StevenGuthmiller

Thanks everybody! Your comments are appreciated. This is absolutely not one of my best builds, but I thought you all might like to see it anyway. Thanks! Steve

Thanks guys!! I actually liked the looks of the '58 & '60 Imperials better than the '59s Wayne. I always thought the '59 looked a little "heavy" in the front. The grille was just too "bulky". The '58 was pretty much the exact same body style with a much more "subdued" grille. The front end of the '60, which has always been my favorite, had a very "aggressive" look, with it's heavily "browed" headlight assembly. I have a '60 Imperial hard top kit which I hope to be building soon. I've always struggled with the dashboard details Mike. I've tried just about every trick in the book & what I've finally settled on, is putting a coat of white lacquer over the entire gauge area. Then, cover it again with whatever color the guage face will be in acrylic or enamel. Then I either scratch the acrylic/enamel off of the numbers, as best I can, down to the white paint underneath with a toothpick, or wipe it off with thinner & a veryfine point Q-tip. Some times I'll for-go the white lacquer & use foil as my base & just let the chrome show through as my numbers. Easier that way! Steve

Here's another one of my older builds. This is the Modelking repop of the AMT/SMP 1959 Chrysler Imperial. This one is actually painted in a '58 color called "Aztec Turquoise". The '59 color was called "Turquoise Gray" and was a couple of shades darker. I wanted to lighten it up a little, so I went with this color. It was quite cloudy the day I took these shots, so it looks a little on the "blue" side, but I guess it's ok. Steve

Very nice Al! There's one you don't see every day! Love it! Steve

Perfect Marty!! Couldn't have done a better job or picked a better color. Outstanding!! Steve

Thanks every body! Tulio, I agree 100%. I love the new & the old kits. Just so happens, most of the subject matter I really love was made back then. The cars I love from that late 50s, early 60s time period are woefully under represented today. So it's metal axles & screw bottoms for me! At least for the time being. By the way, I have that same '59 Ford kit coming up in my build que. At this point I think it will be painted "Geranium" and white. Steve

If you can get your hands on some Tulio, Modelhaus makes fantastic white wall tires. I buy the repops of the old "Satco" wide whites from him & I love them! Not exactly cheap either at $8.50 a set, but I think they look so much better than printed or painted ones. I just bite the bullet & buy them 4 or 5 sets at a time. I just shoot a coat of flat white or white primer over the whitewall insert to eliminate the little bit of "shininess". Steve

Looks better with the bigger pics Ryan! If you're looking for some colored wire, a good candidate is telephone wire. If you can round up a few feet of that, inside you'll find several different colors of thin wire that's almost the perfect scale for plug wires & battery cables. Depending on the type you find, there should be some good useable colors in there. Unfortunately, some times there are a lot of undesirable colors also. Steve

Thanks everybody!! Jeff, "Evening Orchid" was a '65 GM color. This is an actual '57 GM color called "Dusk Pearl". Pretty close to Evening Orchid, but a little less on the purple side & a little more on the gray side. Mark, the piping on the seats was pretty simple on this one. Just Foil! Steve

Very nice Rich!! I'm actually quite surprised that you could make one of these old promos look that nice! If you can find one that's not warped beyond recognition to start with. I avoid these promos like the plague! Too many "unknowns" for me. You should be proud! You did it right! Steve

Sorry about the "BLAH BLAH BLAH". I guess I have to learn to watch my "potty mouth". Steve

You're probably right Johann. I use the "food" setting, (believe it or not) on my camera for shooting models. It gives me much nicer "close-up" abilities. It also allows me to adjust color "saturation". I usually set it for "lighter" for indoor pics & depending on the color of the paint & what the weather is like outside, it can be a "BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH shoot" as to which setting I should be using out doors. It's hard to get a good idea of the "finished product" until I load them onto my computer. Plus, sometimes I just plain forget to reset it when I'm shooting out side. Steve

Beautiful Tulio!! I'm not much of a '30s-'40s guy, but that's just plain old NICE!! Steve

