StevenGuthmiller

Just got back from the Mecum auction in Glendale last weekend. Thought some of you might be interested in some of these photos. More to come. Steve

AMT produced annual long bed Chevy pickups in the early 60s. I don't know exactly to what point, but I know that at the very least they were produced from 1960 to 1963. I have an original 1962 Chevrolet Apache long bed truck. Steve

Prep is extremely important due to the thinness of the chrome plating, but my experience has been that the biggest problem is the heavy application of the base coat under the chrome. The last time that I had Chrome Tech re-plate parts for me, the base was applied so heavily that it was to the point of obscuring detail. I chalk this up to the fact that most of the model kit plating outlets farmed out the actual plating operation to larger plating companies who may, or may not have been used to working with such small and finely detailed parts as a model car part. Any time you see detail hide, runs or sags, it's the fault of the base, not the chrome itself. Steve

I've had parts chromed by 3 different platers over the years, and I can't remember a time when all of my parts returned unscathed. In most cases, everything looked very nice, but in every situation, there were at least a few parts that exhibited some minor issues. Debris, minor runs, bubbles or dull spots were fairly common in every batch. Most of this is due to the lacquer base that is applied before plating, and some could be attributed to prep, but in the end, we have to remember that these providers are not large, "companies" of any description. They are mostly "one man shows" who in the past, were quite often only the middle man and were not performing the actual plating process themselves. Today, with the passing of most of these providers, the "ones" that remain, I have to believe, must be quite overwhelmed with the volume of work that they are tasked to complete. It seems almost impossible to me that there are not going to be circumstances arising such as this as the provider rushes to get through the heavy volume of work coming his way from a constituency which is often very impatient. I suspect that it will only be a matter of a short period of time before we won't have to worry about the quality of our re-plated parts anymore. The model kit plating industry is hanging on by a thread as we speak. I'm relatively confident that thread will snap in the not too distant future, and then it will just be a matter of whether or not some brave, and hopefully competent, individual will pick up the baton and wade into the quagmire. Steve

Okay, I may have been mistaken with the nomenclature on the packaging. The “Craftsman” name may have made a later debut than I had assumed, but the premise remains the same. The “annual” kit would have been molded in white and included customizing parts. (ie skirts, louvers, etc) The “Junior” kits were usually produced some time later, included only stock parts, (+ antennas and mirrors), were molded in color and were for all intensive purposes a snap kit. The example that I posted above was one of these kits and was molded in a medium blue, as was a ‘59 Ford, a ‘59 Edsel and a ‘59 Merc that I have which was molded in yellow. Steve

Thanks guys! I must have done something right with that interior. It did manage to win the "Best Overall Interior" award at the Desert Scale Classic show in 2020. Steve

You're probably thinking of an AMT 1959 Buick "Junior Craftsman" model. This kit differs from the Craftsman series which included custom parts and was molded in white. The Junior Craftsman kit only included stock parts, (basically an un-assembled promo) and was molded in color. There is little difference between the Craftsman and Junior Craftsman kit aside from those differences. They were both produced by AMT and were 1/25th scale. I built my '59 from a Junior Craftsman kit. Steve

This is nothing new. I've begun cutting up and re-doing the seats in nearly every annual kit that I do. Some are worse than others, but they can all benefit from some work. Johan '68 Olds 442. Steve

Getting started on some engine work. I'll be using the Hemi from the Revell '68 Charger kit, with the substitution of the intake and exhaust manifolds from the AMT '68 Roadrunner. Carbs are from Fireball, and I added the vacuum advance from the Revell kit to a M.A.D. distributor base. Steve

Since I returned to the hobby somewhere around ten years ago, I've built somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 models, but the real genesis of what I'm doing today probably began about 8 years ago. Since then I have restored about 40 vintage annual kits that I currently prominently display. The other 10 modern builds are in a box somewhere. In that 8 years, my production has slowed from building one simplified or curbside model every month or two, to one much more detailed project about every six months. Steve

