John Goschke

Great post! Very interesting insight into the hobby industry. I've never paid attention to these particular kits, but now I've got to check them out!

Beautiful work.

Nice work! Looks very promising.

Looks amazing, Bill! I still can't get over how great that '60 roof looks and your added window channel and weather strip detail just takes it to the next level.

This build looks amazing, Steve! Sorry for those little setbacks. Regarding the stress cracks in the glass parts, before trying the clear sheet or vac solutions, it'd probably be worth it to try dipping them in "Future" ("Pledge with Future Shine") clear acrylic floor coating. It will help minimize the appearance of the cracks and improve the overall clarity of the clear parts, even eliminating some of the distortion when viewing the interior.

I've got to agree with Richard, stellar paint and detailing on this build, John. Love the lights! But if there was anything you could do to fix the stance to a forward, hot rod style rake like the 1/1 it would improve the basic look of the model significantly. In hot rods and customs "stance is everything!" I'm assuming the proportional differences between the model and the prototype were driven by the oversize bubble you had to work with.

PMC made acetate friction models of the '57 and '58 Ford Country Sedan station wagon (four-doors with Del Rio level trim.)

Hubley also made kits and promos of the '60 and '61 Ford Fairlane four-door sedans.

I'm pretty sure AMT's Nova wagons were 1963 model year only.

'59 four-door hardtop and '60 Olds two-door hardtop were by Johan, not AMT.

Nice work! Great paint and detail work. Just a note on the note on the clear sections of the steering wheel, they were not originally tinted with color. The 1/1 Catalina I owned had a red interior with the same clear wheel that was in the Ventura (and Bonneville and Star Chief.) The spokes and adjacent "hand grip" sections were pearlescent red plastic, and the clear sections, by 1980, when I bought the car, had yellowed with age, but weren't red. Also the parking light lenses in the front bumper would've been clear, not amber, in 1961.

Very cool project! The '52 - '55 "Road Race" Lincolns were great cars. Good start so far. If there's a way you could use the windshield frame and vent windows from the Lindberg '53 Ford hardtop it would be much more correct than whatever R&R used as their starting point.

Bill, I'm so glad you resolved that issue! It looks so much better! If I ever get around to building this kit, I'm going to fix those rockers and do your roof swap right away. No opening doors or trunk for me though, I'm chicken that way! Maybe even glue the hood shut!

The original inspiration behind the funky wagon above is so much nicer -- and the reason I'd like to see a '57 Buick Special or Century two-door hardtop more than any other BOP car! Jack James '57 Special painted by the late, great Larry Watson!

Yay, Bill! I knew you could fix it! Looking forward to seeing the result. Speaking of X-frame cars, I've owned both '58 and '59 Pontiac four-door hardtops. The '58 was a roomy, comfortable car. The lower '59, with the flat floor in the front and a lower seat, took some getting use to. Drive tunnels, particularly in the '59, were huge, making an uncomfortable ride for passengers in the middle of the seat when carrying six passengers, or ones girlfriend sitting close. The '61 Catalina I had, with its perimeter frame, was a much improved vehicle in every respect.

Outstanding work, Bill! The window and rear window look phenomenal. And your roof swap makes the car. Good call on not doing the upper edge tint on the windows, I think, as when it's done on a model it's always seems distracting. On a 1/1 car they're never that obvious. For those protruding inner rocker panels – is it too late to simply cut them off flush with bottom edge of the body, and cap them with some thin sheet styrene? Every build of this kit I've ever seen has that problem!

Nicely done!

A tough car to chop properly but this is looking great, especially with the replaced drip rails. Love that you working with the old faithful AMT kit.

Might be better to start with an AMT '65 or the often-reissued '66 T-bird, since most of the identifiable body sections come from a '65 Thunderbird.

Really beautiful work, Steve! Great photos, too!

Great car! There's a lot of subtle, extraordinary craftsmanship in this car. It's great to see a traditional style, street driven roadster win this coveted award again. Check out the build thread on this car and its companion '32 on the HAMB to fully appreciate what you're looking at... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-tale-of-two-32-roadsters.955868/

Neat project! That maroon promo looks like one of the Product Miniature Corp. (PMC) models. I believe they were a larger scale, perhaps 1/20th. They also made a Plymouth station wagon, which is a bit more common than the sedan.

Thanks for sharing that, Bill. Wonderful, inspiring insights from an articulate craftsman!

Great job so far! Very nice front end treatment that refines the stock design. Outstanding work on the chop. The ultimate early '60s show engine would be an all-chrome cross-ram 413 with white tuck & roll on the fender wells and on the underside of the hood, and polished stainless on the firewall! Angel hair city, man!

Great start! Wheels in the chassis shot look outstanding.