StevenGuthmiller

Thanks Bob! I enjoyed every second of the project! At east that's how I remember it now! Steve

Sweet! Steve

I'm using Firefox on my desk top with no add blocker as well. The adds are all over the place! Steve

I have toyed with this issue a few times as well, but I'm finding that in most cases, (depending on the car) the rubber seals around the glass can be very difficult to pick out on the actual vehicles, so I question whether or not it's worth the effort. Steve

You've got your work cut out for you on that one Rich! I was never really a huge fan of the '63 Bonneville, but after building one, I absolutely changed my mind. I gained a lot of appreciation for this car during that project. Steve

I'm game! Maybe you could pry another kit from Claes' hands and send it to me! I'll fix it up right, now that I know what all of the pitfalls are! Steve

Well thank you again Claes! I feel a little bit better knowing that you have had several bites at the '68 442 apple and didn't trade something to me that you would later regret! It was so much fun building this model and I sincerely owe it all to you! If we had not made that trade, there's a pretty good possibility that I may have never found one of these kits! Steve

Thanks fellas! I built this hard top for the friend who's father owned the '62 XL. Not an XL of course, but It was my best effort, (at the time) to duplicate his car.

I've never even contemplated buying a camper! Steve

The skirts were cut down, reshaped custom skirts from a Johan 1961 Chrysler New Yorker. I had to add the skirts because I had a friend who's dad had a '62 XL that had the stainless skirts. I thought that they added a nice, not so often seen touch. They're just taped to the inside of the fender in case I decided to remove them at some point. Nothing more than acrylic craft paint brushed in as carefully as possible and then removed from any place that it didn't belong with a tooth pick after it was partially dried. Steve

I have one of those in my stash and just last night I was seriously contemplating getting the chrome parts sent out for re-plating and making it my next project. Steve

I suppose that a "Holy Grail" kit would naturally change over time as they are acquired. I have had several over the past few years, and as I built them and crossed them off of the list, others have taken their place. A few years ago, the Johan '68 Olds 442 was not really even on my radar, as there were far too many others preceding it. A couple of years ago I began to understand the rarity of this kit, but never expected that there was much of a chance of ever finding one let alone being able to afford it if I did. That changed with a "by chance" trade with another member of this board. I became completely engrossed with the '68 442 as I threw myself into that build, and even though I had never really given a second glance to that particular car, I now find that I have a real fondness for it. I guess that you could say that it "grew on me". Now that this "Holy Grail" is finished, the next one to pop up might be either an MPC '71 Dodge Demon, or '71 Mercury Cyclone, or one of a small handful of others, including one that I already have that is towards the top of the build list.......the MPC 1968 Dodge Coronet R/T. Steve

Yup. Whatever was done to correct this a couple of days ago didn't last. They're back again, and even more annoying! Steve

I've never been crazy about the looks of the '62 Ford hard tops, but I found that I really like the silhouette of the convertible, especially with the top up. The black Sunliner that I built a few years ago is still one of my absolute favorites in my collection. If I had it to do over again, I would re-do the interior and swap in an AMT '60 Starliner chassis. Steve

Hang in there Joe! At some point, it's going to turn around. Could be worse. You could have had to resort to this! Steve

The Ace of Spades, Motorhead. Steve

Here's one from one of my favorite bands from the late '70s. They completely lost me in the '80s. "You're feeling cross and wavy, on the edge of the cuff. You're pushing and popping, you can't get enough. You wish that it was over, you never slow down. You're looking for kicks, there's nothing around." Steve

I had to look it up for certain, but it sounded vaguely familiar. "Childhood's End" by Pink Floyd. It was from the "Obscured by Clouds" album in '72 and was the last song to be entirely composed by David Gilmour until after the band's break up. Steve

Still working on some good solutions to working out some hood hinges that either work like real ones, or at least would be removable so that the model can be displayed with the hood open, or closed without having to cut big slots in the firewall for the hinges to retract into. This is what I am trying out on this project. The hinges in the AMT '62 Catalina kit are very nicely proportioned and detailed, so I decided to try to incorporate them into the build. My thought was to add some pins with heads to the underside of the hood, and then add a slotted plate to the hinge so that the hinge could be quickly slid onto the hood. I ordered some 1/8" x 1/32" disk magnets that can then be added to the base of the hinge and the firewall so that the loose hinges can be slipped onto the hood and then snapped into position on the firewall. This way they can be very quickly removed for display with the hood closed. Of course the draw back is loose hinges laying around to get lost. But, I usually keep any loose parts not on the model in the clear acrylic cases that I store them in anyway, so I should be able to keep track of them. Anyway, here is the "rough draft" and the pins are just installed in a piece of scrap plastic for this experiment. Steve

Take an alcohol wipe to the glass. I will bet that will take off whatever is on it. It looks like a pretty nice model to me. Ditch the '56 Ford wheel covers and go with it. Hopefully there are no surprises under all of that thick yellow paint! It's a good sign though. If it's as thick as it looks, it's probably enamel and should strip pretty easily. Good luck with it Roger! Steve

If you're going to air brush it anyway, just pop over to MCW and pick up a jar of # 4703 "Forester Green". At $7.50, it's going to be a hell of lot cheaper than $20.00 for a spray can, and you don't have to dink around thinning anything or mess around trying to find out exactly what it is you're buying from the auto touch up place. MCW paints are automotive lacquers, pre-thinned and ready to use straight from the jar. No special preparation is needed other than a good primer/sealer. Steve

The Revell '72 442 kit has a 455. Steve

They are a lot better now than they were a couple of days ago. I agree with Guido and Carl. A few adds are no big deal. I can live with it as it is at the moment. Steve

Early ones, definitely! Early AMT/SMP kits are even worse! Steve

These are good points, but I do have to say that for someone who is not entirely familiar with these sorts of modifications, you need to be very vigilant about checking the fit between the body, interior and chassis, especially if you are doing a chassis swap. If you are adding height or width to the interior panels, you can wind up with a chassis or interior that will not fit properly in the final stages. Fit, re-fit and then fit again! And don't forget to add glass position and thickness into the equation. There are a lot of little things that you can very easily miss and can end up with parts that don't fit when it's too late to repair without tearing everything apart again. Steve