Wheels of Terror 1974 Dodge Charger

       

Site Features

Getting Started in the Hobby

Model Categories

 
 
Original Kit:
N/A
Made By:
N/A
Scale:
1/25
Buy this kit at eBay

Other Paranormal Models
The Car Christine

Christine (Review)
Misery Machine
Ghostbusters Ecto-1
Night Watch Audi TT
Haunted Mansion Hearse (Review)
Speed Demon Chevelle
Ghostbusters: The Video Game Ecto-1B
Kaiki Daisakusen Tortoise (Review)
Nightmare on Elm St Cadillac
Stranger Things Chevy Van
Ghostbusters 2 Ecto-1A
Supernatural Impala (Review)
Nightmare on Elm St Cadillac (Review)
The Real Ghostbusters Ecto-1
Ghostbusters Ecto-1 (Review)

Other Charger Models
Blade Charger Convertible Charger

Furious 7 ‘70 Charger
House of Wax ‘68 Charger
The Outsider ‘69 Charger
Death Proof ‘69 Charger (Review)
Need for Speed ‘69 Charger (Review)
Furious 7 Maximus Charger (Review)
"City Slicker" ‘69 Charger
Dukes of Hazzard (movie) General Lee
Fast 5 ‘11 Charger Rio Police (Review)
‘69 Charger (Review)
Bullitt Charger
The Philadelphia Experiment Charger
Furious 6 ‘69 Charger Daytona
‘67 Charger (Review)
Blade‘68 Charger
1974 Dodge Charger from the made-for-TV movie Wheels of Terror
Wheels of Terror Charger weathering Wheels of Terror Charger chassis detail Wheels of Terror Charger rear
Cool Fact
Strangely, the characters in this movie knew that the car was a 1974 model year, but were never able to figure out the actual make or model.

 
Buy this kit at eBay

 

This was a unique project for me in that pretty much the entire model was built from my parts box. I started with a leftover '71 Charger body, and reshaped the rear side windows, added the appropriate roof trim, and filled in the door vents to convert it to a '74 style Charger. I also cut out the roof and added a sliding panel just under the skin to make a functional sunroof. The hood was scratchbuilt from aluminum foil with 2-part epoxy applied to the underside for strength (the louvers are made from small scale clapboard siding). The front bumper was also scratchbuilt, from plastic rod stock. Sideview mirrors were leftover from my Lotus, and match what was used in the movie surprisingly well. The windshield was a leftover from some previous project, and the rest of the glass was made from clear plastic packaging material. The interior, engine, chassis, and front splash pan were all modified components from an old "gluebomb" '70 Barracuda that I had on hand. Some parts needed more work than others, but for the most part everything went together with no major problems. The WoT Dodge rides on wheels made from hardware store finishing washers and wheel centers out of my parts box. The only part I ended up missing and unable to satisfactorily scratchbuild was a rear bumper, but a fellow modeler was able to help me out by providing a used '71 Charger bumper. I removed the original taillights and made a set of quasi '74 lights from the edge of a CD jewel case.

The body and interior were painted flat black and heavily weathered with chalks, pastels, and conte crayons to achieve the abused look of the movie car. The chassis was even more heavily weathered, including multiple coats of paint to create the layered dirt effect. To get the dirty tinted glass, I lightly misted the inside of the windows with flat black, a technique I first tried out on my Speed Demon Chevelle. Although it's not the most technically accurate or detailed build in my collection, it was fun to do and I think captures the overall look & feel of the movie car.

 

Have a question, comment, or criticism about this model?
Send me an e-mail or leave a comment here!
Content and images ©1998-2024 spencer1984.com unless otherwise noted. · Questions? Send an e-mail