StevenGuthmiller

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

I haven't to this point, but I suppose that could be an option......if space is available. I used the same technique for my '68 Dodge. Steve

Plain old Testors “Metallic Silver” enamel has pretty accurate particles if you don’t mind working with enamel rattle cans. It sprays pretty nice, lays down thin and flat, and once done, a couple of coats of a compatible clear will gloss it up nicely. The biggest drawback is that it doesn’t have very good adhesion, so if you plan on doing any masking over it, you might want to choose something else. I’ve had very good luck with a number of the silvers that MCW offers in their lacquer line. Steve

I've been doing something similar for a while, but in a slightly different way. Using the magnets, I've been making the hood hinges removable so that the model can be displayed with the hood in the open position, closed, or removed completely to better display the engine. It's not as "self contained" as the hinges need to be kept separately with the model, but it eliminates the slots in the firewall, which I always had disdain for. Steve

Thanks John. Got a little more time in the shop today, working on a few upgrades on the intake. Being as the valley pan area of this engine will be at least partially exposed, I began constructing a valley pan of sorts, and then began working on some added details on the intake manifolds themselves by adding some flanges where they bolt to the head, doing some sanding to better depict the shape of the manifolds, and beginning to add some points where accessories are bolted to them. Hopefully they’ll look a little better than original. Steve

I'm not sure what you're looking for, but the "oldest" model kits, (as far as cars go) were probably made of wood and came much earlier than plastic kits. Plastic car models started somewhere in the early to mid 50s, (my guess) and were assembled promotional models made of acetate plastic. The way I look at it, the styrene plastic model kit really began, (or at least began to take off) in 1958 with the beginning of the "annual" kit. AMT and SMP were probably the most prolific, offering a number of different makes and models. Johan jumped on the band wagon around 1959, although they had also been heavily involved in the promo market prior. I don't know where Revell fell into the picture, but my guess is in a similar time frame. It's quite possible, (or probable) that there were some rogue earlier kits than 1958, but I think it's generally accepted that that was the genesis of the modern plastic model kit. I have a number of AMT/SMP models from 1958, but I doubt that you would be able to call them "the oldest model kit". I'm sure others may have a more comprehensive take on very early kits that I'm not particularly familiar with. Here are a few of my AMT/SMP 1958 annuals. Steve

Thanks guys! Steve

The latest edition of Fine Scale Modeler arrived recently, which contains my '64 Bonneville. This should be the end of my magazine appearances for a while. Steve

I’m lucky to be alive! 😬 Steve

I took metal shop in high school. The only thing I remember learning was how to make a miniature cannon! 😁 Steve

I built one of them way back when I was still in my late teens. I don’t remember it being a particularly difficult kit. Just much more technically advanced than everything else at the time. I seem to remember a few minor fitment issues, but I can’t imagine that would cause me much heartache today. It was a pretty well engineered kit if my memory serves me. Steve

Nope. The only intimidation that I ever feel is when I’m working on a rare, obsolete kit that would be very difficult to replace in the event that I would mess it up. Otherwise, it’s just plastic. Besides, it’s a Tamiya kit. I thought they were supposed to pretty much fall together. 😉 Steve

Just spending a little time in the shop working on engine bay configuration. These are the types of things that are absolutely required when doing a lot of retrofitting and bashing. As I'm adding modified fender wells from another source, the engine intake set up is very consequential to how well the intake and fender wells will play together. It appears that I'm on the right track. This is the kind of engineering that I've really come to enjoy. Focusing on the little stuff so that it won't come back to bite me later on. Really looking forward to some more of the detail things in the future. I've got a million little ideas in my head. Steve

All true.......right now. But as with every other technology, things progress, and sometimes very quickly. Often far beyond what we can currently imagine. I remember spending over $700.00 on my first VCR. Now you couldn't give one away. Steve

Just one to my knowledge. Just above the rear bumper. Steve

Thanks fellas! I had been thinking about how to crack this very tiny nut in order to differentiate this model from a standard Dart to a D-500 version, and I thought, the only way I'm going to figure it out is to get into the shop and see what I could come up with. I could tell immediately that I wasn't going to get it exactly in scale due to the size of the parts that I was working with, but I still ended up being pretty proud of the results. Still might do a little more cleaning up, but it appears that it will work just fine. This is the kind of stuff that I LOVE experimenting with, and the sort of things that keep me interested in the hobby. Steve

Here's how I did my '68 Coronet under carriage. Gray primer, body color over spray, undercoating in the front and rear wheel wells, and then dirtied it up a little. Steve

We can look at the possibility of 3-D printing replacing injection molding from a couple of different angles. As a number of people have said, producing mass produced kits through 3-D printing may not be much of a threat to injection molding currently, and it may never replace it in terms of the ability to produce the numbers that injection molding can in a short period of time, but if you look at it from the perspective that there is a pretty good possibility that the designs for thousands of different intricately detailed kits might become available for a few dollars, or even free, to anybody that wants them, and then couple that with the possibility that any enterprising person could begin taking those designs and printing them quickly and cheaply with 3-D printing advancements and offering them for sale to the public, I think there's a strong possibility that the aftermarket could overwhelm the injection molding market. In other words, if an individual can take advantage of those cheap available designs, and offer a printing service to print them economically, with better detail, more variety, and in the same neighborhood, or even cheaper as far as price goes, it's going to put a lot of stress on the injection molded model kit business. If I can go online and find an aftermarket entity that can offer nearly any car model that I desire, and can compete in price with Round-2 or Revell, what's to keep me buying from the injection molding manufacturers. I can easily see how in the not too distant future that I might be able to decide that I want a 1957 Buick Caballero station wagon, go online, and order it from a reputable aftermarket provider, much as I would from Fireball Modelworks today, for the same price, or possibly even cheaper than the $35.00 that I would spend on an injection molded kit from Revell. I think it's obvious what that would mean for traditional model kit makers. Steve

I meant the window tint bands that Hasegawa sells for models. Steve

Total paint coverage such as this is a restoration finish. There’s no way the originals looked that nice! Steve

Is this stuff really the same material as the window tint? If so, I’m a complete pass! I’ll stick with BMF. Steve

Looks good to me. Unfortunately, to Peteskis point, the majority of 1/25th scale models I see wired with 30 AWG don’t look right. I have a box of 30 in 6 different color, and it’s too big for plug wires. Works better for vacuum lines and battery cables. I suppose 30 gauge on a 1/24th would naturally look closer than on 1/25th. Steve

Sure, there are variables, but in general, 32 AWG is going to be about as close of an answer as you’re going to get. Of course, having the material in hand is optimal, but when ordering something on line, all you have to go by is what’s offered as a description. Steve