Snake45

Thanks, and oh my yes I have buttloads of pics of the wretched old Monogram backbirth as I Snake-whipped it to the finish line of the Bring Out Your Dead Build, Round 5 (finished New Years Day this year). I'll eventually do a Under Glass thread on it, but in the meantime, there are a couple other pics of it in the BOYD thread here in the Workbench, two completed pics on page 40 and maybe a few in-progress photos in the pages before that.

I don't know anything about NSU RO80, but this rotary engine and a Wankel rotary are two very, VERY different things.

Revell had an Anglia (and its Thames panel brother) but they're gassers, not Altereds. The old IMC VW Beetle had a drag frame and engine options in it. They called it a Gasser but it was actually more like an Altered.

If I were a professional musician or athlete, I don't think I would ever go NEAR any kind of aircraft.

Now that you mention it, I think my '66 Impala might also be a friction car. Been a number of months since I've seen its chassis and had forgotten that. As to the '67, here's what I started with. No wheels or tires; I ended up having to put some '67 Rally Wheels on it, which look pretty good on it. At about the same time, I also got another one that, when I opened it, I thought it was molded in white and someone had painted the interior blue. But it turns out to have been painted white, and pretty cleanly, too. I'm restoring that one as well (decided to leave it white) at the same time and should have it finished very soon too. (I could have and should have gotten them both finished this weekend, but just got lazy.) If you object to me posting these pics in your thread, just let me know and I'll delete this post.

Root Beer is a beautiful color, but a bit redder and a bit browner than the Pantera in your pics. You might like their Bronze better if you're trying to match it. Though both are pretty sparkly. Root Beer:

Almost as much as New Coke or Hostess Twinkies, I'd imagine.

I bought three cans of Plastikote T-235 when it started to get hard to find five or six years ago, maybe longer. I save it for when I really NEED a primer that's both high-build and must stand up to hot paint. For a couple years now my go-to primer has been the 96 cent Walmart Color Place stuff, which is cheap, thin, smooth, opaque, fast-drying, and so far has stood up to everything I've thrown at it. It's just not high-build, that's all. Sadly, it's now hard to find, too. I managed to score six cans a few months back, which might be a lifetime supply if I use it carefully. The Color Place paint comes and goes at Walmart. For a while they haven't had any at all, but here recently Gloss White and Gloss Black are back. I'm hoping the flat white, gray, and black primers eventually show up again at some point. If they do, I'm stocking up!

That's amazing! Mine also has a fabulous shine but had quite a few scratches and scuffs I had to attend to. When it's finished, it won't be perfect, but you will almost have to go looking for the flaws under magnification. IIRC, I took off the molding lines with about #1000 sandpaper, and then polished the area with either nail polishing sticks or Wrights Silver Cream silver polish (been a couple months so I don't remember which I used--I use both all the time). When I got done you couldn't even tell they were ever there. What color is your '67 Impala promo? Mine's a bright blue, but it's actually a "friction" car which I believe is different from a true promo. The body on mine was a bit scratched and scuffed and "foggy," but I got a very nice shine on it with the nail sticks and Wrights. I hope to finish it today and should have pics up soon.

I know, but my promo doesn't really match anything on the '66 Chevy color chart--it's not yellow, it's not beige, it's not gold, but somewhere in between all of them. But I don't really care.

Very cool. I have a '72 glue bomb I bought years ago that I started converting to a '71. I've filled in the side vents, and I have the Modelhaus '71 parts for the conversion. I ought to get back to work on that thing. Maybe this year.

Fabulous! I can't wait to see more of your work. I'm currently finishing up a '67 Impala promo, and coming up soon will be a '69 or '70 Maverick in Original Cinnamon, but I envy your '67 Galaxie and '66 Fairlane! DO keep us posted on these!

I already expressed my admiration for your work, but may I offer a suggestion that would improve it even more? You can remove those molding lines at the front ends of the front fenders. They'll sand and polish right out. I know, because I've done it on the one I'm working on, molded in the same color as yours. Really improved the appearance. You've evidently mastered plastic polishing, as you've achieved one of THE BEST polished plastic jobs I've ever seen, and I can do a pretty darn good one myself. Oh, also REALLY nice work on the interior! Respect! I'm working on one I'm pretty sure is the same color, and mine isn't really yellow, it's sort of a golden beige that doesn't really match any factory '66 Chevy color. I call it "brown mustard," but it's a little lighter than that. Whatever--I'm rolling with it, and am gonna polish it out, and I hope mine comes out NEARLY as well as 1701's.

Did you see my idea about filling the depression and then doing a vinyl top? You could still polish the yellow plastic.

