StevenGuthmiller

I agree! The old AMT mirrors are the worst! I still can't believe that someone like Fireball Modelworks doesn't offer a few different mirrors. They surely couldn't be any more difficult to do than the carbs or door handles they make. Steve

Amen, Amen, Amen!! Steve

The one thing that I kind of dread about building these early 60s Mopars is duplicating acceptable mirrors for them. I've done a couple before on other projects, but I must be getting the hang of it. This one only took me about a half an hour to make! Steve

I agree wholeheartedly! Last weekend, my wife, my daughter & I went to a Chinese buffet restaurant. Mind you, this is a cheap meal as compared to most restaurants. An hour later, we walked away $50.00 poorer. $50.00 for an hour of pleasure versus $30.00 for several weeks of pleasure. Sounds like a bargain to me. Steve

Well Casey, I did a test fit for you & I was quite surprised. The glass from the '70 Super Bee seems to fit my '68 better than it did the '69! There seems to be a slight issue with the windshield, but the back glass fits really quite nicely. The issue with the windshield seems to be that it's a little too wide at the bottom where it would be glued to the body. I think with a little careful thinning of the area at the base of the vent windows, it would fit quite well. I'm sure that this will be welcome news to you. It was a little unexpected for me as well! Steve

That would be the Johan glass Casey. It's obviously the glass from on old kit as evidenced by the "runners". The AMT GTX is far too new. Steve

Thanks Bill! I got a bid in on it! Steve

Is Round 2 even doing any new tools? I was under the assumption that their sole mission was to re-pop old kits, thus the "Round 2" name. Steve

The glass from the '70 Super Bee was borrowed from the AMT Roadrunner/ GTX kits, so it's not the same as the original annual glass. The annual glass is a one piece affair with the "runners" between the front & rear glass. The Super Bee has separate pieces. I was going to use the Super Bee glass for my recent '69 R/T build, but it didn't fit all that well. I opted to polish the original glass & use that. The Super Bee glass was close & might be a feasible substitute for the original if it's not obtainable, but it may take a little messing around with to get it to fit well. I don't remember the particulars of why it didn't fit right. I'll have to pull out my '68 annual & test fit the '70's glass again. Steve

That's why I bought it Scott. It will be an easy restoration. I'm not the type of guy to buy a model for historic reasons. I'm a builder, not so much a collector. I do have a few built-ups that I have on my shelf that are pretty nice that I haven't touched, but even those will hopefully get re-done at some point. Steve

The Edsel truck might not be a bad idea if I could come up with a good set of decals. I'll probably just keep my eyes peeled for a set of hubcaps on ebay, but I thank you for the offer Chris. There was a set of hubcaps, wheels & tires on ebay last week, but I missed out on the bidding! As far as the wheels go, if I can find the caps, I'll probably just strip the chrome on these & use them. Steve

Well, you probably already know what I think about the subject of old annuals. They're not always the easiest thing to build, but if subject matter is important to you, there are no alternatives, & with a little skill & a lot of love, they can build into exceptionally nice models. I've said it a million times before, but I'll say it again, A guy can only build so many '57 Chevies, '32 Fords & Corvettes before he gets real tired of them. If it wasn't for annuals, I most likely would have given up the hobby by now. You did a very nice job on this '65 & it will make a great addition to your collection. Steve

Delete.

Doesn't bother me. As a matter of fact, I wish that I could get most of the kits that I've been buying for the past few years for 25 or 30 bucks! I'm getting quite close to filling in my "annual" collection with everything that I really want, so when I go back to buying current kits at $30.00 a pop, it will be a refreshing change! Steve

Very cool Al! I've looked around for one of these. They're tough to find. Steve

Very nice Al! This is the exact kit that's next up on my bench. Steve

Yes Bill, I found it on ebay. It was one of those auctions that ended in the middle of the week, so the price didn't go off the charts. You probably know how tough these '60s are to find in nice shape, so it still wasn't cheap, but for me it was manageable. I paid a little under $100.00 for it. You know me, I won't leave it like it is. It will go back to completely stock at some point, probably sporting a light turquoise & white 2-tone paint job. I'm wondering at this point if a period correct 6 cylinder engine could be found for it. The task at hand at the moment will be to find a set of stock wheel covers, & if I can find one, the passengers side hood emblem. It has minor repairable damage, but if I can find a new one, I'll go that route. Steve

Just came today. In very good condition! Should make a great project! Steve

Hold on there Ron! It's not finished yet! Don't curse it! Steve

Sorry John, I really don't remember where the blister pack came from. I cut the "bubble" probably a month ago! I believe it may have come from a tube of glue or something. Steve

Well Bill, it's kind of a long explanation, but here goes! I'll admit, the gold that I used is a little brighter than what I was looking for. I was going for something a little less "blingy" but I had it on hand & thought I'd give it a try. The paint is actually Alclad "Pale Gold". I'm getting the feeling one of a couple of things are going on with interior colors for the '62 300 H. Either there were 2 different tans used for the interior, or some restorers are missing the mark with colors. I'm thinking the photo you posted above may be the latter. The steering wheel is obviously the original as evidenced by the cracks & yet it's gold color looks very out of place with the browner, more "copper" toned interior. My guess would be the rest of the interior was redone, either badly, or just to the owners taste. The leather on the seats, the dash pad & the paint on the dash all look very fresh compared to the steering wheel. This is more of the scheme I was shooting for, & while I agree that I missed the colors a bit, I think this is probably closer to the original color. The dash pad was painted to match the rest of the interior, which I think I got pretty close on. It's a little darker, but that's what I was actually looking for. My biggest mistake was the gold being too bright, & it was probably accentuated a bit by painting the top of the dash the same color as the lower. But that was by design as I'm always looking for ways to add contrast, especially on these monotone interiors. Oh, by the way, the trim is all foiled on this dash. Steve

The Paint Shop clear works as well or better than any other clear I've used. However, I don't use a lot of it merely because of the fact that I usually use 4 or 5 coats of clear & I don't want to mess with the airbrush that much. I didn't use it at all on this build. This one has 4 coats of Duplicolor "Perfect Match" clear. Steve

Lots of great info here guys! I appreciate all of it. I guess at this point it's safe to say that black was most likely the color for the grille, at least at some point. By the way Scott, the Johan kit does depict the H letter car. Steve

The interior is finally nearing completion on this project. I still have a few parts to make for the tub, but I believe the dashboard is done. This one was fun! I of course added the transparent section to the top of the steering wheel & I added a collar to the base of the steering column. I also fashioned a horn ring from a piece of wire which did not exist on this steering wheel. I'd be interested t hear if anyone has noticed if their "USA Oldies" '62 Chryslers had a horn ring or not. The toughest part was the clear "bubble" over the instrument cluster! I happened across a blister pack that had the correct basic shape & with some careful fitting, cutting & refitting, I managed to get a fair fit. Then the "Laser Bond" did it's magic again & I got it glued into place without creating a giant mess! Not sure how well you can see it in these photos, but it's there. Steve

I'm impressed by the "cleanliness" of your Cuda build Tony. It's not always easy to keep things looking as tidy as this. Nice work! Steve