StevenGuthmiller

I did this one a while back Tim. Not real good pics but It's medium & charcoal gray. The body color is "Dusk Rose". Steve http://public.fotki.com/stevenguthmiller/1957-chevy/

I assumed you knew that. But hey, it was a pretty popular color all through the 50s, so........ steve

I'll agree with you to a point Christopher. I'll go along with the parts thing under certain circumstances. I know ebay can get crazy on occasion, you just have to be smart & not get caught up in the heat of the moment. Just as an example, I recently picked up a set of mint condition original '67 Plymouth Fury wheel covers on ebay for a "buy it now" price of $7.95. The resin set from Modelhaus goes for $8.50. So there are deals to be had. Where you run into real problems is with the "really" rare kits. Most of the old Johan Mopars from the mid 60s, for example, are not available as resin kits. Some of my holy grail kits, ie. the '63-'67 Chrysler 300s & the '65-'68 Plymouths aren't going to be found anywhere other than a swap meet or on ebay. I've seen some vintage kits on sites like "Model Roundup" going for well into the $200.00-$300.00 range! So, yes I agree, resin kits & parts do have their place & I'm extremely grateful for people like the Holthaus's for their products & I always keep price estimates in mind when I'm on ebay. I know it's fashionable to beat up on ebay, but I'll refrain. I've obtained a lot of great subject matter that I may have never even seen in my lifetime if it weren't for them. & like any other large business entity, there may be a lot of hucksters & crooks to wade through but I'm positive I'll be doing much business there in the future. steve

That's what you would think. But it seems that there are always those who would rather complain than just move on. Steve

I guess my thing is, if I'm going to spend $100.00 for a kit anyway, I'd just as soon have one in styrene vs. resin. If there were a wider difference in prices, (& some times there are) then I may feel differently. Most of my old buildups were purchased for less than the cost of a Modelhaus resin. Sometimes it just takes patience. & although there are extra expenses that may come up with restoring an original, It's still pretty close. & personally, I'd rather work with styrene. Just my personal bugaboo! Steve

Nothing wrong with Modelhaus parts at all Gary. I use them too from time to time. But I also buy parts on ebay if they can be found. Just my preference. I like to keep each kit as close to original with as many styrene parts as I can.

Well Michael, pink was not a factory color on these old Hudsons, but I gotta admit, it looks pretty cool!! Nice job!! Steve

Thanks John! Thought this thread was long dead so I appreciate the nice comment! Steve

I once picked up a 1960 Lincoln continental & a 1958 Pontiac Bonneville convertible, in the boxes & restorable, for $8.00 apiece at a little roadside antique shop! But that was a few years ago & a very unusual situation. Unless your okay with spending the next 50 years filling out your collection, either ebay or swap meets & clubs are the only answer, as you say. Steve

'58 is a tough year Bill. All of the AMT kits from '58 bring some pretty hefty cash. most are fairly rare. Steve

Yikes! You're a glutton for punishment aren't you Tom? Steve

It won't help you remove the glass from the body much Gary. Super Clean doesn't seem to do much to glues. But it will make your glass look like brand new! Not only will it not hurt your glass, but I recommend it for cleaning clear plastic parts. I've had some pretty gnarly looking glass that came out looking like brand new after a couple hours in Super Clean! So, I say "dive in"! Steve

A lot of times old kit glass will get tiny spider cracks all through it. If that's the case, there's no fix. But as a rule, most glass can just be polished out if it's just surface oxidation. Kind of like the plastic head light covers on your car. Steve

They are surely expensive aren't they Gary. I try not too think too much about the amount that can be spent on one of these old kits, but by the time you add up the cost of the kit itself, primer, paint, masking tape, foil, parts, chroming, etc, etc, etc, OUCH!! it can really add up in a hurry! of course when you figure in a lot of that same stuff for a new kit......well, let's just say the hobby is getting a little spendy! Steve

Who needs reindeer? they eat too much & poop all over the place! Steve

What happens when we have a real problem in our lives? Steve

Castrol Super Clean is perfect for resin. Won't damage it at all. Steve

It's all about subject matter. If you're like me & you love the cars from the 50s & early 60s, your choices are pretty limited. As an example, think for a moment about how many kits are available for cars from 1961. You can count them on about 3 fingers. The Lindberg '61 Impala, the AMT '61 Galaxie & the AMT Ranchero. That's it!! I now have in my collection, some built & some yet to build, at least 10 with several more I could still acquire. This same equation works for virtually every year from 1958-1967 or so. There are a lot of great old annuals out there, so unless you're content with building 15 different versions of a '57 Chevy, You have to branch out to old annuals. Steve

In this day & age of computer "everything", you have to expect problems on occasion! No big deal. We'll all survive! Steve

Just the standard Testors sanding film pack, or equivalent, works fine if you ask me. They have grits ranging from, coarse (150) to ultra fine (600). I usually start with medium (280) or 150 depending on how bad the mold lines are. Steve

More Primer!! I've come to the conclusion over the years that the more primer the better, especially when you're dealing with automotive lacquers. I usually use a good 4-6 coats of primer. That may be a bit of over kill, but I'd rather be safe than have things start etching on a rare vintage kit or the like. Keep in mind also that Duplicolor primers are a bit hot themselves & will etch the plastic themselves if sprayed too heavily initially. I start with a couple of light mist coats, & then spray successively heavier coats as I go. I haven't had any "ghosting" problems with the mold lines since I started using more primer coats. You can spray a lot of Duplicolor primer without having to worry about covering any detail. Steve

I know anyone who wanted to see this already has, but being as everything after 11/25 went "Poof" I just thought I'd add the engine pics to the build thread. Which I guess is where it should have been in the first place! Steve

Very nice! I've got one of these in the works right now myself. A convertible with a few Modelhaus extras to dress it up. It's funny, but I seem to see a lot of these done in either yellow or blue on this forum. My plan was "Silvertone Blue" on mine. I'm starting to re-think that. Maybe I should do something a little different. Great job! Steve

Everybody freaks out about these old Johan interiors! I don't get it. These are kits that were produced at the "dawn" of the model kit era. Most of the promos prior to this didn't even have interiors. Yes, I get it, the floors were shallow, but the detail & engraving were every bit as good as the other kits from the period. I guess if I have to decide between building a vintage '61 Dodge with a shallow interior, or "another" '49 Mercury, I'll go for something different & build the Dodge. Besides, with a little work you can make these interiors look very nice. Steve

I think I know what you're looking for George. You're looking for "mixing" charts kind of like in your local paint or hardware store where they custom mix your colors for you by starting with a base color & then adding measured amounts of condensed color to match a chip. I can't tell you where to find something like that for automotive paint but I just wanted to help clarify what you were looking for. Steve