StevenGuthmiller

I know Lee, but I could never seem to leave any orange peel on my builds. Call it an obsession of mine. Besides, I left enough orange peel on my models when I was a kid for both of us! Steve

I haven't been able to find a lot of reference material on this color for the '60 Chryslers. But the few pics that I have found show a 2-tone gray interior. I guess that makes sense with the grayish overtones of the Iris color. I might go that route. I have at least a couple of Chrysler 300 builds coming up that will have the black & white interior combo Harry. I wouldn't want to over do it. But thank you for the suggestion! I'm always looking for those. Steve

Blue, like......painters tape? Steve

The '60 New Yorker is getting a little more colorful today. I sprayed the "Lilac" paint on the roof last night & got the first 2 coats of "Iris" on the body today. Some foil on the scripts & one more coat of color should do until clear coats. May get that last coat done tonight if the previous coats dry fast enough. This is one of those colors that can be a little tough to photograph, especially indoors. It is metallic purple, but it's very "subdued". Looks a little more gray than purple. But, I guess too much purple & it would look a little too "pimp mobile"! Steve

Not 100% sure Chris. At this point, the only thing I'm not seeing for the '63 is the interior tub. Lots of parts in bags, so there could be other small parts missing as well. Steve

Reminds me of a computer game my kids had years ago. Racing Hot Wheels cars through the house on the orange track. Through the kitchen, jumping the dog, etc. It was great!! I think I may still have it. Steve

I just happened across a "buy it now" auction on ebay today with a complete, unpainted 1959 Lincoln continental hardtop "jr. craftsman" kit, as well as a nearly complete 1963 Lincoln convertible. The pair for $25.00! I had to take the chance & jump on it! Steve

You have more patience than I do John! My '59 is getting the interior it came with, & believe me, being a Jr. Craftsman article, it does leave a little to be desired as far as "crispness" goes. But, no project is getting any special treatment in my shop. You brought her, you dance with her! Steve

Could be one of those transformations that may be a little difficult to pick up. You know, one of those, "something's different, but I can't quite put my finger on it" moments. It seems to go together seamlessly. Very interesting. Steve

Although the cars themselves have been pretty much relegated to the dust bin of history, the 1960 & 1961 Dodge dashboards are one of my all time favorites. with the "see through" speedo & push button trans, not to mention the transparent steering wheels & that wild star shaped steering wheel on the '60, they should at least garner an honorable mention for being one of the most unusual! All of the Mopars from the late 50s & early 60s were definitely something that would be remembered at the very least! Steve

I tried to find a little info on-line about what ward drove. I didn't go into a lot of depth on it, but the little bit of info I did find seems to make us both pretty much correct Rich. Apparently, Ward was a Ford man in the mid fifties, switching to Mopar in '59-'60. Someone seemed to have recalled seeing an episode with Ward driving a '60 Plymouth! Steve

No, I haven't forgotten about the '60 New Yorker build. The '59 Ford is just taking up most of my limited build time. I have managed to complete the body prep & one more prime coat in the next half hour or so, & it will be ready for paint. I'm pretty excited to see how it will look "dressed up" in its "Iris" metallic paint job! With any luck, the "Lilac" should go on the top tomorrow & the first couple of coats of Iris on Monday night. Hopefully ready for clear by Tuesday night. We'll see how it goes. Steve

Finished up the last of 3 clear coats this morning. The paint is still wet & has a little leveling to do, but it will still require some polishing to give a good smooth finish. So far, I'm pretty happy with the way it's looking. Now it's on to the interior work! Steve

I think a New Yorker may have been a little too "up town" for Ward & June. They struck me as being a little more along the line of Dodge people! Steve

My latest purchase from MCW. Now I'm ready to start slinging paint! Steve

I am a Mopar man Axel, or at least I was years ago when they built "real" cars! I like them all! Anything from the mid fifties to around '72 is the era I love. The picture of the 300 on my profile photo is a '66. I owned a '67 300 when I was in high school & have been a 300 fanatic every since. As a matter of fact, you'll probably start seeing some Chrysler 300 builds coming from me soon. I have a restorable kit for every 300 from 1962 to 1968, all old Johan kits. After finishing up my current 1959 Ford Galaxie & 1960 Chrysler New Yorker builds, I hope to start off with a very nice '64 Chrysler 300 I picked up a while back. Steve

All the way to the bank would be my guess. The world is full of fools, & there's another born every second. I guess if I had no morals, I'd do the same. Steve

Welcome Axel! Sounds like your interests are about the same as mine! We should get along nicely! Steve

Thanks Rich! Almost 100% of the 1:1 '59s in this color that I've seen online have the same interior arrangement. Dash, steering column & door tops painted the same "Geranium" as the outside with the majority of the rest of the interior a matching "coral" color, with the exception of the seat inserts which are a sort of striped black material surrounded by a white vinyl stripe. Door panels get black accents & black carpet. I imagine that's where I'm headed. Steve

Thanks guys! I remember that turquoise '59 Tulio! It was a beauty! The tires I'm using for this build are the AMT "Deluxe Champion" parts pack ones. I use them for a lot of these old AMT promo style wheels because their hollow & the wheels just pop right into them. No muss, no fuss! Plus the look great! Steve

You can always make your own antenna Tommy. I make them with heated & stretched pieces of left over sprue. You can stretch them to what ever thickness you need, & get as detailed as you like. I start with a slightly larger piece for the base section, drill out the end & glue in a thinner piece for the "telescoping" section. Slightly heat the tip to give you the little "ball" at the top, & a bigger one at the bottom for the base. experiment a little. It's just waste plastic any way. Steve

Just a couple more pics. Last night I sprayed on the "Colonial White". Tonight I finished cleaning up the scripts & then masked for spraying the polished aluminum panels behind the rear wheel & inside of the side spears with Alclad "Polished Aluminum". Now that the color coats are on, the next step is cleaning up the ragged paint edges between colors & then the clear coats can begin. Steve

Very nice Rich!! Part of the reason these '59 Chryslers are hard to find, in kit form & the real deal, probably has a lot to do with the "popularity" of them. Or should I say, lack there of. I would venture to say that there are probably very few people restoring these cars today, or for that matter, restoring the kit! I would bet that even most "car" people would not even recognize what year, make or model this was without a little coaxing along. I could never understand why a restored '57 Belair, with it's probable pickup load of after market parts, could sell for 6 figures, while a car like this, completely restored, would probably sell for less than $30,000.00. Can you imagine what it would be like to find parts for a car like this? Or how many of them even exist any more? So, keep your dime a dozen '57 chevies, I'll take one of these over the top Mopar land barges any day of the week!! Nice work Rich! Steve

You see some really ridiculous things on ebay. The other day, while surfing the site, I happened upon someone who was "Trying" to sell kit parts. He had at least a few that I just couldn't believe. The one that stands out the most was a set of four pretty much generic mid 60s AMT narrow white wall tires with a "buy it now" price of $24.99! I almost soiled myself from laughing so hard! Steve

You'll notice, nobody bid on one of them. My prediction is, that's the way it will remain. I'm not a betting man, but if I were going to...... Steve