Steve H

Hi Roger. First, thank you for the words at the beginning of your post. It shows that not only are you an incredibly talented builder, but also a top shelf person. Thank you! Now... you already know that I love your build style. No way that I could pick a fav here, although the wagon… got a soft spot for wagons right now. Then there’s the Taurus with the flat red, the convertible, ya they are all cool. Thanks for sharing sir, looking forward to seeing next years creations. Stay well and all the best for 2022. Cheers, Steve

Hi Keith! Wow! Those are all beauties. I can’t pick one favourite, love the rescue green Challenger, that colour is absolutely perfect on that car. The Elky is equally nice, the Charger, ya their all really nice. I recommend staying in the hobby, tons of great inspiration on this forum. Cheers, Steve

Speaking of sanding……… I thought it was about time to deal with the headlight area. Started with this mess. I’m not sure if my kit was particularly bad or if this is normal? The bezels seemed very “flat” and wide at the outer edge. The actual car seems that the bezels should be tapered and almost come to a point where they meet the body. Apart from that there are mold seams and… well they don’t look good. I decided to drill out the turn signals which will be used as air inlets. I have a plan for the turn signals, more on that later. The difference from the 1:1 car is that my air inlets are for the engine, not brake cooling. I also decided that it would be easier to drill out the headlights to do the shaping work on the bezels. I will dig in the part box for new headlight reflectors. After second round of cleanup… Still at least one more round to go, probably 2. However, it is starting to look better in my eyes. It looks like the Pacific Northwest is in for some cold, not nice weather in the coming week or two. Sooooo, it sucks I won’t get out on my mountain bike, BUT, it should be fantastic hobby weather. We actually might get a white Christmas which is fairly unusual here, so that could be fun. Love having an indoor hobby!! Thanks for having a look, cheers, Steve

Hi Keith, I have the Baldwin Motion one as well, not sure what I will do with that one yet. Glad I can give you some ideas sir, looking at your builds I’m sure it will be beautiful when done. I will keep an eye out for the WIP!! Hi Luke, ya, I’m quite pleased with the grill. I should be stockpiling my styrene dust and recycling it!! Francis! You’re in deep trouble mister! That might look really good, hmmmmm. A bit “cleaner” looking maybe without the letters. MORE SANDING!!! It’s definitely not too late, I’m going to give that some thought, good idea. Thanks for the compliment on the grill. I was almost certain that I was going to need plan “B” as the depth of the grill molding was very shallow. Thank you for the input, I’m always open to suggestions, especially from a master builder like yourself. Thanks for having a look and commenting guys.

Hi Bob, this is coming along great! Anything with tubs piques my interest. That latest mock up stance is still killer. Glad you were able to strip the paint successfully. Just a thought for the tubs, if it’s not too late. Take your favourite sanding stick to the edge of the tub that is still protruding and knock it down flush with the piece you added. It looks good as is, but that might give a smoother look? Either way this is super fun watching come together, you’re doing a great job sir. Sounds like you are enjoying stepping outside your comfort zone. Cheers, Steve

Hi guys, thought I’d do another update. I’ve been sanding…. a lot… Actually, I haven’t had as much desk time as I would have liked, but there does seem to have been a lot sanding. I’ve been getting a bunch of parts cleaned up and primed, figuring out ride height etc. The back interior panel is cleaned up and primed. It’s not “finished” but the shape is there now. I was worried that the grill was going to look like a black blob once painted. So I thought I’d have a go at opening it up, I have done this before on a couple of builds and really like the look. The “grill” pattern was quite shallow, so I started on plan “A”, but had a plan “B”. Before: After some grinding and A LOT of careful sanding, I finally exposed the grill from behind. Success…. Nope. As I guessed might happen, the remaining grill was way to thin to remain. You can’t tell in the photo, but a portion of the grill was sanded right thru, so….. plan “B”. I cleaned up the I inner edge of the surround and added some MCG pe grill from a sheet I bought I while back. It’s not specific for this kit, so not 100% accurate, but I’m happy with it. In the next photo you can see the primed grill. I will probably add the Z28 logo, but that decision is for later. Also in the photo is the front frame after filling the inner frame with styrene and notching the front so the radiator will sit lower. The firewall after being trimmed to fit, it’s about 3 scale inches shorter now. The things I do to get these things low…. I need my head examined! I added a back, er, front? to the radiator as it will be visible thru the grill now. The electric fan was liberated from a parts box rad and will be added later. Frame before: Finally, I’ve been playing with painting spoons. I’m getting close, I have one I like, but going to try a few more combinations before settling. Thanks as always for taking the time to have a look, and/or comment More soon! Cheers, Steve

