Anglia105E

Mike...... the photo below shows both the '70 Bonneville chassis which is the MPC kit and also the '67 Bonneville chassis which is the resin kit that I have for my build. As you can see they are both identical, and actually the same length. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the '70 Bonneville chassis had been used as the master for the casting of the resin chassis. So what we have, is a wheelbase of 123 mm for the chassis, which is 3,075 mm when multiplied by 25, and 3.075 mm equals 121 inches. According to all information that I have received so far, the wheelbase of the Canadian Parisienne should be 119 inches, whereas the US Bonneville has a wheelbase of 124 inches....... which is why I am puzzled by the 121 inches wheelbase, or am I missing something? Your detailed data is very much appreciated, and much of it is all new to me...... and I am very interested in your spare '65/'66 Chevy RHD dashboard, which would help me greatly, Mike. David

Geoff........ your review of the 1:24 scale Morris Minor resin kit is excellent, and I enjoyed reading the review. This kit is fairly priced at £80.00 plus p&p, and I almost want to buy one! The Lotus Cortina MK1 is also very interesting and I wish there was a 4-door version too. My Dad owned a very nice blue 1963 Ford Cortina MK1 that was a 4-door, and after he taught me to drive in that car, I passed my driving test at the third attempt. My first car at the age of 17 was the Ford Anglia 105E, which my Dad bought for me, costing £50. David

Good for you, Dann...... This Ford Anglia 105E will return one day......... and it will become complete........ David

Pleased to hear that you are enjoying this build, David Espenshade....... which is only just about to start, due to extensive research and detailed preparation, along with the process of accumulating parts, materials and tools. I believe you are correct in saying that the Disc Brake option was available on the Pontiacs from '67, so it is surprising that it isn't mentioned in that brochure posted by Vietnam Vet67. Hope you continue to enjoy watching my '68 Pontiac Parisienne 4-door build. David

Thanks very much, Mike..... your further information about the shorter US Pontiacs is very useful, and I am beginning to get a clearer picture of all the differences between the two version, Parisienne from Canada and Bonneville from United States. Yes, that is the Observer's Book of Automobiles that I remember from my childhood...... the blue book without the dust cover. David

Sorry for the delay in replying to your comment, Charlie...... the software that I am using for the plan drawing is very old, and I have to install the software on an old Windows XP laptop, as it will not run on a Windows 10 computer. It is called Photo Studio by a company called ArcSoft...... and there is probably a much newer version available now, that will run on Windows 10 but you have to pay for it ( this old version was free, many moons ago ). The photo from which I created the plan drawing is shown below, and what ArcSoft Photo Studio does is to allow you to choose the ' Fine Art ' option, and then choose the ' Pencil Sketch ' option, which is what this drawing is. I then add measurements and notes using Microsoft Paint software. You are absolutely right about the Canadian Parisienne being totally different to the US Bonneville version in lots of small details. The chassis by Chevrolet is shorter, and the overall body length is longer for the Bonneville. Thing is, Charlie..... when you scale it down to 1:25, many of these differences are miniscule. David

Now you mention it, Noel..... I used to watch ' The Prisoner ' TV series, starring Patrick McGoohan and also, I have visited the Italianate village in Portmeirion, which is an interesting place to visit. I do have a Tamiya Lotus 7 kit, which is still in the box...... having pinched the road wheels for my Ford Anglia 105E resin build. David

Thanks for the link to the 1968 Pontiac brochures, Ed..... and I had already saved them to my computer previously, but I appreciate your kind thought. David

Picked up the MPC Bonneville kit today, and the wheels in this kit should be just what I need for the Parisienne....... also, the tyres are better than those in the resin kit, with some ' Goodyear ' lettering on the tyre walls and they are wider too. David

Many thanks, Geoff........ and I suspected that Andy had closed down the website, so if you could PM his email address to me that would be great, thanks. I have built a Morris Minor Traveller from a resin body kit, and I would like to build a MK1 Cortina kit, but it would have to be 4-door rather than the usual 2-door version........ currently building the '68 Pontiac Parisienne 4-door from the resin kit of a '67 Pontiac Bonneville 4-door, as you have probably noticed! I shall read your review of the Morris Minor later today, when I get some free time. Cheers, David

Walid..... this 1:25 scale resin kit is available from Page Resin on Facebook..... the guy makes good quality casting and he is Pedro Escanio in Chicago, Illinois, United States. - This kit is a '67 Pontiac Bonneville 4-door, which is the US version of the car..... Myself, I am building the Canada version of the car, which is a '68 Pontiac Parisienne 4-door. David

