a manual telling you how to do everything.
Ok..... lets look at this conversion if you care. First off the starter car is a convertible. Once its taken apart I the use the parts from the Firebird hardtop (also taken apart) to trial fit the first thing I notice is the windshield off the firebird is wider as is the center roof bar. This means the dash will more than likely not fit correct and neither will the rear window. I set about cutting the Camaro body to get the center roof section to fit and still allow my to use the mounting tabs for the roof and rear window. See the windshield and roof section up to the center section are one piece. On top of the roof section is split in 2 like they are fake T-tops. So of course the windshield part needs to be masked and that roof section needs to be filled with putty and sanded and filled and sanded...... but not sanded totally smooth but sanded enough to make it one piece but leaving the raised trim around the outside edge. So im sanding the section inside the 2 1/2 x 1 3/4 area so I can keep the raised edge and achieve the proper look.
OK....... so thats done but now I have to fit that center section....... which means cutting the Camaro body and doing some grinding on the center section, lining it up and checking proper height and width along with the windshield/roof so it all lines up. Then I can use some JB Weldstick to secure the center section to the body. Once dry I can then grind any excess away from the inside and sand, fill and re contour the outter body area where the center section meets the body. This of course takes multiple sand and fill passes to achieve the proper look. So now I have that done but I need to fit the rear window. So remember this is a convertible body...... with a full trunk...... and now I have to put a large oval rear window in it..... so I have to measure this for cutting purposes while making sure I leave the mounting tabs on the underside of the body.
Once that is measured and cut I trial fit the window..... which is wider then where it needs to go. I cannot trim anymore of the body since , yes the mounting tabes are there. I then use the grinding wheel to shave a little off each side of the rear window to get a close fit. This is a major pain in the ass...... and very time consuming. Its not like, oh well....... toss that out and start over if I make a mistake, there is no time nor cost for that. So its a long slow process of little off this little off that. Now that the window is fitted I can do some bodywork on the deck lid area to tighten up the gap between the window and the deck. Again, filling, sanding and repeat. So now that its finished and looking somewhat correct I have to work on the actual body lines associated with the hardtop roof lines by the rear window. These are the little seam lines as they run up near the base of the rear window. Cant just fill that in and not make it look right so that then gets done.... since the convertible has none this is just trial and error to get the right look.
You guys still with me ???............. pretty freaking boring huh ? This is the life of a diecast modder. Of course in the end this all ends up looking fine but the hours invested of course doesn't reflect the time I am going to spend to make the interior look correct. That basically was another couple hours with my sectioning the Camaro interior and the Firebird interior until they lined up and could be fitted in the body correct. See its the unknown that makes this job both interesting and frustrating in the same breathe. Creating something from scratch is simple......you create as you go...... but when modifying you have the problem of working around the way the car is built.... and its not really built to be taken apart nor is it built to be modified. So when pricing projects its just a guessing game. The paint work is really the only thing I know for sure as far as pricing goes but everything, or anything for that matter, that gets modded is just a guessing game..... there is no manual as I have said before so..... we all do the best we can with what we have both mentally and logically and sometimes we win and sometimes we lose.
I need to touch on another interesting trend in not appreciating what goes into this kinda work. If you build the car or price the car alot of times the customer doesn't get it and then you watch as they make an ass of themselves they either try to insult you into cheaper pricing or just think they can get it done elsewhere for alot less. The last option normally ends in dissapointment. I mean we all want the most we can get for the least amount we have to pay but in reality how often does that work out. Ok, maybe when buying a stove you can shop and shop and save some money but in diecast modding you cant, for the most part.
Case in point..... as I was talking with another diecast modder the other day. He was contracted to build a car for a customer..... one that took a long time to build. Once done the customer decided they didn't want the car and the modder put it on his website where it has sat for a year now I think. So now comes along the dipshit customer who originally ordered it, says to the modder something like........ well I see you still have the car I wanted you to do..... so I will give you X amount of $'s for it. That X was about half of what was originally quoted. How many people are so stupid that they think INSULTING the modder is going to end in them scoring a car for half the price ? I mean really...... how stupid.
This brings me to a customer I had years ago. Nice guy outta Vegas... wanted book ends done...... 2 69 Chargers to match his and 2 69 Chargers to match his brothers. I take the order for the 4 cars. Each pair is different in that they had modified the original paint colors from stock. The B5 Blue was greener then stock and the B3 blue was much lighter. So..... he pays the $800+ deposit and I go about doing the cars. Once completed I email him the pictures and he calls, tells me he loves them and wants me to ship them and bill him net 30. Im like this isn't a business to business transaction..... I wont do that. Then he says well send them COD...... I said I would but will only accept cash. See he claimed his CC was at its limit so he had no room to use it. Well......... he then says I would prefer to pay by check for the COD since I can leave it for the driver. Then said I wouldn't do that but he can mail me a check and once cleared I would ship the cars. Well...... it was then he told me he lost all his money (gambling) and couldn't pay for the cars and was intending on writing me a bad check. Nice of him huh ?? So I of course said I will give him some time but hes like broke, broke and said it wont happen. Then....... after I tell him im sorry but im keeping the cars and his deposit (50%) he says thats ok ....... these aren't worth anything to anyone else so I will wait till you put them on Ebay to get rid of them and buy them there for alot less than what I owe you.
Nice huh ?........ those 4 cars are even now after 4 years still in parts in my junk bins never to see the retail light of day again. So I was out the "profit" on these of $800+ and again shows how little people care about what goes into these. Lastly, price shoppers are the best..... you want a price.... you get a price, you want to think about , thats fine...... you then come back a year later for a price again.... I don't know, thinking it will be cheaper ? but no its the same...... the again want to think about it. OK.... it doesn't bother me at all either way...... then ANOTHER year later and his car still not finished comes back again..... but now I have changed my prices so it goes up a little and AGAIN he says... ok , let me think about it. Now I see hes playing the pricing game.... people, LOL, they crack me up but yanno I guess if he can find someone to do it cheaper then my original price from 3 years ago he will think hes happy. Oh well, we all have our way of thinking I guess....... so be it.
Ok... im out
John, there is a very easy way for her to make sure the Camaro matches - tell her to go out to the garage tonight and strip off the pin stripe on the original car. Presto Chango, complete match! and the car will look better as well (if a '93 Camaro can look 'better' LOL)
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Actually I talked to the Camaro owner last night........ and told him this idea, LOL. He laughed and said its not that easy since they are painted on but did laugh non the less.
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John, Great job today, I truely enjoyed it.
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