Steve H

Hi again Tom, first, I do love your always changing avatar image. The current one makes me smile. Thanks for chiming in, I appreciate it sir.

Thanks Chaz! Definitely one of my best interiors.

Yes sir! That wide one came with the body. My first 2 Modelhaus kits were really well done, this one is a bit “off”.

Too bad about the paint/foil issues, but it looks great now. That’s a killer colour combo for the car. Cheers, Steve

Hi guys, managed to get some desk time today. Still a smallish update, but progress nonetheless! Interior is now complete. I’m actually quite happy with how this turned out. The interior will likely be the best part of this build, more on that later….. I was trying to replicate a wood shifter knob to match the console, didn’t turn out as good as I hoped but not terrible either. I may still add rear seat belts. Chassis is pretty close to finished too. Engine and wheels are now permanently attached. The scoop is attached to hood and just needs a little finesse to be complete. Bigger than I intended, but it will add to the wagons attitude. And then… more drama…. I’ve been kitbashing for close to 40 years now, generally each one is better than the last. Usually my planning is decent, not great, but decent. There is almost always little issues that I didn’t see coming, generally, easy fixes. This darn thing keeps tossing me curve balls, I have only shared a handful of the many curves. Here’s the latest. The kit supplied rear bumper is about 3 1/2 scale inches too wide, the Foote kit bumper is about 2 scale inches too narrow!!! Side by side you can see the difference. Wayyyyy more than just a 1:24 or 1:25 scale difference. The really odd thing is that the front grill and bumper from the Foose kit fit like a glove. Thank god, or the project might be back in the box! I haven’t decided on a fix yet, but it might be cutting the long one to suit and painting it. If anyone has ideas, bring em on. Here’s how they line up on the body. It was laugh or cry…I laughed. I also spent some time on body clean up and fitting the glass, no surprises there yet. That’s where I’m at now. Next step will be figure out the bumper issue, then final body prep. As always, thanks for checking in, comments always welcome.

Looks amazing Dennis! That colour really pops in the sun. I used the Adams wax and many of their other products on my 1:1 car for years. Their wax is still one of my go to’s for hobby wax, don’t have their cut wax, but I’m sure it’s top shelf stuff. I will be patient til next weekend to see this beauty come together…

Hi Martin, Great to hear from you! You haven’t missed much, it’s been a slow go. I don’t get much desk time in the spring and summer. She’s coming together finally, looking forward to being done and on to the next… Thanks for checking in.

Hi Steve, thank you for the insight. I must say once again, the wealth of knowledge on this forum is outstanding. To be honest, I didn’t give the 1:1 aspect of window functioning a thought… oops. However, this beast has fought me hard enough, the pillar stays as is. I do sincerely appreciate the input!

Hi Claude! Thanks for your curiosity sir. Keep your eye on the WIP section, hoping to start something next week. It will be a simple lesson tho, slammer with no engine or interior. However, I think it will be eye catching… and a bit sisnister. Cheers, Steve

Thanks for the encouragement guys, much appreciated.

Thank you Philippe! One of my favourite things about this forum is the global community we have. Nice to hear from you. My wife and I are hoping to visit your beautiful country sometime in the next couple of years. Wine country!! Cheers, Steve

Hi Sam, not only was my dads Impala that colour, but my 2015 GMC truck is a very similar colour too. Love it!

Hi Gerald, absolutely love this one. I like all your builds actually! Great stuff. The floor boards are very cool, I assume you printed your own decals for that. Haney’s pub decals are a nice touch too! My guess is you were born in ‘71 ? As always the weathering is just right, I think the killer motor with straight pipes is my favourite part though! You’d hear this beast a mile away. Cheers, Steve

Another small update, Most of the main chassis parts are now assembled. I will do some detail painting but it’s close. Disc brakes from parts bin modified to fit. Front and rear are different, but once assembled you’ll have to look pretty hard to notice. Body colour on the shocks and calipers. Quick mock up, wheels and engine not glued in place yet. Hoping the have the wheels, driveshaft, and engine glued up in the next couple of days. Hood scoop is bigger than I originally wanted, but a small price to pay for a low stance!! Still some smoothing out to do. A couple of issues I’m having with this build: first, the body is warped. Also the windshield cowl vent area was bowed up in the middle by about 2-3 scale inches. I have fixed the bow, but the warp is stubborn. I have used heat and that got a small amount of the twist out of the body. It still has a warp, but with my lack of experience working with resin, I’m leaving well enough alone. I felt that if I tried anymore it might go “pop”. second issue, the chassis is warped!! It’s becoming a frustrating build to be honest. All the individual assemblies are coming along ok, but with the various warps I’m not sure how final assembly is going to go. Just one of those builds that wants to fight me… On a positive note, I do have my next project planned out and that will push me to finish this up. Thanks for looking

Ya…What Gareth said! That thing is absolutely stunning. Beautiful build David.

Great looking build Mike. As the others have said, it’s a very period correct paint scheme. Good looking engine bay too! Cheers, Steve

Hi Sam ! That ‘59 looks awesome! Love those huge horizontal fins. That’s a beautiful colour combo, is that Tamiya light pearl blue? Very similar to an old GM factory colour. My dad had a ‘62 Impala that colour. I hear you on the WIP’s, sometimes motivating, other times …. Foil, I have to be in the right frame of mind, and not in a hurry. A glass of wine helps too!! Look forward to seeing that under glass when you get all the bits required. Cheers, Steve

Hello Claude, another stellar build sir. You are the King of mashups!! A while back I was googling custom Caddy’s and a similar 1:1 car came up. I’m actually not sure now if it was a custom or not, but it had the same style of opera window. Extremely well done as always, fit/ finish/ details all top shelf. Keep em coming! Cheers, Steve

Hi Alan, man, I love the wealth of knowledge on this forum! I think Modelhaus did a great job on this kit, the ‘59 greenhouse has a bit more of a “truck” look and definitely doesn’t look out of place. I do wish there were some affordable options for the Aussie Utes, I’d buy several of them, old and new. I have a plan for a modern Ute/ Elky rattling around in my brain that I will build sometime in the future. Thanks for sharing that info, and thanks for the compliments. Cheers, Steve

Hi Sam, do you have a WIP thread on that? I’m always in on El Camino builds.

Thanks Josh! Hi Rusty, thank you for the kind words sir. Much appreciated Carl Thanks David!

Claude !! More beautiful inspiration from a master. Absolutely love all your builds sir. 4 more to come!!! Bring em on… Question if I may, is the white as “tan” as it looks in the photos? It looks perfect on the car. Oh ya, and stance is spot on. Cheers, Steve

Thank you for having a look Anton. Cheers, Steve

Francis !!! How are you my friend? Yes sir, I like low! A hood scoop is a small price to pay for a killer stance… in my world anyway. Realistically, the hood will always be up in the display case. Thanks for checking in sir!

Thank you Chaz, I am motivated to finish this as I have a plan for the next project. Thanks for the words of encouragement Mike, I could use a little push on this one! Hi Rob, I’m looking forward to seeing the wheels when the body is in colour. In my head, the combination looks great…