StevenGuthmiller

And more often than not, those are the things that produce an exceptional model. Steve

What type of paint are you using? That alone can be a large determining factor of how much orange peel you may have to deal with. Steve

The wife and I went into town for dinner tonight. Boneless wings, onion rings & a cold Pacifico. Sounds a little like a country western song. Steve

I hope they fried his ass! What a douche!! Steve

That's a nice one to have. I have a basically MIB '66 hardtop. Will I build it? Most definitely!! Steve

Sounds more like a "carrier" issue than a USPS one. You just happen to have a carrier who is a dick head! I've always had very good luck with my carriers. Always willing to accommodate in any way they can. I find it especially egregious that when your son asked if he would come back, he refused. That's just stupid!! It's because of guys like this that nobody has a lot of sympathy for the USPS when they start having problems & expect us to feel sorry for them. If it wasn't for the fact that USPS carriers are union workers working for the government and are basically immune from being canned for infractions like this, I would call my local post office and tear them a new one. But, chances are that it will do you no good. There is something to be said for living in a small town where the postal workers are neighbors and everybody knows one & other. I don't believe that there are any more than about 4 employees at my post office. I would not hesitate to call my post office If there were a problem, & I'm quite confident that they would work with me to resolve any issues, even though I have only lived here for about a year. They are all very friendly and helpful people. Maybe it's just a Midwest thing. Steve

I've not even been able to find one! Occasionally, I will see one that's been pretty much butchered, all busted up or is missing a butt load of parts, but in general, there are mostly promos for sale. I have been considering trying to find a good promo, or there is a resin one available that I have seen, but the kit is nearly non-existent. Especially for a decent price. I got this one in trade for a nearly complete Johan '60 Plymouth wagon, a pretty rough '65 GTO, a couple of old AMT bodies & a few miscellaneous parts. Sounds like a lot but it's all stuff that I was never going to use with the possible exception of the Plymouth wagon. So I'm looking at it as a very good trade! Steve

There were many "annual" kits that this was the case with. Unless the following year was a completely new body style, the molds would be altered to create the next model year. If you look back at a lot of these old kits, the only ones that may still survive are the "dead end" years where the next year was changed completely, so the molds from the dead end year would not be re-purposed. As examples, the MPC 1969 Barracuda kit still exists because the 1970 model was a new body style. The MPC '67 & '68 Barracuda kits are now very rare & hard to find because they were progressively changed to make the '69. I'm not sure of what the contributing factors were as to the rarity of the Johan '68 442. Johan did not produce any Olds kits between 1963 and 1968 that I am aware of, except for Toronados. MPC produced the '69 442, Johan in turn did the '70, so it was a real cluster as to who was doing what at that time. For whatever reason, the Johan '68 really got lost & they are a pretty rare sight today. I'm just really fortunate to have finally found one. Steve

It's funny that this subject should come up at this time! Up until this point, I would have said that it was either the AMT 1967 Ford Galaxie or the MPC 1968 Dodge Coronet R/T which I have yet to build, I could also include restorations that need to take place on an AMT 1960 Ford pickup or an MPC 1966 Dodge Monaco, Or I could have said the Johan 1961 Plymouth Fury that I have built. But in light of recent developments, I think I have finally found one that seems to be almost non-existent! I recently completed a trade with a wonderful gentleman from Sweden for a super rare Johan 1968 Oldsmobile 442 builder! I have been tentatively searching for one of these for years & have rarely seen them, let alone ever found one in suitable condition for a resto. I have seen promos for sale on occasion, but the kit seems to be extremely rare for some reason. I have yet to receive it, but it has reached the shores of America, so I'm very excited to get this little gem in my hands! These are the photos that the gentleman has sent me. It looks to be complete & in very good restorable condition. I'm very stoked!! Steve

I use Duplicolor sandable primers, (all colors) and, or Duplicolor "primer-sealer" for every build. It has it's advantages & disadvantages. Some advantages are: It's much cheaper than Tamiya. It sprays very thin coats & levels extremely well, The fan spray nozzle is an absolute joy to use versus the round spray nozzle of most hobby sprays. If applied correctly, it's a superb barrier for hot lacquer paints. Disadvantages are: It's a hotter primer & can craze the plastic if shot too heavily. Coverage is not the best, so it can require several coats to cover. I will usually start with a coat of something that covers a little better like Testors primer. This will not only afford coverage over body work, etc, but it will give you a bit of a barrier from the hotter Duplicolor primer. Then I will shoot up to 5 coats of Duplicolor primer, starting with very light coats & getting progressively heavier with each coat. This will guard against any crazing when using automotive lacquers. Don't worry, Duplicolor primer goes on so thin & levels so nicely that multiple coats will not hide any detail. Of course, the number of coats can be reduced significantly if you will be using enamel or acrylic. Steve

This model pops up occasionally on all different sorts of threads. Usually as an example of how this model can be done correctly! Exceptional work Marcos! Steve

By all means, stay away from Photobucket! That's a great big old can of worms! Another vote for Fotki! $24.00 a year, but it's so simple to use, very fast, & absolutely zero adds & pop ups! Truly, you will not regret it. Steve

This could be what you're talking about. This sheet specifies some colors as "Dodge Only" which I assume means that it was only available on the full sized Dodges. B9 Blue is one of them. Steve

Ok Bill, I believe that you know more about this subject than I do. I was just noticing that the chip chart above says, "Dart, Coronet, Charger, Polara, Monaco" with no mention of any exclusions pertaining to the Chargers. Many times these charts will have asterisks by colors that were only available on particular models. Steve

I know, this is a '68 & there is no way to know whether it is a factory applied color or not, but I cannot find any information that says that B9 Blue was not available on the Chargers. What am I missing? Steve

You would be very surprised on how simple & economical embossing powder is to apply. Basically no skills required whatsoever. Especially if you're doing a modern "platform style" interior. If you can operate a paint brush & run a salt shaker, you can apply embossing powder. It's one of the easiest aspects of building in my opinion. I can flock a carpet in a matter of about 10 minutes if it's not an older "tub style" interior that requires some masking. But then those interiors usually require masking for painting anyway, so it's a moot point. Steve

Tonight it was "Balsamic Oregano Chicken" with roasted broccoli & mushrooms with feta cheese Steve

I didn't catch the right hand drive, but I assumed that they might have been Canadian or something. The '"V-8" emblem in the center of the '56 Ford grille was a give away to me. Plus the fact that the license plates are obviously not American. Steve

You can't get any more American than that! Steve

Here's a few cool ones for the Mopar guys. Steve

Lots of cool old dealership photos out there. Steve

Looks like white, light green & coral were pretty popular colors on the '56 Chryslers! Steve

I was always kind of partial to the Buick Special myself. Wouldn't mind seeing one of these in kit form. Steve

The Mercury looks exceptionally nice! The Pontiac looks like a promo with the hood cut open to me. Check out my post in the "Trading Post" under the heading, "Vintage AMT & Johan kit bodies & parts". I have a couple of '62 Bonneville convertibles for trade with lots of parts to go with them. Steve

Had this a couple of nights ago. "Chicken Empanada Bowls". Shredded chicken in a Mexican spiced tomato sauce with jalapeno Chimichurri sauce, tortilla strips, cheese & sour cream served over cilantro rice. A lot better than I expected it to be. Steve