randyc

It's not that it bothers me too much. BUT... every photo shows the trim rings. Why not get that right? Now I'm the "rivet counter", lol. I used the rallys on the 68 with the thought that the 69 would use the Magnums. and using the Rallys on the 69 would just throw my whole display into chaos... ?

Here's the Revell kit parts. I say they are incorrect. Unless you strip them and paint them. And then they are missing the trim rings that every photo of a "correct" 69 SS396 has. Same wheels from the 68 kit as far as I know.

Looks great - Maisto making some nicer models now looks like.

Might look at the Ertl version or the other First Gear or CP versions - I can't remeber who all made them. THey show up kind acheap often. I had an Ertl for a week, til a coworker insisted that she HAD to have it. It was cheap enough and the spare should probably work. And NASCAR? Oh let's not even get started on that. But I guess they are trying to fill the fields by using a common less expensive engine?

Nice - can't wait to see this project.

Buick wheels were a different shape and appearance altogether from what I've seen. Sorta like Magnums, but not quite. And I can't find any reference that says the Chevy wheels were ever all chrome. Steel painted centers with trim rings is all I can find. I can't find anything that says anything else was available, either - like the rally wheels. Of course, I am supposing there were options. But can't find a restored or original photo with all chrome wheels. I found a set of magnum 500s ina Roadrunner/GTX/Coronet SuperBee that has what looks correct for a 69 SS396. I can swap the wheels. I'll have photos when I get to the detailing part on those wheels.

That's an excellent paragraph. My FIRST kit was the Corvette annual and it had the metal springs. I couldn't remember if it was a 74 or 75. THat answers that. And the last sentence. Where my kit is in a landfill, the plastic is probably still soft from the glue. I want to say I bought two tubes of cement for that one.

My car ended up brown. A rarely seen color and mine isn't a perfcet match. But hte dark color will hopefully hide some of that. And you are more particular than I am - this I know already. ? And I know others will come up with solutions as well. Just wanted to go ahead and get one out there for everyone asking about it. Once I really saw it, I couldn't unsee it - kinda like that DM diecast we've discussed elsewhere.

Actually when I looked I didn't find it. It was 1968. http://chevellestuff.net/1968/interiors/alt_int.htm

Not a lot of new ground here, but here's where I am. Have been constantly amazed at how this kit goes together. No fiddling with anything. Every superlative you read is right. This kit should be built by every employee at every other model company as a an example of HOW well a kit can be engineered. I don't care that it doesn't have an engine. Chassis. Straight from the box, painted as call outs instruct. INterior - again straight from the instructions other than the Ford logo from the tamiya sheet. Since I have extras. I really screwed up the steering wheel. But I think it will paint out okay. But I lost the decals in the process. They are teeny tiny. They were a struggle. Mock up time with first decal on car. Indycals. I'm learning to deal with their decals. I don't mind trimming around the pieces - I did Cady decals back in the day, so not big deal. I intiially put the Pledge stuff on body but remembered that water washes it off and figure the decals would make a mess of that, so I washed it off. You can't decal over Future, right? There are a couple issues with the hood decal that I think will be okay for my cars. No point in asking for a new one yet. Till I see if I screw up anything else. That nose cap is a work of kit engineering art. I finished it but didn't take a photo. If I get back on it this evening, I will take more photos.

Here's my process on trying to fix the rear bumper gap issue. I cut the bumper off, sanded it smooth, reglued it. Took a bit of the gap[ out and I can live with it. I tapered the bottom of the quarter up to meet. I'm sure some of you will still not like it and will come up with other solutions. To me, it's one car in about 200 in my collection on display. Nary one of them are perfect. Here is the lower quarter tapered up to match height or rear bumper. I think the whole thing will look better once I get the gap blacked in and on the painted body. The body has color on it, but paint is a little rough - was a little dry. I think some polishing will fis that. I get to working on the GT4 and didn't get back to the 69. I did work on the weird gap in the photo below some. We'll see how it turns out later. My photography was pretty bad. I apologize. I was hurrying along trying to get that done without losing my train of thought. Photos looked pretty good on my phone but on my 21" monitor, it's pretty bad.

I took some pics and made some progress on teh Chevelle. Here we go. Incorrect wheels. I found a set that may be more accurate in an AMT Roadrunner/GTX/Coronet kit. Didn't get around to working on them this weekend. Here's the grille painted up. no lenses yet. Grille fits nicely with a little fitting work. Just a little filing and scraping to get a better fit. Chassis Here's an area that needs work. THe seat backs just kinda fade into the sides. THe plastic area at bottom is not defined, so I fixed that - It's not prefect, but better than presented. Top seat is filed. Bottom seat is just glued together. Once painted, I'll run some sort of chrome or silver bead around the edge on teh seat back only. IN researching, the chrom around bottom is only correct for the Chevelles that ended up with Buick seats. I think that's how it read. There were some cars with Buick and Olds interiors that came from factory that way.

I have a can of tamiya. Didn't really like it, but didn't take time to get used to it. I reprimed both cars with Rusto 2x Saturday and they came out great. The primer anyway. My paint is my paint. I think it will work out in the end though. I hate that I have to order or go on a special trip to Hobby Lobby or find a hobby shop to get the Tamiya. Nothing wrong with Tamiya, just an inconvenience thing. As fo Valspar, that is a Sherwin-Williams brand now, along with Krylon and others. Rusto is RPM, with of course owns Testors. Both of these are probably making their paints as compromises for the American market of general consumer instead of the dedicated to hobby Tamiya paints.

Hopefully this weekend. This and the 69 SS396.

Looks great! Thanks for sharing.

NICE! Thanks for sharing.

Nice. Thanks for showing it off. I'd love to build T/A models out of box. Not ready to take on the work needed to convert to proper spec. SO it's just wishful thinking.

That's looking good. Headlights? The MCSS kit? hurst Olds? Camaros? Good luck with grill

I plan to start a WIP thread this weekend. I'll try to get a better photo. And I am thinking I will go ahead and cut the bumper off so we can all see how that works. I mean, what can possibly go wrong??? LOL.

Thanks, LOL. There have to some in barns somewhere, right? And someone will find them, drag them out and maybe even drive them as the restore? That was my thought after it became apparent that the paint was not coming off.

NO luck here. Ace went away a long time ago locally. We have a Lowes and a couple lower tier stores maybe. And a boutique building supply owned by a gen contractor. So their public pricing is outrageous and they primarily exist to supply the contractor that owns them. I don;t mind a few cents more if I can avoid the walMart.

I am a little surprised that some of you are spary bombers only after seeing your finishes. Great job guys! I go back and forth - "the right tool for the job", but do like to be able to shake a can and spray if possible.

Good article at top, great color wheels. I have been in sign art for 35 years, so have had my share of classes and seminars on colors. And I fall into the bolder, the better usually.

I've seen it for sale but never looked closely. And not seen one on here for scale accuracy or anything like that. Wish someone would post one up.

NICE! What scale?