[62 Pontiac Catalina]

Great job, Glen. I love the 61 and 62 Pontiacs.  This is one good looking model, the color, trim, interior and engine details look fantastic. Those are really good looking wheels too. Thanks for the post.

[1956 Chrysler 1:32 scale]

On 9/8/2022 at 1:21 AM, #1 model citizen said:

Looking forward to them!👍

Okay, here are photos of the section of my stash with most, if not all of my NOS Revell 55 and 56 1/32 cars. I also have a few of the reissues.

 Next are 3 photos of my built '55 and '56 Mercurys.

The last ones are factory builtups 55 Mercury, Buick, 2  Fords (in reverse colors), and Chrysler. I removed them from their original acetate enclosures but do still have them. They all came with the hoods glued open but I undid a few.

I did some looking to see if there is a more appropriate place to post about these models.  Maybe the car kit news and reviews section would be better?  I do plan to show the built Mercurys at some point but there are some interesting things about some of these kits , like the different shades of colors and the fact that the '56 Fords were originally issued in 2 different versions, one with crank windows and one with power windows. They also have a different  configuration of assembly points. There may not be enough interest for me to bother.

I have quite a few other Revell factory builtups including my favorite-the Chris Craft cabin cruiser from 1953. I have six of them, plus one I built and three or four NOS kits.  I hope all this isn't too boring.  -Rich

 

 

[Something a Little Different]

That's a great idea and it really looks superb!

[AMT 1961 Buick Special station wagon --built from NOS kit]

On 9/7/2022 at 7:41 AM, Zippi said:

What a good looking Buick Rich.  Love that polished out plastic.  Looks like it was painted.  Nice build.

Thanks Bob

On 9/7/2022 at 7:44 AM, Tom99 said:

Excellent!!

Thank you Tom

22 hours ago, espo said:

Beautiful looking finishes. Amazing how good these old kits look with some advance detailing. Did much the same thing with an old '65 El Camino build I uncovered a few years ago. Polished the Yellow plastic with similar results as the White plastic here. 

Thanks David, I bet your El Camino looks great!

46 minutes ago, TooOld said:

Beautiful work Rich , I really like the look of the polished plastic on some of these older kits !  Your detailing/foil is excellent ! How do you do the scripts - emblems - door handles - etc . . . ?

Thanks Bob. I agree about the polished plastic. Sometimes when I two tone a model I will leave one color just polished plastic.  I did that with just about all of the Revell 1/32 '55 and '56 kits that I built as they were molded in colors and the plastic on most of them looks great polished.

The trim and scripts on this '61 Special are all Bare Metal Foil. I use Exacto #16 blades. I hold the model in one hand and the blade in the other.   I don't use any kind of holder. Thankfully, at 71, I still have steady hands. One trick I learned long ago is to hold my breath when trimming a long piece.  It really helps but you have to learn not to hold your breath too long or you may fall out of your chair!.

Nowadays I occasionally use the Molotow chrome ink on a script. I buy the larger vial, not the pens, and use a fine brush. I have some I did over 3 years ago that still are bright and shiny. Once in a great while I apply the foil  to a script before priming. Then I clean it off with lacquer thinner before painting and again after painting.

 When doing door handles of this type (see photo) I cut a curved section out instead of going straight across the top of the handle. From a distance it makes it almost look like the handle is a separate piece.   -Rich

[Bodies painted and waiting to be finished]

On 9/6/2022 at 2:12 PM, Mike C. said:

Mike, thanks for posting all your photos. You have some great looking models there. I especially like the 4 wheel drive Chevy pickup.

I also restore and/or  modify a lot of diecasts, (old and new) in different scales (and 1/43 white metal models too, as I was working in the business of manufacturing them back in the 80's).  I haven't posted many of them because there seems to be much more interest in the plastic kits which makes sense since this is a model board. For the same reason I haven't posted any boats or planes. -Rich

[Bodies painted and waiting to be finished]

7 hours ago, slusher said:

Great project wailing on time to be built guys!