Three more I recently liberated from ePay. '70 Javelin. Been chasing these for years. Missing the A-pillars, but they're simple and look easy to fix. This one was definitely played with, and the top has a LOT of scratches that look like they're from gravel. The rest isn't perfect, but not too bad. I really like the color. Pretty sure I can bring it back from the dead. '69 Javelin, another one that has eluded me for years. Both A-pillars are bent/bowed, but not broken, and should be easily fixable. The left front tire is split, but I think I can fix that. Otherwise in VERY nice shape. It came with a foil sticker from some kind of Driver Ed Association on the trunk, which caused me some concern. I was able to VERY carefully peel it off without damaging the paint, and even was able to remove about 99% of the adhesive residue. There's still a couple tiny gobs of the stuff on there, which I'll have to experiment to see if I can get it off. I've learned the hard way that (at least) some promo paint is EXTREMELY fragile and won't hold up to even a light polish or rubbing alcohol. If I have to, I'll just live with it, because I LOVE this color. I paid the second highest price I have ever paid for ANY model car for it, and don't regret a cent of it. And yet another one I've been trying for forEVER, a '71 Chevelle. Would have been very happy with a restorable glue bomb or distressed promo, but this turns out to be an unbuilt kit that the only thing that's been done to it is the body has been painted in a very nice, very smooth, very shiny black. All kit parts seem to be present and many are still on the sprues, including both bumpers and the headlights. Decals have a slight tire mark. Got it for an astounding price for what it is, which could be because in the eBay pics, at first it looked like there was no chrome. You had to scroll all the way to the right of the pic slideshow and there at last was ONE shot that included the chrome sprue almost as an afterthought. I imagine many shoppers didn't look that far. My original plan when I bought it was to strip it and paint it '71 Copper, but now I think I'm gonna just polish out the paint that's on it, Snake-Fu the trim with Silver Sharpie, and build it up on a common reissue '70 Chevelle chassis, interior, and engine, and leave everything else intact in the box. (It's SO clean that if the paint stripped off cleanly, I could put the whole thing back on ebay as an unbuilt kit and double or triple my money, I'm sure.) This one rises VERY high on the To-Do list. Happy Happy Joy Joy!

I have a '66 Vette roadster that I'm planning to put on a VW chassis as a ripoff "Po-Vette" kit car.

Funny you should mention that. I noticed exactly the same thing in the eBay pic. I thought at the time, "Oh well, since it's missing the A-pillar anyway, I can always fill in the dent and give it a vinyl top." (I'm planning on polishing out the red plastic.) First thing I looked at when I opened it, and there doesn't seem to be any depression in real life. Maybe it's some photo quirk having to do with the fact that the roof is pretty scratched up.

Amazing! I am always gobsmacked at what you are able to turn up where you are. I don't have half your luck right here in the Good Old USA. Dunno what your plans are for that Chevelle, but if it were mine, I'd clean it up, see if the paint would take what I call a "light polish," hit it with some first degree Snake-Fu, and proudly display it as a Survivor.

I dunno if I'd invest $27+ in satisfying my curiosity, but I'd like to see one of these Palmer Mavericks in person. There's at least a chance that it could be a workable kit. Remember that the Lindberg '74 Challenger started as a Palmer. No, it's nowhere near perfect, but it is full 1/25 scale and it's head and shoulders above what most of us think of when we hear the Palmer name. I've seen several very acceptable looking models built from that kit and have worked on one on and off myself. IMHO, it's more accurate than, say, the MPC '69 Firebird. Maybe the Palmer Maverick is in the same category.

Your Snake-Fu skills are very strong, grasshopper! Well done! I have one of these I did similar Fu on but you went a step further with the engine and interior work. Isn't it fun to do a project of this sort in an afternoon or two and get it on your shelf? There's no better model car value in time or money than a quick, simple improvement project on a $10 Rite Aid Welly, a $20 Walmart M2, or a 40% off Hobby Lobby diecast. Model on!

That was exactly my first thought when I saw the picture, too. The front spring mount needs to be moved up on the frame to lower the front end, but it does look very similar.

Very, VERY nice! Impressive work! I'm working on one of these myself at the moment, maybe even in the same color, and I hope mine comes out as well as yours. Well done and model on!

Rescued from ePay--'73 Camaro promo. Rough shape but complete except for part of one A-pillar. I can fix it--I've worked with worse. Also rescued, '72 Chevelle convertible. Now, as far as I know, AMT never did a '72 Chevelle convertible, so it looks like someone did their own workbench conversion. The front bumper/grille alone is worth almost what I paid for the whole thing, and I figgered worse comes to worst I could transfer the roof off a common '70 reissue, or graft the front fender tips of this body onto a '70 reissue body, but now I'm thinking of doing one of my trademark Snake-Fu "rescues" on it and putting it on the shelf, at least for the time being. The paint actually looks better in person than in the pics.

Well, I'm just about 100% certain it's not a JoHan. It would take a LOT to bring this one back to stock. (Did you notice the door/window frames are gone?) I'd pass on it, unless I just couldn't find anything else, or it was DIRT cheap. You can still find bargains on Mavericks on eBay if you watch and are patient. I saw a really nice (though not perfect) JoHan promo go last week for less than $40. Only reason it isn't mine is I just forgot to bid on it. But I'm pretty well Mavericked up at the moment and promise not to bid against you. There are a lot of WAY expensive ones on there, too.

That was my first thought, too, because it looks exactly like the Dullcote I've used. You might be able to remove it from your body with 92% rubbing alcohol without damaging the underlying paint, depending on what kind it is. (If the red is Testor lacquer, the alcohol will take that off too.)