**COMPETITION TIME**

[Gas for GOSH]

Attention all you model makers aged 15 years old and under.....

Here is a competition for you. What you have to do is make a 1/24, 1/25 or 1/18 kit model of a Mopar and bring it to Santa Pod on Euronats weekend at the end of July for judging.

There are two categories - Best Original (ie you followed the instructions in the kit to the letter) and Best Altered (ie still a Mopar but you have done whatever you want to it).

An example of an Altered would be that you turned it into a film car or replica of a MMA club racecar or anything your imagination likes! I will put up pictures on this thread of an example later on.

RULES: The kit must be mostly your own work - some adult help allowed only with dangerous or real fiddly bits (eg I've helped with metal working for my son Josh on the example to follow). You can enter any number of models in either category. Submission: I will finalise details closer to the time but it will be something like take the models to the MMA stand at Santa Pod on Sunday morning of the Euronats (26th July 2009) before 11am. Shortly after that Ivor will kindly judge the categories and announce the two winners.

PRIZES: I will supply prizes in the shape of two kits of famous Mopar designs, one for each category winner. The Best Original prize is a Revell 1/24 1971 Plymouth GTX kit. The Best Altered prize is a Revell 1/25 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona. See picture attached.

There is no entry fee - this is just a bit of fun


If there are any questions just stick them on this thread.

Have fun and May The Glue be With You!

Simon and Josh

[Gas for GOSH]

OK now to give you some ideas of what we mean by the Altered category. Josh is not old enough to see ALL of some of the great car films there are - but we have watched bits of films with some of the great car chases. So he has not watched Death Race but he knows what the cars in the film look like. I suggested the film should have had a Charger in it as well as a Mustang so that Dodge can beat the Fords for once! So we decided to design and make a Death Race Charger....

This is what the model makers wanted us to make according to the box.......and also what the Death Race Mustang looked like for styling clues.

[RobTwin]

What a great idea! Hope you get lots of entries

My son's got the attention span of a goldfish with amnesia so struggles to finish models so I doubt he'll be entering, but I look forward to seeing the others

[Gas for GOSH]

If you are going to do an Altered then keep all the bits from the pack and add in whatever else you can find that's useful.

Think about the frame of the kit or the interconnecting bits of plastic you would normally throw away immediately. There are some sections here that will make an ideal roll cage later on. Decision time for the back seats - keep them or lose them to tub the car? We kept them.

Josh also had an old Pirates of the Caribbean sticker in his den - makes an ideal roof decal for a Death Race car so we went with an off white top half to feature the decal and a dirty black bottom half.

[Gas for GOSH]

Cheers Rob - hoping that putting this stuff on might inspire some kids to create something different that will hold their interest.

Next step.....go and make a pest of yourself at the local model shop and see what you can find. Thin cut bits of balsa wood, all sorts of sizes of metal strips and tubes. Or what about some metal mesh - ideal for supporting that rear window. Bonnet is blacked out to mount the guns on and the roll cage is in the interior.

Do what you want with the engine. Wait til your Dad's tucking into that great fried breakfast your Mum has cooked him after letting him have a lie in on Saturday and talk over your ideas. We felt that the types of workshops this car would be in would not bother with fancy detail so the block's a bit rough and ready.

[Gas for GOSH]

The original shiny wheels were blacked out and tried for size, but we felt they were a bit puny!

We then found some wheels that would suit the car - they had come with another model that had a spare set. I did then help Josh with using the Dremmel to widen the wheelarches so our chosen wheels would fit. Remember to always wear safety goggles if you are going to be using any type of electric equipment to alter your model - little sharp pieces of plastic or metal can really hurt if they get in the wrong places.

We also felt that a normal exhaust system would not be suitable for the protective tombstone to go on the back, so the pipes were bent to exit from the side. Have a look around your home to find things you can use - but remember to ask first! Here pieces of an aerial from a broken phone were cut to look like chrome tips.

As for the bull bar at the front simply bent the front light surround up and glue it to the spare strip holding it in place. Glue it in place and hey presto there is your bull bar.

[Gas for GOSH]

Sometimes you find you made the wrong choice. With the larger wheels we liked there is now the problem of extension beyond the wheelarch, making the tyres vulnerable to attack from behind as Josh pointed out. Maybe we should have tubbed it. So find a way round the problem...

Using some metal strip from the model shop an extension piece can be made. The Death Race Mustang had reinforcement slapped on the rear quarters so actually putting these side pieces on keeps it more in tune with the film's cars. Again, you will need adult help if you want to do something like this and don't forget the eye protection - the grinder generates a lot of sparks and metal shards.

Next up we thought about some reinforcement for the engine bay. Thin metal tube from the model shop was ideal. Just cut to the required length with a pair of pliers and fix it in.

Don't forget you can also do some interesting research when making your model. We knew the back end would have to have a tombstone on it - the term used in Death Race for the metal slab that would protect the fuel tank from bullets. So I showed Josh the book on Richard Petty's race cars and we found an idea based on his 1974 Charger. The rear light chrome cluster was set aside for another model in the future, the strip light was repositioned to the top and the tombstone sits underneath. More strips of balsa and metal needed here. As it's a tombstone we thought it needed a cross too to warn other drivers of their fate!

You will also see we decided the rear go wing needed to be replaced with a more sturdy version

[Gas for GOSH]

The next part was to put some weaponry on the bonnet and then add whatever decals you fancy. Again we didnt use many of the decals that came with the model as it was meant to be a tough Death Race car, not a show car.

So there you have it. One Altered Death Race Charger. Now go and get down to designing and making something better yourself

[Gas for GOSH]

Oh, one final idea to make it different...when this Charger lost a door in a race there were two possible replacements in the scrapyard

[Gas for GOSH]

Bump

Just thought I would remind everyone about this competition. Anyone going in for it???

[cha cha]

hi i have a 71 GTX, that i bought off tyreman to build i don't know if i will make it stock or modified because if i win on stock i will win another 71 GTX.
Come on i need competition where are you all.

[Gas for GOSH]

Good on you Cha Cha!

Come on you guys put down the X box and get some fingers stuck together

[Gas for GOSH]

Last reminder

Bring any entries for the to the MMA stand before Sunday morning for judging........

[TYREMAN]

Sorry i have only just seen this thread.What a great idea,i wish i could enter HaHa.

Can i donate a 3rd prize please? here is a 71 Duster kit you are more than welcome to.(see pic)

[Gas for GOSH]

That's very generous - excellent! I just hope we get three entries to judge!

Cheers

Simon