Thanks Carl!

[Bodies painted and waiting to be finished]

On 8/4/2022 at 12:08 AM, bisc63 said:

Very cool stuff waiting to happen! I'm especially drawn to the golden '60 El Camino, and that Caddy has a very tasty shade of gray on it.

 

On 8/4/2022 at 1:59 AM, Oldcarfan27 said:

Nice, classy, period looking colors. All of them.

👍😃

Thanks Rusty and Patrick, I had not seen your comments until today. There didn't seem to be much interest so I had kind of forgotten about this post.

[mounting tires, wheel backs and wheel covers on early (1959-1960 or so) Jo-Han model kits]

38 minutes ago, Mark said:

You could open up the hole in the tire, or file down the area that goes into the hole, to eliminate the interference.  The wheel could then be epoxied into the tire.

With the 1960 annual kits, the wheel cover attaches to an open rim which then goes into the tire.  The wheel covers stick out quite a bit on those, you might think about other wheels and rims to get a cleaner, more correct look with those.

I completely agree with Mark. That's exactly what I do if I want to use the original tires.  Trying to force the parts in can easily damage the tire and/or break the old plastic. If you want different tires, Roger gives good advice, you can also get tires from Modelhaus, I do that myself sometimes.

Mark's also correct about the hubcaps sticking out too far on some of the models, especially the 1960 Johan kits. It's not hard to modify the original plastic wheels to fix this.

 

 

[1956 Chrysler 1:32 scale]

19 hours ago, #1 model citizen said:

Thank you very much much for your kind words of understanding. Despite their small scale and as difficult as these models are, the subject matter makes them hard to resist. I would love to see your models if you’d be kind enough to share. 

Okay John, I'll take some photos and post them here in a day or so. -Rich

[AMT 1961 Buick Special station wagon --built from NOS kit]

3 hours ago, Street Rod said:

Fantastic looking wagon! I would never have thought that you could polish the bare plastic to look like that!

Thanks Doyle. Yes, some of the older models polish out very well. I've also done a 61 Tempest 4 door the same way and it looks great. And some old Johans and Monograms as I've mentioned. Some of the plastic doesn't look realistic when polished and some can discolor with age so you have to be careful.

1 hour ago, Kah puts said:

She's a knockout even in her birthday suit.

Thanks Glen,  I hope she doesn't catch a chill!

22 minutes ago, happy grumpy said:

Boy do I love your builds, not only are they rare, but beautifully put together. Another great build, nice color choice. Please keep posting.

 Mario, thank you again. I plan to keep posting at least once a  week when I  have time to take the photos. It may be less often if I'm real busy. I do post in other sections too, the diecast section for one.

[AMT 1961 Buick Special station wagon --built from NOS kit]

3 hours ago, Dave Darby said:

That is super nice. So nice that I'm going to share it to the Scale Survivors Facebook group.

No problem Dave, I'm glad you like it. I hope others do also.

3 hours ago, Classicgas said:

Just beautiful. I am so envious. A holy grail.

Thanks lee, I think they were good looking wagons.

3 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Very cool looking old wagon!👍

Thank you  Greg.

[Tamiya 2cv]

Hi Mario,

You did a great job on this. I love the color and the paint looks perfect. Actually, the whole car does! Thanks for showing it.

I like unusual looking cars and have quite a few mostly smaller scale diecast Citroens, both cars and trucks. I have a few model kits too if I ever get around to building them.

 

  

[AMT 1965 Pontiac]

I like the old Pontiacs and you did a superb job on this one. The top looks great and the color contrast between the body, roof, and  interior looks fantastic.  

[1960 Edsel Ranger]

Just great Steven! It looks even better in these larger photos.

Here's mine before foiling. It's nearly done now.

[AMT 1961 Buick Special station wagon --built from NOS kit]

Here's a plain and simple build. I built one exactly  like this, sold it and then missed it, so I built another. The white is polished plastic. The only paint on the body is the roof.  No clearcoat used. As usual, I bare metal foiled the trim, and did some detailing.

