StevenGuthmiller

Not trying to be negative, just realistic. Everybody gets excited about these new kits, and that's a good thing, but it doesn't necessarily translate into huge sales numbers. One of the most requested kits in recent history was the '58 Edsel. If we're to believe some of what we've heard on this and other boards, the AMT Edsel was not exactly a raucous success. I'm just a little concerned that starting out a campaign of completely refurbishing long lusted after old kits could possibly end with a giant thud if this first offering winds up being a bad choice. By the way, a couple of dozen guys posting back forth multiple times on a 337 post thread is not going to make much of a dent in the thousands of units that Round 2 is going to have to sell to make this venture a success. It "could" be an indication of interest, but it might not mean much of anything. I hope everyone is right! I hope they sell a million of them! I just hope that they didn't make a mistake by starting the ball rolling with a Nova wagon, that's all. Steve

I'm happy that everyone is so confident that it will be a smash hit. I'm sure that every other disaster produced by the model companies was destined to be a barn burner too. Nobody produces a kit that they "know" is going to flop, especially these days. Whether or not this particular model will be a success is a complete cr*p shoot, and I think we all know that. Anyone who says that they "know" that this will be successful is talking out of their backside. Round 2 is "hoping" that this offering will be successful, and that's about the best that can be said. Again, I'm hoping that it sells extremely well, because it bodes well for future releases of other models, but not a single one of us can say exactly where this is headed. Steve

That's the question. If this one winds up being a flop, what are the odds that they will make more attempts? Steve

I don't doubt that there are people that will buy it. But will it be enough to justify all of the new tooling? Takes a lot of units to make a profit. Time will tell. Steve

I guess I never really doubted anyone's assertions that this was an all new, freshly tooled kit. It just seemed odd to me that their first attempt at resurrecting this "annual-ish" type of subject matter would start with something like a '63 Nova wagon. Of all of the cars that they could have re-engineered in this manner, this first offering seems to me as if it would be the most likely to fail. Personally, I'm still not sure that I will buy one. Just not something that's awfully high on my "want to build" list. I would have thought that a re-engineered '66 Skylark, '71 Mercury Cyclone or Dodge Demon, '68 Coronet R/T, or any number of other subjects, would have been much more likely to succeed, creating excitement for others to come. The '63 Nova wagon doesn't stir a lot of excitement for me, and if there is a more detailed version coming in the future, I absolutely will not be spending the money on a curbside offering. Steve

You would be more than welcome Bill! Dinner time has not arrived yet, so I decided to try my hand at making a batch of date filled cookies. My mother made these every Christmas season, and I waited for them with great anticipation every year. Now she has reached the age where she does little in the kitchen any more, so it falls upon me to continue the tradition. These are not the exact recipe that my mother used, but they turned out pretty well. Steve

I'm pretty sure I know where I'll be. Steve

Wow! I thought we might have to wait a while, but I never expected to wait 100 years!! Steve

Exactly. Steve

I use white primer pretty much only when I'm using a very light finish color. As Daniel stated, primer color can affect the final color to some degree if the finish paint color you are using has some transparency, but as a rule, paints like Duplicolor Perfect Match touch up paints are very opaque, especially if you are using several coats, and the primer color has little affect on the final finish. I use white primer primarily because it's much easier to get good coverage with a color such as white over white primer, rather than over gray or red. Steve

I won't pretend to know all of the science behind it, because I don't. All that I can tell you is that it works. If you follow the method that I presented, you won't have any issues with chipping or crazing using Duplicolor products, and it shouldn't make any difference what type, or how old the plastic is. Just one of a million different suggestions that you might get on this subject. It's your decision to make. Steve

I agree that it might be a tight rope to walk in some circumstances. I will disclose, and I'm sure that some of you know, that I build mostly vintage kits. Apparently the plastic is more stable. But I have used the exact same method described on new kits with equal results. A single coat of a hobby primer, (I use Testors because it's readily available) gives coverage and a slight barrier to the hotter Duplicolor primer to follow. The subsequent coats of Duplicolor will still make it's way through the Testors to the plastic and help with adhesion, but the trick is to monitor the heaviness of the coats. Very light coats to begin, with heavier coats in the end. Anyway, I will call this a theory, but it has come with many years of experimentation and it never fails me. My 3 main issues with using Tamiya primers are of course cost, the fact that I really don't like the nozzles, and the fact that it's never been readily available to me locally, and I refuse to order paint in spray cans on line. If I need primer, I can pop down to my local auto parts store and pick up all of the Duplicolor that I need. No messing with ordering, shipping and waiting for product to arrive. I guess that you could say that I prefer to keep something like primer low on my list of priorities to worry about since I have arrived at a virtually fool proof system for using the Duplicolor. Steve

