StevenGuthmiller

Thank you Bart! I pretty much do all of my models the same now. They are all painted with automotive lacquers and polished using successively finer grits of "Micro-Mesh" polishing pads, usually starting at about 3600 and working my way down to the finest 12000 grit. I follow that with some Novus #2 "Fine Scratch Remover", followed by a little Turtle Wax "Scratch and Swirl Remover" to finish, both applied and polished with soft cotton cloth, usually just reclaimed T-shirt material. As a rule, I will give the entire model, including the glass and chrome, a quick once over with Novus #1 "Clean and Shine" near the end of construction. This helps remove and smudges or finger prints and also guards against dust accumulated from static electricity. Then it's into a display case as quickly as possible to keep it clean. Steve

Thank you for the kind comments Russell! I'm relatively new to the area, so I have never heard of the "Spud Valley Show". I would be interested in attending, and any information that you could provide would be welcome. I understand from a quick web search that it is apparently still a go for this October and it appears that it is primarily a model rail road show. Is there a model car contingent to the show? And if so, is it a display only affair, or is there some sort of contest? Just any information that you could share would be great! Could be a fun local diversion from an otherwise very depressing model show year. Thanks! Steve

Thank you so much folks! I was quite surprised to come home from an anniversary weekend with my wife and find so many kind responses on this thread! I appreciate every last one of them! Thank you!! Steve

I wasn't aware of any issue with the '68 Grille, Craig. I know the '69 was kind of a disaster, but as far as I can tell the '68 looks pretty good. I did drill out the head lights for replacing, but I thought the rest looked okay. Something I'm missing? Steve

Thanks all! Unfortunately for the Landy fans, you'll be disappointed. This will be another factory stock build. Steve

Are you sure that they're not the dog dish caps from The Revell '68 Charger? Steve

I do them as Roger and others have described. I started experimenting with the painted tape technique once some time ago, but abandoned it. I wasn't convinced that it would hold up indefinitely, and at least to my eye, the texture looked too heavy. The paint technique is relatively easy, gives a nice scale finish, and should last the life of the model without any worries of it peeling. Just a few that I've done recently. Steve

Makes everything else in life completely irrelevant! My thoughts are with you and yours. Steve

I was never much of a reader and I'm still not, but I remember being pretty into the some of the S.E. Hinton books in high school. "The Outsiders", "That Was Then, This Is Now", and "Rumble Fish" were the ones that I remember. Steve

Thank you so much guys! Your kind comments are greatly appreciated! I have no problem with that. All of my builds are for public consumption. I am. I would have most likely been disappointed with everything else turning out so well and knowing that the paint wasn't up to my standards. Steve

Very nicely done!! Steve

A Torino? Phhhh. Piece a cake! Steve

Sorry, I don't take requests. Steve

I'm deeply saddened to hear this Carl. If there was one thing that I could always count on, it was that Carl was always around somewhere on the forum. Please don't make a stranger of yourself! Your input here is still of great value. Think of it this way. You won't be the only guy on the board that doesn't build anything! Steve

I pretty much did. There's no telling what to expect from George. There have been issues..........with excuses, but the excuses are irrelevant to someone who's waiting for their parts. There's really nothing else to say, other than you might be taking a chance by using his service. The silence coming from anyone who might have actually used his service says a great deal. I really wish Bob Dahl would have continued with The Kustom Khrome business. At least if there was an issue with something, he wasn't afraid to communicate with you about it. It appears that a large part of the problem with George is communication..............or I should say, the lack there of. I sent him several emails maybe a year ago just to inquire about prices, etc, and I still have never gotten an answer to this day. Says pretty much all that I needed to know. Steve

I feel your pain John. We have a 14 year old cat that earlier this summer began vomiting excessively. We waited for a couple of weeks to see if it would pass, but it didn't, so we took her to the vet to discover that she has a tumor in her small intestine which is blocking her ability to take nourishment. She has been eating very little for more than a month and is getting extremely thin, but I really hate to have her put down when she still seems to be coherent and relatively comfortable. It's really hard to have a loved animal, who has been a part of your family for 14 years, euthanized when they will still curl up purring in your lap and demand attention. All we can do is sit on the sidelines and wait for some sort of sign that she is no longer comfortable or able to function. Could be another month, or another few days. There's really no way of knowing. Steve

Not until I'm finished! I might lose interest if everyone else is building them too! Steve

Well guys, it's back to the drawing board for me. Bear with me because it will probably be another fairly long haul. I'll be doing the usual full detail job on this one, likely using either the guts from the AMT '68/'69 Road Runner/GTX kits, or possibly the Revell '68 Charger. It will be a Hemi car, and I'm thinking white with a red bumblebee stripe and probably a dark red interior. But you know how it goes. Anything can evolve between now and when it's finished. Steve

Back again guys. I managed a little trip outside today to get some photos. They always seem to look a little better in natural light. Thanks for viewing. Steve

Thanks again fellas! Much appreciated! It was obvious to me that you had some sort of "Je Ne Sais Quoi", ( I had to look that up) with the language. Steve

Okay, this is just rolling around in my head, but my preliminary thought would be to find a small piece of aluminum tubing and squeeze it down to an oval shape. Then place the oval on the door panel, mark the outline, drill a hole and carefully cut and file the oval hole to match the tubing. Cut a short piece of the oval tube, (maybe a quarter of an inch or whatever might fit between the panel and the exterior door skin) sand and polish the end of the tubing to a bright finish and insert and glue into the hole in the panel so that just a tiny portion of it protrudes into the interior. The knob could be replicated with possibly a small round headed stick pin or insect pin depending on the scale needed. Just something to thrash around anyway, but it might be some place to start. I quick ran into my shop to see how it might work, and the tubing part was relatively quick and easy to replicate. These pics just show what I threw together in a few minutes with aluminum tubing and a regular stick pin. This might be good enough for you, or you might want to search for a pin with a more globe shaped head rather than flat. Hope this is helpful. Steve

No problem. Just needed that clarification to check it out. Steve

Thank you all so much! It was a little confusing at times trying to find the best solutions for certain obstacles with this build, (ie, coming up with a system for getting the original interior to fit the modern chassis) but it all came together fairly well. It was challenging at times, but still a lot of fun. Thank you all again for your kind comments! I love it John! Do you do a little moonlighting in poetry? Steve

That's what I was thinking. Steve

Not only that, but I can pick up a gallon of Super Clean for less than $15.00 and a cheap grocery store food storage container for a couple of bucks. The Super Clean can last me for up to a couple of years and will strip numerous bodies and other parts. If I did the math, I would probably have to get my models for about $1.00 apiece to justify that theory. Plus, I don't think one can consider Super Clean as an "ineffective stripper". It does nearly every job that I throw at it, and does it quite well without having to scour the countryside or rifle through the internet to find it. I can pick up a jug any time that my little heart desires from my local auto parts store. No muss, no fuss. Steve