StevenGuthmiller

Ick, ick & ick! Hate 'em all! I see these guys driving around town in an old Impala with a set of those huge hoops & it just makes my stomach crawl. Who wants a low sleek '68 Impala that looks more like a monster truck. The Turbine wheels are miles above any of these! Now you're talking! If you don't want to go stock, a nice set of "vintage" wheels like the Cragar S/S, Keystone Classics, some "Torque Thrusts or even a set of good old magnesium slots would do the Charger justice. The other ones would just make it look like a bad cartoon. If you're in short supply, just let us know. The guys on the forum would be more than happy to supply you with a nice set of wheels. I'm sure that I have all sorts of wheels I could part with. Steve

Looks great Steve! Would have looked better with a nice set of Magnum wheels though. Those "Dukes" wheels on every '69 Charger are really getting tired. Steve

That's what I've heard. I've also heard the story that a lot of the molds were stolen by disgruntled employees who were not being paid towards the end. The molds for most of their kits have been scattered to the wind, most likely never to be seen again. Steve

I've always heard that Super Clean is completely biodegradable. What I'm getting from the link Bill posted is that any material "added" to it may make it hazardous. The question should be what to do with the particulates left after using it to strip paint. The Super Clean itself can be dumped down the drain as far as I know. Steve

You'll have your work cut out for you with this one! Not an easy kit by any stretch. Good luck & I'll be watching as well. Steve

I think that there is a possibility that we may see a few of the old promo style kits that were re-issued back when X-EL did them, but that's about it. You're never going to see the likes of a '65 Plymouth Fury, a '66 Chrysler 300 or a '67 Toronado again. Those kits are long gone. My guess is that even the old "USA Oldies" molds are dead & buried. Don't get your hopes up. I still have an X-EL catalog from back in the day. I'll bet even a lot of them will never return. Steve

I use the Duplicolor "Perfect Match" lacquer. I also use the "Paint Shop" clear in the quart can on occasion. By the way Bill, I meant to delete the Dodge photos a little sooner. Sorry about that. I didn't want your Pontiac thread to fill up with Coronet photos. Steve

Very nice job Thomas! I have both the hard top & convertible in my stash, (same kit with different tops) Started one many years ago, but never finished. Something always looked a little out of proportion with these kits to me, but every time I see one finished, they look good. Yours looks great! Although, I will say that the hard top looks a little too "bubble top". The rear glass seems to "round out" a little too much. Steve

Looking good Bill. Were you intending to clear coat? Just keep in mind that a "lot" of that "graininess" can be negated with a few good coats of clear. I was not at all happy with the initial finish on my '69 Coronet either. It was quite grainy as well. After several coats of Duplicolor clear, that graininess virtually disappeared & I was left with very minor orange peel to polish out. Each successive coat of clear will eliminate a little bit of orange peel & graininess. I usually give mine as many coats as they can take without burying the detail. I can usually get away with 4 or 5 coats. Steve

This is the technique I use, except I use a little thinner to clean the paint off of the script. & I don't foil before primer. I wait until right before the final color coat so that the paint over the foil is very thin & easy to clean. The trick is to cut the foil as closely as possible to the script, shoot your final color coat over it, clean it off & then clear over the entire body. Sanding the script works, but care must be taken not to sand through the foil. I've been using this technique for several years & it never fails me. I get very nice results, even with extremely fine engraving. You don't get much finer than the Buick insignia on the trunk lid of the AMT '61 Buick annual, & yet I'm very proud of the way that insignia looks on my built kit. No need for messing with decals or photo etch IMO. Steve

It's not the "demand" for or the "proliferation" of household 3-D printers that I'm referring to, it's the advancement of the technology. While there may not be a demand from the general public, 3-D printing "will" make huge strides in the years to come, you can bank on that. I was just using the VCR as an example of how far we have come in video technology in a very short period of time. Steve

I don't think it would be for me. I hate detailing dashboards enough as it is, I don't want to go back to doing bodies the same way. The foil under paint method requires very little skill. Just a little practice & anyone can do it, even without a steady hand. Unlike a lot of techniques involved in building a model, detailing scripts is one that I no longer have any apprehensions about. I'm confident that they will turn out perfectly every time. By the way, I use a lot of the same technique now for dashboards as well. Painting over foil, or painting enamel or acrylic over lacquer for that matter, & then cleaning off what you want to show through, works for all sorts of applications. Steve

