StevenGuthmiller

At least you have some illegalities that you can report to law enforcement to possibly remedy the situations. The town cops are going to ignore me if I complain about barking dogs or idling pickups in the early morning. I don’t think I have much recourse aside from direct confrontation which will probably just make things worse. Steve

Of course there are circumstances where it’s better to paint parts prior to assembly, even if they are the same color as the body. Although it might seem impractical or difficult to pin some parts, it can be possible with care and small enough bits. The Fireball door handles that I posted in an earlier post are a prime example. Not an easy operation due to the part size, but entirely possible. Steve

Absolutely! sometimes it’s a much better alternative for small, difficult to position parts, even if they come plated. Small example is the fuel door molding that I fabricated and added to my ‘64 Bonneville. Not only would it have been impossible to pin, but accurate positioning would have been extremely difficult. Steve

.....Or am I just getting old and cranky? I love having my windows open when the weather begins to get nice, and in this part of the country, it's a pretty short period of time. I love hearing the sounds of the birds singing and the frogs croaking in the spring, and the crickets in the fall, and the sounds of children playing, and just the "normal" sounds of summer life in a small town are all so very welcome. But it's becoming increasingly difficult to withstand the inconsiderate and unnecessary racket coming from a number of my neighbors, that continues to drive me up the wall, ALL SEASON LONG! My next door neighbor has a penchant for deciding to mow his lawn late in the evening, (like 8:30 or 9:00) when everybody else in the neighborhood is expecting to be able to wind down and enjoy a little peace and quiet for the night, and this is a normal occurrence several times a week! My neighbor across the street has a son with a loud diesel Dodge pickup who feels the need to start it up and let it run in the driveway for a minimum of a half an hour, early every morning, and often other hours of the day as well. 😣 There's also another neighbor who lets his dog out early in the morning who then proceeds to sit and bark INCESSANTLY for the entire time. (sometimes an hour or more) Another neighbor has cleared some of the brush out of the wood line directly behind me to create a "track" so that his kids can run their four wheelers back and forth, and back and fourth, and BACK AND FORTH, for hours upon hours, nearly every day, ALL DAY LONG!! ☠️ Is it just me, or have people lost all consideration for the people around them? Anyway..... Excuse my rant, but the wife and I are considering a move when we fully retire in a few years, and I'm not going to miss ANY of them!!! When we consider where our next residence will be, the "absence" of annoying neighbors is going to be a HUGE factor!! Steve

I agree with Bill. It's a more advanced alternative, and it can sometimes require that you do the pinning and drilling of parts early in the process prior to paint, but it's going to give you the cleanest and most secure result. I use 2-part epoxy myself, but the type of glue used is far less important than the pinning. Steve

A more relevant question would be, "has anyone NOT built this?" I couldn't tell you for certain, but it could very well be one of the very first kits that I ever did back when I first started building in the 70s. I'll echo what Bob said about the body proportions compared to an actual '55 Chevy, but my memory from when I was 10 tells me it was a pretty cool kit, at least for it's time. Of course it's no competition when comparing it to a modern kit, but it can certainly still build into a pretty cool looking drag car. Just be aware of what it is, and don't be one of the "model kit whiners" that expects every kit to be a modern engineering marvel once you open the box.......Please!! Oh, by the way. I don't know what the "2 in 1" thing is all about. It builds into either a gasser, or a gasser. Steve

Certainly. I’m not suggesting anyone change their paint regimen either. Just offering my opinion on the product in question as this is a thread about Scale Finishes paint. Nothing more. Steve

Of course. You do you. I just don’t want anybody to get the impression that Scale Finishes paints are somehow an inferior product. The discovery of MCW and Scale Finishes products was a true epiphany for me! The ability to easily access any factory correct color in a premixed, ready to use form, saves me the time and aggravation of either having to try to find it in a spray can, or trying to duplicate it myself for airbrush. I routinely take many months to complete a project, so cost is all but meaningless to me, as I rarely paint more than one or two projects in a 12 month period anyway, and it’s more important to me to have an accurate representation of the chosen color than it is to save a couple of dollars. Acrylic paint is nearly foreign to me as I use lacquer exclusively for bodies, and mostly enamels for everything else. I’ve never felt the need to make the transition to acrylics, and most likely never will. Steve

