Desert Dodge Do-Over, Part 10: Cage Match

The model is by me. The background is by Gemini.

It may look like a model, but it's not a model. It's an archaeological recreation. It's a madeleine. It's a childhood memory. It's avoidance behaviour. It's a learning experience. It's a reflection on memories. It's a balm for the winter blahs. But, it's not a model.

This is the image I asked Gemini to add a background of the Baja California desert

As I emerge from my late winter slump I decided to finally tackle the roll cage and the various details specified in the Car Model article. I wanted to finish the modelling part and have only decaling to do. I did spend time looking into decals, but it looks like I'll need to make some for the 02s and Duster logos, and hunt around my leftover decals for the rest. That could take time. 

The bulge is made from a strip of 0.010" thick styrene

The old Baja Brute kit came with a hood that had a molded in roof bulge for the engine's large air cleaner. I thought I still had that relic somewhere in the workshop, but if it's there, I couldn't find it, so I had to make a custom hood.

 

The piece cut from the stock hood is used as the top of the hood bulge.

I made the bulge in my model larger than the Brute's. The reason being I followed the creases in the hood for the cutout instead of trying my hand at getting the end curve correct. I used the hood piece I cut out to form the top of the hood bulge.

Trial-and-error test fitting of styrene tubes to obtain one side of the roll cage

Now, it was on to the roll cage. Nearly half the photos in the short, 3-page article deal with building the roll cage, and, frankly, they don't give much help in explaining to the young readers how to do it. I read somewhere, I've mentioned this a few times, the target demographic for the magazine was 12 year old boys who were crazy about plastic model car kits, so I would think some detailed explanation for the readership would be appreciated.

One side of the roll cage made from 3/32" diameter styrene tubing.

I decided to use styrene tubing in the same diameters as specified in the article instead of brass that was used on the original. I'm more comfortable with styrene and thought it would make the job easier, which I think it did. The styrene was certainly easier to cut, and no epoxy was required for bonding pieces together.

The cross pieces are 1/8" diameter styrene tubing.

If I wanted to be accurate and make the assembly job much easier I should have carefully measured and fit one side of the roll cage and then made a little jig so I could make up identical sides. However, my inner 12 year old said "just wing it", so I did :-) The resulting structure is a little wonky alignment-wise, but it's certainly in keeping with the vibe of this project. But, I should note, when I actually was 12, there is no way I had the skill or patience to pull this off either with styrene or brass.

Test fitting the roll cage to check alignment and fit.

As I've noted before there's no way 12 year old me could have built this project as specified. This fact was constantly brought home to me as I built the model. Body sectioning, chassis lifting, roll cage construction, it was all beyond me. It's actually good to know because instead of thinking of myself as a poor model builder back then, I now know it was just too advanced for me at the time. That's one reason this isn't a scale model, but a learning experience to let me reflect on old memories and maybe reset them a little.

Tire rack and roof mesh glued in place with superglue.

Ok, back to some reality :-) I did use a little bit of brass tubing as you can see in the above photo. The tire rack is made from 1/16" diameter brass tube superglued to the roll cage. The roof mesh is a piece of used drywall sanding sheet, also superglued to the roll cage. As far as I recall, superglue wasn't available back then, likely not even invented.

Gas tank from my original model with new filler tube from the repopped kit.

As you know if you've been following this series, I had a few pieces left over from the model I built back in '72 and I've been using them on this version as is. I haven't tried to update, improve, or make them stylistically fit in. That's part of the reason I say this is a memory object and not a model. Up there in the above photo is the gas tank from the original model. It's a relic. Surprisingly the new, repopped kits included this gas tank on a sprue, but made no note of it in the instructions. That was good luck for me because I had lost the filler tube and was able to add a new one to the tank. I felt I couldn't just glue the tank in without the tube, so maybe I violated my 'non-intervention principle', but oh well, it was for a good cause :-)

Holding the windshield in place with clothes pegs until the WeldBond sets.