Hi Steve, so much great stuff here. Your builds as I have said before are very educational, so many great details and ideas. Your craftsmanship is superb! True story: 2 days ago I was at my hobby desk playing around with the interior on my current build. If I’m working on interiors, you (and your amazing interiors) always come to mind. I was thinking, “ hmmmmm, I wonder what Steve does with his A pillars, he probably does something….” Those A pillar pieces are perfect! I may try something like that on my build, so thanks for sharing sir. This build is really coming together, is it as close as it looks? Cheers, Steve

Hi David, are you printing your own body or is there another source? I love that Ring bros. beast and could be interested in purchasing a body. Thanks, Steve

Hi Nick, another absolutely stunning build. I love your style. As many others stated, the paint, wheel choice, stance, and crisp finishing really make this a standout. Cheers, Steve

Thank you Michael. Also a big thanks to you for all you do for the forum, it is very much appreciated. You guys are awesome! I also hope this did not come across as a complaint or negative, that was not my intent. Almost certainly it’s a postal issue. Keep up the great work. Cheers, Steve

Mother Nature always wins! Ah ha… I knew I recognized the colour. One of our local club guys has used it on a build. Looks great and thanks. Steve

Francis my friend, your craftsmanship is just amazing. I have no idea how you create these individual masterpieces. When this build is complete, I’m certain that it will set, and significantly raise the bar for all scale models. It truly is incredible work sir. I hope I get to see this in person some day. Cheers, Steve

Hi Dave, first, thank you very much for everything you and your team do on this forum. I’m ecstatic that 211 is already on its way, however I still haven’t seen 210, and I’m certain that my subscription is up to date… Keep up the great work and thanks again for all you do. Cheers, Steve

Beauty!! Thanks for sharing those. Now let’s get that sweet ride “under glass”!! What paint/colour is that, it’s beautiful.

Hi Jeremy, I missed this one first time around. Very nice build and great looking patina. Steve

Great looking Elky Keith! I’m a huge fan of the Pegasus T’s, and they look awesome on this. Nicely done. I’d like to see some photos of the dark green ‘71 ? Challenger in the background. Looks like a sweet ride too. Cheers, Steve

One of my all time favourite body styles. Great looking paint, and the engine is very nicely detailed. Cheers, Steve

This is a beautiful build all round Michael. Very nice details and finishes. The body colour is absolutely stunning. Cheers, Steve

Bring it on! You seem to have very good taste in hobby tools. PM me if you have more must have tools. Looks like you had a good paint session. Cheers, Steve

Luke, Luke, Luke…. you cost me nothing but money. First it was the Border tools scriber (one of my favourite tools), now it’s the RP Toolz cutter. I ordered mine last night, should be here before Christmas. Watched a couple of videos and reviews, I’m super excited ?. I don’t do enough fab work to justify it, but man, it looks like an awesome tool. So heck, I bought one! Thanks for sharing that, it does look like it will save a lot of time, and make for cleaner work. Cheers mate.

This is great stuff Keith. Very nice work so far on all the kit bashing and fabricating. I’m no expert on the subject matter, so no corrections from me sir, it definitely looks the part. Cheers, Steve

Hi Jarkko, I really like this one. Great wheels and stance, I really like the seatbelt detail. Well done!

I’m sure you are planning up a storm for your next build(s)!

Hi Michael, thanks for taking the time to have a look. I just had a look at your old “Eliminator” thread, looking forward to watching that come together. I built that kit as a rat rod a while back, my first attempt. It turned out okay, but I’ve learned a lot since. Your melding of the 2 chassis’s was extremely well done. Thanks for the kind words Joe. I suppose it does have a bit of a tailgate look to it. Hopefully when it’s complete it will be more convincing. Still need to add some speakers, a fire extinguisher and…? Thanks Anton! I can always count on you for encouragement. Hoping for some desk time tomorrow. cheers fellas, and thanks again for taking the time to look and comment.

Hello Misha, sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. I guess perusing this forum is an upside to not feeling well. Take care and rest up, Santa is coming!! I use channeling extensively on my builds. To get the ride height I like it is a necessary evil. I’ve done it on my ‘64 shop truck, ‘67 Chevelle PS, Caddy hearse, pretty sure the Cutlass Ol Camino got a trim too. Many others too, it adds work, but the resulting ride height is worth it for me. Thanks again for following along. I had a busy couple of days so no update.