StevenGuthmiller

Right, if oranges were the size of wrecking balls! Steve

I always have to laugh a little when I see this "pro-built" nonsense. Obviously this seller has never seen what a "pro" can build. It definitely would not include this much orange peel & the crappy job on the trim! Just call it what it is. a built kit! Steve

You were correct not to Bill. If you were planning on using a Sharpie to tint it, you would have ruined it. Never spray clear over Sharpie. It will definitely run. Even using paint is a question mark. Depending upon what sort of paint you use & what kind of clear you put over the top, you could have left yourself open to all sorts of problems. Much safer doing it later. Steve

Looks great Bill. Who cares if the color is not an exact match, it still looks terrific! I have the same problems with getting good photos to show the true colors. The best way that I've found is to get it out in the sunlight. That always seems to really make the colors pop! I built a '61 Bonneville a couple of years ago in "Richelieu Blue". It looked kind of "ho-hum" in the house, but when I got it outside to take photos...........Yikes! it was enough to make your eyes bleed! Keep up the good work! Steve

Glad they worked for you Bill! Like I said, once you get this down, you'll never go back! Steve

Just a couple of teaser pics. I had pretty much dismissed using white walls on this one, but after trying them out, we have a winner! I said I wanted it to be a little different. Steve

Hobby Lobby carries them. Steve

Not at all Bill, I know you're just having a little fun with my ignorance of these cars in general. I've already gone to much greater lengths than I normally would have to be as correct as possible on this project, mostly because I have an excellent source of information...........You!! But, as Mick Jagger says, "You can't always get what you want". It'll be close enough for me, even with a few warts. Steve

Looks good Bill. Just take your time with the scripts. I'm betting that they'll look great! Just as a side note, When I use this method, I use MCW "air brush cleaner", not your garden variety home improvement store lacquer thinner. The stuff is wildly hot & will take any kind of paint off with very little effort. The cheap lacquer thinner smells to me more like acetone than lacquer thinner. Might not be a bad idea to go to your auto paint supply place & see if they have a good cleaner for paint guns & air brushes. Might make a big difference. Not necessary. You can clean the scripts any time. As long as you have a good thinner, it doesn't matter when you do it. Steve Steve

Thanks guys! I ran into a little bit of unforeseen "fit" issues with the engine that required a little bit of adjustment. The engine is evidently a little longer than the AMT engine causing the fan to interfere with the radiator. The only way I could come up with to fix it, (or at least the easiest way) was to bore an impression into the radiator to accept the fan clutch. Not ideal, but it shouldn't be too evident when finished. Also, there was a void in the frame to accommodate the oil filter, but it was out of position & not deep enough for the Revell engine. So a little grinding with the trusty Dremel was required there as well. I've done a couple of test fits throughout the day, & everything seems to fit ok, I just hope I don't have any major issues upon final assembly. Time will tell I guess. Steve

The coil is backwards because there was no way I was going to get it in correctly because of the fuel line, filter & vacuum lines. There's just way too much going on in that corner of the engine. So I figured, the coil will work the same no matter if it's facing East or West. As far as the breather goes, I wasn't sure. I've seen some of both. Steve

No John, it's a M.A.D. pre-wired distributor. As far as the dipstick goes, I'm not really sure of the correct position, but I've seen them both ways. I was going off of photos like this. Steve

Just finished the engine. This is the engine from the Revell '68 Charger. It's a very nice piece! I added some wiring & plumbing, including some carb linkage & return spring, a scratch built fuel filter & line, & a dip stick. The rest is all from the kit. Man I hate putting those decals on these "conical" shaped air cleaners! By the way, Thank you to "Casey" for the '69 Charger Decals! That's where the air cleaner decal came from. Appreciate it Casey!! Steve

One thing that I just noticed from your photo also Craig is that the 1:1 doesn't seem to have the "vent" slots under the grille, yet the kit does. Something else I hadn't noticed until now. Oh well, I probably wouldn't have bothered to mess with that anyway. Steve

Too late for any more panel lines now. Body has been painted for a while. I did manage to remember to scribe in the panel lines on the cowl & tulip panel though, something that the original kit lacked & one of those things that I sometimes have a hard time remembering to do. Steve

You'll never get it down if you don't get over the fear of trying it. I've never been able to understand the fear of BMF. It's one of the most forgiving aspects of building a model car. There aren't many other things involved in a build that you can just peel off & do over if you don't like the result. If you mess up your painted trim, you're screwed. Mess up a piece of foil?.......no big deal. Steve

Much better!! Steve

You guys are a wealth of information! Sometimes, a little too much! But seriously, at this point, I'm not going to change the finish of the steering wheel, so I guess I'll forgo any wood grain on the shifter knob. Maybe if I had known a little earlier, I could have done it a little differently. But it'll do as is. I will, more than likely, change out the shifter though. I like it! We'll go with that! Steve

Thanks Bill. I knew the console cars had that funky bend in them. That was part of the reason I was thinking about changing it. As far as the color of the knob goes, the one in this photo was kind of what I was going for. Most of the photos I've seen of them were pretty much "tan" like this with very little wood look. Same with the steering wheels. Steve

I agree. The only place that I use foil under the paint is the scripts & very small parts like door & trunk locks, or those little Chrysler emblems on the lower front fender of 60s Mopars. The rest gets it over the paint. I've had very good luck with this technique. Pretty much 100%. I'm sure a lot depends on how your doing it & what sort of paint your using. I've only been using this technique for a few years & it works extremely well for me. Keep trying. You'll get the hang of it. And when you do, you'll never go back to doing it any other way! Steve

I think it looks great! Although I'm not real keen on those bright yellows. Something a little more subdued would have probably been more appropriate for a cruiser like this. But, if brightening it up was your goal, you surely accomplished that! I have this same kit that I plan to do in the future. Mine will be a pale metallic purple called "Light Mauve". Steve

Thanks Lloyd! I'm still seriously considering dumping that shifter for something a little more in scale looking. Every time I look at that "chunky" thing, I think it's gotta go! Steve

I see by the list Bill, that the bumble bee stripe was also standard. Now, if I'm doing this as a stripe delete, my question would be, if you could get it without the stripe, do you think you could get it without the wheel trim? Because that's my story, & I'm stickin' to it. Steve

Is that a promo Tommy? Just thought with everything painted the same color, it looked like a promo. Steve

That's kind of what I was thinking. Which is why I was a little baffled to see pictures like this. Steve