The windshield had to be carefully cut from the kit's 'glass' insert. It was glued in the windshield frame with WeldBond. In the above photo, do you see the body insert between the grill and bumper? That's also from the original project and I've left it painted as I did back then, imprecise red signal lights and all.

The tailgate is also a relic from the original model.

The tailgate is also from the original model. The yellow doesn't match the body, but I don't care. Back when I built the original it was the first model I ever spray painted. I used a can of Testors yellow. Decals are original too. The spare tires are from a Chevy pickup kit. Several pickup truck kits have donated to this project in time travel :-)

The exhaust pipes were cobbled together from styrene tubes and kit exhaust pipes.

Ok, I admit it, the side exhaust pipes are bizarre. They're so low on the truck they'd likely be crushed and broken on the first hard bump or hill encountered. Well, so would the low hanging transmission on this thing, so at least there's some consistency :-)

The underside needs a little weathering.

Well, that's about it for now. There's just decaling to do, and I think decals are going to add a lot to this 'memory machine' if I can get them to exactly match those in the magazine. I particular like those Plymouth dust devil images. Stay tuned!

Desert Dodge Do-Over, Part 9: Scenes from a workbench

A day or so ago I was watching a video of a Tamyia car kit I've had my eye on for a long time being built. Every step was done very 'professionally'. The assembler wore black, skin tight gloves through every step. The cuts were made with surgical precision. Every part was airbrushed with a spotless, chrome plated, high-end airbrush under a clean room level spray hood with intricate and flawless masking. Even the 'weathering' was sprayed on with surgical precision as if no weather played any part in the matter.

In the end the model was flawless.

And characterless.

I'd like to see more liveliness; more personalization; more customization; more memories; more desire; and more heart.

Desert Dodge Do-Over, Part 8: Detailing During Decluttering

I've been cleaning up and reorganizing the workshop, and getting the Way Out Layout running and revived. None of that makes for exciting blog posts even though all that is useful and important work for me. However, now and then I took breaks and got started on detailing the Desert Dodge. 

I've also made a start on adding the hood bulge. I have a feeling the hood from the original kit is around here somewhere, even though searching through the workshop didn't turn it up. If I do find it, I can always replace the one I'm making.

Well, now that workshop reorging is over I can soon get onto building the roll cage for this thing. Stay tuned!

Desert Dodge Do-Over, Part 7: Impatience & Frustration

The body was brush painted with mixtures of Golden acrylic products:
So-Flat Permanent Yellow, Fluid Benzimidazione Yellow Light, & High Flow Titanium White 

I'm taking a very different approach to finishing the Desert Dodge than I'm taking with the RDC-M. With the later project I'm being careful about getting the body seamless and the sprayed on paint smooth and uniform. With the Dodge though, I'm brush painting it and not being too picky about whether seams from body sectioning are visible. It's not a bad look, but it won't be any contest winner. I just want to have some carefree fun with this project to get me through some tough winter weather.

There are some ugly joints that will need attention.
I'll be sneaky and make use of strategically placed decals :-)

Attaching the box and cab to the chassis though wasn't fun at all. I thought the chassis warp was mild and wouldn't pose a problem. I was dead wrong. There was a mighty struggle to get everything properly lined up, seated, and glued together. It took three attempts! 

I threw caution to the wind when applying the clamps on the third (!) attempt.

There're are some ugly joints that will need attention. At this stage base coats of paint have been applied and there's lots of detail work and finessing to go. 

The front fenders had to be superglued to the chassis.

I seemed to be cursed building old kits that have been repopped. The GMC Jimmy, Revell Turismo, the Engine House, and the P-38 Lightning were all struggles. I go into these projects thinking I'll get a big hit of sentimental nostalgia, but wind up only getting a little hit of nostalgia accompanied by a massive headache.

I'm going to take a stab at detail painting and cleaning things up before moving on to building the roll cage. Stay tuned! 

