StevenGuthmiller

Boy! There's one you don't see every day! Nice save Alan! I know Revell, Johan & Hubley did some of these wagons & 4 door kits. But this one has got to be up there with the rarest of the rare! Steve

It is a very nice build Tim! You did a fantastic job! Every time I see one of these "monstrosities" driving around, all I can do is shake my head. There's no accounting for taste I guess. But a Pinto......Well, what else can you do with a Pinto. Other than use it for kindeling! Steve

Agreed Mark. I'll save the "slicing & dicing" for more easily replaceable kits. I just have this thing in the back of my mind that tells me that these old annuals are a tiny piece of history & should be concerved rather than "bashed". They're far too rare as is. Besides, maybe some day when I've moved on to that great hobby shop in the sky, some other fanatical hobbiest will acquire my old kits & re-do them to his liking. So in a way, I become immortal! Steve

No problem Ron. I have one of the Trumpeter hardtops that I never built. A few things soured me on it as soon as I opened it up. First of all, the body proprtions are obviously way off. The roof is all wrong. I also thought it was just plain laziness to plate things like the exhaust while not plating parts like the mirrors & dash parts. I've seen nice built up examples, (yours is one of them) & I'm sure that with some patience, it could build into a very nice kit. Don't know if I'll ever attempt mine. I have a '60 AMT annual that is a much more likely candidate for me. Steve

Thanks Froghawk. I appreciate the offer, but I'll just use whatever info I can find online. I don't worry too much about 100% accuracy. Steve

I never "butcher" these old annuals. I don't have the heart! I lust work with what AMT gave me. I try to show that with a little love these annuals can build into a very nice display piece. Steve

Thanks guys! Charlie, I think I'm heading in this direction. Steve

This is the result of about an hour and a half in "Castrol Super Clean". Obviously, I'm quite happy! I might soak it a bit more as I see there is still a little residue of silver paint around the window trim. Steve

As usual, I continue to acquire new projects much faster than I can possibly build them. Here's another restoration project I picked up very recently. An AMT 1959 Pontiac Bonneville hardtop. Looks like it should be a relatively easy resto. All of the stock parts are there & in pretty good shape. The body has had no "extra" parts glued to it & the paint is the usual "period" brush paint, which usually is not too difficult to remove. I already have another batch of parts slated for rechroming, so I guess these will probably be added on. Gonna try & get it in the "soup" within the next couple of days & we'll see how well the paint strips. Looks good on the outside, hopefully it's not a "glue bomb" on the inside! Wish me luck! Steve

It seems to have been a little slow going around here on this project, but there is some progress being made. Finished up the clear coats last night. Now, a few days of curing & I can get it polished out. Maybe get a start on the BMF this weekend. Hopefully by then I'll have a good start on the interior. I've always wondered why Ford didn't see fit to include a steering column cover on a lot of their cars from this period. I've always thought it looked so "unfinished" if not down right ugly. Anyway, I built a knew column for this build to try & duplicate that "oversite". Steve

Looks very nice Bruce! I'm sure I have at least 3 of these kits in my stash in various stages of completion, but I honestly can't remember if I've ever finished one. I've loved the '63s ever since I was a kid when a guy I knew had a pretty nice "Chestnut" '63 500 XL. I remember that car being passed around town to at least three different owners, decaying all along the way. The last time I saw it, probably 25 years or more ago, it was looking pretty rough. I always wondered what became of it. Steve

Thanks Everybody!! Steve

Nothing wrong with building them like this Scott. I sort of run the gammit with my builds. Sometimes I like to go into some more detail, other times not. Depends on the kit & my mood. Although, I have to say, as I've progressed in this hobby, the finer detailing has become my favorite part of the build. Not so much chassis & engine, but painting, foiling, that sort of thing. Some guys like to completely "blow them up", others want to keep them as simple as possible. If we all built them the same, this hobby would get pretty boring. Good Job!! Steve

Beautiful Ben!! I've always loved the '66-'67 Chargers. While most people go "Ga-Ga" over the '69-'70s, For me their a distant 3rd, right behind the ''66-'67 & '68. Steve

Very nice George!! Some day I'm going to build mine! Very interesting choice of colors. Works quite nicely together. The only red that I see as being available on the '52 Hudson was "Toro Red" which looks pretty close to the Dark red you used. Although, these cars from that time period were pretty easy to custom order with almost any color your heart desired. I was going to originally paint mine the same combination as I painted my '58 Buick. Would have been close to "Jefferson Green" & "Gulf Green" but not exact either. Steve

Thanks guys!! Steve

Color coats are on, scripts are foiled & the cowl vents washed. Should get started on clear coats tonight. The last pics were taken under incandecent lights & look more "red" than the actual color. These pics were taken under flourecent lighting & I feel look a little too "brown". The actual color is somewhere in between. I think the true color will be apparent in natural light. Steve

Very nice Jonny! My neighbor across the street still drives his light blue '77 Cutlass. By that time they had lost a little of their "cool" with the rectangular head lights & all. Nice job on this one!! Steve

Thanks Niko! The paint is far from perfect but I learned a lot in the process & I think the next one will hopefully benefit from that. My next planned black build will be the Mobius '71 Ford pickup when it comes out. I had a good friend in the 80s who had a black '73 with a red interior. This will be a sort of tribute to his truck. Steve

I'm with you Dave. When I was younger, I thought the '60 Ford was one of the ugliest cars Ford ever produced. Now I love them! Then again, I hated asparagus Too! Fantastic job Jim!! I'm not a big fan of customs, but this one is "custom" without showing it too much. Steve

Color # 2. 1962 Mopar "Luminous Brown". I believe pretty close to '60 Edsel "Bronze Rose". I know it's not everyones cup of tea, but I love these odd colors. Tomorrow, the foil goes on the scripts & then one more color coat. Followed by lots of clear coats, sanding & polishing! Steve

You never know Manuel, This could be the one! And no...... you're not getting it back! Steve

Thanks Charlie. I was torn between this beige & "Wimbeldon White". I thought the beige would be a little more interesting. I was planning on a sort of metallic light & medium beige 2-tone interior. I guess you could call that gold. I'll have to give it some more thought before I tear into it. Some times coming up with a good interior match can be a little tough. Steve

Color # 1. Put the color coats on the top tonight. The color is actually 1958 Plymouth "Buckskin Beige", but for this purpose, we'll call it 1960 Edsel "Sahara Beige". I'm hoping it will go well with the metallic brown I'm using. She'll dry tonight & then the body will get color coats tomorrow. Steve

Do you have access to Testors Paints Niko? The Testors clear lacquers work quite well, even over enamels. I've never tried spraying them over acrylics but they're not as "hot" as an automotive lacquer, so they're not as prone to etching or lifting under coats. Steve