I watched a story about this on my local news last night. The film was made in a bowling alley in Minnesota. The pilot of the drone used VR goggles and he was being directed by another individual, as were the other people in the building. The video you see above was the tenth take. The pilot, who is apparently an exceptionally good drone pilot, was worried about the portion of the film where he transitions from the front of the bowling alley to the rear, but said he made that transition without incident on every take. He said that the difficult part proved to be flying the drone from the outside through the front doors. Exterior winds and people passing by who were not aware of the project were apparently the most challenging hurdle. Steve

I use Plastruct "Plasti-Weld" liquid cement. Do two or three wraps at a time and dab on the glue while you hold it in place. Repeat. Steve

That is exactly how I did the intake ducts for my '68 W-30. Steve

Be aware that the Testors clear enamel will yellow very quickly over light colors. I use the clear lacquers on small parts, but never on bodies any more. Had too many problems with them. But I only use the enamel when the severe yellowing is either not an issue, or is desired, like when I sprayed it over this Pontiac transparent steering wheel to achieve the aged look that I wanted. Steve

I use virtually the same technique as you do Miles. Larger parts that only need paint on one side get done exactly the same way as you do them. Smaller parts are done a couple of ways. First, if the part only needs finishing on one side as above, a piece of tape wadded up on the end of a tooth pick or skewer works just fine. If the part has a hole in it, I will insert a tooth pick firmly into that hole for painting. If the hole is small, I will sharpen the tooth pick until it fits snugly into the hole. Another option for very small parts without a hole is to make one. I drill a small hole in the part in an area that will not be exposed on the finished model and then either use a tooth pick, or in some cases a plastic pin. Pinning parts can come in very handy for assembly later on, so this is a good practice to get used to anyway. Parts with pins already present or added afterwards can be held with alligator clips fastened to wooden skewers and inserted into a piece of scrap Styrofoam. There are a lot of options for holding parts for painting. You just have to think about it a little sometimes. Steve

Agreed. There's no problem with chroming resin as long as the casting is acceptable to chrome. There's nothing wrong with the plating process, only the quality of the resin parts. I have tons of plated resin parts that are every bit as good as a plated styrene part. Case in point is this Modelhaus 1958 Ford rear bumper. There's no possible way to tell that it's a resin part. Steve

Yes, I buy my epoxy at O'reilly auto parts. I get JB-Weld "Clear Weld". Been very happy with it. Of course you can buy it almost anywhere on line as well. Steve

Well there's absolutely no question that sending them out for chroming is going to give you the best result. It's pretty tough to beat real chrome with spray on chrome. The others will give you some resemblance to chrome, but they are not going to give you the same reflectivity, and they will definitely fall far short in the durability department. BMF would probably give you the closest thing to chrome, but good luck covering a wheel with foil. Steve

I really need to get another one of the Johan kits. Probably one of the most beautiful, best engineered and most detailed kits I’ve ever built! Steve

You don't necessarily need a gloss black base under Alclad. Only on the chrome or maybe polished aluminum. You're correct about durability to a certain extent, but a shot of clear will make all but the chrome paint as tough as nails. Every metal part that you see here is Alcad of various colors. All shot over primer, (except the chrome air cleaners, exhaust tips and radiator cap), shot with Testors clear lacquer, and slightly weathered. Steve

I agree. Nix on the Testor's cement. It's always been a PITA as far as I'm concerned anyway. Get some 2 part epoxy for a job like this as Tom suggested. Liquid cements and CA glues can cloud, or otherwise mar the chrome finish if you're not extremely careful. Epoxy will not harm the chrome, and it will give you an extremely strong bond. Steve

Alclad is your best bet for metal paints in my opinion. They have a full line of different paints that are very realistic and quite easy to work with if you have an airbrush. Steve

Yup. Steve

Absolutely! MCW, (Model Car World) and Scale Finishes make lacquer paints that are just as good if not better than Tamiya, and the color palette is endless. Steve