John Goschke

Beautiful build! I too, would like to know more about how you did the wheels.

Very cool project! Looking forward to following along.

What a cool car! That was high style in '58 when it was finished. Does sort of look like a very early fiberglass body: any confirmation on that?

Whenever I see your name on a thread I know it's going to great. This '65 is no exception!

Looks great with paint on it! One of the neatest builds I've seen of this venerable kit. Really like the dark red on the wheels; well chosen!

Beautiful models, beautifully photographed, Brian! Here's another from my album... "Sam's Pickup," an ebay find, built by a pretty talented kid in the early '60s. Taken apart, cleaned, and rebuilt with some subtle changes to enhance the cool factor...

When I was in art school a a rather cynical professional illustrator told us that "it's not plagiarism, it's research."

Easy to Build with Testors Cement & Enamels!

As it arrived. Built, never painted. This baby's at stock ride height all around! Note the taildragger stance! Front bumper fit's a little weird. Too far back. Interior is deeper than most of the other AMT/SMP '58s but the top boot overlaps onto the trunklid! UH oh, sinkmarks on the outside from too much cement inside the body around the interior attachment points! Body shape and detail compares well with the AMT Trophy Series kit.

The top needed to be shortened a bit and reshaped at the header and the side window profile needed to be recontoured. Also had to reshape the opening in the tulip panel and add the molding around it. I made L-shaped relief cuts at the seam line between the rear window and rear top bow and from there to the end of the top bow that enabled me to bend the sail panels in so the top would inside the top of the quarter panels. The existing deck lid panel lines needed to be filled with cyano at the corners then a new line was scribed in. A lot of tweaking; adding material, then shaving it down; test fitting, then more tweaking. Fresh plating by Dale Horner at Little Motor Kar Co. on the original bumpers helped jazz me into action on this car!

Recently decided to take a little break from the '36 Ford I'd been working on to see if I could get this raised convertible top to fit this Impala. I picked up the model off ebay a little ovr two years ago and did some work to shortly after the purchase to grind it apart and give an attitude adjustment and new rolling stock. Picked up the top at a swapmeet a few years ago; I think it was originally out of the '61 Ford kit. I've always liked the lines of the '58 Impala with the top up and adding it to this model would save me having to add a lot of detail to the crude interior in this kit. Though now the area behind the rear seat will need to be modified to represent the top well.

To reiterate simply... In a true judged contest such as GSL or IPMS, judges SHOULD NOT BE JUDGING AN ENTRIE'S COLOR CHOICE! ONLY how well the color is applied! In an NNL-style popular vote style contest eye-catching color IS very likely to play a factor! The vagaries of the popular vote are much more subjective. While quality often appears to be the deciding factor, it's also been known to happen where the biggest and busiest entry is the favorite. There is no "judging" at an NNL contest. In RAMFINS' example where a full-detail model was incorrectly displayed in and won the popular vote in the curbside category, the knuckleheads counting the ballots or the contest chairman should have disqualified it and given the award to the next highest qualified vote-getter! JANTRIX, your Cougar display looks like a diorama to me. Was it entered in that category? If you were entered in that category at an IPMS or similar judged contest then the judges would appraise the model and the base as a unified entry. If it were entered in the related car category ("Street Machine" or whatever) the judges would be permitted to judge only the model, not the base. If it were entered in the diorama category at an NNL contest it seems like it would have a much better chance of winning simply because the whole display with the model is much cooler than the model by itself among 50 other cars in whatever category it were entered in.

Don't know about the flashlight, but we should all be using mag glasses or optivisors, and measuring instruments (dividers, rulers, or calipers) when we build.

In a judged contest appealing color and, to a degree, fine points of accuracy ("Is that the correct shade of '56 Lincoln Evening Orchid?"), should not be factors. Quality of workmanship and finish should be, along with "level of effort." In a popular vote contest the "eye candy" quotient is a much more important consideration. Jason, I'm sorry for your experience at that "contest." Any event where "judges" verbally critique builders' work before the group doesn't deserve the support of any modelers. I've never heard of an event like that. This isn't a Master of Fine Arts class, it's a hobby.

Words to live by there, Chas! I've been going to model contests for a long time now, including IPMS shows with hundreds of military models, miniature figure shows, and model car shows, and I've got to say that the one thing that separates these genres of the hobby is that 90% of car modelers are really horrible at presenting their work. Models are shown too close together, with little or no information on the build. If you want your model to stand out, display it on some kind of base, and provide some detailed info about what you did to it. You don't need to write a long narrative (chances are it won't get read), just a list of coherent bullet points listing noteworthy features and modifications, corrections, etc. Your base doesn't need to be anything elaborate. Can be as simple as a circle or rectangle of colored mat board or foamcore. If the base is a square or rectangle turn the model at an angle to give the display a little drama. The model itself should first exhibit excellent basic workmanship. Nothing crooked, out of place, off kilter. No glue showing. No unfinished plastic (milky white plastic whitewall inserts should be painted!). The model should sit level with all four wheels on the ground and the wheel placement in wheel wells should be consistent from side to side. Paint should be be neatly done, without excessive orange peel, rough surfaces, improperly masked edges, etc. If the basics aren't done well all the scratch and aftermarket goodies in the world aren't going to save you. Make sure you engine is straight and level if it's supposed to be. Learn to objectively judge your own work. Know your weak points and your strengths, and when your piece is on the table at a show, look at the other pieces in the category and honestly appraise your model in the context of the other works present. In well-populated, competitive categories it is much harder for an individual piece to stand out, and if there are only three top awards in a field of 50 models, one little bit of dust in your paint, or a ragged bit of foil, could be the thing that keeps it out of the running. In NNL-style popular vote contests excellent models that are competitive at any judged contest often win simply because they are so superb. But if it's a relatively low-key car that isn't presented well, in a muted color, chances are it's going to get passed over when folks are filling out their ballots. Flat black cars with dark interiors may look bad-ass in the 1/1 world, but make for really boring looking models that don't catch the eye or stand out on a contest table.

Beautiful build and great presentation!

I love this kit. Particularly in the unadulterated early issue, which had a number of parts that were changed or deleted from later issues. These included custom wheel covers, fender skirts, short lake pipes, and stock Buick valve covers for the nailhead engine. Earlier issues are worth picking up because the molding is cleaner, with less flash and better definition of details. The biggest issue I found was the hood fit and the compromised definition of the side molding on the hood. The virtue of this kit over the comparable Revell kit is simplicity. As far as I can see the AMT is just as accurate in basic shape as the Revell kit. Here're a few shots of mine showing the early valve covers and exhaust system. I replaced the hood side molding with a bit of styrene strip...

Both, but large areas of my exterior paint jobs are Tamiya rattle can. Small sections such as secondary color on two-tones, scallops, and panel outlines are decanted then airbrushed.

Finally, two survivors from the early '60s!

Even more!

More metal axle porn! Current and future projects.

You continue to amaze. When you're done with this project, please tool up a curbside '57 Buick Century two-door hardtop! I'll even buy a couple repops of the Falcon if that'll persuade you!

...set to the tune of "I've Been Wearin' Worn Out Suits with Brand New Pockets!"

If I could write music, I'd write me a country song entitled, "Gimme Four Screws & Two Wire Axles!"...

Nice job! That 3/4 rear shot really looks great!