Phil Patterson

TKM's are rough, no doubt, but for some subjects, they're the only game in town. I've got 2, one is the 54 Imperial that I hope to slowly turn into the 54 New Yorker Deluxe I had shortly after high school. The other is a 70s Imperial. Depending on the subject, they're better than starting from scratch, but it's good for anyone considering one to listen to the criticisms so they don't go in unprepared and end up disappointed. I'd mainly recommend them as curbsides, but funny thing is by the time most people put that much work into them, they say go for it and add the rest! TKM's are easier than starting with just a block of 2x4, but not much and you'd better really want or love the particular vehicle and have no other option.

The photo makes me sad cause I'm pretty sure he absolutely devastated a 59 Ford to make that monstrosity.

About an hour south of you in the sticks of Lewis Co, out past Weston. BTW, you don't know or have heard from any of the Central WV Modeler guys lately? No show this year in Morgantown, don't know if the club imploded or what...

I built the prepaint Edsel and looking at mine that color of yellow is very very close to Zinc Chromate Yellow. You may find it easiest in a selection of military paints. One caution, getting the floor pan to fit up into the body is really touchy on these, be careful and very patient. IIRC, I slipped mine into the rear panel first, then worked it up into the body, but it took a couple of tries. Firewall and dashboard clearance can be a problem. Just figured I'd give you fair warning, It's been a couple years now since I finished mine, maybe someone will have fresher memorys of this particular step in assembly.

Oh, and just to answer the question asked, I'd like to find a 60 Plymouth Fury wagon just like the one in the JoHan kit and if it had the Sonoramic dual 4 barrel option that'd be even better! 2nd would be the 59 Dodge hardtop, also by Johan.

I thought that would have been updated to the 69 model? Though as the 59 Imperial reissue showed, all things are possible. I'd love to see the 69 Coronet R/T reissued, vert or hardtop, and the Mission Impossible stuff wouldn't bother me either, just open the gates and let the plastic flow!

It's something to see that 37 Ford sedan as a basic builder, I remember when it was the hot new kit! I hope it's not going to be in orange plastic this time around. I wonder if that #85-0464 PT Boat is the old PT-109 kit coming around again? I imagine not a lot of modelers today remember that movie too well....

Just as another idea, how about that AMT Dodge Lil Red truck, but sliced down, customized and painted to match your Barely 'Cuda? I like the Racer's Wedge combined with the L-700 too...

Wow, that's really nice!

The last Johan product I bought at my local hobby shop was the Turbine Car curbside. I'm pretty sure that was the last newly molded product, I suspect these color pieces may be leftover stock. Part of the problem has been if you can't make it to the shows, it's hard to buy current Johan product. Doing the shows is better than nothing at all, but until there's a significant amount of kits hitting the shelves, it's hard to look at Johan at this point as anything except a cottage industry business. I'd sure like to see Okey maybe work out some kind of partnership deal with Lindberg, they're at least showing an ability to get old tooling working and get product out to market.

Artfully done! I'd have love to have seen that in person!

I think splitting the top in the middle and down the center would be the best way. Then you could bring each piece forward to the roof post stubs and fill the gaps in the middle of the roof. The technique of just chopping the posts and dropping the top doesn't work so well on a curved roof and you're planning to stretch it anyway. Also, you may want to cut the rear window out completely, then reinstall after the top chop so you don't make the window itself too small during the process.

Bite your tongue!! Seriously though, I'd be happy if they could find the tooling for the old Mission Impossible 69 R/T convertible. I had one back in the day and it was possible to build it stock. The only real problem and I may be wrong on this was the non-stock tonneau cover, but they could probably use one from the AMT 69 GTX convertible. I think Revell doing the 69 Nova is a great idea. AMT did the 64 and 63 Impala before Revell did theirs and that doesn't seem to have affected sales. I just hope someone eventually does a 4 door sedan in resin based on this Revell kit so I can duplicate my sister's 69 Nova she had when she first got married.

It's almost scary when I realize I'll probably buy every one on the list and a couple of them twice. (I've already got a Hemi Hunter)

Another one already? Happy Birthday!

I've had good luck with Testors #1246 Silver. I've been able to paint lime green over red plastic, yellow over blue and covered body repair primer spots as well. I wouldn't use it under a hot automotive paint or Tamiya, but it seems to hold up to either Testors enamels or their new lacquers just fine. Also, it drys pretty quickly and scuffs without clogging the sandpaper too quickly, though I'd recommend wet sanding it for more involved body prep.

This is something I've been aware of, but I never understood. When I was young, I enjoyed the new cars, but liked the old cars too. Nothing was cooler than a muscle or pony car packing horsepower under the hood and 4 speed on the floor. But I'd never have turned my nose up at a Deuce coupe, Hemi 300 with fins, Fuelie Corvette or Tri-Five Chevy or anything else older. I even liked the restoration shows looking at the oldies with spoked wheels that started with a crank and had wooden coils that buzzed when they ran! I like some newer vehicles too, but I still enjoyed the vintage machines as well. They're all cars, aren't they?

Looking good! What color are you going to do the interior in? Black is typical, but bright red might make a nice change and I think white with black trim would also look good.

One of my favorites is black on black, and few cars carry it off as well as a 68-70 Charger! Be careful setting down in it in the summer though! I'm pretty sure the trim between the bottom of the vinyl top and the quarter panel is chrome, so you may want to BMF that too.

The headlights remind me of the 66 Buick Skylark, though you'll probably have to scratch build the rest. I've got a similar project going on and off making a non-XL grille for a 66 Ford Galaxie. Unfortunately I managed to misplace my 70% done project and will have to start over...sigh. Good luck! Cutting small details out of thin Plastruct sheet may work, but I'd invest in either a magnifying glass or monacle!

Not especially so, though who knows what the future may bring. Annuals and one time only show rod kits seem to bring the big dollars right now.

Here's one I did awhile back, basically box stock except for a little engine wiring. front bumper and removing the louvers from the rear window. Good kit, just be careful to take time with your body work around the rear of the cab. I left these as links so folks on dialup won't have everything loading at once! http://home.earthlink.net/~hill7jack6/site.../79jeepj10a.jpg http://home.earthlink.net/~hill7jack6/site.../79jeepj10c.jpg

Wow, that's pretty cool! Tedious, but still cool! I can see where that method could come in handy in several instances, but one thing for sure, take good care of that mold and master once you get to the correct size!

Very smooth! The Riviera is one of those cars that almost look customized from the factory and you brought that out perfectly!

Not much over the summer, especially with the kids home from school. Cold weather is when I do most of my building, though the amount of time I can put into it varies.