I’ll second M.A.D. (Morgan Automotive Detail) Wonderful product, and affordable as well. Steve

You probably got a bad bottle. Hardly a reason to impugn an entire product line. If you had contacted the proprietors, they would have been more than happy to replace the defective product free of charge. By the way, Scale Finishes does not manufacture the product. They merely mix and package DuPont automotive paints specifically for the hobby. It’s also not necessary to use Scale Finishes primer. As it’s simply an automotive lacquer, any good quality automotive lacquer primer will suffice. I use Duplicolor primer. Works just fine. Steve

I like it….a lot!! But, if I could make one suggestion for the next time that you build one of these old screw bottom, annual style kits. Get rid of the radiator bulkhead with those horrendously ugly screw posts! It’s a relatively easy operation to cut it out and replace it with either a piece from another kit, or it’s pretty simple to make one from scratch from a piece of sheet plastic. You can then usually remove the screw plate, (flange) from the front bumper should you desire. But, in any case, getting rid of those homely screw posts from the radiator bulkhead makes a HUGE improvement in the engine bay appearance. Just as an illustration, here is a ‘62 Chrysler that I modified the radiator bulkhead on. You can see the predominant screw posts in the “before” shot, and how it looked after some modifications. It’s a vast improvement! Forgive my forwardness on this subject, but those posts have just become something that I can’t unsee anymore. I have to address them whenever they’re present on my projects. Steve

There are limits to everything. Steve

It's personalized alright. I can't imagine that anyone else would want it. Steve

I use lacquer for my bodies, so there's no need for a dehydrator. The paint is dry to the handling point within an hour or two, and there's always something that you can work on during that period. Paint is fully cured and ready for polishing within a few days to a week. As far as working on more than one model at a time, it's a near impossibility for me as I do a lot of modification and scratch building, so I need to have a LOT of parts floating around on my workbench as I work on engineering parts to fit for swapping and scratch making. If I had a hundred different parts laying around for more than one project, it would be total confusion. Steve

Wasn’t intentional, but I guess it works. 😉 Steve

You can use WD-40 on any type of paint. a little on a cotton swab will wipe it right off. Just be cognizant that once you’ve used it, if any additional coats of paint or decals are required, the model will need to be cleaned well with plenty of warm water and a grease cutting dish washing detergent. Steve

Wow! I guess there are some people that just have no sense of style! This is a prime example of the problem that I often have with custom cars. Everybody thinks that they're a "designer". 🤮 Steve

I can’t say that I really have a “favorite” hubcap. There are interesting, or good looking ones, and there are others that are mundane and boring. I guess looking at it from the model building perspective, there are a few that I’ve used on some of my projects that I really like the look of. A couple that come to mind are the wheel covers on the ‘67 Galaxie, and the Pontiac 8-lug reminiscent hubcaps on the ‘64 Bonneville. That said, I’ve also had some sort of affinity for Dodge 4-bar spinners, and Edsel caps. Steve

Just on eBay. you can get them in many different sizes and shapes. Steve

Doesn’t the Revell ‘65 Z16 Chevelle have those hubcaps as well? Steve

For something larger like that, I usually shave off the majority of it with a #11 blade, leaving just a tiny bit of it still evident above the surface, and then sand the rest. For areas more difficult to get to, such as large pin marks on an interior floor, I use a flat chisel blade, but use a scraping motion with the blade at a 90 degree angle to the work instead of trying to cut or chisel it off. Once you’re down very close to the surrounding surface, you can finish with a little sanding. Steve

I’ve seen some pretty decent looking stock wheels on some modern vehicles, (and some pretty darn ugly ones). I’m pretty partial to the wheels on my 2005 Honda S-2000, but then again, I might be bit biased. 😊 Steve

For aftermarket, Cragar S/S, no doubt. For stock rims, it’s a toss up between Magnums, or Pontiac Rally II. Steve

https://alclad2.com/ Steve

Shot this short video to illustrate how quickly the hood display can be changed. Steve