Webmaster's Custom 1:18th Scale Diecast Camaro Finished product on it's glossy wooden platform ready for the indoor shows Introduction A new edition for the local car shows I'm in : I had my car duplicated in 1:18th scale diecast metal complete with opening hood, opening doors, working wheels, turning steering, Blue (w/ metal flake) with silver racing stripes (approx 3 coats of paint and 3 coats of clear), blue and silver interior front and rear seats, carpeting, headlining, custom pedals, instrument panel, steering wheel, ground effects, rear wing, fog lights, IROC Daytona hood, and much more.. Once I got my car i've always wanted to have a duplicate of the car. I collected various diecast metal and plastic Camaro's over the years but nothing comes close to have your custom Camaro showcase with it's own diecast. I quickly discovered how very few companies even produced 3rd generation Camaro's and out of those very few, they were all 1982 Camaro Z28 models. I was however able to locate and purchase a very rare 1992 Camaro Promo plastic model. While this 1992 Camaro plastic promo model was infact a 1992 Camaro, it was green and didn't look at all like my custom Camaro. And while the 1982 Camaro models may have the same overall shape and appearance, they don't have the ground effects, nor the rear wing. My car however also has an aftermarket hood, aftermarket rims, custom striping, custom interior. This mean't the only way to get my own Camaro replica would be to get it custom made. I contacted many places with the majority of these companies quoting between $750us - $1000us EXCLUDING the cost of the shell (SunStar 1:18th 1982 Diecast) itself. Builder found During my many various searches online for a builder (Al Avery of "Customs By Crash"), I eventually came across a profile on cardomain where the owner had his car custom made. I emailed the owner and a few days later he replied with information on the person who custom built his car. He even was kind enough to send a CD jam packed full of pictures of his various cars that he has and is currently working on; all with a realistic garage appearance as described below. October 11, 2004 - I emailed the builder (Al) over a few emails we discussed costs and the building of the car. With the offering a lifetime advertising on Camarosource.ca, as well as distributing his business cards at my indoor shows, I was able to get a huge discount on the car. Camaro Shell SunStar 1:18th Diecast SunStar 1:18th Diecast In order to start to build the 1:18th scale custom Camaro diecast model, we needed a shell to begin with. We were able to come across a 1982 Camaro Z28 in 1:18th scale made by SunStar. The Red SunStar Camaro measures at car itself measures 4" X 10" at a cost of $60.00 While the SunStar diecast model was a great car, it unfortunately required a lot of changes to convert it to my own car. The problems with the SunStar diecast model was that is had the following parts that needed to be changed : 1. Stock rims 2. T-TOP 3. Stock Rear small spoiler 4. Stock short 1982 Camaro ground effects 5. Stock seats 6. Stock hood 7. Stock doors 8. Stock interior door trim 9. Stock nose (Front bumper) 10. Stock body painted headlight pockets 12. No foglights 13. Stock carb engine 14. Stock instrument panel 15. Stock brake and gas pedals 16. No carpeting 17. No headliner 18. Stock Steering Wheel 19. Dark teal paint 20. Stock taillights 21. Stock license plates 22. Stock exhaust 23. Stock emblems 24. Stock body colored door handles 25. Stock body colored door locks 26. Stock plain unrealistic side mirrors 27. Stock plain unrealistic rearview mirror 28. Lack of specific decals 29. Lack of striping 30. Much more... Required changes There are a number of changes that are required to convert the 1982 Camaro Z28 to not only a factory 1992 Camaro Z28 but my exact car. Replicated 100% inside and out. Some of the changes that needed to be done were the following : 1. American Racing Torque Thrust ][ rims 2. Converting from T-TOP's to Hard top (Molding from scratch) 3. Removal of Stock Rear small spoiler and molding a new taller stock rear wing 4. Removal of Stock short 1982 Camaro ground effects and molding new 1992 Camaro Z28 ground effects from scratch 5. Removal of seats and updating, sizing, and custom painting 6. Removal of Stock hood and molding a new American Sports Car Turbo hood 7. Updating the Stock doors and adding newly molding exterior door trim 8. Updating the Stock interior door trim and molding new parts and custom painting 9. Updating the Stock nose (Front bumper) and elongating to match 1992's profile 10. Changing the Stock body painted headlight pockets to black as in my car 12. Adding newly molded in foglights 13. Removal of Stock carb engine for TPI authentic looking engine. 14. Updating the Stock instrument panel to match the 1992 Camaro Z28 instrument panel (different design and layout) 15. Updating Stock brake and gas pedals with Two-Tone Black and Silver matching my car 16. Adding in custom made carpeting for authenticity 17. Adding in headliner for authenticity 18. Updating Stock Steering Wheel adding in an airbag center 19. Repainting the car from Dark Teal to matching blue and silver 20. Removal of Stock taillights and molding new 1992 Camaro Z28 tri-light taillights from scratch 21. Removal of Stock license plates and molding new "Chevy" logo license plates as used in my car shows 22. Updating Stock exhaust and adding in 2 long chrome looking exhaust pipes as on my car 23. Removal of Stock emblems and custom printing applying all emblems inside and outside of my car to this replica. 24. Changing the Stock body colored door handles to black as on my car 25. Changing the Stock body colored door locks to black as on my car 26. Updating the Stock plain unrealistic side mirrors and adding chrome reflective decals for a realistic mirror effect 27. Updating the Stock plain unrealistic rearview mirror and adding chrome reflective decals for a realistic mirror effect 28. Adding in custom painted silver striping 29. Added "Z28" decals on side ground effects 30. Added "5.7L tuned port injection" on back bumper 31. Added "Z28+" on back bumper 32. Added "www.camarosource.ca" decal on front top windshield as was on the car back then 33. Added "CAMAROSOURCE.CA" decal on back top hatch window as was on the car back then 34. Added "Z28 25th Anniversary Edition" on front seats 35. Added "Z28 25th Anniversary Edition" on front passenger dashboard 36. And much more... Next Page (2 of 2)