StevenGuthmiller

Still wouldn't go so far as to call it a lousy kit. There are virtually dozens of newly tooled kits that have proportion issues as well, but I haven't seen a lot of people proclaiming that the new '68 Chevelle is a lousy kit because of the rear quarters and bumper fitment. Just another issue that you might want to address......or not. Steve

True, but it could have been brought up with a little more tact. Maybe "What do you think of this kit?" or "I was disappointed" might have sounded a little less abrupt. I think the OP might find that on a forum such as this, you'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Steve

Someone must have told him that some of us use stretched sprue for parts! Steve

There's nothing wrong with the original AMT '57 Chevy kit. This kit has probably been built, often very successfully I might add, at least once, by every car modeler who's ever touched a tube of glue. Probably millions of them since their original introduction I've built them in the past, and while they might not be up to the standards of the more modern kits, to say it's lousy is a gross over statement. Steve

You're probably right. I positioned the carb to check again and it would probably be okay where it is, but it won't be too difficult to move it out a little. Steve

Finished up the carburetor return brackets. Steve

I felt mildly challenged when a member of a Facebook group suggested that being as I had created the "kick down" bracket along with the throttle linkage parts, why not continue all the way to the transmission. Okay, I'm up for a challenge. Steve

A little more test fitting to be certain that the new parts will fit. I think I've decided to go with an automatic transmission on this project. I think I'm going to add an automatic on the column with the center arm rest in place of the console......just to be different. Steve

I agree with you! This is one of those examples of how amazing it is to me how Chrysler could make such a seemingly weird and homely car look so aggressive! Steve

Yeah, it all started around 1975. Steve

Yeah, that's pretty obviously as close as you could possibly get. Didn't know that there was a deluxe option, but that makes sense, since I haven't built a Camaro or Firebird in probably 30 years! Steve

That's where personal taste comes in. I don't think that there was any real "flow" to the design of the '63 Plymouth. The parking light nacelles are wonky, it's thin in the front, thick in the back, and the top is chunky and reminiscent of a cardboard box. Even the side trim has the flow interrupted by that "hiccup" at the panel line between the door and front fender. To my eye, it looks like a bit of a Frankenstein's monster, made up of spare, mismatched parts. That being said, I love it myself! But then again, I would give my eye teeth for a nicely restored '61 Plymouth Fury too! Steve

Always looking for ways to skin a cat with what I have on hand, I fashioned the throttle linkage brackets from pieces of aluminum tubing. I wanted to use something a little more substantial than aluminum from a soda can, and more malleable than sheet styrene and I don't have any aluminum sheet on hand, so I started by splitting a short section of aluminum tubing up one side and then hammered it flat. Then pieces were cut to shape, bent and drilled into the parts I wanted. Thank you Bill Allphin for providing photos to work from. Steve

Well, I'm not sure that many would agree with the "early to mid 60s Mopar" part. While I love these cars for their individuality, many of them only a mother could love! Steve

Got my pin vice bit set yesterday. Should be good for bits for quite some time! Steve

Funny that you should mention that. Apparently the addition of a '61 Merc grille was a quite common custom touch on these Oldsmobiles. Personally, I like the Olds grille better, but that's just my opinion. Steve

The '61 Starfire was a beauty too, but only available as a convertible Steve

I had a '67 in high school if that counts. I don't have anything in the way of photos of it except for some horrible, grainy snap shots, but mine looked just like this. Steve

Similar, but still quite a bit different. '69 Firebird '69 Camaro Steve

I'm sure that this is not everyone's cup of tea, but one of my all time favorites is the 1961 Olds 88 hard top. Here's my reasoning. I've always loved the bubble top roof line and the swooping A-pillar of the '61 GM cars, but was never crazy about the styling under the roof on the Chevrolet or the Buick. The front of the olds is stylish with it's, what I guess you would call, an "inverted waterfall" grille, but is otherwise quite understated. Body lines are quite basic.....and then you come to the rear end, with it's "boat tail" quarters, lower "wind splits", deeply sunken tail lights and thin, custom looking rear bumper. It reminds me a bit of the old "mullet" cliche of "business in the front, and a party in the back". It's always struck me as a sort of factory custom without all of the work. Lower the stance, add some custom wheels and you've got a very clean looking custom without cutting any sheet metal whatsoever. Steve

Happened upon this beautiful Desoto at a gas station this morning. I had to swing by and snap a pic. Steve

I use a "Micro-Mesh" polishing pad set, and liquid polishes. I generally try to start no courser than the 3200 grit, (3600 if possible) and work my way down to the finest 12000. After getting it as smooth as possible, and trying to stay away from edges as much as possible, I'll give it a light polish with Novus #3 "Heavy Scratch Remover" to remove any heavier scratches left by the pads. Then a couple of passes with Novus #2 "Light Scratch Remover". Finally, I'll give it a good buffing with some Turtle Wax "Scratch and Swirl Remover". This really seems to help to bring out the ultimate luster. After the model has been nearly finished, except for the addition of small external details such as mirrors and antennas, I'll give it a polish with Novus #1 "Clean and Shine". Steve

Of course. As I said, "personally, I think......." Steve

My 2 cents, you need to be very careful about sanding color coats if using a metallic paint. Sanding can "smear" around the metallic particles and leave striations that are only amplified under clear. I will also add that while it's best to get your color coats as smooth and perfect as you can, it's not always going to happen that way, and yes, you can get a great finish over some orange peel with ample clear coats and careful polishing. I don't even worry anymore about getting perfect primer and color coats. A lot of evils can be corrected with clear and polishing. This was a very freeing revelation to me during the course of my modeling career. It's great to be an expert painter and get perfectly smooth substrates on every project, but it's not always in the cards for some of us. Some of us might struggle with that task for most, or all of our modeling careers, to the point that some give up. But it doesn't need to be that way. With some mediocre painting skills, good materials and some elbow grease, anyone can turn what might be viewed as a subpar paint job into a true gem. Personally, I think that unpolished paint can look too shiny anyway, akin to a piece of hard candy. Polishing can add that little extra boost of realism. Anyway, I'll just add this example. This 1960 Merc was painted the same way that I do them all. No sanding between primer coats, (unless there's a little junk to remove) no sanding between color or clear coats, (again, unless there are imperfections) and then just a good polishing job at the end. I look at it from this perspective. Either you can spend your time sanding between every coat of paint, or you can spend that time polishing once at the end. It's really a wash. After final color coats, complete with orange peel. After clear and polishing. Steve