Andy Oldenburg

Well done build Jeff! The color matches very good to the era and this body type. Sorry for the missing hood ornament. Have you ever thought of making one yourself? How about taking sheet or rod styrene and carefully filing it into shape. It is a bit laborious, but not much can go wrong and the finished result would enhance your hood.

Hi Marty, you turned that ugly duckling into a cool little swan! The effort really shows and the overall look with those wheels is nasty hot. Great job!

Hi Michelle, good job! Paint looks cool! I have been thinking about printing for quite a while. So did I get it right: You printed the body and most of the parts yourself? I have to dig into the printing subject much more. The most 3D printing stuff I see is with thermo plastics, which I can´t imagine being fine enough for some details. You mention resin printing. Resin must be a two component material (?). I need to do more research on printing: What printer (quality, price, size, filament...), where do I get the files? You gave me a big nudge, thanks!

While the glue, putty and the paint coats on the body are drying, I like to work on my favorite part of each build, the engine. This REVELL kit has a very high standard and the details are sharp and all important parts included. But I will of course do a lot of extra work on the details. The block is a classic light blue now, the intake I worked a bit with diamond files to enhance the shape and added a bit of grime for a better 3D effect. The carb is after market (scale production) and has much more detail than the kit part. Before I apply the paint to the block (in this case acrylic AERO Color and a top coat of clear) I try to get all the drilling for plugs and the cooling hoses done. To beef up the looks and the intake I added a scoop from my parts box. This scoop was quite simple so I drilled holes into the front and worked it with a scalpel and files for a real looking open mouth. Later I will add a 0.5mm rod at the rear bottom to attach it to the carburetor. Here I have the distributor and the throttle lever attached. I build my distributors from 6mm aluminum tube, 2mm brass rod and push the fine wire ignition cables between the two. Glued with super glue they will never disconnect and can take a hard pull while building. The lever is 0.5mm brass and thin sheet styrene. The ignition cables are attached and the fuel lines are added to the right engine side. In this case 0.6mm silver plated wire and fine crimp beads. You should be able to get this stuff at a crafts store that sells products for fashion jewelry. The valve covers have an asymmetrical ventilation system. Next stage I added some wires to the coil and was barely able to push it under the fuel lines. Should have done this earlier... The cooling hoses are in place too. I pull the copper threads out of a 3mm wire and push a soft aluminum wire into vinyl insulation. this way I can bend the hoses into any shape and they stay where I want them. The exhaust manifolds have received only a slight bit of rust. I confess that I don´t like those one piece pulley/belt parts. After several engines with "real" belts I like taking that extra effort and, if possible, deconstruct that part for further use. I cut, sand and file the pulley wheels until I have enough surface for the belts. On this build I sanded some wheels as thin as possible and added a short piece of styrene rod for the belts. The alternator and the power steering unit would not take the pull of the rubber belts if just glued to the block. I connect these parts with brass wire pins and super glue. Same as I happened to do with the oil filter. The kit alternator is chrome plated but that just does not look real, so a shiny silver makes the difference. Now I can attach the belts. These I cut from a 1mm thin rubber mat. I´m still looking for an even thinner mat but to no success yet. I far as I can tell, my engine is finished now. Total building time about 18 hours. A bit of a shame that some details get lost in the engine bay... The body has made the next step. Don´t get fooled by the colors, this is NOT the final color code. Just the base coat for the real layers. But it does give a hint of what direction I am going. Thanks for watching !

My idea for this build was triggered by a feature on late night TV. Independent auto shops and hot rod builders meeting at secret places to challenge each other and win the prize money. My Charger would be an almost street legal car ready for illegal races on the outskirts at night. The body is modified as a front tipper. I glued the hood to the fenders and cut them off the body. The fire wall is attached so I could fill the empty spaces left from the doors. To enable the front to tip correctly without jamming I hat to cut back the sides of the firewall. In the end the tipped front will look something like this: The engine will be a beast and needs plenty of air to breathe, so I added the kit scoop. Bending the hinges was quite easy. After finding the ideal length for the hinges I cut the rod at the middle in two pieces. This way I was able to bend both sides to exactly the same lengths and angles. Here I got the hinge in the right place to connect the ends to the inside of the fenders. As with the firewall I had to cut of some of the frame so the front would tip without getting hooked up with the undercarriage. The middle tube will be attached as the very last building step. For now I have it taped to check if everything works how I imagined it. YO! It works! I found a messy spot at the rear fender after the first primer coat and filled it with styrene and putty. The firewall needed some putty also and mow all the cracks are filled and almost smooth. A look at the front from the inside. I keep the mechanics free form paint with masking tape. The primer coat feels alright to me and after grit 1000 ready for the color. This will be a two tone job and it will take a bit of masking to separate the front and the back end. Next time I will show the progress on the engine. Thanks for watching!

