StevenGuthmiller

And there's nothing wrong with that in the least, as long as the ride was enjoyable! Me....I'm planning on another 10 a year for the next 10 years at least, until something gives out! Steve

It's funny because I have a ton of unfinished kits in my stash, but they're all from many years ago. Since I started again about 3 years ago & have "simplified" my approach to building, I finish probably 95%. I've built roughly 35 kits in the past 3 years & I can only think of 2 that have not been finished, mostly due to paint issues. I fully intend to revisit those 2 at some point. I'm guessing that I probably built maybe a dozen kits in the ten years leading up to my hiatus. Not a very good ratio! I find myself much more excited about the hobby now that I am finishing builds! Steve

I get the impression that "my chick" would just as soon have me doing laundry & cooking on the weekends instead of hiding out in my shop! But she does concede, it's better than hanging out at the girlie bars! Steve

There's a tough one to find! I'll bet finding a wheel cover for it would be an exercise in futility! Steve

Great stuff Ron! I've got that gold '65 Monaco hardtop on the list for this year too. The '66 Plymouth I just picked up is a convertible, otherwise, all of mine are hardtops. I don't know, I guess I have a thing for hardtops. Either that or a convertible with an up top, which the Plymouth has. Along with all of the Mopars, I still have to fit in a '58 Ford, '59 Bonneville & a '61 Starliner. I have a lot to do this year! Steve

Wow! What a douche! If I'd had his address, I might have made a trip just to punch him in the nose! I've been kind of keeping my eyes peeled for an original convertible too. I always thought a '62 vert with an uptop would make a great looking build! Steve

Just beautiful Ludwig! It's great to see these old Johan kits being built! I just love the hell out of them! Such great subject matter! Steve

Very cool Ron! It looks great in black! I'm in the final stages of polishing mine right now & you're right, I've been looking at the trim & realizing that there's plenty of foil on this one too! But at least it's all nice & straight for the most part. I have the '66 as well, which is the body style I really like! But I decided I could only build so many Chrysler 300s in a row & thought I'd get the less favorite one out of the way first. That way I wouldn't lose interest when I come back later to build the '66. I just recently built the '64, am working on the '65, and have the '62 & '66 slated for the bench this year. I also have a '63, '67 & '68 that I hope to build within the next couple of years to finish up the Johan 300 "lineup". Recently, I've been working on the mid 60s Plymouth line up also. I recently added a '67 & '66 Fury to the collection & am pretty excited about getting started on them as well. Very nice Job Ron!! Steve

The only problem with worrying about how many others there are like yours at the show, is then you're building for someone else, not yourself. Part of the reason why I've never been interested in shows & contests. I guess some people really enjoy the shows & such for a variety of reasons, & that's great! But personally, it would suck all of the fun right out of building, making it into a competition. But, we're all different & some of us love the competition & comradery. I've just always thought of it as a solo sport. steve

I voted # 5 without hesitation. It's the only reason I'm in this hobby in the first place. I've built aircraft, military, ships, trucks.....Just about everything at some point. I've built customs & race cars as well. I settled on stock builds because that's what I liked more than anything else. That's the only reason any of us should be building whatever we build, because we like it. Steve

I have one of the turquoise ones too. As well as a white one if you can believe it! The white one is going on my bench soon too. As usual, it will be built stock. Steve

Not sure if the AMT parts pack custom grille & bumper set has that style of headlight in it. Although it does have a '61 Style Chrysler 300 Grille! But I'll bet if you asked around & put up a post in the "Wanted" section, Chances are pretty good someone will have a set they'll be willing to part with. Steve

Those "short" axles are actually not axles Rob. They're "chassis pins" to replace the screws from the original kits. The kit you have is the from the Johan "USA Oldies" series which was made some time in the 80s. The original kit produced in '62 would have had the screws plus a few other goodies like some customizing parts, as well as the same "Long Ram" intake option as the '64 & the original rear bucket seat interior tub. But the USA Oldies kits are getting tougher to find also. They were molded in all kinds of funky colors like the yellow you have as well as colors like turquoise & red. I have a couple of these kits in my stash also. As a matter of fact, I was planning on building one myself in the very near future. The USA Oldies '62 Chrysler is not extremely rare yet, so enjoy yourself & build a nice one! Looking forward to seeing it! Steve

