ModelcarJR

Thanks, All! I appreciate all the nice comments! Bill, the insert is the gold BMF. Kinda touchy because if you're not careful it will rub off. I do the gold insert first because the gold foil actually rolls up once you cut it off the backing (maybe because its about 20 years old) so it is hard to lay down. Once the gold foil is down and cut then I trim using the chrome BMF. Thanks for asking!

This is an old AMT kit with opening doors that I thought I would build again some years later. More mild custom this time. The paint is Tamiya Light Red Pearl and Dupli-Color Dark Toreador Metallic on the outside and Dark Toreador Metallic on the inside with Krylon Sand Dollar seats and other accents. I built my own brass door hinges and used magnets to help keep the door closed. Custom seats, wheels and headlight bezels from the kit. The front splash pan was mounted further in to move the bumper closer to the grill. The blue oval decal on the water bottle was a little big so I improvised. The right side of the hood won't sit down but there is nothing I can do about that. Thanks for looking!

Thanks, All! I appreciate the comments! The air cleaner was too tall so I shortened the carb a bit and put the stock air cleaner back on. The carb is not a good looking piece anyway so covering it with the stock air cleaner made the most sense. My Blue Oval decal on the water bottle is a little big so I improvised. I was going to add heater hoses but i had to move the heater motor which covered my holes of the heater hoses. I can't drill new holes with the hood on and I don't want to try to remove it as it might break. I fiddled with the left door to tighten it up and its as good as its gonna get. I used the custom headlights because I don't care for the bug-eyed look of the stock headlights. I used the stock grill and tightened the front splash pan so that the bumper wouldn't stick out so much. I was going to use the bullet taillights but they just didn't look right so I used the stock taillights. That's it! Its all done! Thanks for looking! ?

Sorry to hear that you are having such issues with the 55 kit. I built it several years ago with one of the ERTL offerings. I don't remember having any issues with the windshield/dash alignments. Maybe it was a crisper mold back then. However, the In hinges for the rear tailgate are quite fragile and finnicky. In taking it out of its storage in a scrapbooking case and opening the rear, I managed to break the right rear hinge on the tailgate. I have sorta fixed it so that it opens and closes, but I don't have any of that color paint anymore to touch it up. Maybe I should have put some Vaseline or powdered graphite on the hinges before I stored it away. Painted moveable plastic parts don't work too good together over time. Here are a couple of photos. The white top has yellowed significantly over time. I have another one so I may build it again!

Thanks, Tom, Charles and Carl! I appreciate your comments! Carl, those are the custom seats in the kit. Finished the engine and the chassis and its on wheels! I used the custom wheels in the kit but the Goodyear L60-15s in the kit did not fit the wheels. Fortunately, I had a set that were pad-printed that I tried to use on my last build, the 37 Ford Pick-up but they didn't fit. They fit perfectly on these wheels! Doors are opening fine but the left door is a little finicky and doesn't fit as well as the right. i have to rub out the hood and force it into place. It may be close on the carb so I may have to shorten the carb to get the hood to close nicely. I'm going for a mild custom look so the final hardware choices should be fun! Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, David! I did move the console back to bring the shifter closer to the driver's reach. I installed the windows, magnets, interior, and doors. In the process, since the windshield doesn't fit very well, it fell out. So I took the interior out, reinstalled the windshield and then finished buttoning it up. Doors work pretty well and interior is in tight. So now I can finish the engine, chassis and wheels. After that just the exterior hardware and its done! Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Jim and Carl! I appreciate your comments! Carl, I have sent you a PM with a copy of the article. Its the April 2015 issue of Scale Auto. Finished the interior. Used a corvette speedo decal as that is all that I have but you can't really see it anyhow. I also used a console from the Revell 68 Charger that I cut down a bit. The rest are the custom interior parts from the kit except for the basic bucket. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Jim, Glen, Joe, Carl and David! I appreciate your comments! Finished the foil. It took a little longer in order to foil the Fairlane 500 scripts and the Crown V on the trunk. Now I just have to reveal the Fairlane script on the front that I foiled before paint. In addition, I have to build another hinge for the right door because the first one had arches that were too big for the holes in the door jam. But should be easy now that I have that hinge building knowledge from an article in a magazine. I'm also going to foil the interior doors and get that out of the way so I can finish and install the interior and opening doors. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Carl and Jim! I appreciate your comments! Yes, Jim, I do have some gold foil for the trim. Probably the same sheet that I used 30 years ago to do the first one. The one I did before was a standard red and white (probably yellow white by now) and I have tried to find it but I will have to extend my search into the 50 or so scrapbooking cases that I have stored here in my room that houses about 300 completed models. The sheet of gold foil is priced at $5.95, so I'm sure it is very old. Here are a couple of pics of the completed gold and chrome foil on the sides. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, All! I appreciate your comments! I usually have to wait until about 1 PM for the humidity to go down to about 40% but the temp is about 100 degrees on my covered patio so it isn't pleasant. I paint quickly and let it dry on the table on the patio. It dries pretty quick! I did get the rest of the parts painted today, including the basic painting for the interior. I'm using the custom seats and I may need to find another console instead of the one in the kit that looks like one side of a ramp that you would drive your car on to change oil. I need to touch up this interior and add some foil to straighten out the wrap pattern from the back seat to the dash. I've also almost finished rubbing out the paint on the body and have started the first piece of foil on the body. Tomorrow, I'll finish the foil. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Jim, Bill and Bill! I appreciate your comments! Spent most of the day taping and painting the body. This one is a tape monster! I did have the forethought though to tape the engine bay so that I could pull that tape over the hood opening and with the help of some index cards paint the engine bay black after painting the main body color. Since taking these photo, I have added a piece of plastic strip to the top of the wing window on the left side where it doesn't quite meet the roof. I hope to start rubbing out the body and foiling tomorrow. But first, I have to assemble the engine block, paint it and paint the remaining parts while the weather is hot and dry. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Samuel, Jim and Sonny! I appreciate your comments! I've completed the body work and have painted the first color for this two-tone combination. Tomorrow I will do the second color after much taping. I'm going with my favorite color Dupli-Color Dark Toreador Metallic with Tamiya Light Red Pearl for the middle. I think the two will go together and the light red color gives it sort of a 50s look while still being a little more modern. I've painted the interior with Dark Toreador metallic and flatted it out for the carpeting. I may change the interior color for the door panels and seats. I don't know yet. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Lee and Bob! Bob, I am not really familiar with this year or the 38. The barrel grill was described in the instructions as the "custom" option, which is what I chose.