Hello, many thanks to all of you for your cool response! It really motivates me on my next build. Best model building wishes to all of you!

Hi everyone, many humble thanks to all of you! ??? After all the building "effort" (well, yes, more fun than work) it really feels good to get so much friendly response. Danke schön!

I was hot to try something new and employ some techniques on a build for the first time. After watching many videos from low rider meetings I finally decided that the ´66 GTO would be a perfect candidate for a low rider model. The first steps were to open the doors and the trunk. This time the engineering setup would be completely different from all of my former builds. But see for yourself. The paint job consists of 3 different colored layers on a silver base coat. This is a mix of acrylic airbrush paint and Tamiya metallic rattle cans, finally covered with 2 layers of AK clear varnish. The masking is done with Tamiya masking tape. I would have liked to drop the whole body even more, but the engine mount is just NOT touching the floor. Whatever, this build ended up as low as possible. I tried to work out of the kit box as much as possible, but a few extra details were necessary. The wheels are from my parts box and the disc brakes and calipers are after market items. Same with the headlamps. The plastic grill is opened so I could insert a "real" grill of mesh metal. Power dome and fender skirts are extra details. I worked the front suspension a bit to get a nice steering angle. The hood and trunk are connected with a quite simple, but cool hinge engineering. This wing setup flips wide open and reveals the goodies. The doors had to be suicide to match. I tried to add the body color code as much as possible to the rest of the car, so the dash and the hat rack have body stripes passing through. The interior has a "luxury" appeal with golden details, a matching flocked floor with mats and seat belts. The engine and bay have received a bunch of detailing. The engine itself is mostly kit basic, but I added chromed valve covers and pan. The air filters are pimped with grid metal and all of the lines and wires are close to original 1:1. Making an air suspension system was easier said than done. Every car in the scene seems to have a personal custom, which I find very creative and cool. So I tried my best and built my own system incorporating the research input. For the undercarriage I added some color details like in the interior. The fuel and brake lines are close to the original 1:1. Same with the parking brake cables. If your interested in more details, you can check out the WIP thread. Thanks for watching and thanks to everyone that gave me props on my WIP thread. I hope you like my build! I would be pleased if you check the video: https://youtu.be/xO8LDw2zmp8

Hello Keith, Carl and Martin, thank you for your kind response! @ Martin: Club Plaques!... thanks for the science! I hope I wasn´t disrespectful to the low rider community by appropriating a plaque as a detail for my build. I think they look cool and didn´t think twice about adding one. @Keith: I added some detailed images about the hinges lower below and hope you can modify a future model with winged hoods. I am preparing the last parts to finish this build. I was getting tired of messing the doors with glue while attaching the rear view mirror. Although the work is very delicate, I have come to pinning the mirrors or other small parts with 0.5mm wire. The mirror wont slide any more after attaching and I only need a small dip of glue. The grill/bumper part has received a fine metal mesh as grill and lenses instead of the kit headlamps. I glue the lenses with white acrylic glue. The undercarriage is finished now with all lines and cables. The hinges are actually quite simple engineering. The hard part is having to work as precise as possible. I use 1mm brass rod for the hinges, that fit tight into the 2mm styrene tubes I can acquire from my crafts store. For the front hood I drilled holes into the sides of the bay for the tubes and glued them generously on the back with epoxy. The length of the hinges should be long enough to swivel far to the front of the grill. Both hinges must have the exact same length and angles. I tape the hood/bonnet to the body before gluing the tubes of the other hinge end to the inside surface of the hood. Of course all of this must be done before the detailed body work can begin. Cutting out doors, trunks etc. is always my first job on my models, then attaching the hinges. The trunk work is not much different. I could glue the body tubes under the fenders. Now it´s just the bumpers left to attach. And of course the photo work has to be done, making fine images for the under glass forum. Hope to get that done asap. Thanks everyone for watching!

