StevenGuthmiller

Or just ignore the caps. I just take off the cap and dab the polishing rag in the polish. Steve

Ah, the joys of having to completely re-engineer half of the parts to get things to fit properly!! I think sometimes when people hear the term "parts swap" they occasionally don't understand the work that may be involved. When I did my '64 Pontiac Grand Prix, I saved the original vintage kit floor board, but removed the tunnel, and fit the floor over the tunnel of the AMT '62 Catalina kit. There are a ton of details that need to be taken into consideration when mating mismatched chassis, interior, engine bay and engine parts to another kit. It's hard to find an instance where everything just plops into place. Very nice "engineering" so far Bob!! Keep up the great work! I know she's gonna be a jaw dropper!! Steve

Thanks Bob! I guess that’s the name of the game. Always trying to improve. ? Steve

Thanks guys!! Steve

? Steve

Thanks Charlie! Pretty much finished up the engine today. Steve

Thanks. I appreciate that. But I'm going to say that there are lots of better candidates out there. Steve

Today I finished up the distributor, wires and boots and added the transmission. Steve

The majority of the linkage in this case is constructed from stretched sprue. Steve

The Grand Prix has 3 pieces. One for “GRAND”, one for “PRIX” and one for the badge. The Mercury does have individual pieces around each letter. But remember, you can apply them as one piece and once they’re burnished down well, you can cut around each letter. Steve

I agree to an extent with the "paint as an assembly" theory, but probably much less so than others might. I almost always assemble the engine block halves and heads before I paint, but in most cases, I leave off the pan, valve covers and intake manifold to be assembled after. Part of the reason for this is that many times I look at individual assemblies as a separate model as I progress and it's much easier to do all of the intricate carb linkage and fuel line detail for example, if the intake manifold is not attached to the block. Sometimes certain parts can just be in the way as you work. As an example, the oil pan in most instances, just makes assembly of the other details more difficult, because I can't set the engine down on a flat surface and keep it vertical while I work. Therefore, for me the oil pan gets installed relatively late in the process. Sometimes you have to look at the big picture and the logistics of how the build will commence to strike the right sequence. Steve

A strip of aluminum from a soda can. Steve

Thanks guys!! Today I installed the coil, distributor base, and the fuel splitter. then added the vacuum advance hose, fuel lines and throttle cable. Steve

Believe it or not, Duplicolor still sells Wimbledon White in it's "Perfect Match" touch up paint line. Steve

I understand all that you guys are saying, and I respect it, but the whole thing of just appearing out of nowhere, proclaiming that something sucks, regardless of what it is, and then basically disappearing into the ether, just rubs me the wrong way. I'm not going to pretend it doesn't. I'm going to return now to my lousy old models. By the way, If there is anyone that has a lousy model from the same era that the AMT '57 Chevy tooling comes from, I would be more than happy to take it off of your hands. And while we're on the subject, Tamiya's kits are lousy, and so is their paint! Steve

Lord, how did we make it for 40 years when all there was were "lousy" kits before the "good" ones came along? Steve

Thanks guys. It was purchased by my wife back in ‘05 as a “midlife crisis” cure. She gave me the option of her either having an affair, or buying the sports car. I picked the sports car! ? Steve

What it all boils down to from my perspective is that this OP had no intention of starting a relevant and civilized conversation about the pros and cons of this particular kit. It was obviously conceived as nothing more than an "I don't like it, end of discussion" thought. No interest, no inquiries, no curiosity about other peoples experiences with the kit, just "I hate it, and so should you". Personally, I think the discussion has become quite informational to anyone who's truly interested in the characteristics of this particular kit, but I don't think any of the impetus falls on the OP, other than the fact that the discussion started with his post. Steve

It's not that I take it personally. I don't. I've built this kit more than once over the years, but haven't built one in a long time. Granted, there are better kits available now, but there's nothing wrong with this one either. What bothers me is when people feel the need to make blanket statements like this about a perfectly viable kit because they don't want to put any effort into it themselves. It bothers me that there might be some other fledgling modelers out there that might see a post like this and automatically dismiss considering a particular kit because they think that the OP knows something. As you probably know, I have a real affinity for these old annual style kits, and it just irks me a little when people throw their noses in the air with these "holier than thou" criticisms, not really because these are kits that nobody should consider because there's anything seriously deficient about them, but because they think that every kit should be a puzzle that they should be able to just throw together in an afternoon and end up with a masterpiece. Often, the most worthwhile things in life are things that you have to work at a little. Steve

Delete.

Exactly!! Put at least as much effort into building it as complaining about it and you might surprise yourself. Steve

I don't use a visor. Just a lighted table magnifier. I decided that I didn't really like the kit provided coil, (I never really do like them) So I threw together my own. They're pretty easy to make, so why not. Steve

Getting the buggy all shined up and ready for the road pleased me today. Steve

Well, the OP's initial post wasn't particularly respectful in itself. Steve

So because someone doesn’t have the “desire or skill set”, that makes it a lousy kit? Hmmm, I guess by that logic, because someone doesn’t have the skill set or desire to restore a 1:1 ‘57 Chevy, that makes it a lousy car. It would probably have been more constructive for the OP to have either asked for help, or offer it to someone else rather than just proclaiming that it’s lousy. Steve