 Some of the old  plastic has a nice rich look to it when polished and this is one example.  I've never had a problem with the color changing over time like it can on many of the earlier  kits and I've done a number of them this way. I've also done this on many of the old Monogram and Johan kits that were molded in colors other than white.

Many of you know by now that I like 4 door cars and station wagons and most of my builds are old original issue kits.

I hope you enjoy seeing this one. I'm almost done with my 60 Edsel restoration so it will be coming.

Thanks for looking and I appreciate all comments and questions.  -Rich

[Revell 1962 Imperial Crown 4 door --restoration]

On 9/4/2022 at 8:04 AM, tim boyd said:

A great choice for a kit buildup (I don't remember ever seeing one completed until now) and terrific work on paint detailing and trim, too.  Big congrats from this corner!   TIM 

Tim, I appreciate your comments.

On 9/4/2022 at 12:47 AM, Maindrian Pace said:

Rich, you're not too happy with that build? I can't see why, it looks fantastic to the detail, and the kit captures well the eccentric Exner-era styling of the Imperial; right down to the sparrow strainer taillights. A+.

Thanks Mike, I appreciate it.

On 9/4/2022 at 4:55 PM, carrucha said:

Turned out nice.  Exceptional foiling work.

Thank you Hector.

On 9/4/2022 at 6:59 PM, #1 model citizen said:

Another beauty! Outstanding work!

Thanks John, you are too kind.

[1963 Pontiac Bonneville Coupe]

Another beauty, Steven! It looks great from all angles. You did a superb job! Great paint and detail work.

[1956 Chrysler 1:32 scale]

Very nice, John. I really like the colors you chose. As you know, these are not the easiest kits to build. You did a fine job. It's great to see it.

I built  a bunch of these 55 and 56 Revell kits  back in the 80's when I was building for a living.  I still  have a lot of NOS unbuilt ones as well as a few I built and a number of the original hobby shop display built-ups.

 Considering when they were issued, they are really great kits.

[3 Years of Edsel.]

Three more winners, Steve. Thanks for posting them. They look great together. I'm working right now on finishing a 60 Edsel and will have a 59 coming along hopefully before too long.

[Revell 1962 Imperial Crown 4 door --restoration]

34 minutes ago, Dave Darby said:

Thanks Rich. That's my son Max. He's 6 now, and has loved model cars since he could crawl. This is a truck we built together to his specs.

 

 

 

 

That's great Dave. Kids like him are the future of this hobby! -Rich

[AMT 1966 Mustang GT Fastback]

Mike, this is one fantastic looking model. Great paint, foil work, and attention to details. The engine looks superb as does the whole model. I agree about the paint color-I love it and also the interior. Great photos too, thanks for posting.

[Johan 1962 Oldsmobile Super 88 --built from NOS kit.]

On 9/2/2022 at 11:12 AM, Smitty said:

A terrific build of a rare subject. Your fine attention to detail really brings all your oldies to life! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks again Eric.

On 9/2/2022 at 11:15 AM, Rob Hall said:

Beautiful build..love those old Johans

Thank you Robert, I love the old Johans too. The body accuracy is great on them.

[Revell 1962 Imperial Crown 4 door --restoration]

20 hours ago, Dave Darby said:

Holy cow that's a beauty!

Thank you Dave, I appreciate it. Great photo there under your name!

[Revell 1962 Imperial Crown 4 door --restoration]

On 9/2/2022 at 11:08 AM, Smitty said:

Another beautiful model! I’d be very pleased to have this one on my shelf. Your mild dissatisfaction with it is yours alone, but I guess that’s what keeps us striving for more on each model. Superbly finished and foiled, and you always nail the colour choices. 
I was surprised to see the separate clear headlight lenses Revell included in this kit-pretty advanced for the time.

Thank you Eric. All the Revell 62 1/25 kits had the clear headlight lenses. They do add to the realism.

[The car grandma hated]

It's newer than what I usually build but it got my attention. The details, colors, and build quality are striking!