The dashboard had to be adapted a bit for the doors. I cut a few mm´s off the left and the right, so that the door panels would have enough room to close correctly. I refrained from cutting off the molded on visors from the windshield. This clear plastic is very brittle and I didn´t want to risk cracking the window. The tub fit in very well. The rockers were too high for the doors, so I reduced the width of the floorboard and filled the cavity with thin styrene. I fumbled the dash and the hat rack when masking the stripes. The thin orange stripes I forgot, but you can file that under "artistic freedom". Watching videos I saw many low riders with custom logos on the hat rack. I still have no idea what to call them.., (maybe someone can solve that mystery for me?). None the less I liked the idea and chose the initials of my YouTube channel. I cut and filed this from 0.8mm styrene and added the shine with a molotow fluid pen. A real low rider needs a suspension system. I saw so many different versions that it seems like every custom build has it´s own personal creation. I let myself be inspired and built a few parts from scratch. The rest is aluminum 1mm wire and flex metal cord. Getting the engine into the bay was a tight job because of the "false" custom pan. It does fit very smug without hardly any glue needed. The water cooler cap is molded to the fan cover. So I chose to open that hole like on the 1:1 and add a more realistic looking cap. Apart from a few details the engine bay is just about finished. The undercarriage is a bit more colorful than an everyday street side. Some major parts are painted in the body color code. Here the rear axle has received its brake lines. The fuel and the brake lines lead to the front through metal tube crimp beads. What is left to do for the underside is the parking brake cable. I made a small connecting part and am letting the glue dry now. The cable system is actually made of 0.8mm thin cable for fashion jewelry. On the side I am preparing the few chrome parts. I like the look of a see-through grill, so I cut out the molded grill. Here my grill without the grill (yet...). I am closing in to the final round and hope to get done by next weekend. Thanks for watching!

Between business trips I had some time to get into my shop. Felt like being on turkey without my crafting hours in the evening...? After the first clear coat I did the BMF and applied a few decals to the body. The second layer AK gloss varnish is sprayed and after a few days of hardening I polished everything. Now the metallic sparkle shows much better. The engine is completely finished. I raised the air filters a bit with styrene tube and wrapped them with mesh metal. The alternator and power steering are connected to the block with 0.5mm brass rods. The belt is cut from a synthetic rubber place mat. The chrome valve covers and pan are from my spares box. I used the colors from the body for the block and fan and will continue adapting the color code of the body to the rest of the build. I tried to build this GTO out of the box a much as possible, so the red line tires were set. I did replace the wheels with customs from my spar box and added disc brakes from scale production. Yup, and added valves. I have to figure out, how I will attach the wheels later. The interior is finished too. The floor flock I mixed from red and light gray to match the paint job and added more red for the floor mats. The seats are an offwhite and enhanced with a gold gel pen. Next to the chrome parts I tried to add some lux with a bit of gold. The decal set is very good and fits well. The dashboard top has the same stripes as the hood. Last detail for the interior are a set of sum visors. Thanks for watching!

Hello Jon, Mike and Helmut, and others I may have forgotten, thanks for your friendly response, I am flattered and it feels good. ? As I have written before, I didn´t know ahead what I would receive when I ordered this kit and had no knowledge of its history. I started about 3 years ago with model building, but I have a long experience in drawing, painting and crafting. When I started during Corona I was just rushing into building as fast as possible, a model a month. Then I discovered how much fun detailing can be, which meant more time per model but since my skills progressed I still had a high output. Last year I changed my approach. I am now more "relaxed" and take as much time as necessary for my builds. Meaning only accepting my best possible effort and implementing every wack idea I might come across. This is "just" a hobby, but important to me. I have all the time in the world.... I hope I could inspire you just like all of the others on this forum have given me a big push!✌️

Hi Steve, thanks for your reply! I´m really eager to move on but unfortunately on a business trip for several days??

Hello Erock, sorry to hear about your sister, I know how you feel, lost my brother last year. The ´59 Impala is my favorite, but I have not gotten my hands on a kit. Hard to get in Europe. You did a fine job!??

Hello Craig, a great collection and very diverse over different ages and styles.

Hi Bill, a beautiful job on this model! Looks almost like the real thing, and your shop diorama scenes are a knockout.

Hello Christopher, a very good job on this Barracuda, I like the stance and the color matches perfect. Are the wheels second market?

