StevenGuthmiller

As I stated above, the filler primer wasn’t working for me, so I used paint instead. I’m really not looking to add any texture at all. In 1/25th scale, the texture of the cloth would be virtually undetectable. Steve

The Duplicolor “filler primer” that I purchased turned out to be a bust. It was cracking and lifting the primer under it. So I sanded it off and just used a couple of coats of Duplicolor paint instead, and then primed it again. I ended up with a few deep scratches that I hadn’t noticed initially, so now I’m sanding and priming again. ? Steve

That’s what Molotow was designed for. Another reason that I don’t trust it. It was never designed to be permanent. Steve

I personally wouldn’t waste my time or money on the stuff anymore. It’s expensive, undependable and nobody can tell you what it’s going to look like on the model over time. Might last forever, but then again, it might not. I’ll let everybody else be the guinea pigs. BMF and Alclad do everything I need them to do, so I personally have no use for Molotow. Steve

My 2 pens lasted less than a year. Steve

Don’t know about “thermoquad” but Fireball has Carter Quadrajets. Steve

I don't know what to say other than in the time that I spend on a number of Facebook groups, I see Rustoleum issues on an almost daily basis. Personally, I would never use Rustoleum paint on anything other than the occasional chassis part. With all of the constant issues that I see with the stuff, it's not worth the risk. Steve

Thank you Keith! I appreciate your contribution! Although it required quite a bit of work, I'm glad that I made the attempt. Now I have options with other convertibles in the future. Before: After: Steve

Thanks everyone! Got the top seams in. I think they look pretty good, and it finishes the top off nicely! Still have to address a few sanding scratches in the center panel, but I think other than a final paint color, it's nearly complete. I'm pretty pleased with the results. Steve

I think I'll pass. Did get some primer on it tonight! I have to say, I think it exceeded my expectations. Probably still a little sanding and tweaking here and there, and then a couple of coats of primer/filler down the center to create the seams, but I'm quite happy with it! Steve

Just for giggles, I decided to add some rudimentary top mechanism detail to the inside of the rag top. Steve

Steve

It’s probably going to be a tall order, and most likely not worth the effort in my opinion. I’m always thinking in terms of scale with things like this as when you consider that everything needs to be 1/25th the size of the real article, that doesn’t leave a lot of room to achieve the texture, yet still keep it in scale. My thought would be that Brian’s suggestion would be the most likely to be successful and still remain somewhat to scale, but even then could be difficult to execute, and once done, is likely to be more or less unnoticeable in any case. Personally, I think that I’d just stick to trying to do a convincing regular vinyl top, which in itself is not always an easy undertaking if you want it to look in scale. My opinion is that in a great number of cases, attempted vinyl tops on models exhibit way too much texture as is. Steve

Something makes me think that the scale of something like this would be way off. Steve

Good luck to your friend! Steve

The Revell ‘69 Dart has an automatic. I used it with the Hemi in my ‘68 Coronet. Steve

On hold. Decided to start a ‘64 Pontiac Lemans instead. Steve

I appreciate that Trevor, but I bought a brand new Revell '66 Goat to rob for parts for this project, and the console in the '66 is exactly the same as the '64. Steve

Thanks everyone! Getting closer on the top, and beginning to open up the body so that the top sits down inside rather than just resting on top. I narrowed the rear glass by adding some fill panels to the sides, and then added a thin piece of shaped plastic to the bottom of the rear window opening. This will give me something to attach the rear window to, and insure that it will retain it's concave shape when the top is not in place. Once fitment is exactly where I want it, I'll begin adding the boot snap trim and finish up the piping and seals around the window opening. Steve

I’ve never trusted those clips in the first place. I’ve had old kits with them that there seemed like there was a possibility of breaking the hood when opening it. Don’t know how else to explain it, but personally, I would never use them. I’ve just gotten myself used to knowing that the hood is loose, and take that into consideration when handling the model. Eventually it just becomes force of habit. Steve

For a ‘64 Dodge, there’s no need to go through all of the work of making bucks and vacuum forming glass. The windshield is relatively flat without any compound curves and should be pretty easy to replicate in clear sheet plastic. I use .007 “Lay Film”, tape it in place, glue with clear epoxy where there’s no tape, and once cured, remove the tape and add more epoxy. once done the glass should be perfectly formed in place, and with the epoxy, it’s not going anywhere. I’ve used nothing but variations of this technique for some time. Haven’t used kit glass for any of my builds for some years. Steve

I can’t disagree with any of that, but I guess if I made the decision to build a box stock model, and enter it in a contest, I would just build it as it came from the box and go with that. In any case, if it so happened that it did not meet the rules for that particular category, I wouldn’t let that stop me from entering it in a different category. Steve

I suppose that there might be a way to thin kit glass if you really want to do a heck of a lot of work for absolutely no reason, but I wouldn’t know how. I’d be interested, and very surprised, to see if anyone has ever attempted it. I have my doubts. Steve

Exactly. Without knowing a particular contests specific rules, there’s no way of knowing, which is why my suggestion is to build it how you want to build it, and let the proverbial “contest chips” fall where they may. It really makes little difference which categories you compete in. The category Itself has little bearing on the quality of the competition. Every category has it’s “gods” that you’ll have to compete with. Steve

My understanding is that you may only decorate with paint, and foil for a box stock build. Everything else must be contained in the box. There may be variations as to what may be performed as modifications from show to show, but if you suspect that there may be issues, just do what you want to the project and then enter it into the corresponding category. I would never let my creativity be dictated by a contest category. Compete in whatever category your build ends up in. Steve