StevenGuthmiller

They send it out, but the plater that they use supposedly used to do all of the plating for some of the kit manufacturers in years past. He really knows what he's doing. I have not had great results from Chrome Tech over the past few years. Steve

Looks great so far! I'm assuming that this is the Trumpeter kit? Did you do anything to correct the horrible hardtop dimensions on this kit? Steve

Nice work David! I'm not much of a Maverick fan but I love these old kits. If I ever get the couple of dozen other old annuals finished that I have & need a project, I may have to add a Maverick to the list. Steve

Kustom Khrome does fantastic work! As good or better than you will ever find in a brand new kit! Steve

Works great for a lot of things! It makes a great "mock up" glue because it's relatively easy to remove. I use it extensively for molding small parts. Especially casting my own head light lenses. Steve

My wife is good with it. She says it's better than spending all of my time & money hanging out in bars or on the golf course. At least this way she knows where I am. She does get a little annoyed when I shirk some of my other responsibilities around the house in favor of modeling though. Steve

Looks like it could be. Looks like the same chassis to me. Although the chassis from my original '67 has much crisper detail. The '70's looks like it's been through the mill! Steve

I'm game! I'd love to see what everyone else does. We could all get ideas from one and other as we go along. Can't find any fault in that. If somebody wants to start a thread in the community builds section, I'll play! We might even be able to create a mini "parts swap" thing while we're at it. I believe that I have one extra bucket seat & possibly a tail light lens to start. Steve

Well, you will probably have to live with it. The chances of Moebius, or any other producer, doing a new tool of the '58 Belvedere while AMT still has one in production are virtually zero. Steve

Good tape is the best starting point. I've had so many issues with some types of tape that now I do everything I can to avoid any tape touching painted surfaces. I realize that is impossible, but you can mitigate by using alternative masking methods like masking paper. If I'm doing a 2-tone paint job, I will mask for the second color by using mostly masking paper with as much Tamiya tape as possible while limiting as much as I can the use of regular or blue tape. Be selective about what you use for paper though. Newspaper & the like has print all over it so you're opening yourself up for issues with all of that ink. I use only actual "masking paper" that you can pick up very cheaply @ any home improvement store. All that being said, if you're only dealing with adhesive residue & no actual "texture imprint" in the paint, you can use any number of products to remove it. If you're not planning on putting anymore paint on, a little WD-40 on a cotton swab will take it right off. I use WD for removing foil adhesive residue all of the time & it works great. Another good product for removing adhesives is an old Avon product called "Skin So Soft". Not even sure if it's available anymore but I used it a lot many years ago. It worked fantastically for removing bumper stickers and the like. Steve

We already have the AMT '58 Belvedere. I wouldn't mind seeing Round 2 take that '58 to the next logical step in doing a '57. Maybe a Fury this time. A few body corrections would be in order as well. Steve

Yeah Simon, I checked that out. The only problem is that the '65 Bonneville, Grand Prix & 2+2 kits all of these funky notches cut out of the lower corners of the windshield for the hood hinges. The '67 Bonneville kit does not & they will show on the finished kit. I did do a test fit of the newer AMT '67 Impala windshield & it actually fits pretty well. I may wind up going that route if the original glass can't be saved. Steve

Looks great Steve! I don't think I'll get quite that intricate, but that looks pretty much spot on! I'm not removing any of the original surfaces under the hood, so whatever mods I make, I have to be cognisent about the hood seating properly. There is very little to no space to play with. Adding the wiper details will probably be a no go. Steve

Just another update on some modifications. I had to do a couple of repairs on the vent window areas. Finished up the top seams & decided that the cowl area needed a little sprucing up so I drilled out the vents. I'll add screen on the back side later on. I also filled in the holes where the hood hinges inserted & fixed a chip on the windshield side of the cowl. Now I'm working on some fender well details & will try to figure out a little detailing for the top of the radiator brace area. The fender wells on these old MPC Pontiacs were way too narrow so some extensions will be in order. Steve

True. And I do agree that it looks nice, especially since they didn't chop the body all up & left alone the general lines of the car. Steve

That's debatable, & purely a matter of taste. Personally, I think that a lot of the cars character is lost by removing everything that tells you that it's an Impala. Steve

Yup, didn't see it in the '67 line, but here it is on a '68 GP. Steve

Go for it!! Steve

Thanks Curtis. This one was missing some parts as well, but I got lucky & got a set of bucket seats & a set of tail light lenses from Modelhaus before they closed shop. I also got lucky & picked up a stock grille from another member in a trade so I believe that I have everything I need for a restoration. I may have to figure out an alternative for the glass though. Not sure if I'll be able to use the original. Steve

Well, the '62 Plymouth has gone onto the back burner in favor of this MPC 1967 Pontiac Bonneville. This started out as a built up ebay acquisition. There are a few minor issues with the cowl area, the glass & the vent windows, but nothing major. I will have to use the custom rocker panel trim as it was installed when I got it, so there is some body damage along the rocker area. I had the rocker trim re-plated along with the rest of the chrome parts some time back, so it's ready to go. I've decided to add a vinyl top to this one, so I've started out by adding the trim. The color will be "Plum Mist" with a white vinyl top & a black & white interior. If salvageable, the original tri-power kit engine will be used. I'm anticipating that some fairly extensive engine bay mods might be necessary as well. Steve

Yes Wayne, we're pretty much settled in. The new place has it's pluses & minuses. We now have a huge lot, (which is a plus & a minus) with a wooded area in the back, fewer neighbors, plenty of garage space, etc. The only real minuses are some of the cheapo finishes in the house. When they built the house, they started with some nice high end amenities like in floor heat in the garage & basement, steel siding, etc, but then they really cheaped out on the finishes like the trim, bathroom fixtures & flooring. But they are all things that can be changed. The house has really "good bones" as they say. We love the location, being on the very edge of a small town & my new shop is nice. Plus I have the added luxury of a hobby shop within about 25 miles of home! Something I haven't had in a couple of decades. Steve

Well, to some of us anyway. My 28 year old daughter thinks these cars from the 50s & 60s are the ugliest things ever made! Steve

I agree. I built my Revell '58 in a similar color combo. It looks like a copper color, but it's called "Cay Coral". Still one of my favorites! Steve

Well John, I wouldn't want the popcorn to go to waste so I'll make sure to get something else going soon. Right now I'm leaning towards the '67 Bonneville. Steve

Well guys, I hate to bail on this project so soon but I've decided that it's a little more work than I want to take on as my first build after not doing any modeling for several months. I've already started losing interest in it & that's not how I want to start out. I'll come back to it when I'm a little more comfortable with doing this much scratch building. For the time being, I have a few projects that will require a little less modification to get me back into the swing of things. I'm leaning towards a couple of nice Bonnevilles that I have. Most likely either a '66 or '67. The '67 will be a resto of a built kit so I may start out with a very clean unbuilt MPC '66 Bonneville hardtop that I have. Or I may tinker with both & see what really grabs me. Sorry to get anybody excited about this one & then ditching it, but I'll revisit it at a later date. Steve