StevenGuthmiller

You basically have a couple of options. Either you could drill them out, Make or pirate some headlight reflectors & find some lenses to fit, or you could do what I usually do & paint them with a mixture of mostly acrylic clear coat with just a dab of white & a little metallic silver. It all depends on how detailed you want to go. Steve

I think it was me he was talking about. It's really not a major problem for me either. Just something that popped it's head up in the past. I just take it easy now & watch myself. Steve

I usually try to keep it at 1 or 2. One main project with another one on deck. I find that if I keep only one project going at a time, & just force myself to keep going on it, (sometimes I have to give myself a little "goose") I finish them. Otherwise I get sidetracked & never finish anything. Steve

They are Pat. I've been using that technique for several years now & I love it! I would never go back to the "old" way! Steve

Just have to be careful. If your paint is relatively smooth to start with, you shouldn't have to worry too much about the body creases & "peaks". I usually just brush over those areas very lightly with each grit. Make sure you're careful around the "panel lines" also. That's usually where I have trouble. I usually pile on between 3 & 5 coats of clear as well. You're much less likely to burn through to the paint that way. As far as trim goes, if you plan on foiling the trim. it really doesn't matter if you burn through that. it will be covered up anyway. Steve

THANK YOU!! Steve

Progress is being made, albeit slowly. The body is polished & ready for foil, & paint work has begun on the interior. One thing that I discovered on this build is that Duplicolor clear is not compatible with Alclad. I shot the coves with Alclad "Pale Gold" prior to clear coats & the clear coat pretty much "dissolved" the Alclad. So I re-shot the Alclad after the body was all painted & polished. The multiple layers of paint has obscured the "finned" detail in the coves but, oh well.....not gonna change it now! Hopefully I can begin foiling the body & get some more interior work done over the rest of the weekend. Steve

True, bigger isn't always better, but this is Cadillac we're talking about. Can you imagine a mid size or compact version of a Rolls Royce? Luxury cars are supposed to be big, it comes with the territory. I guess it could be a little harder for someone not from the U.S. to understand, but this is the land of "Big"! or at least it was back in the 50s & 60s. You are correct as well about the foreign car companies catching the Americans asleep at the switch, but that had much more to do with the quality of the cars from the big three coupled with the fuel crunch of the 70s. I'll never believe it had anything to do with the styling of the foreign cars being more appealing. Even today, it's obvious that size rules in America. When fuel prices go up, compacts sell at a brisker pace. When gas drops, we're right back to pickups, SUVs & big sedans. Steve

I'm with ya Peter!! Steve

It was pretty hard to tell the difference between a Buick, an Olds, A Caddy or whatever after the mid 80s. As far as I'm concerned, they all look like colorless jelly beans today also. But, as I said, just my opinion. Steve

Super Clean will take the foil right off with the paint. Steve

Well Robin, That's all a matter of opinion & personal taste. Cadillac had some beautiful designs from the 30s through the 60s IMO. Later was not always better. This is not a Cadillac. It's an Oldsmobile with Cadillac badges. Steve

It brings back some memories for me as well. Back in high school I had a friend who's dad had one just like it, ( it was even beige) My freind would drive it on occasion & I remember we used to call it the Flintstone mobile. The floor boards were so rusted away that you could see the road go by under you & you literally had to watch where you put your feet! Ahh, to be young again! Steve

I will never go back to doing my scripts any other way. Even when they're this fine they can still turn out very nice! If you plan on sending out your chrome to "Chrome Tech" you'll have plenty of time to finish everything else. While they do great work, plan on not getting your parts back for at least 5 to 6 weeks! I always send out a couple of trees full, parts for about 8 kits, so I don't have to wait for every build. Steve

While they're at it, they just as well do a '59 also. Not a lot of difference there either. Steve

Actually Bill, the smoother & shinier the trim, the better the BMF will stick. Steve

I guess you've got the consensus. I do the same. After polish. Steve

Stellar work Peter! You're one of those guys that always angers me because although you're a fantastic builder, you're an even better photographer! I can never seem to do my builds such justice. Great work! Steve

Balmy Harry! The great "city" of Embarrass Minnesota had the lowest temperature in the lower 48 this morning at 42 degrees below zero! So.....cry me a river! Steve

I feel your pain Al! It was a relatively warm day here in Minnesota today.....5 degrees. Needless to say, most of my outdoor photography sessions are on hold until about May! Great looking Caddy by the way! Steve

I live in Minnesota where there's virtually no humidity at all in the winter months, & in the summer I'm painting in an air conditioned room. I've had minor fogging or blushing incidents in the past with Duplicolor paints, but usually nothing that couldn't be polished out. The major problems seam to have been due to primer or something. I was using Testors lacquer primers for a while, followed by MCW paint, but when I clear coated with Duplicolor clear, rather than blushing, it looked under magnification as though the primer was "leaching" up through the paint. Something that couldn't be polished out. I've had my fill of Testors Lacquer paints, primers & clear coats & have completely given up on them. If anyone is a fan of Testors lacquers, you may want to leave the room now as I vent my frustrations with them. When I first started using them, I thought they were great, although I stayed away from the metallics just because the metal flakes in them are just hugely out of scale! Then there was the issue with the primer I just mentioned & others I won't. The clear coat seemed to work well for me......for a while. Then suddenly I started having major cracking issues which after a while I decided was due to the slower curing properties it has as apposed to a fast drying Duplicolor. It seems the final coat, in a multi-coat system, were drying slower than successive coats causing the top coat to crack. Any way, sorry about the rant but I really feel let down by the Testors lacquers & clears & will not return to using them. Steve

Well, You did well Ray! How come I never come across these kinds of opportunities? I would venture to guess that if these are unmolested kits, I wouldn't be surprised if you could get as much as $1,500.00 for the lot. Possibly much more! Nice score Ray!! Steve

They don't get much prettier than that! One of the Modelhaus '60 kits is looking better all of the time! Steve

Wow Ray! Did you win the lottery?! An unbuilt '67 Bonneville alone could bring a couple hundred, or more by itself on ebay! Steve

I just use a cheap ($30.00) table type lighted magnifier from Hobby Lobby. I started using it about 3 years ago. My eyes are still pretty good, but I wouldn't even attempt to build anymore without one. Can't believe I ever managed without it. Steve