StevenGuthmiller

Well, there you go. Steve

He probably would have gotten a chuckle out of it. Being an “old guy” like most of us, and an observant student of the human condition, he most likely would have thought to himself, “sure, now that I’m gone, they all love me”, but what he might have missed is the fact that many of us honored and respected him while he was here, even though we may not have expressed it. I think that we could all agree that the same sort of reverence could be applied to other past members of the board. Roger Hayes and Richard Manson come to mind. (I hope I got those names right. My name recollection skills are pretty horrendous!) Steve

Chalk it up to experience and move on, right? This is part of the reason why I like to do extensive build threads with my projects. I haven’t built a model in the past 10 years where I didn’t learn something that I wasn’t aware of, and in most cases, in time to correct it on this forum. Build threads have proven to be an invaluable tool for me. Steve

Didn't go that far, but I had a lot of fun on this engine, and discovered a few little detail adding tricks along the way. As you brought up the heads, one simple addition was to do a little additional drilling on the plugs and bolt holes on the ends of the heads. Little things like that can add a lot of depth and dimension to parts that can be a little lacking in detail, and are simple to do. Just fun little things to experiment with. Steve

I may have gone a little too far on my '64, but I scratch made a valley pan for it. Might go a little simpler for my Lemans, but then again, for me, the point was having fun doing it. Steve

The Revell '68 Firebird's intake will work just fine on the '66 GTO engine. I used this exact combo on my '64 Bonneville, and again, modified into a 2-bbl intake for my current '64 Lemans project. As the intake was "open" to the valley pan, I opened up the '68 intake. Steve

Nice work Brian. Yes, the rear suspension could have been moved forward, but it might not be too late. If you could pop the rear axle and springs off without doing any major damage, you could just trim some material from the leading portion of the springs and move the whole thing forward a bit. Just a couple of notes, and not to be an a-hole, but the '62 Chrysler was a uni-body car, and not a full frame construction as is the '57. With that in mind, any of the later Mopar uni-body chassis from the 60s would have been more accurate, and would have very possibly gotten you closer to the correct wheel base. Likewise, the Hemi was not available in '62, so any big block Mopar engine with the dual quad intake would have been more faithful to the '62. In any case, it's a nice representation of a pretty rare kit. Steve

Are there diecast models available of the cars that you're looking for? If you're just looking for something to put on a shelf, you're gonna come out way ahead with a diecast. There are issues with commissioned builds that you probably don't want to deal with. If you can find someone to do it for a reasonable price, you're very likely to get something that's going to be much lower in quality than a diecast. If you can even find anyone who will do it at all, and do it well, it's going to cost you much more than you're likely going to be willing to pay. Just the cost of materials alone to build a "fine" model can get quite high, and then time comes into the equation. How much is an "expert's" time worth? I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I certainly wouldn't even consider working on anything today, unless it was my own, for less than $10.00 an hour, and that would probably only be a possibility if I were doing it for a friend. I don't keep track of my time on a project, but I'm pretty certain that it would reach into the 100s of hours, which at $10.00 an hour, will get you into the thousand dollar range, and that's just labor, and extremely cheap labor at that! Is anyone willing to pay $800.00, $1,000.00, $1,300.00, $1,500.00 for a NASCAR model? I can tell you that I wouldn't! So, your most likely options are, build it yourself, find a diecast equivalent, or get ready to open your wallet beyond it's breaking point if you want a nice commissioned piece.......that is, if you can even find someone. Steve

Yes. I tend to think that I’m a better modeler than a chef, but I do like to do a little cooking when I have the urge. This is the type of food that I really love! Last weekend I made a big pot of Jambalaya! 😋 Steve

If I'm not mistaken, it seems that I remember hearing of some health issues a while back, but I kept hoping that he would get back on his feet. So sad. I always enjoyed snake on the board. He ruffled some feathers once in a while, and he had strong opinions, and chances are that we may have even had some disagreements between us on occasion, but like adults, we always managed to put any of that aside and be grown ups. I for one will certainly miss him. Steve

One of my wife’s favorites. Chicken Piccata. Spaghetti with toasted garlic and Parmigiana, and a chop salad with honey Dijon dressing. Cold Highlife to wash it down. 😊 Steve

Alclad "Pale Burnt Metal" looks like it would be a pretty close match. It's the same color that I use on most of my carburetors. If you need an exact match, you can certainly mix a variety of Alclad colors to come up with your own creation. Steve

It's going to have to be a resin or 3-D printed kit. No plastic Cadillac kits from that era ever produced. Possibly some early promos, but not that I'm aware of. Steve

I wish it was real! I'd probably be out looking for trouble instead of sitting here talking to you! Steve

I know your pain Ken. I spend some time on the Facebook groups and I see those botched paint jobs all of the time, almost on a daily basis, and without even asking, it's become almost obligatory that Rustoleum paint was involved in some way, shape, or form. As you said, the most frustrating part are the number of people that will continue to encourage them to try again using the exact same materials and then watch them fail all over again, claiming all along the way that "paint is paint" and "there's nothing wrong with the paint, it's the painter". I suppose in the end, much of it is the painter's responsibility, but inferior materials sure as heck don't make anything easier on them. I've even seen on a number of occasions, people who will have a failure with Rustoleum paint, admit that they've had issues with it in the past, and yet will still continue to ask people what they can do differently to make it work, and at the same time will get angry with you when you suggest that they try different materials! I guess some people are just gluttons for punishment. Steve