Hello Michelle, good work on this muscle bird. I like that sparkle effect. You do the chrome with gel pens?

Hello David, a beautiful build! Color matches very well and the BMF work is great.?

On my last model I tried incorporating magnets into my build for the first time. I was tired of doors that didn´t stay put when closed. I was overwhelmed how good that worked out. OK, that means some extra crafting and time, but the doors look great. On this build I hid the smaller micro magnets under the door panels. Attached with superglue. Covering the open spaces is the same procedure as always with sheet styrene. Here you can see the counter magnet attached to the firewall. Triple check the correct sides so that the magnets attract themselves! Once glued and covered you will hardly get them out without heavy deconstruction. The flat ones on the firewall are now hidden behind a second wall. Instead of building the trunk onto the undercarriage I this time connected it right to the body. Here too it took a few checks to make sure that the body and undercarriage fit well. The body parts received a base coat of silver metallic. Because the paint job will have several layers, the silver serves well as a base for the metallic light orange. Here the orange is already masked for the second color, Tamiya pearl green. The masking tape is by Tamiya too. The orange and green match quite well and I was tempted to keep it this way, but I felt that something was still missing. I masked everything again and added a few highlights with Tamiya pearl light red, which is more like a dull rose. Now I am happy with the paint job. A few corners needed a touch up and overall I am very relieved that no paint creeped under the tape. I wet sanded the layer edges very carefully with grit 2000 and now the surface is almost smooth. At this moment the first clear coat is drying and waiting for the BMF. While the paint layers was drying I started building the engine. Since this will be a show car I will stay away from grime or weathering, and the engine deserves a bit of bling. I found custom valve covers and a chrome pan in my boxs to pimp the engine. The distributor is home made and step by step I am adding details to the kit engine. Thanks for watching!

Hello John, thanks for your response and the further information on the Brougham. My kit is actually an Atlantis. I restarted model car building 3 years ago and so I missed out on a lot of science that you long time builders can look back on. If so, I would not have ordered this kit. But once I had it, it roused my ambition and then one step led to another. I do much research before ever build to check as many details as possible, but my images didn´t reveal the true look of those vents. Oh well.... Thanks for the hint, but I will not start carving this build for the vents?? Best wishes, Andy

Hi Ricky, thanks for your reply! The hood and trunk hinges are actually quite simple. The tricky part is getting both sides bent in exact the same length and angle, and of course gluing to the same opposite spots. I would not have tried this stunt 2 years ago...

Hi Steve, thanks for the advice! I have clipped the undercarriage on to check my trunk interior. Look like everything will be quite sturdy when glued correctly.

After building a few classic stocks, I was eager to try something extreme. I have watched some videos from low rider shows and meetings and got triggered to get crazy on my Revell GTO. This kit is very fine detailed and and the parts fit very good to me, so I don´t have to hassle with extra problems. ( I mean, other than those that I got into myself?). I opened the doors and the trunk with a scalpel and my micro tool saw. I have made it a habit to add another layer of 0.5mm styrene before I attach the lips to the trunk and the doors. The paint layers add up too much later and then the trunk and the doors don´t close correctly any more. The hinges are bent from 1mm brass rods and fit smooth into 2mm styrene tubes. I cut the rods to different lengths, that way it is easier to fumble the doors onto the body. The bonnet received a muscle hood and the rear wheel arch is filled with a skirt. The trunk and the doors are fixed with tape in preparation for attaching the hinges. After a first gluing of the hinge tubes I later did a second round of gluing with epoxy. I can´t afford losing a hinge once the build is too far into progress or even finished. This is a first mock up to check the stance and looks. I might even drop the body lower.... And this is what I meant with "crazy": I still have time to think about the paint job. It will be multi colored, but I am waiting for that bulb to light up over my head. Thanks for watching!

Hi Peter, that Gunze Sangyo does look like it had much more detailing right out of the box, even though it has a much smaller scale. Yes, our builds do look quite the same, what a coincidence! Sounds like a Japanese kit. I have heard that those manufacturers have a higher standard of detailing and fitting quality. I must check out what I can get from my European suppliers. So if you are already at car model building for over 30 years, I will not be able to catch up with your building record. I started 3 years ago during the Corona lock down. Remembered what I loved to do as a kid and it saved my soul. I´m glad to be in this forum and share my passion! Best wishes, Andy