StevenGuthmiller

AAAAH!! Somebody kill it! Steve

Probably not as bad as Palmer kits, but yeah, I agree. Steve

Just arrived today courtesy of my good friend Bill Allphin, (gtx6970). We did a little trading & this was what I got on my end. A pretty much pristine Johan 1963 Plymouth Fury! I was a little amazed at how well the chrome looked on this kit! A lot of these old Johan kits had less than stellar chrome right from the factory. This is one of their better examples, plus the fact that it survived this many years without even a blemish is astounding to me. Thanks Bill!! Steve

Depends a lot on the condition & thickness of the plastic. I got away with it once recently. I happened to have this '61 Plymouth that was molded in yellow & looked too good to paint. I still sanded off the mold lines & luckily there were no sink marks to repair. Polished out the bare plastic & left it alone. No clear coat required. Steve

I love the '61 Olds! One of my absolute favorite cars. Not real big on 4 doors so I picked up a Flintstone 88 hardtop a while back. A little thick but very nicely cast. Steve

It's the USA Oldies one. Most of the parts are from the newer kit. The green parts, like the top, are the annual parts. Steve

Tamiya tape is my "go to" for paint lines as well. It sticks very well so there's no "bleed under" but doesn't stick too much so there's little danger of leaving adhesive residue, or damaging the paint when removed. I also use blue painters tape & masking paper to fill in the large areas. Steve

This kit has been around for a long time but went the way of the dinosaur when Johan went out of business many years ago, so they're all collectible now. The original annual came with customizing parts & the up top. The later "USA Oldies" kit had stock parts only with no up top. This was a mixture of the 2 as evidenced by the 2 different plastic colors. The box is also original annual. The interiors, engines & chassis were rudimentary as was standard with these annuals from the period. The interior consists of 3 parts including a tub with the seats molded in, a dash & a steering wheel. Steve

This was one of them. I saw that with little time left there were still no bidders on it, so just for the heck of it, I bid the staring bid never expecting to get it. Seems like whenever I don't expect to win an auction, I invariably do! Anyway, I thought $32.50 was a fair price. Steve

Mail man dropped this off today! It's a mixture of newer & vintage parts from the original annual & the "USA Oldies" kits. I bought it mostly because it included the up-top. Got it fairly cheap anyway. The chrome is all from the newer kit which means it won't need re-chroming, so this one may jump the line a bit & get built soon. I already have colors & engine picked out. It will be "Luminous Brown" with a black top, the cross ram 413 wedge engine from the AMT '49 Merc kit, and a set of Torq Thrust wheels. Not completely stock, but not too far off. Steve

I'm curious. Did you use Testors clear for your clear coats? If so, this looks like a perfect example of why I stopped using it. I have had similar issues appear, (although not as badly) as long as a month after clear coating. After ruining 3 or 4 paint jobs this way, I swore off Testors clear. I've never had the same issue with the other clears that I use now. Steve

Another trick you can use, if you want a white top is to spray the entire kit with white primer. Than just mask off the top, spray the rest the body color, unmask the top & shoot the whole thing with clear. Kind of kills 2 birds with one stone. Steve

I've bought probably 4 sheets in the past year. No problems whatsoever. Steve

Ditto! When you restore old annuals, you have to do this all of the time. If it's just minor abrasions, that's exactly how I do it. Steve

The kits that I have, ('63-'68) Johan Chryslers & Plymouths all share pretty much the same chassis with a few minor variations. Steve

There seem to be all kinds of little "glitches" going on. I've had issues with replying to threads quite often. When I click on "reply" on particularly long threads, about half the time I don't get a text box to type a message in. I found a way around that one, but I've also had the problem of clicking on "reply" on a thread that I had responded to in the past & getting a whole page of "quoted" messages from past posts! Not to mention the "Insert other media" button being pretty much useless, although I haven't tried inserting any photos that way for several months. There are obviously still problems to address. Steve

Thank you very much Curt! Steve

Depends on the type of paints you're using, & how you're applying it. I use mostly Duplicolor products with MCW colors & I never have problems with burying details. My average build has 4-5 coats of primer, 3-4 coats of color, & as many as 5 clear coats. This '64 Chrysler got the full treatment. 14 coats! No trouble with covering details. Steve

I don't think the '59 El Camino kit is all that bad to foil. As far as 1950s cars go, it's pretty tame! Try a '59 Dodge or a '58 Buick! Steve

I glue whatever is necessary to hold it together. I've even been known to glue the tires to the wheels if necessary! As far as "smoothing" the tires, I'm assuming as mike did, that you mean the tread. Just regular old sand paper for me. Steve

Wow! That's a beauty Vince! The second shot looks like something right out of a magazine! Welcome to the forum. Steve

I don't know if the "pledge" is necessary, but my routine is close to Snake's. I only sand in between coats of primer & color if necessary & I usually use multiple coats of all 3, primer, color & clear. I use several coats of primer to make very sure that I guard against any "crazing" of the plastic due to the fact that I'm using automotive lacquers for top coats. I use, on average, 3 to 4 coats of color for various reasons, one of which is so I can use the "foil under paint" technique for scripts. I also use as many as 4-5 coats of clear. This of course is only a good idea if you're using a clear coat that doesn't go on too heavy & cover all of your detail. I use Duplicolor "Perfect Match" in a spray can for the first few coats, & lately I've been using Duplicolor "Paint Shop" clear through an airbrush for the last couple. I've found that the more clear I use, the less likely I am to polish through the paint anywhere during the polishing process. I will usually sand after about 3 coats of clear to eliminate as much orange peel as possible before applying the last couple of clear coats. As far as polishing goes, I use the "Micro Mesh" polishing kit starting with the finest grit pad possible to avoid too much scratching. I usually get by with starting with the 4000 grit pad. After polishing with the pads, I use Novus "Fine Scratch Remover" & then usually an automotive polish to finish off. (Currently I'm using Turtle Wax "Scratch & Swirl Remover". Seems to work pretty well) At the end of assembly, I give it a once over with Novus "Clean & Shine" just to remove any finger prints, etc. Steve

Thanks so much Bob! Steve

Looking really nice Matt! Have you ever used Alclad paints? The gold anodized trim can be replicated very nicely with a mixture of Alclad "Pale Gold" & "Polished Aluminum". Might be a little late for that at this point though. Probably would have been better to try that before the foil was applied. Personally, I think it looks just fine as is! Keep up the good work. It'll be a beauty when it's done! Steve

Thanks Derick! I still think the Magnum wheels & white lettered tires went a long way towards giving it a "sporty look" of any kind. Steve