StevenGuthmiller

Ooooo! Stay away from paint thinner on plastic. It can make a real mess of it. The "heat pinning" is pretty easy to deal with. Even breaking away the melted plastic with a needle nose pliers is a workable option. Or you can grind it off with a Dremel tool. I've disassembled several of these old promos & have always found it to be quite simple. Steve

How did you try to strip the silver paint? I think that this would be a great candidate for a re-do. I personally would disassemble it, drop it in Super Clean, repaint the top & foil all of the trim. But then again, if it were mine, it would get a complete restoration, including new paint & chrome. Steve

That is sweet! Yes Michael, there is "interest"!! Steve

Wow! Nice Rick! I've thought about picking one of these up for quite some time, but my desire could never outweigh the cost. I had one many years ago, but my dad threw it out in a basement cleaning tirade! Steve

I just have to make a remark about someone who I consider the epitome of a "great trader" I sent a set of original AMT 1958 Ford bumpers to Elvin, (mredjr) sometime back for a project that he was planning. Somewhere along the line, Elvin decided that he was not going to start the project & was no longer going to need the parts. So, rather than just throw them in a box, he packaged them up, & without saying anything, returned them to me. Now that's a great trader!! So, now I can offer those parts to another modeler who might need them. We need more guys like Elvin in our hobby! Thank you Elvin!! Steve

The only thing that you need to "know" about Fotki is that it makes Photo bucket look like a big ol' booger!! No comparison in my opinion! Steve

For something as simple as a '37 Ford, I would think just plain old sheet styrene would suffice. Nothing odd about the shape of the fender, no lips, etc. I reshaped a set of Johan 1960 Chrysler skirts to fit a '62 Ford a while back. Worked great! I installed them using average masking tape in case I would ever decide to remove them. Steve

I appreciate it everyone! Thank you all! Steve

Wonderful! I really appreciate seeing the old annuals resurrected like the '62 & '63 Plymouths, & the '61 Ford & '63 Dodge. The '63 Dodge Polara is a real gem! Nice work! Steve

That's the truth! I've produced some pretty nice finishes after starting with a very mediocre paint job. Polishing can be magical! Steve

There are as many different painting techniques as there are builders. Everywhere from cheap acrylic craft paint to automotive lacquer. You just have to find what works best for you, & in some cases, that can take years. For a myriad of reasons, I use automotive type lacquer paints, but many coats of clear & lots of polishing are how I achieve results that are acceptable to me. Steve

They absolutely do not!! It took me quite some time & a considerable chunk of change to wrangle the '65, '66 & '67 Plymouths that I have. Steve

Another thing that you could try is spraying a coat of gloss paint from a distance as you would the flat. The gloss has a tendency to orange peel more than flat will. Flat paint levels better as it dries, so less orange peel is likely. After the orange peeled gloss dries, you can spray over it with a coat or two of flat in the desired color. Steve

Where did you dig up the pair of Plymouths Curtis? Nice find! Steve

Probably still way too thick. Steve

Thank you Henry, but remember, your model will be 1/12 scale, so the texture will need to be a little heavier in that case. Steve

Nice stuff! But the '70 Roadrunner is a knockout!! Steve

Sweet!! I've had the hardtop version of this kit in my stash for over 30 years! It is one of my "someday builds". Steve

Vinyl tops can be a little tricky, or at least seem that way. The biggest snafu that I see with vinyl tops on 1/25th scale kits is making the texture too pronounced. You have to remember that everything on this model should be 1/25th the size of the real thing. That translates into a pretty fine texture. Personally, I get the best results with just using a spray can & shooting the paint from a little more of a distance than you normally would creating a fine orange peel. I have also found that a flat paint looks the most realistic in my eye as apposed to a matte or semi gloss. You can add the vinyl "sheen" by merely rubbing your fingers on the flat paint after it has dried to the touch. The oils from your fingers will create a light sheen. The chrome trim can be replicated using styrene strip, & I like to use .007" clear film for the top seams. Steve

I have tried Tamiya tape for this purpose, but I prefer blue painters tape. Painters tape is cheaper & a little thicker giving you a little more of an edge for the blade to ride up against. Plus I like the darker color. That gives you a little better contrast between the tape & the blade & makes it easier to see what you're doing. I use a steel ruler to cut a clean, straight edge on the pieces of tape before I use them. Steve

I cut thin strips of foil like you do for certain pieces of trim that are completely straight, mainly for interior door trim, but that only works well for straight pieces. If your trim is curved or tapered or oddly shaped in any way, it's difficult to get it cut to the correct shape & size. I use the tape method for everything from side spears to window trim. It gives you perfectly clean & straight edges on everything you foil. If you cut your tape strips thin enough, you can even get it to bend around wheel wells to give you a nice clean edge. Steve

Not only may it leave a "trough" but if the trim edges are already "soft", I can't imagine that it would be any easier to scribe & keep your lines straight than it would just to foil them. Try the "tape" trick. I do this all of the time with faint trim & it works well. Even areas that have virtually no trim relief at all will look good by just laying a thin strip of blue painters tape down where you want the trim edge to be after applying the foil & then letting your knife blade ride along the edge of the tape to cut the foil. Anybody that has built virtually any of the AMT annuals from around 1959 to 1961 with tail fin trim knows that generally the trim edges are non existent. After applying a multi-coat paint job, they pretty much disappear entirely. But with a little strategic tape work & a sharp X-acto blade, you will never know the difference. Steve

Thanks so much everyone! The responses to this model & the fact that I should be able to get a little more bench time during the holidays will hopefully kick my current project into the next gear. Thank you Eric! Black is hands down my least favorite color to work with, but it does show well on nearly any car. Here are a couple of outdoor shots that high lite the paint a little better. Steve

The Olds is beautiful, as are all of them!! I like the color you chose for the Firebird as well. It's nice to see some of these cars in a little bit more unusual colors. Very nice work!! Steve