StevenGuthmiller

Could have got a set of tires from Modelhaus @ the same time. I love his tires! Just as good or better than anything else on the market. I just ordered 4 more sets myself recently. I know what you mean about these old annual tires. I've got a whole box of them. I never re-use them. Yeah, you really have to have a "system" for getting wheels out of these tires without damaging the wheel. I don't think you could hurt those tires with a blow torch & a sledge hammer! Steve

Most of the foil is actually pretty basic stuff on this one Rich, Just those long, thin, straight pieces on the fins are a little un-nerving! That's where the blue painters tape comes in real handy! Steve

While I have yet to see it on a '59 Bonneville, my inspiration for this color combo was the popular coral & gray on the '55 Chevy Belair. Coral & gray were both available colors in '59, so I thought I'd put them together regardless. Steve

Fantastic Bill!! Did you think about ordering a set of '58 Bonneville hubcaps since you ordered parts from Modelhaus? Those "generic" '58 AMT spinner caps don't look half bad, but I thought while you were at it, you could have gotten the correct ones from them. Steve

Looks great Hans! I've had the '65 Bonneville kit as well as the Grand Prix & the 2+2 sitting on my shelf for decades! Never built one. I can see now I need to do that! Steve

The instructions on the Testors "Ultra Gloss Clear" say it can be re-coated after 2 hours. Other Testors clears say anytime. I never re-coated that soon. I always let it gas out for about 24 hours between coats & I still had the cracking problem, usually much later. Now that I'm using Duplicolor clear, I usually get 3-4 coats on all in one day, allowing about an hour of drying time between coats. No issues with the Duplicolor, other than an occasional paint compatibility issue. Steve

I have barely started on the interior yet Bill. It's prepped & primed & waiting for paint. I'm going with the tri-color treatment of course. White with coral & gray accents. I figured it needs the coral carried over into the interior for that extra "splash" of color. I'll be hitting the interior hot & heavy this weekend. By then the body should be done. Steve

Thanks Mike! It's still one of my favorite parts of a build. Not so much because I like doing it, but just because of how much a project changes when it's done. That's when I start to really get excited about the build. Especially when it's one of these chrome laden beasts from the 50s! Steve

Just a little progress report to let you all know I'm still alive! Spent the weekend polishing & got about half the foil on in the past couple of nights. Boy, you wanna talk about fun? try foiling the trim on these fins! Steve

I'm confident you'll find one Bill. As I said, if you're lucky enough to find an auction ending on a weekday, you're chances of getting a good deal increase pretty dramatically. I'm with you on the alteration thing. I know these old kits can have a few inaccuracies occasionally, but I don't fret. Doesn't bother me, & I'm the one I'm trying to make happy. Steve

I usually waited at least 24 hours between coats & it still happened. Hopefully you'll not have this problem. I've never heard anyone else discussing it, so it must have not been a problem for most. Steve

I like the color combo! It gets pretty tiring seeing nothing but red '58 Plymouths. I told myself a long time ago, that if I built several of these kits, I would never build one in red! Steve

Glad to see you're back in the saddle on this one Bill! looking really nice. I just had a '58 hardtop in my "watch list" on ebay this past week just to see what it would go for. A built kit that I believe wound up selling for around $175.00!! So, yeah, If you paid less than that, you did alright! I picked mine up in a little antique shop many years ago for $8.00. I think I'm glad I did! Steve

That's what I had assumed was going on with the Testors clear lacquers that I had used. I've never had that same problem with Duplicolor clear leading me to believe that the Testors cures much more slowly. & even with the Testors, I had only had it happen a few times. Steve

When I was using Testors Lacquer clear, I would usually wait about a week. But I would say a minimum of about three days. The "smell" test would be a good barometer. One thing I found out about Testors clear lacquers is the curing time is much longer than say Duplicolor clear. I had problems with the top coats of clear cracking over time occasionally. That's why I stopped using it. I would paint & then use at least three coats of clear, polish it out after a week or so, & everything would look fine. Then about a week or two later, I would start to notice a few fine cracks, & it would continue to get worse over time. You would have thought after 3-4 weeks everything would be dry & cured, but that's when the cracking would start to really show up. Mind you, it didn't happen on every paint job, but enough to make me stop using it. Now I use pretty much nothing but Duplicolor clear. Steve

That's just what I like! Something different! & this one is definitely different! & extremely well done! Nice job Jon!! Steve

Very nice Alan! If I had a dollar for every one of these '60s Imperials that I saw destroyed in a demolition derby......But hey, they almost always won! Steve

I think I have one of these, unfinished & still in the box that I painted the exact same color! The only difference was I painted the interior red. Nice work Ron! Steve

Pretty neat stuff Ron! I've had several opportunities over the past few years to pick up one of these '61-'62 Caddies, but have just never been able to pull the trigger on one. I just don't get into 4 door cars. I so wish that Johan would have done all of these 4 doors in 2 door versions. The '61 Cadillac is one of my favorite cars, as well as the '61 Oldsmobile, which I've also thought about a number of times. I've got a '61 & '62 Olds in my "watch" list on ebay right now, but I'm pretty confident I won't bid on one. I just can't get past that "dumpy" roof line. The Cadillacs are better & I actually like the Lincolns, (nice example you have there by the way) but the Olds I just can't get into. Steve

"The Great Escape", Atlanta Rhythm Section, from the "Champagne Jam" album. Steve

The reason this one grabbed me a bit more than usual might have to do with the fact that it's a little more unusual as a subject than the '63- '67 Vettes that seem to be every where. Plus the color And the workmanship add a lot!! Steve

Right! I love Super Tramp too! Steve

Anybody have a guess on this one? Steve

Thank you so much guys! All the attention makes me feel like this build was definitely worth the effort! Steve

Ugliest thing on 3 wheels!! I wonder if these people that buy them realize that the attention they're getting is because people can't believe something so ugly exists, not because they think it's "Cool". Steve