StevenGuthmiller

No casting needed Manuel. I just cut off the top & bottom of the steering wheel, ( the parts to be clear) & then stretch & form heated clear sprue to the size & shape I need, & then glue them together after paint. I decided a while back that I needed to come up with a way to do these as they were quite common in the '59-61 Mopars as well as a lot of Pontiacs from the late 50s all the way through till the late 60s. I have a lot of kits in that category that I've built, & many more to build. Steve

Thanks Guys! It was a fun one except for some chassis issues. For some reason, the chassis seemed to be too long & the rear wheels looked to be too far back to me. So I had to "re-work" things a bit to move them forward. In the process of re-doing things, I got the front end a little low for stock also. But I liked the look so I left it alone. Steve

I had a 1:1 1967 Chrysler 300 in high school Al!! I have 2 of the kits waiting to be built some day. Mine was "Scorch Red" with a black vinyl top. One of my favorite colors from '67 was "Turbine Bronze". I'll be doing a '67 Plymouth in that color eventually. Here's a horrible old photo of my high school baby & some '67 color chips. Very nice score by the way. The Chrysler alone could be worth $100.00! Steve

I like to work my builds in pairs so this will be on the bench at the same time as my '58 Ford convertible build. It'll be mostly factory stock, as usual, with maybe a little bit of artistic license. I don't have the stock wheels & really don't like them anyway, so I'm thinking a set of mid-late 60s Mopar rally wheels will look nice. I've seen several on-line utilizing those wheels & I think it looks very nice. Not sure when the 5-spoke rallys were introduced. Could it have been an option in '64? Also, the engine will be the mid 60s "Short Ram" 413. As far as I've been able to see this engine option was available, for the final time, in '64, but I'll be using the 1961 engine color pallet for this build rather than the correct '64. by '64 the engines were "Chrysler Turquoise". In '61 the engine was black & the intake manifold was red with gold air cleaners. I'll also be using gold on the valve covers. Looking forward to getting started on this one. By the way, colors will be "Royal Ruby" with a black & white interior. Steve

This project has sat long enough. Time to get it back on the bench. The chrome parts should be back from Chrome Tech any day so there's no reason to put it on the back burner any longer. Steve

Thanks Gene! That's quite a compliment! I have really grown to love the 1960-'61 Chrysler/ Desoto body style. I think it's one of those cars that has historically gotten very little attention. But the more time I spent looking at them, ( I built 3 in the past couple of years) & doing research on them, the more I had grown to appreciate the clean & elegant lines of the '60s especially. The fact that the '60 New Yorker was so "un-addorned" with trim when compared to other cars from 1960, just proves to me the beauty & simplicity of the design. I'm sure there are those that will think I'm crazy praising this huge winged behemoth, but, as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Steve

Thanks guys! I appreciate your positive comments! Steve

The only time I've had this sort of problem is if I try to "force dry" by setting the body in front of a heat source of some kind. I'm not sure if the heat softens the paint enough to leave marks from the tape in the paint or what. I never use garden variety masking tape on my builds any more. Way too many issues can come about with that stuff. I use almost exclusively Tamiya masking tape & blue painters tape, as well as masking paper. The less tape touching your paint the better. steve

You're right Al! But I do still have yet to finish my '60 Imperial! That's a little closer to Continental competition. I lean a little more towards the Mopar side of the spectrum! But I do love 'em all!! Steve

I've got 2 jars of MCW paint for '57 Ford products that I have yet to find a use for. "Silver Mocha" & "Coral Sand". This may be a good opportunity to use one of them up! Steve

Finished last night & photographed this morning! Please disregard the rain drops! The weather isn't exactly conducive to taking pictures in Minnesota this morning. Anyway, this is an original Johan 1960 Chrysler New Yorker annual kit that I got as a built up & has been completely restored. The colors are factory correct "Iris" with a "Lilac" top & a 2-tone metallic purple interior. After market touches include, scratch built mirrors inside & out, along with a scratch built antenna & another of those wonderful Mopar "transparent" steering wheels. Other than that, a set of Modelhaus wide whites & Chrysler wire wheels finishes off the package. Comments or criticisms are always welcome guys! Steve

She's all done guys! I'll post some pics as soon as the sun shines! Steve

Well, I'm making pretty good progress today on this build. Finished up the interior & the rest is close behind. With any luck, it may go into "Under Glass" Tomorrow! That is, as long as it doesn't snow tomorrow so I can get a few outside photos! No major mods on this interior, just a few details. Scratch built mirror & door lock buttons along with another of those wonderful Mopar "transparent" steering wheels. I've gotten pretty used to doing those over the past couple of years! Other than that, just paint & a set of "sand paper" floor mats. Steve

Or a VW Bug with giant plastic eyelashes on the headlights is pretty much a dead give away!! Steve

I already have most of mine. At the top of the list were the Johan '61 Plymouth Fury & the '66 Chrysler 300. I now have both of those as well as a few others like the Johan '61 Chrysler New Yorker, Johan '67 Plymouth, AMT '58 Ford, just to mention a few. The only ones I have left to find are: Johan '65-'66 Plymouth Fury MPC '67 Pontiac Bonneville AMT '60 Ford pickup AMT '67 Ford Galaxie & then.....who knows! Steve

Picked up this little gem today. Complete except for one stock wheel cover. Anybody happen to have a '67-'68 Plymouth hubcap they don't want? Steve

I just tried a Sharpie last night on a build with pretty good results. The 1960 Chrysler New Yorker I'm working on had gold anodized scripts on the hood, rear valance & front quarters as well as the vertical trim pieces on the rear quarter panels. What I did was of course foil all of those & then very carefully go over them with a gold metallic Sharpie. Gives a much more realistic affect than gold foil & is a lot easier than paint. Steve

That Del Rio wagon is much cooler than the previous Ford sedan kit! Never even bought one of those. Just didn't interest me. But this wagon I will definitely buy!! Steve

Does look a little better with the front end mangled Miles! Steve

But be warned Leslie, even a very good resin kit will, in all likelihood, require more prep work before painting or assembly than styrene. Many times there will be pin holes & voids to fill, warpage can be bit of a problem & chances are pretty god there may be a few part fit issues. These are things that may, or may not, arise with a good resin kit. If it's a bad one...... Steve

My mother in law owns one!! Whenever she visits, I make her park it on the street, honestly! Steve

Although, I think a repaint may be in order! Steve

Hmmm, that one's not even available here. Could be an old one that they don't make any more. might have just been old. steve

Surely no uglier than this!! These things not only hit every branch, they obviously hit the ground with great force!! Steve

Very nice Mark! You know I'm not real big on T-buckets & the like, but you always do such nice work on them. Great job! Steve