Desert Dodge Do-Over, Part 6: Drivetrain AI & Parts Bin Mentality

In the last episode I shortened the chassis to fit the shortened body. Saws were drawn; glue was squirted; RDCs were dreamt about; all ended well.

The next thing I decided to do was install the drivetrain. This involved shortening the driveshafts and lowering the engine a little so its transmission would line up properly with the transfer case's new location. This doesn't sound like much, but it turned out to be a tricky sort of job. In the end I couldn't get all the drivetrain elements lined up as I had hoped so I simply connected the partially lowered engine to the transfer case with a highly unrealistic, cobbled together drive shaft whose universal joints are an insult to hotrodders everywhere. 

The kit's driveshafts were cut, shortened, and glued back together.
The transfer case mount and the engine mounts were lowered.

Again, while I was doing this work I thought back to when I first tried this project when I was 12 and realized once again I could not have done it back then, and that this phase of construction is so involved and convoluted I can see why it was glossed over in the article. I'm doing a bit of glossing over here myself, but at least I'm showing you what the underside of the vehicle has ended up looking like, and giving some hints about how to proceed if you're crazy enough to tackle this project.

Speaking of crazy, since there appeared to me to be information missing from the article I decided to ask Gemini to summarize the article and see what it might find. No, I haven't lost my ability to think, I was just curious to see if it could actually 'read' a jpeg of the article and see what it had to say about it. Here's the summary Gemini gave:

The article, titled "A Desert Dodge," was written by Bill Wright for the September 1972 issue of Car Model magazine. It provides a step-by-step guide on how to take MPC’s then-new 1/25 scale "Baja-Brute" Dodge Adventurer SE kit and modify it into a more authentic Mexican off-road racer.

Here is a summary of the article:

Background and Context

The author opens with a brief history of off-road racing in the Southwest, noting the transition from modified "junkers" and VW-based dune buggies to the professionalization of the "Baja 1000." He highlights how major manufacturers (Ford, Dodge, etc.) began entering the fray, leading to the release of specialized model kits like the MPC "Baja-Brute."

The Project Goal

While the MPC kit provided a good base, the author argues that serious off-road racers are even more modified than the "out of the box" kit suggests. The goal of the build is to "shorten" the truck and add a custom, heavy-duty external roll cage to match the real-world racers of the era.

Key Modifications

The article details eight specific steps to achieve a more "pro" look:

• Sectioning the Body: To make the truck more agile, the author instructs to cut one full inch out of the stock pickup bed and shorten the chassis and drive shaft accordingly.

• Custom Roll Cage: Using K&S brass tubing (1/16, 3/32, and 1/8-inch), the author explains how to bend and solder a complex "exoskeleton" roll cage that wraps over the roof and into the bed.

• Weight Reduction: The roof is "sliced" from the roll cage (likely referring to the interior clearance or thinning the plastic) to simulate racing weight-saving measures.

• Scratch-Building Details: 

* Screen Mesh: Used on the roof cage for cargo/spare tire storage.

• "Flex-Straw" Intake: A clever "low-tech" tip where a plastic drinking straw is used to simulate the large air cleaner hose running from the dashboard to the engine.

• Air Cleaner Housing: Cut from thick plastic or wood to simulate the housing that protects the carburetor from desert sand.

• Finishing Touches: The build uses decals from a "Duster" kit and adds spare tires and off-road lights to the rear cage.

Summary of the "Baja" Style

The article concludes by noting that these modifications simulate the "funny car-style" tube chassis machines with fiberglass bodies that were winning the Baja 1000 at the time, elevating the standard kit from a "street-legal" 4WD to a dedicated racing machine.

It's quite a decent summary actually. I was glad to read in the 'Sectioning the Body' bullet point Gemini interpreted the text the same as I did that the instruction is to cut an inch out of the pickup bed. Unlike Gemini though, through the experience of building the model I can figure out that cutting out that inch is too much when the resulting bed is compared to the article's photos. In fact if I had paid more attention to the photos instead of the text I would have twigged that the text was wrong. Gemini didn't come to that realization and I don't think it can.

