StevenGuthmiller

They grow up so fast. Marcy in January. And in May. Steve

Thanks Kevin! It was good to see you too! Although I did feel a little guilty that I didn’t get to spend a little more time visiting with you. ? Steve

I’ve learned over time that the fan is usually not worth spending a great deal of time on. By the time you tuck it into the fan shroud, it will be virtually impossible to view, no matter what angle you try to view it from. I’ve discussed these kinds of issues with others in the past. Most of what I do, I do because I enjoy it, more so than I’m trying to get every detail absolutely and perfectly correct. I know that people are likely never going to see some of the things that I add to a model, but I do it for me, not anybody else. And in the the same vein, there are always going to be people that think that I should have gone farther, but as I’ve said many times before, for my own sanity, and “my” continued enjoyment of the hobby, I have to set some parameters and make some decisions as to how far I’m going to go. I guess you could say it this way. It’s impossible to meet everyone else’s expectations. But as long as I’m meeting my own, all is right with the world. Oh, by the way, I did thin the belts to some extent, but short of completely tearing apart the pulley and belt system and completely redoing it, I thinned them as much as possible without getting to the point where they would have been too thin to prevent breakage. And for the record, to the best of my knowledge, the fan is supposed to be black with an aluminum clutch mechanism. Steve

While I'm working on the chassis and a few more engine bay mods, I decided it was time to begin the task of making the removable hood hinges. I did this on my '64 Grand Prix, and liked how it worked out, so I'm going to do it again on this project with a couple of possible changes. I first drilled the correct sized hole in the inner fender to accommodate on of the magnet disks. Then, with a tiny Dremel reamer, I hogged out a portion of the hinge to accommodate another. Now I just have to work on how I want to do the connection between the hinge and hood. I have a couple of ideas. Steve

Nope, don't know Augie. I've only really been "out of the modeling closet" shall we say, for the past 6 or 8 years, so I really don't know of many of the "old timers" in the hobby. I've done most of my building in relative obscurity for most of the nearly 50 years that I've been building. Just started getting involved in "the scene" in the past decade or so. Steve

Now the fun begins Bob! This has become my favorite part of revamping an interior is working out the upholstery patterns, etc! Love what you've done so far! Steve

I agree that "the best model" should win. But, the problem with not "spreading the wealth" is that if you have one or two consistently great modelers that make multiple entries in a particular show every year, and they take home all of the trophies every time, then, as Peter said, the "what's the point of entering the contest" attitude is what all of the other contestants begin to think, and pretty soon you don't have a show anymore. "Spreading the wealth" helps keep people coming back. If the guy who thinks he's being slighted because he feels his model is better than one of the winners in a given contest, it's better to lose him the next year than it is to lose a couple of dozen others that feel like there's no point in competing anymore. A couple of years ago, I attended a small show in South central Minnesota. The automotive entries were very limited, but not knowing how small some of the categories might be, I brought along 3 factory stock models. It turned out that there were a total of six models, (including my 3) in the factory stock category. There were to be 3 awards given for each category, and I don't want to sound conceited, but if any of you would have been there, it would have been very obvious that my 3 entries should have taken all three awards. The other three entrants appeared to have been built by a novice. Heavily orange peeled paint, none, or very little trim foiled or painted, no washes or detailing on grilles or wheels, etc, etc. I guess you could say that I was a little surprised that I only took home one medal from that show, but in hindsight, I can understand why the judges awarded second and third place to a couple of the other models. In my opinion, the optics would have been worse if one person had taken home all three medals from that category. Anyway, If I attend that show in the future, at least I know what to expect. We just have to accept the fact that politics are involved with the decisions at many shows. Steve

Yes Mike, I should have mentioned that. The Johan Fleetwood is in fact a little smaller that 1/25th scale. Apparently Johan did that with some of the larger cars so that they would fit in the standard Johan box. Not that easy to find either. Likewise, The IMEX kit is all of 1/24th scale if not larger. It has it's dimension problems as well, but all in all, it's a fairly nice kit. I think with some love it would build up into a pretty convincing Eldorado Biarritz. Steve

Unless you actually had an Eldorado Brougham, I personally would either look for one of the Johan/X-EL ‘58 Fleetwoods or one of the Imex ‘58 Eldorados. Both are better than the Revell ‘57. Steve