Welcome to the world of old annuals Rob. Anything made before about 1970 is going to be pretty much as you described. But they can still build up into petty nice models. I just finished a '64 Chrysler 300 & am currently working on a '65 & both of them have that same simple engine, chassis & under hood detail you mentioned. This is a pic of the engine bay on my '64. It has that "hole" in the engine you speak of, which is almost un-noticeable & the screw "cylinders" have been removed. (I hate the look of them too) Don't let the primitive detail on these old kits stop you from building them. You'll be missing out on a lot of great subject matter. Steve

There are way too many tri-five Chevy kits! Didn't want to leave you hanging Craig. Steve

I guess for me it's a combination of 2 of the three reasons you list. I really have never had an urge to "collect", so that one's out. I would say my main reason is "nostalgia". I was born in '62, so by the time I was old enough to really appreciate cars, the hey day of automotive design was over. I would see these cars from the 50s & 60s on the streets however, as used vehicles, & just fell in love with the variation of styles. Since then, I've had an obsession with cars from the late 50s & 60s. And never really being able to afford the real thing, Models seemed to be the obvious second choice. Then the "building" part comes into play. I could have just collected diecasts but I wanted to personalize the stuff that I built, even if it was just picking a color, it was mine. Steve

I look at it like this. When the paint is safe to polish, it's cured. Automotive style lacquers & clears can be polished after a couple of days. I usually give it at least a week just to be safe. Enamels? I wouldn't go near an enamel paint job with polish or pads or paper for at least a couple of months! Back when I used to use Testors enamel paints & clear coat, I would paint them & then box them back up for about 3 months before getting them back out to polish. Enamels can take a long time to completely harden. Steve

Sorry Bill. I just thought you might want to have a civilized discussion with maybe a differing view or two. I'll respectfully leave you to your love fest. Good day. Steve

Let's just say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some people may be quite enamored with their "appliances", & some people probably don't care for Monet either. Steve

Bill's right Rick. Black is just another color. It's just a little more prone to showing imperfections under the paint. Do it like you would dark red or dark blue & you should be fine. Steve

Not offended in the least Bill. My point wasn't whether Plymouths were more important than Porsches. My point was, they're just cars, sitting in a junkyard, like every car is destined to do. As you said "Porsces are kinda special". No, not really, They're just a car, just like that Buick they're melting down to make the Toyota. I love cars in general, whether it's a Porsche or a Buick, but I don't shed too many tears when I see them at the end of their lives. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The people at the restoration shop probably didn't bother with the concrete blocks or tarps because they saw it the way I see it. They're just a collection of parts to possibly be used as donors for a "living" car. I had no intention of "ruffling any feathers" in your thread. Just offering another opinion. After all that's what a forum is for, not just for mass agreement. steve

Don't know why this is so upsetting to anybody. It's a junkyard. There's thousands of them all over the country. Just because they're Porsches doesn't mean they're exempt from the boneyard just like every other car. There was a junkyard close to the small town that I grew up in that was full to the brim with nothing but late 50s thru early 60s Mopars just rotting away. Nothing but finned Dodges & Desotos as far as the eye could see! Much more upsetting to me than this! Steve

I saw he had a couple of negative feed backs, but a couple hundred positive. I figured it was a pretty good gamble. I usually don't worry too much about buying on ebay. I've had pretty good luck as a rule. Although I've had a couple of shaky experiences as well. I've Had a lot more negative experiences in brick & mortar places myself. Steve PS. Went back & looked at the listing you're referring to. Not the same kit. Doesn't appear to be any vent window damage on that example plus there are a lot more of the parts on the trees with it. Looks as if the purchaser of that kit was happy. Looks to me like he has a lot of multiple examples of certain kits. He's sold a bunch of Toronado kits recently & has more to sell right now. According to his "write up" he got these kits from a storage unit, so lord only knows what all he has. I'm seriously contemplating bidding on some other items he has at the moment. Great stuff that seems to be going relatively reasonably.

Didn't get it today, but it's coming. Picked up a Johan '66 Plymouth Fury convertible, unbuilt, in the box. missing instructions & slight damage to both vent posts, but A-pillars are fine. Didn't do too bad for such a rare kit. $127.00. Steve

His website has just been put in place & is still incomplete. But if you PM him, I'm sure he will be more than happy to get you hooked up! I haven't ordered anything yet, But I'm going to order a couple of the "mini sheets" of the under hood decals to start with, & then, as soon as I can possibly get something put together, I'm going to have him whip up some custom stuff for me! Steve