Bills72sj

That turned out sweet. What was your method for doing the emblems?

Way cool build. I have the 70 Jo-Han kit and a resin hood. What I do not have is the decals. Any leads?

Dual tires looks much better than dual axles.

After max detailing my big girls interiors, I would do so if I wanted the best possible interior.

Way cool. I was attending the 1987 Car Craft Nationals and we parked next to a couple of guys with a wagon that had the full on RoadRunner treatment to it. I thought it was pretty cool. It was the 1st Muscle Wagon I had ever laid eyes on.

I have both books. I have read the Muscle Car collector version cover to cover 7 TIMES!

That is correct. I have not yet painted with acrylics. I have a lifetime supply of lacquers and enamels.

Are my eyes deceiving me or did you extend he sleeper?

I do that to all my truck tires. It is sad to see nice builds with the tires beads not seated to the rim. I use 3/8 backer rod. Sometimes, I slice it lengthwise if it is too bulky (AMT tires)

I have that 54,55,57 Chevy kit. Every once in a while I open the box, look at the parts, dread the complexity and close up the box. Been going on 20 years now.

I have taken to laying a 6" strip of 2" wide masking tape just to my right directly onto my bench. I will mix Testors red tube and Plastrut Bondene to make the consistency thinner. This combo is used for styrene to styrene connections. Learning from Steve, I have increasingly been using 2-part 5 min epoxy. It works on many different materials and does not fog shiny surfaces (Though it is a little stinky). I use Testors "window maker" (i.e. Canopy Glue) on any clear parts as the wicking action works well to fill gaps. Any glue I do use, is dabbed on the desk tape and applied via toothpick. To your original inquiry, on parts like photetch, I use Future floor polish. It wicks well and is completely transparent. It has no solvent capability and will never harm any finish. And if you screw it up, a cotton swap in household ammonia makes it disappear allowing do overs. On particularly finicky things like Freightliner COE mirrors, I used Testors/Plastruct for bonding strength then wick in window maker to smooth the joints and add in additional slightly flexible strength. A little Molotow returned the various joints to chrome. I had to build 4 of those finicky boogers in less than a week. They are still holding up great.

At Steve's suggestion, I have purchased the quart cans of black. It airbrushes really nice and cut with lacquer thinner, it dries fast.

SaWEET!!!!! Superman decal. Nice touch.

That is way cool! What kit did you build it from?

I love the detail of you are putting into this . I appreciate you taking the time to basically create a tutorial for us. Regarding the tank straps, when I built my Freightliners (simultaneously) I painted the kit's ribs with Model Master "Black Chrome Trim". I then laid self-adhesive colored foil tape from Hobby Lobby. It duplicates the effect of the rubber under the straps but in scale.

Beautiful color. Do you have a link to the WIP? I would like to learn what it takes to get an engine in it. (I just can't do curbsides)

My favorites are kits that do not fight you on assembly. I tend to deflash and go right to paint. Test fitting is some I will do if I am warned. Sometimes I get away without doing so and some times I don't. My skillset has been greatly improved since joining this forum. (Looking at you Steve). Here are some that I am proudest of:

Now that the stereo has been dialed in to perfection, and the dashboard has all the upgrades I want done to it, it is time to replace the engine. The, still original, 53 year old 455 is getting tired. It runs great but has blow by if I get into the secondaries. I have a spare 455 that was my first and only engine rebuild from back in the 80's. Unfortunately, it suffered a car fire with only 20K on the rebuild. I have been lugging it around with every move for longer than I have owned this Grand Prix. It is presently in the machine shop getting a couple of sleeves put in it. I have been having fun researching and ordering parts at the best prices I can find. I am going to treat the engine refresh as though I were building a highly detailed model. Every part will get special attention to make it as functional and asthetically pleasing as I can. Part of today was spent painting/clear coating the motor mounts and the oil pan bolts. It will probably take me until late Summer to put it all together. It will be my "practice" engine as I want to keep the car on the road while I go through my numbers matching after this one is in.

That is a beautiful color combination.

That grille looks fantastic.

That 1:1 looks wicked.

Wow! You brought it a long ways from where you started. My cousin had a white 79 GP I did some custom stereo work in it for him back in the late 80's.

That is awesome and It is not even in color yet.

I am not a waxer (yet). I take the path of least resistance (and least likely to fail) and use Future. It holds PE, decals and BMF very well. I also dries crystal clear. If you screw up, it comes off with household ammonia without damage to the paint.

Sweet build. I hope to build mine in black someday.