DaveCov's "Starsky & Hutch Striped Tomato" - Revell 1/25 1976 Ford Torino (07038)

[davecov]

I realise that "iconic" is sometimes over-used but having just binge-watched all four series of Starsky and Hutch, I just had to build the "iconic" Ford Torino, also known as the "striped tomato".

The Revell 1/25 1976 Ford Torino (07038):

The parts are moulded in a rather brittle plastic of various colours. There are also four metal pins for attaching the wheels to the axles. These could easily be thrown away during the unpacking of the runners because they were sealed into the corner of one of the larger bags.

The bodyshell and chassis which came joined together. They were really difficult to get apart for the photo so I won't be rejoining them until the build is finished:

Floor pan and interior:

Engine, exhaust and axles:

Clear parts are indeed very clear! The "chrome" parts are a bit too "chromey" for my liking and I may well remove all of the "chrome" and respray with Alcad 2 Chrome:

Rear light clusters are moulded in a dark ruby red and the tyres are moulded rubber ones. They were a bit out of shape having been packed inside the bodyshell:

Metal axle pins:

Decals are sharply printed and in register but I fear that the white striping may not be opaque enough so I may well paint some stripes and then apply the decals on top:

The instructions are spread over sixteen pages:

Pages 1 & 16 - Front Cover, Painting Profile:

Pages 2 & 3 - Additional Tips & Tricks:

Pages 4 & 5 - Additional Tips & Tricks, Required Paint Colours:

Pages 6 & 7 - Required Paint Colours, Layout of Runners A to F:

Pages 8 & 9 - Layout of Runners G to N, Assembly Instructions - Sections 1 to 5:

Pages 10 & 11 - Assembly Instructions - Sections 6 to 14:

Pages 12 & 13 - Assembly Instructions - Sections 15 to 22:

Pages 14 & 15 - Assembly Instructions - Sections 23 to 29:

That's all for now.

Dave

 

[Mark1]

Loved this as a kid, apparently the car didnt have enough power to get sideways in the corners so they had to weld up the diff.

 

[Mickc1440]

So glad this GB has started, so many memories of the tv I used to watch

 

[peterairfix]

Be careful of the white stripe decals as I ruined mine as they are a little bit fragile.
Just a heads up

 

[Jakko]

I’m too young to have watched this originally, but I think I have caught some bits of episodes when it was shown on some “oldies” channel in the Netherlands a few years ago. Oh, and I think I also saw the 2000s movie with Ben Stiller once upon a time.

For the white stripes, I think I would consider masking them instead of trusting in white decals to be opaque …

 

[Tim Marlow]

I’m too young to have watched this originally, but I think I have caught some bits of episodes when it was shown on some “oldies” channel in the Netherlands a few years ago. Oh, and I think I also saw the 2000s movie with Ben Stiller once upon a time.

For the white stripes, I think I would consider masking them instead of trusting in white decals to be opaque …

Those won’t be fun to mask….they have a black pinstripe around them.

 

[Jim R]

I remember the series fondly. I always reckoned it was worth watching for Huggy Bear.
Looks a fun kit.

 

[tr1ckey66]

I’ll be clambering all over my car bonnet in my long cardi having seen this! Then looking for the nearest pile of cardboard boxes to drive through.
This has been a Spelling Goldberg Production!

Have fun Dave, this brings back a lot of memories
Cheers, Paul

 

[Tim Marlow]

I remember the series fondly. I always reckoned it was worth watching for Huggy Bear.
Looks a fun kit.

Me too. My wife was in lust with Hutch as a nipper….Ha! His loss, my gain

 

[minitnkr]

Never understood why undercover policemen would drive such a distinctive barge of an automobile. I distinctly remember a detective, who frequented a garage I used to work at, that had a hot chip installed in his unmarked Chevy Caprice to up its' game. This was before they could use confiscated vehicles, which sometimes were pretty outrageous.

 

[papa 695]

Loved this program when I was a kid.

 

[Jakko]

Those won’t be fun to mask….they have a black pinstripe around them.

Hmm … paint the white, then add thin black decal stripes?

 

[Tim Marlow]

Possible, but the curves would make that quite difficult I should think. Going to be a good build though…..

 

[davecov]

Thanks all for your comments about the subject of my build.

A bit of progress tonight.

I have removed most of the parts from the runners. I have left the exhausts on their runners so that I can clean up the seams without breaking the exhausts:

I tried to remove some "chrome" from a piece of runner using Domestos. It didn't work - although it does work on some manufacturer's "chrome" parts. I put the "chrome" parts into a freezer bag, sprayed some Mr Muscle on them and closed the bag. NOTE: MR MUSCLE IS NASTY STUFF AND YOU SHOULD FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS VERY CAREFULLY WITH REGARDS TO VENTILATION, AVOIDING FUMES AND PROTECTION OF SKIN:

Within seconds of spraying, the "chrome" was dissolving but I am going to leave the bag overnight to ensure all of it is removed:

I also scanned the decal sheet and will be printing off a few copies of the stripes to apply under the original kit decals or to use as templates for paint masks. Only time will tell what I will do because I haven't decided yet.

That is all for now.

Dave

 

[Lee Drennen]

Nice I’m in

 

[davecov]

Latest update.

The "chrome" parts after their bath in Mr Muscle and a good rinse in clean water. As it turned out, they were only in the polybag for a few minutes. In contrast, the scrap runner placed in Domestos took 18 hours to remove all of the "chrome":

All parts have now been cleaned up with all seams and flash dealt with:

I started to assemble the engine and rear suspension unit:

Out came some Alcad 2 Gloss Black Base to prime the parts that will be sprayed with Alclad 2 Chrome or Aluminium:

It was also used for the floorpan:

That is all for now.

Dave

 

[davecov]

Another painting session to report.

I got out the Alclad 2 Chrome (ALC-107) and sprayed the "chrome" parts. The Alclad gives a superior, thinner coat than that originally on the parts:

More lovely chrome:

I sprayed the exhaust system with Alclad 2 Dull Aluminium (ALC-117):

Exhaust manifolds were sprayed with Alclad 2 Exhaust Manifold (ALC-123):

That is all for now.

Dave

 

[minitnkr]

My refs suggest two cars were used, the stunt car had the original engine replaced with a 360 cubic inch Windsor tuned up to 435 HP. The model engine looks to have the stunt engine w/two four barrel carbs.

 

[davecov]

More progress to report.

I sprayed some parts with H130 Satin Gloss White and brush-painted the engine block with H48 Gloss Mediterranean Blue:

Once the blue was dry, I added some of the chrome parts previously painted plus the exhaust manifolds. Parts of the front suspension were brush-painted with H11 Silver. Drive belts were painted H33 Matt Black:

Mr Postie delivered these 1/25 figures today and I may use some of them in this build:

That is all for now.

Dave

 

[papa 695]

Very nice work so far Dave, coming along very nicely.