Kromolly

I haven't been able to make much progress this week, I've been under the weather. I did manage to come up with pieces from the parts box, and with some sanding was able to assemble, paint and attach hub caps to the wheels. I need to do a little more body work on the hood. Another mockup to see how the wheels & tires are fitting. The fender unit is warped causing the fenders to curl up on the outside and make them ride too high above the tires. I've been slowly massaging those in alternating hot and cold water bathes and they are getting better. Charlie Ryan used the dash from a '41 Lincoln based on what I've read, so I resized the Lincoln dash and will use it. Hope to get back to this soon... you know you're feeling puny when you can't muster the energy to model. ?

I'm torn, the '66 Ol'Camino is beautifully executed and Steve was right to stick with the swooping body line behind the door to maintain the Oldsmobile look. Beautiful craftsmanship, gorgeous paint, great stance, just superb in every way. But that '59 Buick, WOW! I love the look of that one. Just COOL. COOL, COOL!!! There are some very well done examples on here.

I used to use Mr. Muscle oven cleaner but I haven't found that recently (haven't looked hard). After reading posts on here I tried soaking in brake fluid and it worked fine. Some say that can make the plastic brittle. The most popular method based on what I've read here is Super Clean (by Castrol now, I think). If you do a search on stripping or removing paint you'll find a bunch of information. I agree with Slusher on priming, I do when I am spraying. But back in the day as a kid I remember being able to brush a coat of Testors over bare plastic and having it cover. At that age the result wasn't perfect, I'm sure, but I got by. I so regret not keeping the dezens of models I built back then... alas, another story.

You gotta wonder what they were smoking. ?

Very nice and so COOL!

This is absolutely incredible modeling, artistry and realism. The metalizing, weathering and details such as grease and oil are stunning. Jaw dropping! This is probably a really dumb question, but is the dozer and and all of its components entirely scratch-built?

Very nice, clean work. The Vega is a neat subject.

Very nice. That looks like a color combination GM would have had back in the day... not common, but likely available in '68. For interior colors today you get your choice of tan or gray. Did I mention tan? Bleh!

Really nice detail on that kit. It's not necessarily a subject I would be interested in, but here's hoping KA Models will be producing more kits. If they continue at this quality level they should do well. The really early Datsun and Toyota pickups would make a neat subject. Growing up a neighbor had a '59 (IIRC) Datsun pickup. I can't even count the number of times I remember him stalling out next to our house.

Very nice, clean and accurate build. I really enjoy seeing these old family cars come to life. It's hard to believe how long it's been since the cars of that era were commonplace.

Great idea. I've been looking at my display case thinking the same thing. Now that I have some WIPs after a 25 year hiatus, I am going to need more space!

Testors enamel? Yes, it can be really hard to mix. The solids will settle to the bottom and clump up. I use pieces of sprue as a stir stick and thoroughly stir the solids. I have a bunch of 25 year old Testors Model Master paint that I've been able to resurrect by stirring and adding a little thinner. It's hard to see in the pictures of the bed what the problem is. Orange peel? It's hard for me to control paint from a rattle can onto such a small surface with compound curves, angles and depth. I find that there is too much paint coming out. You may be able to wet sand and polish, or color sand and clear coat it. I've used polishing cloth up to 12,000 grit to polish and then rub with a liquid automotive wax. "Cleaner wax" can damage the paint, so make sure it's wax only and test it first to make sure it doesn't damage the paint.

What are you spraying with? The Testors orange looks thin. When I'm airbrushing Testors I'll do multiple very light mist coats and let it flash in between, then when the coverage is looking even and thorough I'll do a final heavier finish coat.

All of the comments above about the poor quality of today's television are the reason our TV hasn't been on in nearly 3 years. We don't even watch fake news anymore. Whatever network, it's all overly sensationalized to grab the attention of viewers, for the same reason they pretend to drop the ultra-rare windshield on the restoration shows. Modern entertainment is an insult to intelligent humans. Or maybe it's a statement on how far the expectations in our country have fallen in the past 3-4 decades? Somebody is watching this stuff, because they keep making more of it.

Very cool project. I'm following.

Wow, I need to check my local Wally World! That's a good price.

That looks really nice. Beautiful paint.

Here are several of my favorite paint jobs. Since I haven't completed or painted a model since 1996 (but I currently have some WIPs ?), these are 25+ year old paint jobs that have survived display, moving, being packed away for years, etc.. All were done with Testors Model Master enamel and air brush. To the best of my recollection the red and the gold bubble tops and the Thunderbird were all clear coated with Testers gloss clear coat. I recall that the white top on the Thunderbird was polished paint without clear. The two pickups were polished without a clear coat. Trim on all is bare metal foil.

Very cool watching it go around the track. Nice job!

At this point I have the hood roughly shaped and primed and the engine painted and sitting in the chassis. It's all still at mockup, nothing is glued yet. I like the way the hood came out, it looks like a backyard job (at least to my eye). I've read that the original car was a bit rough, not like the restored version that sold at Barrett-Jackson a while back. I'm trying to build in that spirit. I'm going to add a piece of round stock down the center of the hood to simulate a hinge.

I had to lengthen the hood. It's hard to tell how Charlie did it in the old pics I've seen, and it really doesn't matter too much. Some old pictures show what looks like an angle point, where the original hood would have ended and the angle changed to extend it to the radiator. My interpretation is a backyard hot rod, and the simple way to lengthen the hood was to bend a section of sheet metal and run it straight from the original end of hood to the radiator. I also added a little to the rear of the hood to get enough length.

Engine and body in primer and test-fit. Sits a little high in the front, I'm going to see if I can bring it down a little. Wheels and tires are from the Revell '64 Chevy pickup. I may go ahead and use them with the Lincoln hub caps from the junker. Since this is my interpretation, I'll twist a couple of things.

The original car used a modified Lincoln frame. Since the Monogram Lincoln has the frame and body pan molded together, I opted to use the Model A frame. I added a couple of crossmembers and a support for the engine. I used the Lincoln rear axle, but the front axle was too far gone after having been broken and re-glued by the PO so I used the Model A front axle..

This is my first WIP and with the project coming along to my satisfaction, I'm confident enough to post my progress. I'm sure this has been done before, but this is my interpretation of the original Hot Rod Lincoln build by Charlie Ryan. I'm using an older Monogram '30 Ford Coupe and a junkyard Monogram '41 Lincoln Continental. In hindsight I wish I would have bought a new kit of the Lincoln. Lesson learned. Here's a picture of my first mockup, trying to determine how I was going to get the V-12 to fit.

Really nice work going on here. Great concept and a unique piece to display when completed.