Thanks guys!! No, that's one thing I've never considered. A good idea I suppose, but the last thing I need is dealing with a bunch of wires and trying to integrate a battery box. I think I'll pass on that one. Now that the engine is finished, it's time to get started on the chassis. First order of business......boxing in the front frame rails. Steve

I was a little excited when I first saw the '57 Cadillac too! The box art is fantastic, but I soon realized that it was the same kit as this. Big disappointment. Wait till the "why do they give us unsuspecting noobs these lousy old kits over and over again" crowd starts getting their hands on this one!! It's good to see the 1/32 scale '56 Buick coming back though. For small scale, these old Revell 1/32 scale kits were pretty darn nice! Even with the multi-piece bodies. Steve

Just thought that it might be a good idea to include a couple of shots of the main interior parts mocked up. Steve

Thanks a million Bill! Worked like a charm! Probably gonna have to write that down though. Steve

Steve

Can anybody provide a tech illiterate like myself some guidance on how to add a video link from a YouTube channel into a post on the forum. I recorded a short tutorial on my phone and I made it all of the way to getting it loaded on my YouTube channel, but I'm not exactly sure of where to go from there. Thanks guys! Steve

Should be able to just make a couple of top mechanism wells to add the rear seat area. Steve

Terrific!! How many of these sets are sold will directly affect any future collaborations between Ed and I for possible parts for vintage kits. Steve

This complete Resin Interior is now available From Ed Fluck Junior! It was designed to fit the MPC '68 Coronet body in conjunction with the Revell 1968 Dodge Charger chassis and includes: 1. A reworked 2 piece Charger dash board. 2. A redesigned Charger interior tub. 3. A reworked 2 piece rear seat with molded in seat belts removed and enhanced seat buttons. 4. Reworked front bucket seats with molded in seat belts removed and enhanced trim and seat buttons. 5. Almost entirely scratch built door panels in a hard top configuration. 6. A complete set of separate front and rear arm rests. 7. A set of 4 window cranks. The steering wheel and center console, (if desired) will be the responsibility of the builder. The photos provided are test shots only and depict the original parts in gray along side the fresh resin parts. Again, Ed wanted me to remind everyone that these are only test shots and the finished parts that you will receive will be of the highest quality. The cost for the entire set will be $35.00 plus shipping and you can order by contacting Ed directly via email at: lowcab36@epix.net Get 'em while they're hot boys!! Steve

The '69 Impala is probably my least favorite style wise of all of the pre-1970 Impalas, but this promises to be a real barn burner! There's nothing I love more than seeing an old obsolete kit such as this get the full "modernization" treatment. I'm following along intently. Steve

My daughter raises a few chickens and sells and gives away the eggs. Her chickens vary in color, but they all produce brown eggs. I agree that they taste better than a grocery store egg and the yolks are closer to orange than yellow, but the most notable difference I have noticed is the toughness of the shells and the weakness of the yolk membrane. They're tough to crack, and very tough to keep the yolks from breaking. On a sad note, she recently lost eight chickens and her rooster, Walter, to a fox. Steve

I hate to say it, but I’m really beginning to believe that the time is approaching when the good lord will feel compelled to hit the reset button on humanity. Steve

Doesn’t surprise me in the least. It seams to me that it’s always the stupidest people on the planet that don’t know when, or even how, to keep their mouths shut! Steve

The only one that I think I would enjoy building is the Metropolitan. Steve

Hi Bill! Sorry it took me so long to answer your question. Got a little distracted you might say. If you go back and look at some of the earlier photos, you'll see that I started by sanding off the original boots and replacing them with thin disks of styrene rod. I then sanded them down slightly to form a relatively smooth, slightly domed boot. Then I drilled the holes for the wires slightly off center and at an angle. I did this to allow the wires to lay down more flatly to the valve cover. Once the wires were installed, I added a dab of 5 minute epoxy to each boot to smooth the transition between the boot and wire and to fill the gaps. Finally, I painted each boot with flat black enamel. From the look of your photo, I think that I would tackle the Ford boots a little differently as it appears that they stand straight up. I would use the same general technique except I would drill a hole straight down the center of the boot base, insert a short piece of the jacket from a slightly larger wire than the plug wire, and then use a little epoxy around the base of that piece to blend the upper and lower sections of the boot into one seamless piece. Once the epoxy is dry, paint each boot flat black, insert the wires into the jacket pieces, and you're done. Steve

You're right about the perception of some progress posts appearing boring, but I can speak from experience when I say that it's much less boring than answering the inevitable repeated "how did you do that" questions. Steve