I glued on some bolt greeblies to suggest detail.

Since the instructions for modifying the chassis and body are missing - the subject of this post and the previous one - I asked Gemini to tell me what was missing. I wanted to see if it noticed that, and to see if it noticed any other missing instructions. Here's what it told me:

Based on the era of the magazine and the "pro-modeler" style of Bill Wright, the article is remarkably complete for its time, but it does leave out a few technical "connective" steps that a modern modeler might find challenging.

By 1972 standards, this was a high-level instructional piece. However, if you were trying to replicate this build today, you would likely find gaps in three specific areas:

1. Structural Alignment (The "Chassis Sectioning")

In Step 1, the author mentions removing an "equal amount" from the chassis and the rear drive shaft after sectioning the bed.

• What’s missing: He doesn't explain how to reinforce those cuts. Simply gluing two ends of a plastic chassis or a thin drive shaft together creates a very weak "butt joint" that will likely snap. A modern guide would suggest "sleeving" the drive shaft with a brass tube or using plastic reinforcement plates (gussets) on the chassis rails to ensure the truck doesn't sag in the middle.

2. Soldering vs. Gluing Brass

The article suggests that the K&S brass tubing can be "soldered or epoxied together if you clean the joints."

• What’s missing: Soldering brass to create a roll cage is a specific skill. The author doesn't mention the need for flux or how to "fish-mouth" (notch) the ends of the tubes so they sit flush against each other. If you just touch two round tubes together and apply solder or epoxy, the surface area is too small for a permanent bond.

3. Interior and Engine Integration

The guide focuses almost entirely on the exterior "look" of the Baja racer.

• What’s missing: * Step 8 discusses the air cleaner housing and hose, but it doesn't detail how to modify the hood to accommodate these parts or how the "Flex-Straw" passes through the firewall without interfering with the dashboard.

There is no mention of interior modifications, such as removing the passenger seat or adding racing harnesses, which would be standard for a truck of this caliber.

Is it "Complete"?

Yes, for the 1972 hobbyist. During this era, Car Model readers were expected to have a "parts bin" mentality. The article provides the difficult creative solutions (the measurements for the body and the design of the cage) and assumes the builder has the basic mechanical skills to make the pieces stick together.

It’s a perfect example of the "kitbashing" philosophy that E. L. Moore and his contemporaries championed—using everyday items like drinking straws and window mesh to solve complex modeling problems.

Regarding Gemini's advice for chassis sectioning, the part I've been dealing with recently, its advice is true, but generic. As you've seen, I didn't follow that advice. I used butt joints to hold the drive shafts together, and didn't use sleeving. The resulting joints I made are quite strong and rigid, it just takes a little patience to hold the pieces together while the glue is setting up. Also, I didn't reinforce the chassis as again the glue joints are quite strong and the entire unit of chassis and body will be quite strong when it's finally all glued together. I guess it's an experience thing, the modeller needs to apply their knowledge to the problem at hand and proceed with what seems appropriate. In this case, the model isn't subjected to any loads other than casual handling, so lots of extra reinforcement isn't required, just careful fitting of parts and solid gluing.

The E. L. Moore reference at the end is odd, but Gemini has run E. L. Moore requests for me before and I've added an note to it that I have a significant E. L. Moore database, so Gemini seems to inject Mr. Moore wherever it seems appropriate to it. I don't completely disagree with it's assertion about E. L. Moore as he did use everyday items now and then, but he certainly wasn't a kitbasher, that was an Art Curren speciality.

Chassis was base coated with Vallejo Model Color Black Grey

Gemini concluded its response about missing instructions with this question to me:

Would you like me to look closer at the photos to see if I can spot any "unspoken" modifications to the interior or engine bay?

To which I said, Yes. It then generated this:

After a closer look at the photos and researching the original 1971 MPC kit, I’ve spotted several "unspoken" details that Bill Wright included in his final build but didn't explicitly describe in the text.

