StevenGuthmiller

Love the color on the Imperial! Steve

Finished up the detailing on the front bumper and grille, as well as the rear bumper. I drilled out the original chrome head lights to accept new buckets and lenses, and then once the lenses were installed I did the old "wire ring" trick around the lenses to add a little more realism. Steve

I see I have a lot of broken "Photo Bucket" links in this thread, so I'll re-post these. Steve

I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but it just seems like a pretty simple solution to me. Steve

Again, all fiddling around with home brews aside, if you clean it out with lacquer thinner right after you're done using it, which I would hope the majority of air brush users would do regardless of the type of paint you use, you'll have no problems keeping it clean. It's much easier keeping one can of lacquer thinner around to clean everything from your air brush, to paint brushes and dirty air brush jars, whether it's acrylic, enamel or lacquer, than it is to come up with intricate new procedures and formulas for a pretty simple operation. I'll put it this way, if I can't clean it out of my air brush with something as powerful as lacquer thinner, I don't think that I want it in my air brush in the first place. Steve

Everything looks great in white! Nice job Rick! Steve

Good Fellas. Steve

Occasionally. This is not a silver bullet, but it does make things easier. Steve

Just a quick "sneak peek". Steve

I will agree with that point. I think before I spent the $25.00 on one of these, I would do a little searching on ebay for a kit top that would be close enough to make it work. Chances are that you could get it for less than $25.00! Steve

True, but at least they would be a starting point. A top can be modified a bit to look closer to correct. I had to do quite a bit of modification on the original Johan up top for my '62 Chrysler 300. Most of the Johan tops were not even close to correct. I had to shorten the entire top and then shorten the sail panels considerably. It looks good enough for me now. Steve

There are others out there, but they are rare annuals that are exceedingly difficult to find and very expensive if you find them. AMT produced full sized Buicks beginning in 1958 and ending in 1966. Johan produced full sized Oldsmobiles starting in 1959 and ending in 1963. Only the '60 98 and '63 Starfire were done as 2 door models. The rest were all 4 door hard tops. AMT took the reigns in 1965 with the 88, and that's where it ended. All of the rest have been Toronados and Cutlass's, It's sad to think that if you want to build an Oldsmobile 98, 88, Starfire, etc, in a 2 door configuration, there have been only 3 models produced in styrene plastic, that I know of, in the history of model cars. Steve

Lacquer thinner will clean anything out of your airbrush that you plan on running through it. I use it for lacquer, enamel and acrylic. Steve

I don't want to discourage you from doing whatever you choose with it. After all, it is your model. A lot of guys will have no issues with cutting up a vintage kit, and I see no problems with it either, especially if it's damaged beyond the point of being able to be restored. I just see these kits as historical artifacts that deserve to be restored if at all possible. A good number of these will never be reissued and will almost certainly never be created as a new kit, so I just personally feel that they should be given every opportunity to live again. If that means that a damaged or incomplete kit should get a second chance as a custom, that is certainly better than sitting in a box until the second coming, or winding up in a land fill. Steve

The rolling chassis is finished except for one exhaust pipe that needed a little re-working. Now back to the body detailing. Steve

Well, it's not the most difficult to find of the AMT annuals, but it's getting rarer every day, and I think we would all agree, it's never coming back! Steve

That's absolutely true. Mostly because Oldsmobile and Buick have been so grossly ignored by the kit manufacturers since the annuals disappeared in the mid-60s. This is about the only full sized Oldsmobile kit that can still be found from this time period. Steve

I haven't built one yet, but they don't seem like they would be too difficult to make glass for. Steve

Well, than you don't want my advice. I am no fan of cutting up rare vintage kits. Steve

Nope, no glass. Steve

I've had several of them, but haven't built one yet. I recently traded off a pair of convertibles, but I still have a nice hard top to build. It keeps popping up in the front of my "to do" list, but it always seems to wind up taking a back seat to some other project. Steve

Sunday night was chipotle and cinnamon rubbed pork tenderloin with apple butter and roasted carrots and beets with goat cheese. Steve

That was my first thought! Amazing looking rust! Steve

Actually, in my opinion, there is. Once a tube of glue, jar of paint or tube of putty is opened, it is very likely that it will eventually dry up. If it doesn't get used frequently, it's likely to become a waste of money. Part of the reason why I buy mostly basic paint colors and mix my own variations. Frugality has it's place in every endeavor. Steve

"Oh, and senator, just one more thing.......Love your suit". Steve