John Goschke

Wonder if that separate plated windshield frame will be as big an eye sore as the one in the '55 kit?

Interesting projects! Love the lights and wire wheels. Pretty certain your Ford is a '30 or '31 Model A, not a '32.

Beautiful job. Excellent detailing on the grill and taillight panel. Clean, crisp foil work as well.

Really nice build!

Nice! Looks like I need to dumpster dive more often.

Nice color and weathering! Are those the hood hinge holes on the firewall? They're huge!

My guess is that somewhere along the line Revell fudged something on one or both of those kits in spite of both supposedly being 1/25th. If you want to really blow your mind with a scale comparison, check AMT's new tool '57 Bel Air hardtop with their old tool kit of the same car, then with any of the 1/25th '55-'57 Chevies from Revell!

Ditto the other comments about the weathering. Looking forward to more!

From "Badlands" by Terence Malick, one of the great movies from the '70s. Chase across the prairie with '59 Coupe de Ville and '58 Fairlane 500 "cop car." http://www.youtube.com/embed/pBVO2hBZ6vw

Thanks for the info on the grill, Andy. I'll give it a shot on my '59 Ford project that's been parked while I tried to find a suitable custom grill wide enough to fit its big mouth. Looking forward to more progress on the Chrysler!

Outstanding workmanship and detail painting on this build! This kit never looked better!

Right off the top of my head, I'd say "The Seven-Ups" and "The French Connection" because they're great chases, and also noir classics, where there is no real redemption for any of the characters. The "winter in New York" settings for The Seven-Ups adds to the bleak mood. While not a true chase scene, the bank heist scene from the original "Gun Crazy" with Peggy Cummins (oh, baby...) and John Dall is a classic now, but was far ahead of its time in the early '50s, shot in one take, from the back seat of the car. Love the way the tension builds, and the way Peggy works the wheel of the car (no power steering!), then the look on her face as they get away. If you've never seen this film you owe to yourself to see this masterpiece in its entirety! <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/28aPxWtdaGY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Looks great! Nice job on that grill --- can you briefly describe your process for building it?

...or maybe pick up this old HR mag and put a nice 392 hemi in that 'Bird!

Much as I like stock T-birds, particularly '55s and '57s, I'd like to make a case for something a little more business-like...

Looks great! I've always liked that color.

Looks great. Nice touch with the graining in the side trim.

Really good work on that body style conversion. Did you also shorten the wheelbase, rear quarters and deck to Catalina proportions? Would love to see shots of where you made your cuts if so.

I love this thing! Beautifully executed. Surrealistic and realistic at the same time. Colors look very authentic for the late '50s/early '60s, and I like the fact that while it looks nearly new it's rusting out already. The boxy, appliance-like exterior play nicely against that simple, yet stylish dashboard.

Good job!

Yes. Promo/friction versions of the cars they sold as kits. The friction versions were molded in acetate, which shrink and warped. Models included Mercedes 300SL cabriolet, Rolls Royce, Triumph TR-3, '60 & '61 Ford Fairlane four-door sedans and Country Sedan station wagons. The Fords, unfortunately, are overscale in most respects compared to the AMT Galaxie series.

Really unique, superb concept, design, execution and presentation! That engine is stunning in detail and your clean workmanship shows up well in the closeup photos.

Looks great, Bill. Definitely one of SMP's better efforts and of course the '58 is relatively rare compared to the '59. Interesting to see this molded in white. The '58 kit I had was molded in pale green. The taillights and steering wheel from the '59 are indeed identical to the '58 parts, though every '59 I've seen, whether original or Model King reissue, has a mold offset on the steering wheel. An annoying but repairable defect.

Start talkin,' Van, or the dog gets it!!