No collection would be complete without at least one '57 Chevy, & I'm no exception. This is the AMT '57 Belair hardtop, (the newer one with the opening trunk) I have three or four favorite colors for the '57 Chevy, & none of them are the "usual" Tropical Turquoise or Venetian Red. I'm a bit of an oddball when it comes to color choices. The more unusual the better. I like, "Canyon Coral", "Laurel Green", "Coronado Yellow" and of course, the color this one is done in, "Dusk Pearl". Steve

Thanks everybody!! your great comments are an inspiration to me! Steve

Very cool Andy! I like the fact that you kept it simple & didn't go over board. To many times some of us have a tendancy to change to kit so much it becomes unrecognizable. I like it when we let the original lines speak for themselves. But, that's coming from a guy who builds almost exclusively factory stock! Steve

Thanks Guys! I appreciate the nice Comments. I love these old annuals! You'll probably see quite a few more before I run out of subject matter & have to go back to more "current" kits. I have plenty of them I'd like to get done too! Steve

Not at all Froghawk. I did notice that the wheelbase was incorrect on this kit. A lot of these old kits had wheelbase/ ride height/ tread width problems. I usually try to correct these problems as much as warranted. For some reason I didn't on this one. I'm not exactly sure why. May have gotten side tracked as this kit has several other "fit" problems to deal with. This being the one of the first kits with an engine that AMT offered, things were a little "crude" in the engine compartment. I"ve dealt with the tread width issue on every older Johan kit I've ever built, & the '63 Ford truck that I have posted on the "light truck" forum required some front wheel re-positioning. The front wheels on that kit are too far back & it was really pronounced with lowering the front end. With that one, I had to move the wheels up & forward to get them to look right. I could do some "re-vamping" on the Buick, but at this point, it's "under glass" & I'm calling it good enough. Steve

Bigger pictures Ryan, bigger pictures! From what I can tell, it looks very nice. But the pics are too small to really see anything. Steve

Thanks guys. I do have a couple of tricks that I use Amere. Number 1 is to try to make sure the trim is as smooth as possible. I don't always live up to this one myself, but doing a little light sanding on the trim to try to eliminate some of the "orange peel" from the paint is helpful. The second thing I do is lay a piece of blue painters tape along side long, straight sections of trim & let the blade ride on the edge of the tape. This helps keep those long sections straight, because if your like me, it can be very difficult to keep those straight. If nothing else, the "blue" tape gives a color contrast so it's easier to follow your edge. Third.... just rub, rub, rub! The more you "burnish" the foil, the "brighter" it will become. Just a couple of techniques I use. Steve

Very Nice Al!! I had a good friend growing up who was a huge Nova guy. Last one I remember him having was a red '74 SS. Last time I saw it, it had a blower sticking out of the hood! I also remember an uncle of mine owning a Bi-centennial edition Nova. I believe it was a '75. White with a red interior & blue & red stripes. Steve

Here's another early '60s build I finished maybe a year ago. An AMT 1961 Ford Sunliner convertible. Finished in MCW "Desert Gold" with a black & yellow interior. Almost box stock again. This time I added a set of steel wheels & dog dish caps from the AMT '60 Starliner kit & a set of old "Satco" wide whites I happened to have laying around. Still looking for an orginal '61 Starliner annual. They seem to be almost non-existant unless you're satisfied with a promo. The '61 is my favorite early 60s Ford design. Steve

I'll be painting the molded in tail lights with Testors stop light red Chris. That's what I usually do. I try to avoid doing too many modifications to these old kits. I like to keep them as original as possible & just try to focus on detailing whats there. Steve

I was trying to figure out where I had seen that color before! I love it!! Perfect color for that era. Those "muted" blues & greens were pretty common in the 40s-early 50s. The flames are a fantastic bonus, & very well done! All I can picture is the new '50 Olds in a similar scheme.....Hmmmm. Steve

Thanks for all of the great comments guys! Makes me want to get busy on the next one. I agree Al. I think the '59 was the nicest looking of the three also. A little more "subdued" than the '58, & the '60 was pretty much a '60 Ford with a "face lift". Steve