It is definitely an adhesion problem, but I would question whether it has much to do with sanding the body first. I very rarely sand the entire body of a model, and never have this sort of issue. This appears to me to be an adhesion problem between the plastic and primer and has nothing to do with the paint itself. If you want to continue to use the same painting regimen, sanding might help to contain it, but a good primer should not flake off with a finger nail under any circumstance. This is where the idea of a mildly "hot" primer might actually be beneficial. It will etch into the plastic to some degree instead of just floating on top. Steve

I use Duplicolor primers, either sandable, or primer/sealer, almost exclusively on my projects. It works very well, but I will warn you of a couple of facts that you might like to know. Duplicolor primers are "hotter" than hobby primers and need to be treated accordingly. A shot of a hobby primer to start, followed by several light coats of Duplicolor handles the issue very well for me. Also note that Duplicolor primers are quite thin and do not cover as well as some hobby primers, but it dries so thin that several coats will not hide any detail. I use as many as 5 coats of Duplicolor primer on my builds with no hide whatsoever, and paint adhesion is very good. With normal handling, you shouldn't have any chipping issues. Steve

Thanks for the posts guys. Nothing has been happening on this, or any modeling project of mine for quite some time. Things just kind of got away from me over the past couple of months. Along with the usual distraction of the holidays, we had a beloved pet of 15 years pass a little over a month ago, which sort of depressed my mood to spend time in the shop. Since then, I began some more improvement projects on the house, and recently adopted a new kitten, who seems to keep me quite occupied and guessing. Now with Christmas and New Years approaching, I doubt that much will be happening on the bench for at least a couple more weeks. But work will continue once things begin to settle down. My only real time frame for finishing this Coronet was to hopefully have it done before the next NNL North show in May of 2021, which gives me about 4 1/2 months to finish. I believe that I should still be able to reach that goal.......maybe. Steve

Yesterday I made some individual Shepherd's Pies with some strip steak that I needed to use up. Made a gravy with some onion, red wine, beef stock and thyme and added carrots and peas. Covered it with whipped Yukon Gold potatoes with a loaf of peasant bread for sopping. Then I put on my confectioners hat and tried my hand at some walnut fudge for the first time in my life. Not traditional "candy thermometer" fudge, but its rich and creamy. Easy to make and turned out great. This weekend I'm going to attempt my mother's famous date cookies that I loved growing up. Steve

Ole and Lena are out for a walk one evening when Lena steps off of a curb and twists her ankle. "Call for help Ole", Lena exclaims, "I can't walk!" Ole quickly retrieves his cell phone and dials 911. "How can I help you?" the 911 operator asks. "My Lena has broken her foot and can't get up", Ole shouts. "Send help!" "Where are you?" asks the operator. "We're on Sycamore street" cries Ole. "Can you please spell that for me?" asks the operator. There is an long pause. Then Ole says, "Hold on a minute. I'll drag her to Elm!" Steve

I'm a fan of anything from the 50s and 60s! Steve

Actually, the photo of the wheel on the chassis is not from the '67 Bonneville, it's from a '63. I'm kind of on that bandwagon too! I did a '61 Bonneville some time back with them, as well as a '63 Bonneville, '64 Grand Prix and the '67 Bonneville. I have a '64 Bonneville and '64 LeMans that will get stock wheel covers, but my '60, '62 and '66 Bonnevilles will get the 8 lugs as well. Steve

Don't know how common they were on the '67-'68s but they were available, and as always, they look terrific! Steve

Regardless of accuracy, if it were mine, I would use a set of the 8 lugs, without a doubt. All of the old AMT and MPC kits had pretty nice 8 lug wheels. With a little paint detailing, they look pretty convincing, and there's no better look for a Pontiac from this era. Steve

Actually, they do. The teeth are just too pronounced on the Trumpeter wheel covers. Steve

I'm not sure that I agree. I'm no expert on early '60s Bonnevilles, but a Google search shows an awful lot of '60 Bonnevilles with spinner caps. If they were truly not available on the '60, an awful lot of guys are putting '61 caps on their '60s. By the way, this is a pic of the Trumpeter '60 Bonneville 3 bar spinner caps. And the AMT annual '61 Bonneville caps. Steve

Most of the vintage kits that I have acquired in recent years have yellowed to one extent or another. There is no need to worry about this coloration, and no real way that I know of to get rid of it anyway. As long as the model is clean, just treat it as you would a new one. Prime and paint and you will never know, or care what color the plastic was. Steve

That is pretty much your only option. Chrome Tech is gone, and it appears that "GT Kustom Khrome" has become completely and entirely unreliable.......and that's putting a smiley face on it. Steve