StevenGuthmiller

I was just playing around & thought I could post a couple of "mock up" pics. The stance is lower than it will be when finished. Got the body about half foiled. Steve

I use plain old Elmers glue thinned just a little & then use colored embossing powder over it. I paint the area to be flocked in a similar color first. Steve

I usually do mine in one thin coat over a shiny black base. I have the same problem. The more coats I use, the more likely it seems it will look like silver paint. But then again, I only use it for very small parts. I have my large parts re-plated. Steve

You might have seen the ready made filters offered by some after market companies. I just buy a couple occasionally from Model Roundup. They carry the "Preston's Car Parts" filters with the filters & fuel lines ready to use. More expensive than scrounging for your own, but less fooling around. Steve

Just a couple more pics of the finished upholstery pattern. Steve

Yeah, you fooled me too. The color made me think that it was bare plastic. I thought I was looking at some sort of long lost promo! Good job Mark! Steve

That is very interesting! Although I'm not much of a wagon guy, I have to say, that's a new one to me. I never knew anything like that existed. Steve

Thanks Curt. Yes, I do mix my own colors. Nothing really special about mixing them. I just start with the darkest shade & then just add a a few drops at a time to some white to make my lighter shades. Steve

Chances are pretty good that sanding will do little but benefit a brush paint job. You may even want to consider sanding & polishing your final coat to help eliminate brush marks. Just be careful not to sand through the paint to the plastic. I don't think I'd start with anything coarser than 400 grit. Steve

exactly. Not your fault Ernie. That's the original poster's issue. Steve

I agree! I almost always try to find an up top for the convertibles I build if one was available.

1961 was a strange year for up tops from AMT. Some kits like the '61 Bonneville & Ford convertibles had the option of either the boot or up top. Unfortunately, the '61 Buick wasn't one of them. Instead, it came with some goofy custom "half" top. Although, I'm fairly positive that if you could get your hands on a top from the Bonneville kit, it should fit perfectly. Steve

Personally, I would mask off the blue area & then sand the white a little & then re-shoot the white. Seems like the easiest solution to me. Steve

Actually Rich, some of them aren't that bad. This one looks worse than it really is. After starting with white primer as a base, all I did was mask the perimeter of each panel & then lay on very thin strips of foil in between every 2 "ribs" of the molded upholstery pattern. Then I just painted each stripe alternating colors. When you remove the foil strips, it leaves a thin white stripe between each colored stripe, giving you a very "intricate" looking pattern without a huge amount of work. Much less work than some other patterns I've attempted. Steve

Thanks Rich! I've really gotten into spending more time on interiors. Over the years, I was always so disappointed with how my interiors looked. Even if the outside looked great, I found myself a little embarrassed with the mediocre look of my interiors. So, I decided a while back that it was time to put a little more effort into the inside, even though you really don't see much of it when it's done, I know what's there & it bugs me if I feel I didn't at least put forth my best effort. Plus, it's very satisfying to see what can actually be done with these 3 piece interior tubs from this era with a little extra work. Steve

Thanks John! Nothing special for the piping. Just paint. I normally don't mess with the piping. A lot of the cars from that era had piping that matched the vinyl anyway. But I do think it adds a little more visual "pop". They're really not that hard to do, and I think I might do them more often, where applicable at least. Steve

They are nasty! Steve

Thanks guys! Steve

Sweet looking Yenko! Welcome Matt! Steve

I haven't given up on this project. Just been bogged down with things at work, so it's been going a little slower than I'd like. The body is partially polished. Hoping to finish that this weekend so I can start on the enviable job of foiling it! The interior is taking some time as well. A lot of masking & painting, but it's coming out pretty well. I've been trying to get a "section" done every night if possible. Hopefully, I'll finish that up this weekend as well. I had a little difficulty finding photos of an Invicta hard top upholstery pattern to replicate. A lot of convertibles, Lesabres & Electras, but very few Invicta hard tops. I did find one "acceptable" photo to go by The stripes look pretty flashy in the 3 shades of turquoise. Anyway. here's what I've been up to. Steve

Very nice Emmanuel! I started one of these months ago & pretty much abandoned it due to paint issues. I have to get it done one of these days. Personally, I think it's the nicest looking Imperial they ever built! By the way, you can still get reproductions of those Satco tires through Modelhaus. I use a lot of them. Great looking tires. Steve

I don't doubt you at all Emmanuel. There were some pretty unusual combos back then. The Rose Quartz color seems to have been paired with almost everything in '59. Steve

The old Johan Chrysler 300 kits from '63-'68 had the cross ram as a custom option. They build up pretty nice with a little love. Steve