If you are looking for the most complete picture for your E. L. Moore dataset, here are the subtle additions visible in the images:

[JDL: No, I don't know why it again mentioned my E. L. Moore dataset. It seems to think everything I ask it has something to do with E. L. Moore. Ok, well, yes to me all roads lead to E. L. Moore, but come on :-) ]

1. Interior Strip-Down

While the text mentions the "Baja-Brute" kit as a base, the photos of the finished model (specifically Step 8 and the final profile views) show a very sparse interior.

• The Dash: In Step 8, you can see the "Flex-Straw" intake hose disappearing into the dashboard area. Real Baja trucks of this era often had their entire heater core and glove box removed to save weight and make room for radio equipment or specialized gauges.

• Seats: Though not detailed in a step, the final photos show low-back bucket seats. The original "Adventurer SE" trim usually featured a plush bench seat, meaning the author swapped these out for "racing" buckets, likely from his parts bin.

[JDL: No, the seats in the model haven't been replaced with bucket seats. The kit's original bench seat is still there.]

2. Chassis and Suspension "Lift"

The final photos show the truck sitting significantly higher than a stock 1972 Dodge.

• The Secret: If you look at the wheel wells in the final assembly shots, there is a massive gap. This suggests the author likely performed a "suspension lift." In 1970s modeling, this was often done by adding small plastic spacers (or "lift blocks") between the leaf springs and the axles—a common modification that Wright likely assumed his readers already knew how to do.

[JDL: A good observation and this is what I did being schooled in the 70s as I was.]

3. Engine Bay "Pass-Through"

Step 8 is the only mention of the engine, but it’s a crucial one.

• The Missing Cut: To get that "Flex-Straw" from the air cleaner (in the bed) to the carburetor (under the hood), Wright would have had to cut a hole through the rear firewall of the cab.

[JDL: Wright's modification was more show than the go suggested above.]

• The Airbox: He mentions simulating the air cleaner housing with plastic or wood. In the photos, this looks like a large "canister" style filter. This was a classic "Pre-Cleaner" setup used to spinning out heavy sand before it reached the engine.

4. Exterior "Survival" Gear

The final photos show several items that aren't in the "How-To" list but are vital for the look:

• Spare Tires: Two full-sized spares are strapped into the rear cage.

• Fuel Cell: There is a cylindrical object in the bed near the air cleaner that likely represents a high-capacity fuel cell, essential for the long stretches of the Baja 1000.

• Rear-Facing Lights: Small spotlights are mounted to the top of the roll cage, facing backward—used by racers to let trailing drivers see them through the thick dust clouds.

Gemini wanted to do more at this point, but I had had enough. 

I don't think I'll be asking Gemini for help with interpreting scale modelling articles anytime soon, but there were a couple of interesting things that came out of this for me. 

First, I was struck by an overwhelming sense of how much things have changed since I bought that issue of Car Model in the summer of '72 at the Painted Post Smoke Shop. It's not like I didn't already realize this on an intellectual level, but it hit me at a visceral one as I asked this thing, this simulation of human thought, about something from an era where things like it didn't exist. It's a freaky feeling I need to examine some more.

Have a look at the passages on bricoleur and bricolage.

Second was Gemini's introduction of the term "parts bin mentality". It rather dances around this phrase, but from its use the meaning has something to do with a modeller having some experience with kitbashing and feeling at ease using carefully chosen everyday items in a model. I'll agree with it in that specialized things like photoetched and 3D printed parts weren't available so creative modellers had to find other ways to build the things they were after, and repurposing everyday items was one way. For this approach though I think Claude Lévi-Strauss' use of the term bricoleur and bricolage, that he develops in his book The Savage Mind aka Wild Thought, are more accurate and descriptive of the long history of this type of modelling, art, and, ultimately, understanding. Bricoleur and bricolage are worthy of their own post, so I'll leave further discussion for the future. Maybe Gemini will update its vocabulary in the meantime :-)

The cursed GMC Jimmy compared to the Desert Dodge
The Dodge looks like it'll be much taller.