Remember the VCR? In it's day it was cutting edge.......not that many years ago. Believe me, laser printing, like every other technology, will be perfected & become cheaper than we can imagine. Steve

Nice work Al! Steve

James. The only question that I have, as I didn't see it in your tutorial, is how you did the "El Camino" script on the front fender. Seems to me that if you don't have a steady enough hand to paint a script perfectly, gluing it in preparation for the leaf will not be any easier. Steve

Mike, the white paint is Duplicolor lacquer shot straight from the can. The turquoise is MCW. To be perfectly honest, I've never tried it with enamel paint. I use nothing but automotive lacquers & this technique has never failed me. Bill, try starting with one of those fine conical Tamiya cotton swabs. I dip one in lacquer thinner & very lightly go over the script with it just to get the solvent started on loosening the paint. Then I go in with a sharpened tooth pick dipped in thinner to get all of the fine points. The glue can be an issue if you're not careful. Make sure you trim as close as possible to the script or emblem & take extra care to make sure the excess glue is removed before shooting your last coat of paint. Some guys do use the same method with sanding or polishing rather than thinner, & it is possible to get a good finished result doing it that way. I have done it that way but found that it was too easy to sand right through the foil to the primer. Plus, depending on the grit you use, dulling of the foil can be an issue. But if it works better for you that way, by all means, do it! I like to use some of my black builds as examples of how well this technique works. Steve

That's the way to do it in my opinion. You can still get great results, even with very fine engraving. But I apply the foil later in the process. Usually right before the last color coat. Saves a lot of time removing paint after each coat. I prefer to do it once! The Buick insignia on the trunk lid of the AMT '61 Buick is one of the finest I've done, & it still turned out very nice using the "foil under paint" technique. Steve

I think you have to take into consideration the giant swell of after market producers over the past couple of decades. Granted, some are leaving the scene, but when you look back 20 years & see that there were very few after market producers & how many have popped up since then, it only makes sense that a few would eventually fall by the wayside. I think that it's just a natural ebb & flow. Now if you ask me if I think that modeling in general is slowly dying off, my answer would be yes. But I think with new technologies like 3-D printing coming onto the scene, we will continue to see some new after market goodies coming, especially in the resin part of the hobby. Resin may begin to go away, but I look forward to what may be headed our way with the refinement of 3-D printing. Steve

Bingo! I was hoping it would be something simple! Looks much better Smelly! Great looking Model! Steve

To me it doesn't look like warpage would be the problem. The hood looks to be evenly "lifted" in the rear, & evenly "low" in the front. That tells me that there is something interfering with it seating properly. If it were warped, or the body were warped, I would expect to see it seated correctly on one side or the other in either the front or back, & the other side lifted or lower. It's difficult to tell from the photo whether or not the air cleaner is too high, being shot from such a high angle. It only needs to be a sliver too high to interfere with the hood. Steve

Great looking Ford! I wouldn't give up on the fit of the hood either Smelly. I'll bet that with either a little shaving on the under side of the hood, or possibly a little work on the firewall, you could get it to sit better. It looks like it's sitting a little low in the fronts well. Could it be that some minor shimming in the front would bring down the rear? Or is the air cleaner hitting the hood? If that's the case, a little work on the intake of the engine might solve the problem. Or you could always swipe a set of hood hinges from another kit & display it with the hood open. Steve

These are great kits! It's really surprising how detailed Johan was getting with some of their kits by 1970. Kind of makes me wonder what we could have expected from them had they survived to this day. Steve

I try not to even do that! Welcome John! Steve

Great ideas guys! I do like the idea of something a little different & the dog dish caps have become anything but different. I've always liked the look of the Magnum wheels, but they are pretty much old news. The deluxe caps look like a cool idea, but at this point Mike, I don't think I want to invest any more into this project. I do have a '69 Dart kit, but if the caps aren't correct, I'll let that one go. On the other hand, the recall wheels are intriguing! I'll have to give that some very serious thought! I have an old built MPC '69 Barracuda, but the wheels aren't in great shape any more. So Bill, if the offer stands, I may very well be interested in the recall wheels if you're willing to part with them. Maybe I should just send this kit to you for finishing! You seem to have all of the ideas that never cross my mind! I'll PM you. Steve

Also known as Dodge "Light Gunmetal" & Chrysler "Gunmetal" in '71 & just plain old "Gray" in '72. Steve