Started: 08 October 1999

Finished: 02 December 1999

PAGE 1 of 4

Introduction:
The purpose was to make a pick-up truck. I chose the El Camino, or the Elky as its popular name, for the subject. To have it serve in a different way, I planned it to be a junkyard salvager, with the chassis and rear suspension and rear axle reinforced, and tandem wheels put on for heavier duty. It would have a small capacity, lightweight  hydraulic custom-made crane with it, to lift heavy loads that a man cannot do on his own. The inside would be in a mess, so I decided to cut the right door open to display the interior better. For the interior junk and other accessories, I made use of Detail Master, R&D Unique, and Scale Equipment parts as well as scratchbuilt ones.

So, let the story begin:
 
 

08 October 1999: First, all the body scripts were sanded off on the sides. Small holes were drilled where they were to be fastened to the body. Then the right door was cut off.
The internal tub also had its share: The side was cut off and the door trim panel separated.
Putting the internal panel on the door, profiles were taken for the circumferential filler panels, and these were made from sheet styrene. A 1 mm thick brass wire was bent to proper shape, with a little try-and-see method, and housings were drilled on the door panel to hold the door on the hinge(left). Then the hinge was fixed in its permenant position on the A-post. The hinge housing was scratchbuilt from thick sprue.	.
11 October 1999: For sure, that vehicle would never look like as it was in the gallery. It would have a major dent on the left fender, and smaller ones here and there. For the fender, The solution was resin. For the mold, aluminum foil was used to copy the contours of the part.
Then the foil was given a dent. This was used for the resin mold.
After the resin cured, the foil was stripped off.
Then the left fender was taken out.....
....and the dented resin fender put in with epoxy glue.
The dent on the rear right panel was made by heating the plastic and rubbing another model car in a unidirectional way.
This dent was also made by heating the plastic and pressing the back of a pencil.
For the inside of the rear lid, foil copying method was used again and a resin dented lid panel was done as with the fender.
The inner lid panel was put into place with epoxy glue, and the upper mating surfaces were treated with automotive polyester putty, and sanded to shape.
14 October 1999: Since the rear axle would have tandem wheels, they would extend beyond the body. So, extensions were needed to cover the wheels. And since, with the suspension, the wheels would hit the fender, the body panels were cut to the wheel housing profile.
Now the extensions were made from styrene sheet and put on. Does not look very aesthetic, and the owner was not a man to care about it....
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