My PPG Build...

Earlier this year we had little club competition that we called the “PPG Build.” The idea was that all the members who competed would be given the same model kit to build with the only restriction being that they would not be allowed to purchase anything aftermarket for it, the only exceptions being paint, putty and glue. Any kind of detailing would have to be done with what each modeler had available from the spares box or what could be scratchbuilt. In the end, we gave out two model kits from AMT/Ertl; a 1932 Ford Coupe and a 1957 Chevy Pickup, and it was the latter that I received.

This was a no holds barred build, and in fact everyone was encouraged to think out of the box (so to speak) and come up with interesting variations on these models. As we now know, we got some very unique models out of this contest. For my part, I too wanted to jazz up my truck, but I decided to go with a customized look as opposed to the hot rod look. This would necessitate some modifying of the kit, but more importantly it meant that the paint would have to look good.

I built the kit pretty much out of the box, substituting various kit pieces with what had stashed away in my hobby room. The chassis and engine were built up as per the instructions with addition of some spark plug wiring on the latter. In the cab, I replaced the kit’s bench seat with a set of bucket seats from an Iveco truck. These seats were further detailed by mounting their head rests in a raised position and closing off their open back sides. I the used chrome Bare Metal Foil to pick out some of the details on the dash.

The only true scratch building I did was when I replaced the kit’s tail gate. For this I used the kit part and then re-skinned it with some plastic card to make a smooth tail gate. Some of the other exterior modifications were the replacement of the kit tires and hubs with a set from a ’72 Chevy and the exclusion of a lot of the chrome pieces. As I said above, I was going for a custom look so I went with very little chrome and I removed all of the Chevy logos.

I felt that ultimately the finish of this model would be the most important element in achieving the look I was after. The first thing I did was to strip the chrome from the kit parts and repaint them all using Alclad chrome. Other smaller chrome details, such as the window frames and box rails, were picked out with Bare Metal Foil. I used three different shades of Model Master blue on this truck to set the chassis, interior and exterior apart from each other. Over a primer coat of silver, I applied the final metallic blue used for the body. This was applied in layers, each one being heavily thinned with lacquer thinner. My thinking at the time was that the lacquer would help “melt” the paint and thus produce a smooth, glossy finish. I lightly sanded between each coat of paint with 3600 grit, and in the end sanded and polished the paint using Novus Plastic Polish to achieve a gloss finish.

With the body painted and the chassis built up I mated the two together. Now that the engine was secured in its compartment, I added some additional plumbing in the form of heater and radiator hoses, brake lines and battery cables. Some last little details, such as signal lights, painted with Tamiya Clear Orange, were added and the model was done.

I make no claim to be an expert when it comes to building car models (actually I make no claim to being an expert on anything), but I think I did a pretty fair job of this one. It didn’t stand a chance in the contest against a car armed with a 30mm cannon, but it was still a fairly good build.