StevenGuthmiller

Thanks guys! As far as I'm concerned, The Cragar SS wheels look good on pretty much everything. For me it's usually stock wheels, or Cragars! There is nothing else. Steve

This is one of those hard to find kits that I hope to add to my collection some day also. Just waiting for the right one to come along. Personally, I prefer the hard top, so that's what I'm shooting for. You knocked this one out of the park!! Great job! Steve

Thanks Guys! I guess you could say I'm a Cragar SS freak! Had them on my first car & they've been my go-to chrome wheel ever since. I don't remember what kit the BF Goodrich radials came from, but I love the detail on them, so I hoard them if I find a couple. Nice big white letters, That was the tire & wheel combo to have when I was a pup! Steve

You have much more patience than me Rich! I bought a couple of these old promos many years ago, & you could almost sit & watch the bodies warp! Nice job on another difficult subject! Steve

The settings on my camera are not set real well for out door shots. I seem to be getting more "blue" than I should be. I'll have to fiddle with it a bit. But anyway, here's an indoor shot that is probably a more accurate representation of the true color. And again, thanks every one, for the motivating comments! Steve

Don. Like I said, I'm not 100% possitive because I built this kit many years ago, but I believe it was MCW '69 Chevrolet "Azure Turquoise". The now defunct hobby shop that I used to go to years ago carried some MCW paints in a spray can & I'm pretty sure that's the paint I used. You can get the airbrush version of that color from MCW now, I have some. You may be able to still get it from him in a rattle can also. Steve

Thanks everybody! Lee, The side windows are very easy. Just pieces of clear sheet plastic cut to size, trimmed with foil & glued in place. Mike, The "bubble top" roofline was the standard in '61 on all of the GM cars & was replaced in '62 buy the more formal "convertible look" tops in '62 on all except the '62 Belair hard top. There may have been some cheaper Pontiac, Buick or Olds hard tops that carried over the bubble top roof into '62 as well. Not sure about that. Steve

It's pretty obvious to me it's the '62 Belair kit. The shape of the vent windows in the first pic & the fact that there's only four tail lights in the last is all the evidence I need. Looking good too! Steve

Thanks guys! I love the "bubble tops"! I have a '61 Buick to build yet & I can't wait until Mobius comes out with the '61 Pontiac. That one is gonna be a real peach!! Steve

Patience Stan, Patience! I will show no model before it's time. Will probably be a few days more till the finish line. Then I'll post it in under glass. Steve

Couple of shots of the continental kit. Steve

Here's another old build. As evidenced by the dust. Although I guess the dust under the hood adds a bit of a "used" appearence. This is, of course, the AMT kit. Built pretty much box stock except for the wheels & the air cleaners, as well as a few other added details. They include: Plumbed & wired engine, along with a few scratch built parts like the dip stick etc. Side glass, door locks & valve stems. I don't remember for certain the color on this one, but I believe it was 1969 Chevy "Azure Turquoise" from MCW in a rattle can. As I recall, it was a pretty nice kit to build, but it was probably 15 years ago so who knows! Steve

Very Nice Al! I've got the hardtop version of this kit which I hope to be starting very shortly. Mine will be painted "Bronze Rose". Steve

Thanks everybody!! Good luck Niko! I'm looking forward to what you do with it. Don't get to see too many of these being built anymore. They're becoming a real rarity. Steve

Thanks Froghawk for the info. Not sure how much of it I'll mess around with, but they are some things to think about. Don't have a lot of extra parts laying around for things like the cowl vents & the chassis. The license plate area will be covered by the conny kit any way, so I won't worry about that. I will deal with the scribing on the tail lights.....if I don't forget. I'm thinking along the lines of a smooth continental cover with a photo etched Fairlane 500 script. I've never been a fan of those "hubcap" style tire covers. I've never been a huge stickler for 100% accuracy anyway. I just build them for me, & "me" doesn't care too much if they're completely correct. But I do appreciate the input. Sometimes a simple modification can make a difference. Steve

That's right Froghawk. A clean edge can be a problem. I use the "Ceramcoat" for things like grilles, door lines, etc. where you have a "deep" recess to fill. With other things, for instance, painting the white background on a '55 Chevy hubcap or the side trim, I use Testors Enamel for that. Gives a cleaner edge. Steve

Thanks Froghawk. I use the same technique I've been using for 20 years. I paint over the entire area with acrylic craft paint, (Delta Ceramcoat to be exact) & then rub off the areas that I want the chrome to show through with the point of a tooth pick. You can do the same thing with Testors enamels, but that sticks a little better and some times won't rub off completely or as cleanly. I use both, depending on what I'm doing. The Ceramcoat also works great for painting door gaps & the like. I just flow slightly thinned paint into the gaps & then just rub the excess off of the body with a damp cloth. Steve

Wow!! Didn't realize how much of a pain picking out all of those little "squares" on the grille would be! Making good progress though. Hoping to finish up sometime this week. Sorry, I had to delete the original photos from this post. Over did my up loads a little! Steve

The "Model Car Garage" makes a lot of photo etched parts. Not sure about everything they have available, but I know there's a '65-'66 GTO set available. I buy a lot of my supplies from "Model Roundup" on line. They have thhe GTO set for $19.99. You may be able to find the others some where else. Steve

Thanks Gary. I got pretty lucky with this one. Picked it up on e-bay for about $70.00. It was painted black, which scared me a little. Black paint can be really tough to remove sometimes, depending on the type used. I dropped it in a tub of "Super Clean" & the paint melted completely away within an hour or so. Not so lucky with the gold on the trim, but that shouldn't be a big problem. The only thing that was glued to the kit was a set of skirts which luckily were glued lightly after painting, so no body damage is evident. Even the glass is good! The paint I'm using is actually a '59 Cadillac color called "Argyle Blue" which is very close to the factory "Silvertone Blue" & I have it on hand, so I guess I'll use it. You're correct about finding a nice one. It took a while to find one that didn't have every part in the box glued to it & I knew I'd never find a better one for the price. I'm very excited to get going on this build. I'll keep you posted on the progress. Steve

They always look better in the natural light Marty! Looks fantastic! Steve

I don't think I'd hold my breath for a new '58 Ford from anybody. Then again, you never know. Steve

Thanks everybody! I'm really looking forward to getting started on this build. May be a little while. I still have to get the chrome re-done which usually takes a month or two, plus the fact that I already have a half dozen other projects in the works. Planning on a "Silvertone Blue" & "Colonial White" color combo. Chris, I didn't know about the tail lights from Modelhaus. Thank you for the info. Although, I'll probably just use the tail lights that came with the kit. I like to try to use as many original parts as possible & I've never really had an issue with just using Testors "Stop light Red" for tail lights. Good enough for me anyway. Steve

I was never real crazy about the '57 either Nick. Something about it just looked "patched together" to me, at least when compared to other '57s. I'm sure I'll get some heat for that. A lot of guys just love the '57. The '59 was very "boxy" to my eye. Although, I did like the retractible. I guess, contrary to a lot of peoples taste, I think the '58 was the nicest looking. Steve

I picked up this original '58 Ford convertible a while back for a relatively good price. I've never been real big on the look of a convertible with the top down, so I was very happy to see that Modelhaus offered an up-top for the '58 Ford. They also had a very nice continental kit, which I promptly ordered. I'm gonna like the looks of this build alot better now. Thanks Don & Carol!! Steve