From the Archives: 1968 Dodge Charger Part 2

In my last post I explained that this 1968 Dodge Charger was built as special request for my friend Chris. Having painted and assembled the engine, interior and body, the main sub-assemblies of the Charger were ready for fitting together. This particular Revell kit only dates back to 2007, so the fit of the parts is very good and I had no major difficulties in fitting the body, interior and chassis together. The trickiest part was getting the huge V8 engine, with its large racing manifolds (headers), to sit between the inner wings but after some sweating it finally went in with enough room for the hood to close. With everything in place, the decals (including 'Charger' scripts and the white stripes on the rear end) were applied.

I intended to weather the car (that is, make it look used and dirty) in line with Chris’s request for an outlaw’s car, and this is much easier when the car is more or less complete. The engine and engine bay were given a wash with diluted brown oil paint, followed a few days later by a wash with diluted black oil paint. Done subtly, this gives the impression of oily metal and accumulated mechanical filth. It is effective and pretty easy to do: look out for my post on weathering, coming soon.

For the bodywork, I started off the weathering with a few odd scrapes with a tiny piece of very rough sandpaper, deliberately gouging the paint: these areas were touched in with dry-brushed silver enamel paint, as if the red paint was missing or worn away. The car was then rubbed over with pencil graphite. Using powdered graphite is an easy way to add grime to a vehicle which is basically shiny (not muddy) but has years of grime stuck to it. Simply scrape a pencil lead with a scalpel blade, making a small pile of graphite powder, then apply it to the model with a fingertip. It adds a grimy look while also giving a metallic appearance. I did this here and there on the red paintwork and the white vinyl roof, though the trick is to only do it sparingly to create a believable look. The underside was given a thin spray with tan paint with my airbrush, which I allowed to extend a little way up the sides of the car to simulate dust and dirt.

To complete the outlaw image, I made a few other changes to the model: I added a few bullet holes to the rear window and passenger-side C-pillar using a pin vice, and I removed a rear lamp glass and added a dent in the rear bumper to simulate a small collision.

The whole model then received a once-over to fill in any 'clean' areas, such as the exhaust tips which were given a good brush with black oil paint to simulate soot.

This was a really fun build, made more interesting and more challenging by having a strict specification to follow. The Revell 1968 Dodge Charger kit is well designed and builds very well, plus it comes with various optional performance parts (like the big Hemi V8 and racing wheels I used) as well as run-of-the-mill parts like steel wheels and a hood without the big airscoop. If you want to build a nicely detailed muscle car with some good options, I recommend this kit.