StevenGuthmiller

Maybe some sort of "clown car" build? Or what a '49 woody looks like on acid? Steve

Nice one Bill! You should be in pretty good shape now. Seems like the Ford, Buick & Pontiac are the toughest AMT annuals to find. I have seen quite a few Edsels & Impalas. By the way, I ordered a set of stock '58 Buick skirts from Modelhaus back when I built mine & never used them. Let me know if it's something you might use. Steve

I have one of the annual kits that I need to build at some point. First thing I have to do is remove the vinyl top detail. Personally, I never liked the look of vinyl tops on the '69-'72 Grand Prix. But, then again, I'm a little biased. Steve

I've always thought of the Grand Prix as being a "luxury muscle" car. All of the same goodies as a full sized luxury Pontiac with the same performance as a Firebird. Uh.....Except 700 lbs. heavier. Steve

I believe so. I know the '68 Chrysler was molded in tan. Steve

Oh don't get me wrong, I love my Model J! This car had all of the bells & whistles of the day. Pearl white interior, power windows, vacuum door locks, AM FM radio with "reverberator", air conditioning with "Temperature Control", 350 horse 400 with a Quadrojet 4 bbl, automatic transmission, dual exhaust & a limited slip differential. Not to mention that ground breaking first ever radio antenna in the windshield! I loved every minute of driving this car, & hopefully we'll have a little "reunion" soon! Steve

Thanks guys! This car is like a family member to me. I bought it right out of high school & it's seen a lot of milestones. I took my wife to 2 proms in it as well as using it for the "get away" car at our wedding, so it has sentimental value to her as well. It's probably not the best candidate for a resto, but when I suggested we get rid of it & buy something else, my wife said "hell no"! I'm sure when it's all done we'll have more into it than it will ever be worth. But it will most likely be passed down in the family rather than ever sold anyway. I'm not looking for a perfect "nut & bolt" restoration, we just want a nice driver that we can relive some of our younger days in. It's the 400. Just a "J" model, not an "SJ". But it's still the original engine & tranny that the car was born with......completely rebuilt of course. Here are a couple of shots fresh out of the shed where it sat for 28 years. I guess you could call it a "barn find". Except I knew it was there! Steve

Yup, pretty sure I bought one of those sometime in the 80s. I think they were available right around the same time as the "USA Oldies" series. Maybe a little before or after. I remember buying it right around the same time that I bought a Johan '68 Chrysler 300 & a '70 Eldorado. Steve

My 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix is far from being done, but it is breathing fire again after 28 years! I've had it at a local shop going through all of the mechanical stuff, & I do mean all of it, for the past several months. Finally got to hear it run yesterday after over a quarter decade of silence, & it was sweet music! Still need to go through a lot of the chassis stuff yet & then it'll probably be several years at least to make it "not" look like a pearl wrapped in an old potato sack, Need to save up more cash for all of that. In the meantime, I'll bring it home & start cleaning the nearly 30 years of dirt & grime off of everything. That alone should make a big difference. Steve

No problem Harry. This is just what's been working for me. There are a million other methods that may work just as well for you. Just remember, while the Duplicolor clear is more durable, it will also be thinner coats, so I would recommend using multiple coats to help guard against "burn through". And although the shine might not be what you were expecting right after application, it will shine up nicely with polishing. Steve

It does look good though. Give this "sprue" thing a try. You may find it simple & the finished lens is every bit as tough as a regular kit lens. A larger lens like the one pictured may be a little tougher though, requiring a larger diameter piece of clear plastic. Steve

Forget it if you plan on doing any masking directly on the metalizer itself. The tape will peel off sections of the surface ruining the finish. Metalizer paint is very fragile in that respect. You can spray a clear coat over the top of it first, but that will completely obliterate the "metal" affect of the paint making it look like just plain old silver. Steve

I use the "dump" method. No shakers or applicators required. I don't use flocking. I use embossing powder. I just cover the area with slightly thinned white glue & dump the powder on, shake it around & dump off the excess onto a piece of newspaper so it can be reused. Had very good luck with this method. Steve

They look pretty much the same as mine right after molding. I just saw them off with a razor saw & do a little trimming & sanding. Another good tip is to drop them back into the mold after you've got them trimmed & sanded to the right thickness & shape & then hit the back side of the lens with a little more heat. It will slightly "re-melt" the back of the lens & clear it up after sanding. Saves having to do a bunch of polishing on such small parts. Steve

You could try some Duplicolor clear. it doesn't go on as shiny, but it sprays on thinner so multiple coats are easier than with Testors. I used 3 coats of Duplicolor clear, followed by sanding to eliminate any orange peel, followed by 2 more coats of clear & then polishing to shine it up. Duplicolor is a harder more durable clear than Testors so it will hold up to a more rigorous polishing. Just try to stay away from body "peaks" and panel edges when polishing. That's where you're most likely to polish through the clear coat. Steve

Clear coat is just paint, same as any other. As a matter of fact, you're much better off polishing clear coats than color coats. Polishing color coats, especially metallics, can lead to all sorts of undesirable results. The trick is to have sufficient clear coat thickness to prevent burning through to the color. I usually use up to 5 coats. First of all, what type of paint & clear are you using? If it's a lacquer clear coat, I've never seen it orange peel like that. This '62 was painted with about 4 color coats followed by 5 clear coats & then polished. Steve

Nice work! Talk about a heart breaker to see this sitting in the tow lot! Steve

Very nice Ken! It's always nice to find these old annuals in such nice shape! Steve

Correct. I never said that they were a deal. Just pointing out the fact that they were available from other vendors as well. Steve

Be careful Bill.I posted a couple of pics of wrecked cars a while back & was hugely berated for being insensitive. Seems that if there was any possibility that an injury "may" have occurred, you will become a prime target as an "attention whore" if my memory serves me correctly. Steve

Yes, Mobius is offering these tires as a "tire pack". Model Roundup has them for $4.90 a set. Steve

Looks great Nick! Really stands out! Steve

Looks better with the frosted lens Smelly! I hate those locator pins on the clear parts. They're so prominent if you don't do something with them. Looks really nice!! Steve

Parking lights are clear. All of these old cars had clear parking lights all the way into at least the 60s Amber lights didn't come around until later. Even then, a lot of them had clear lenses & amber bulbs. Very nice build Smelly!! Steve

That's the way they are in the kit Harry. I believe they're supposed to be a small triangular shaped logo. Unfortunately, there are no wheel hub decals in the '54 kit. Steve