This is an old AMT offering that I haven't built in a long time. I won it at the last contest in the raffle. I always buy $5 worth of raffle tickets and luckily I usually hit on at least one. For this build, i am going to start with adding magnets for the door closures on the opening doors in this kit and also converting the opening doors to brass wire hinges using 1/32" brass wire and 3/32" plastic tubing. I also have some work to do on the tops of the front fenders to eliminate two nasty sink marks. So I have started by adding the magnets with handy tack to mock-up how the doors will close and also installed the wire hinge for the right door. I want to get al that out of the way before painting. I'll cover the hinges with tape and remove the magnets once the body is ready for paint. You will notice a hole in the side of the opened right door. I thought I would mount the magnet in the hole but I didn't have to do that and it wouldn't fit anyway. So now I get to add some plastic and putty and repair the holes. Here are a few photos of progress so far. Thanks for looking!

Thanks, All! I appreciate your comments! ?

This one is done! Painted Krylon Satin Italian Olive exterior body, Krylon Satin Avocado interior doors and seat, Dupli-Color Universal Black fender unit, exterior with two coats of Krylon Clear Lacquer. Wheels and tires from the Revell 32 Ford 5-window coupe and metal chain added to the tailgate from junk necklace chain. Otherwise, box stock. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Greg! Great idea! This one is done! I might go back and add spark plug wires but then again, I may not! Thanks for looking! ?

I'd like to thank Greg NOBLNG for this idea. I had to go to Michaels to buy a chain but it worked out.

Thanks, Jeremy and Carl! I appreciate your comments! Its so simple but yet so difficult! I now have the wheels and tires glued on. Tires are inside the fenders and not rubbing. Front wheels would turn without rubbing, it seems to me, although it would be tight. These were the wheels I wanted to use all along, I just hadn't made the connection in my head with the extra set of tires I had in the extra kit. But now I'm there - whee! ?

Thanks, Greg, David, and Jeremy for your suggestions! I think I figured it out after some work! First, I installed the stock axle and that was quite a surprise! It didn't make any sense! Next I re-installed the dropped axle and went looking for a small tire for the front. The smallest wide tire is probably in the Revell 1969 Camaro RS kit so I have a few of those and took the tires out of one of those for the fronts. They are about F-60 -14s or there abouts. I also used the L60-15s from the last kit I built on the back. So those worked! Next, since these wheels are from the Revell 32 5-window Coupe I remembered that I have an extra one of those that I have already used some parts from. I took the tires from this kit and used the wheelbacks that I have already drilled out for these axles. They work great! It took me all day but I finally have a set of tires and wheels that I am happy with. Tomorrow I clean up the wheels, paint the spokes, and get these wheels and tires put together so that I can complete this build! Thanks for looking!

I have a complication with this build and I need some advice. The front wheels, even with the skinny wheels and tires provided in the kit rub the front fender openings (See photos below). Here are my options in my opinion. Let me know if you have other ideas. Finish as is and don't worry about the rub or turning radius. Take out the dropped axle and use the stock axle which should provide more height and space between the wheel and the fender. Use some square tube to raise the fender unit off the frame and provide more space under the fender unit (front and back). Kind of a gasser look. Find another fender unit, like from a 32 Ford and do some major surgery. Use some dragster front wheels and fat tires in the back and use square tube to raise the back (big rake). Any other ideas?

Thanks, Jeremy! I appreciate your comment! This kit goes together pretty well, so I have been making good progress this afternoon. The instructions suggest that the side of the hood should be glued on and then the top just sits on top of the sides and is removeable. But I wanted to glue the side to the top of the hood so I mocked it up and glued each side on one at a time. The hood fits better than most one-piece hoods and now the entire hood including the sides can be removed! I also put the bed sides on and now all I have to do is add the rear fenders, glue the cab in place and find some wheels and tires for it if I decide to do something other than box stock. I'll leave that to tomorrow. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks Noel and Richard! I appreciate your comments! To wire or not to wire. Richard, that is the question! Sometimes I jut go with how I am feeling at the moment. Finished the interior. I swapped the positions of the door handles and window cranks in order to give the window cranks enough room to rotate and to provide more leverage for door opening. I know this is not how they were manufactured but it made more sense to me. Polished out the fender unit, detailed the wood in the bed to look more like wood and added foil. I had a time getting the interior to shoe into the cab, don't know why, but there was a lot of sanding, thinning, scraping, and knashing of teeth but I finally got it in there square. Thanks for looking! ?

Looks good, James! Nice work on the engine with the wiring. I didn't do it on mine as I thought it would be too fiddly but yours looks good! ??

Thanks, James, Carl, and Jeremy. I appreciate your comments! Finished the engine without plug wires because I didn't want to drill out the distributor and thread the wires through the fan and onto the heads. Too fiddly. I removed the chrome plating from the heads, intake manifold, and carbs. I painted them various shades of steel, aluminum and iron. The block is painted the same color as the body, Italian Olive. Building the chassis next.