Noel..... thanks for the up to date information about Andy, and I might try to attend the show in Telford during November. I was aware of the Model Motor Museum in Miniature, which I think is an excellent display of a remarkable collection. Those resin kits look really good, and I would think they are well worth the asking price. David

The plan drawing for this build now has further measurements added.... and I must apologise for the crude rendition of the drawing, although I never claimed to be a trained draughtsman! There is a delivery waiting for me to collect during the next day or two. This one is the MPC '70 Pontiac Bonneville Roadster / Custom Pickup kit in 1:25 scale, which has the wheels I need for the Parisienne. Other parts from this kit may be useful, such as the metal axles for example, and maybe even the windscreen. David

Drafted a scale plan drawing of the Parisienne, which is to scale , so it represents the actual size of the model car. The actual wheelbase of the '67 Bonneville is 4.84 inches in 1:25 scale and the wheelbase of the Parisienne needs to be 4.76 inches, so there is only a difference of 0.08 inches...... this is not something that I am going to worry about unduly. Here is the plan drawing so far, and I shall add further dimensions to this drawing as work progresses, and as necessary. David

Nicely done ' TAKSI ' there, Ismo..... and some clever work converting 2-door to 4-door, also. David

Thank you, Ismo..... I did have a look at the blueprints web site, but they show 1966 / 1967 and two-door, and there is nothing for 1968 and four-door. They seem to cover just about every year except '68. The year range is important because the wheelbase and the body length is different, although the difference is very small. Thanks for the link, Ismo anyway. David

Yes, I particularly like the Printle Shop figures from Shapeways....... and it does seem that certain figures have a great deal more realism than some of the others. David

Having to re-think all my measurements and dimensions, now that I have been told my Bonneville resin kit is 1:25 scale, and not 1:24 scale as I thought previously. The wheel base of this resin chassis is 123 mm, which does not translate into either the Bonneville wheelbase or the Parisienne wheelbase. According to my calculations...... the scale is some weird figure like 1:25.6..... because 123 mm is 4.84 inches, multiplied by 25 comes out at 121 inches..... with the Bonneville wheelbase measuring 124 inches and the Parisienne measuring 119 inches. My wheelbase for this resin kit is in between the two cars, being 3 inches shorter than a Bonneville and 2 inches longer than a Parisienne ( in full size 1:1 ). Once I have gathered a few more parts, and when the parts are done in white primer instead of grey primer the build can get under way properly. I have been looking on the Internet for some scale plan drawings of the '68 Pontiac Bonneville 4-door or even the '68 Parisienne 4-door, but I haven't found any yet. David

Pat.... I was already blown away by your ' Fat ' man figure, but the guy in the blue shirt with the wrist watch, just to the right of fat man is so realistic..... he must BE real, surely? David

Yordan..... this plastic bodied truck no longer looks like plastic at all..... it actually looks like a metal body. You are the Master of Rust ! David

Very brave to have a go at this , considering it is your first built vehicle and first attempt with the airbrush too. David

Here are a couple of photos showing the paint test on the spoons, which is the '68 Buick Cameo Cream over both grey primer and also white primer. This pale yellow colour clearly works best over white primer, as you can see. To the naked eye, the paint colour has a distinct pale yellow appearance, which is not as obvious in these photos, where they do appear more cream. David

This looks like it is going to be one rusty truck, Yordan....... David

Okay, Steve.... understood. Sounds like it has to be the 5 spoke mags and some clever painting to get close to the right effect. The '70 Bonneville kit might have a few other bits in it that I could use, or I can build it as a convertible open top, using the wheels from the '67 resin kit. David

Good thinking, Steve.......and according to Duke Earl, the Magnum 500 wheel is actually a Pontiac Rally II wheel..... Available in easy to find 67 GTO, 68 Firebird, and 70 Bonneville. 15"......... Steve, I have ordered and purchased an MPC '70 Bonneville kit on Ebay, which has the correct wheels for my build. Things are coming together nicely now, with Alan Barton in Australia posting some front grille parts that I should be able to make use of. Also, the paint colour that I have is '68 Buick Cameo Cream, which tested as a perfect match this morning. This paint colour is the GM group of cars, Pontiac, Chevy, Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac, which have different names for the same colour ( Pontiac Mayfair Maize ). Thanks, again...... David