For my immediate future though I'll be moving on to preparing the body and cab interior for attaching to the chassis. Stay tuned!

Desert Dodge Do-Over, Part 5: Uplifting Christmas Thoughts

Test assembly after lifting. Nothing is glued together.

At the end of the last instalment I thought I'd move on to smoothing out the seams in the pickup box. I did a little putty work, but then thought, why avoid the next big job, just get on with it.

So I did.

The 'prototype' from Car Model magazine, Sept '72. To me the stance is hyperactive.

Lift it that is.

But not too much.

Even when I was 12 I thought the body sat too high above the wheels, so when I raised it I figured I wouldn't raise it as much as the one in the magazine.

Ok, so let's get going.

The box stock chassis before shortening

There are two steps:

1. Shorten the chassis because I shortened the pickup box.

2. Lift the chassis because we're goin' Baja!

First thing: cut out the gas tank. The 'prototype's' gas tank is in the pickup box.

MPC kits were my brand back in the '70s when I was obsessed with building plastic model car kits. I liked their subjects and the pieces always seemed to be clean, sharply moulded, and unwarped, all of which made for a good assembly experience. Revell kits, at least the ones I bought, were a crap-shoot. It was always 50:50 odds a kit's body would be horribly warped, or the parts would be blobby, or some other insult had been inflicted on the parts that would require superhuman modelling skills I didn't possess to properly fix the thing. It was heartbreaking as I didn't just like Revell's  subjects, I loved them, but they didn't always reciprocate. I built plenty of AMT too - I just saw a re-release of an old flame which likely will show up here next year - but there was something about their kits that never got a strong reaction out of me save for a rare few. 

There were a couple of Christmases where I received MPC kits as presents and was very happy. Christmas was the only time I had a stash! I might receive 2 or 3 kits and there it was: a 2 or 3 kit stash! Normally I would buy and build immediately. I never suffered from the embarrassment of excess kit build up in the basement region :-)

After much measuring and marking and soul searching,
the saw is drawn,
the cuts are made.
Shortness is obtained.

 
So, this Dodge is an MPC and a re-pop of more-or-less the kit I built in '72, less a few custom parts for the Baja Brute version. It's showing its age. There's considerable flash to clean up, and the chassis in the pickup box area is a little warped. These aren't big things and are easily corrected, but it's clear time has passed on these moulds. 

Reuniting the severed parts with soothing styrene glue and an impromptu jig

Shortening the chassis and lifting the body is not overly complicated stuff, but the old CM article is very misleading as it leaves these steps out and concentrates on what I'd call detailing. That is interesting stuff, but hardly the meat and potatoes of this build. Maybe the article was just filler to boost the page count to their minimum, or maybe the magazine was too long and they cut the mundane part of the project, or maybe they ran the article to promote a new kit, or something else? We'll never know.

Reunited and it looks so good: A bond to build a dream on.

On the way to this point in the build I was thinking about how a real vehicle of this sort would be constructed to accommodate a shorter box and lift. I knew mine wasn't quite right. I started to fret about it as a modern modeller would who is browbeaten by the unyielding scrutiny of digital cameras and the internet. But, I had done all this cutting and gluing and having fun and didn't care anymore. Worrying about reality was spoiling the fun of building.

I decided just to proceed based on what looked interesting to me. I'd add greeblies and details and paint as I felt necessary get the look I'm after. I'd check for real life practices if that became a concern, but I wasn't going to let that dominate the project. 

It was a breakthrough of sorts.

Reconstruction begins: A piece of 0.040" thick styrene is rough cut to fill the gas tank hole.

And that I realized was the hidden message from 1972.

Back then I got pleasure from these projects when I tried hard to make them as 'realistic' as possible. Getting pleasure in that manner isn't what I'm after these days. There's so much prototype information readily available today it makes kit assembly seem merely like the final stages in an industrial process to assemble the kit in accordance with all that information. Well, at least it seems that way for me. These days I want them to look as interesting to me as possible. What 'interesting' means is going to vary from one project to the next. 

