DoctorLarry

Trashed the last set of bumpers and made new ones.

I started doing the Pontiacs for two reasons: I like the body styles (having owned some-still do) and the fact that nobody made kits of them. Once I made the first one, I watched a video on resin casting and said "I think I could do that". After that, it has been fun to develop new body styles (now onto Buicks) and have folks want to build them. I have made a little money from them, but more importantly it is like any art project-it is satisfying when they are done and you can see them in resin. I just need to stop and actually finish building one!

I suppose that technically if you take an existing styrene kit from Revell or JoHan or someone else and make something different out of it you have utilized the design talents of someone else and you are copying at least part of their work. In my case, I began with styrene bodies and used their basic characteristics (wheel base length, roof line, etc) to create something that was in the same family as the styrene original (Grand Am and Can Am from Cutlass, Grand Prix from Monte Carlo). Some elements were minimally modified and some are unrecognizable from the base model. Are they exact copies? Obviously not but they are radically modified versions of an original base body. So parts are copied, undeniably.

I make them when I have time. Price depends on what you want.

A little more work. Still trying to get the bumpers right but getting closer.

I still have the molds for all of these. I cast when my work and family schedule permits, which has meant not much lately.

I like the silver one-who was the driver?

I'm almost done. Bumpers, final measurements. checking body lines and symmetry. Maybe a month.

I have two Cutlass roofs I cut off of other projects in my spare parts bin...

here's the one I mentioned. Definitely the standard roof with opera window.

I saw these decals on EBAY-looks like the regular roofline.

Got a picture for me? I can graft the Cutlass roof onto one of the resin copies and then fill in the triangle windows to have the formal opera window. I did that for a guy who had an opera window Grand Am. I re-did one of the resins with an opera window for him. LB

You wanting to do the Lennie Pond Regal?

Once I get the pace car done, swapping roofs will be pretty easy!

The interiors on these cars are very complex in terms of shapes and patterns. It took awhile to get all of the pieces sorted out:

It took me a long time to get all of the interior parts right. The dash has a lot of compound curves to get right.

Looks great!

I've done the 73 Grand Am before. I'm trying to duplicate the factory bumpers on the pace car here.

Mike: That is my intention. As soon as I get it tweaked, I will cast the body, hood and bumpers separately. I'm still trying to get the look of the bumpers right. I think I have them about right looking. I have re-done them three times.

Tim: Right now the overlay is glued on. I intend to cast the hood and bumpers separate from the body so the spoilers, hood bump and roof band could be sanded off. It's just a lot easier to visualize everything if they are glued on. Mark, thanks. I did not build that-a guy on the board bought one and did it. He also built one of my Grand Prix kits.

Bumpers are the hardest thing for me to get right and they still look funky, so more work needed. I actually owned a 76 Laguna S3 for about 10 years and replaced the front bumper. That thing took two people to lift!

Tim, I have two posts with pictures; Buick Brothers and 76 Century Project. Here is the 76 almost done:

Getting close to the end on this one. I still need to work on the front end and bumpers but everything else is pretty close.

Here's a copy someone built:

Mark: yes they were. I am finishing a 73 Buick Gran Sport and 76 Buick Century Indy 500 Pace Car then my next project is a 74 GTO.