0.250" tall styrene blocks were added between springs and chassis.
Prototypical? Nah.

As far as this Desert Dodge is concerned it was interesting just to slip into a flow state of mind and work on lifting the chassis without prototypical worries.

Interesting? Yeah!

Given the fun I'm having modifying this pickup I'm thinking of doing the long delayed custom RDC project.

Athern HO scale RDC body shells

In 2024 when I was working on my Le Grand Défi entry I bought two Athern RDC body shells online. I thought I'd create shorter RDCs in Kitbashed-X style for use on a micro-layout I had in mind. Although I built the RDC-X, I got squeamish about cutting up 'good' shells and postponed indefinitely. I shouldn't have.

It doesn't hurt to check things twice, it works for Santa Claus.

Hopefully Kitbashed-X style will see a resurgence in 2026.

What's next for the Desert Dodge Do-Over? Your guess is as good as mine. Stay tuned!

Desert Dodge Do-Over, Part 4: A Big Mistake

The shortened pickup box before filling and sanding the joint into shape.

At the end of the last instalment I was off to the hobby shop to buy a new razor saw blade to replace my old, dull one.

With blade installed I then began to merrily cut out 1 inch from the box's wheel wells to the back wall as called for in the article. I was enthralled by the ease at which the new blade cut through the plastic.

1" wide masking tape was used to mark where to cut

Well, I was until I realized what I had done.

It was obvious I had cut way too much out of the box when I compared my model to the photo in the magazine. I think the magazine's instruction should have said to cut out 'one half' inch, not 'one' inch, regardless I should have studied the magazine's photos a lot more before I started.

Ooo, that's a nasty gash on the joint. Hopefully with some filler it'll buff out :-)

Back in '72 this type of blunder would have thrown me into a funk, or tantrum, or maybe even an existential crisis :-) But not now, no. Ok, I wasn't so happy about what I had done, but I look upon this as a serendipitous customizing opportunity, not the end of the world. This project is now more than just a walk down memory lane, but something like tripping on a stone in that lane that puts me on a new and interesting path.

Next I'm going to work on smoothing out the joint in the walls of the new box. I think the article writer might have skipped this part as there's a big Plymouth Duster decal over the joint on his model. Sneaky guy.

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In recognition of '72 being long gone, I'll leave you with Moe Berg and The Pursuit of Happiness:

Desert Dodge Do-Over, Part 3: Relics

Leftovers from the '72 project.

I was going to modify the pickup box after I had done removing the cab's roof, but during that bit of plastic surgery I found my so-called razor saw was so dull it couldn't cut through warm butter on a hot day. 

The article says an inch needs to be removed from the box in front of the wheel well.

Well, the blade is quite old now and I need to buy a new, sharp one because cutting an inch out of the box from between the wheel well and the box's wall is something of a precision job. This is a task the article doesn't show the reader how to do, but just assumes one knows how.

So, instead I had a look through my bag of parts leftover from my '72 build to assess what I had on hand. Not much survived, but I'll make use of what I've got.

I got curious and went looking on eBay for either old Baja-Brute kits or parts. I didn't find any kits, but I did find a few sellers offering miscellaneous parts for eye watering prices. I'll take a pass on them and go with what I have.

The other thing I did was check scalemates for the MPC Baja-Brute. The timeline shown there confirms the lineage from the Brute to the base kit I'm using for this project. Here's a snippet:

To check further I test fit the tailgate from the old model into the box from the new one:

A perfect fit! I'm not going the repaint the tailgate, just leave it as is, maybe colour the Dodge logo with some chrome paint so it stands out. So, the paint job on this model will be a bit of a hodgepodge, but I want to preserve this relic as-is as a reminder. The other relics will be fixed up and repainted, but not this one.

Today, I gotta go buy a saw!