impcon

Does anyone know of anyone who produces either just the dash and steering wheel or a complete conversion kit to transform a '66 Fairlane into a ''67? I have bought the Modelhaus resin '67 grille and tail lights but the dash boards are different between '66 and '67 ( man would never realize the difference, but they are different ) I'd really like to get my hands on a '67 Fairlane 500 body with the side trim.. how many other guys would like to see that available complete with bench seat? It would be a fairly easy conversion for someone skilled and with a good, steady hand and good eye sight to fabricate the Fairlane 500 side trim.. for both a Fairlane hardtop and a '67 Ranchero which in my opinion is the prettiest Ranchero ( next to the '57 ) ever produced. But for now, I'd be happy with a '67 gash and steering wheel..

That trailer is along the design from the late 40's through late 50's. Here's a link to a bunch of old car hauler pictures.. you Mopar guys will love what's further down the page. http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=81650

That's a nice build of a pretty car! Those Chryslers have been so under rated and forgotten for far too long. They really are a nice car and a friend of mine had a white New Yorker sedan. What a comfortable and quiet car that one was!!! I didn't really like the looks of it when I first saw it but they grow on you and today, I find then quite attractive. The dash board and instrument clusters on those cars has to be seen illuminated at night to be believed. Somebody really had an imagination when they designed that layout!

That roof on the Buick 2 door sedan appears to have a fairly accurately sized rear glass area.. that would go well on a '59 or '60 Chevy to create a more accurate 2 door sedan than the one currently available which has the Impala Sport Coupe roof. That rear glass is much, much to large as the 2 door hardtops had a smaller roof skin because the rear glass extended a lot further to wards the front of the car than the sedan glass did. Also, the AAM Biscayne sedan has the wrong roof line - the sedan roof line was higher than the hardtops and convertibles. If Tom will sell some of the proper roof sections, I'd be in for at least eight of them, if not ten.

It may be the wrong place to post the pictures, but I know that I really enjoy them. He's a cute little rascal and I don;t think that I am alone in saying thanks for posting them. Pets are a true gift and I, for one tend to think that you must really miss the little guy. I know that I would. Thanks for posting the pictures. Not exactl;y on topic but neat as all get out and kind of a surprise and a welcome change. :D

Poor pussy.. oh lord, could I ever get myself into trouble with this one!!

I too have oft times wondered how difficult it would be to build one of these in stock form as they;d make a cutie in a display. I have the resin Morris Traveller and I would like to make it look stock but it's a big project - to me it is, anyways. It'll likely be a curbside if it ever does get built. The '50 Austin sedan would also be cute in stock form.. I remember my dad had one of those as a loaner when he was having the engine in his '59 Chevy wqagon rebuilt. The thing was a hoot to ride in and I have always wanted a real one. Anyy leads on write ups onhow to build these in something even close to stock form would be appreciated.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I emailed the seller and he was not very pleasant, telling me this - and I quote - "Not sure what you want me to do. I've sent about 100 model cars packaged exactly the same. If it was damaged in shipping I have no control over that, and you did not request insurance. The model was in good condition when sent but it is 47 yrs old and it was sold as is.' I emailed back this: Good morning Dave, I have uploaded pictures of the damage on my Photobucket account ( http://s242.photobucket.com/albums/ff232/25071951/ ) to show you the condition of the model when I received it. It is my opinion that had the car itself been wrapped in paper towels or a soft tissue paper, and then the model box enclosed in bubble wrap or foam chips, it may have made the journey successfully but a couple of pieces of crumpled newspaper jammed inside the model box doesn’t have a lot of give for the thin plastic. We sold on Ebay for years and I understand your frustration but I feel that some sort of restitution is in order her as the car is pretty much a parts kit now as it will be very difficult to repair that fender without it being visible. I have bought literally hundreds of models over the years off of Ebay and seldom has anything arrived broken if it has been properly packaged and wrapped. Newspaper works fine for stronger items but models are delicate and require extra care. I appreciate the fast shipping and the fact that you made the car available but unfortunately, it somehow was damaged and I would never have paid for it what I paid had it been sold as damaged - which I am sure that when you sold it, it was not. I would appreciate some form of settlement as I do not feel that it is fair for you to expect me to pay full price for something that is broken because of poor packaging. The USPS box seems to be on good condition and not squashed or damaged so what ever happened did not hurt the outer box - yet the model is broken. I await your reply. Respectfully, Gary His response was simply, "What is it that you want?" I emailed back stating that I am open to some sort of settlement and he has not responded. Here's the auction - http://www.ebay.com/itm/150736158953?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 The price of the model was really right as they usually go for double that amount or more. I am not sure what to think because the seller has good feedback, but thoughts do go through my mind that I'd best keep to myself. I sort of get the feeling that he wasn't dazzled by the selling price and the photo on the auction is of course taken from the passenger's side.. so who knows? I'm going to try another time or two to get some sort of resolve and if he ignores me, then I'll do what I do not really want to do and file a claim with Ebay. I do not want the car for nothing but if it did get broken in shipment, it is because of how it was packaged. I do not operate or live by the idea of get what you can for nothing, and I hate to be responsible for messing up his perfect feedback rating, but it is indeed an odd place for the car to break. There is no evidence on the USPS box that it was crushed or hurt aside from a small wrinkle on one corner but I can not see how it could possibly have resulted in the fender being broken. I bought a 1/18 scale die cast Cadillac a few years ago for the opening bid which was dirt cheap - under five dollars if memory serves me right. It arrived not in a box but rather just rolled up in a piece of soft cardboard and of course, smashed and worthless. I had to email the seller a few times to get my invoice and I suspect that he was chocked because the car sold so cheap - hence just rolling some soft cardboard stock around it, taping the ends of the crude package closed and putting it in the mail. i emailed him and his reply was, " What do you want for under five dollars?" I filed a claim with Ebay and they ruled in his favor even though I supplied copies of our email exchange and photos of the car and the packaging. So as for them doing anything in this case - I ain't holding my breath. But I do honestly wonder if the model was indeed intact when the box was sealed....

I have wanted an MPC '65 Dodge Monaco for a long time, being as how I own several of the real thing. I finally scored on on Ebay a few days ago and it arrived today - broken in shipment. Below are pictures of what happens when people do not package stuff properly. Upon close examination of the box thatthe kit was boxed in, it appears as though the USPS box took a bit of a whack ( why does the opening scene of Ace ventura pet Detective come to mind where he is walking alng the sidewalk posing as a delivery guy and goofing around with the package - kicking it and throwing it ??? ) but had the car been packed properly inside the model box, it may have survived. These kits are pricey enough to always make me sit back and watch the auction close but on Ebay, if you wait long enough, something will slip through the cracks. It still cost me over $44.00 with shipping and to me, that's a bit of cash for something that is going to just sit on a shelf. I have emailed the seller so we'll see what happens. He forgot to mention the front fender scripts that are sanded off and the missing stock wheel cover too in his description. I can overlook those things but stuffing a couple of crumpled up newspaper inside a box full of plastic model parts and a complete body... pretty tacky. This was a pretty clean old build - what a shame.

Thanks guys - I will email him on Monday. I was going to start working on the '58 but wanted to know about the interior but being the weekend, I figured I would ask here and someone wuld know the answer. I have seen the '58 on Ebay with the interior bucket, so I know that it can be had. The only thing I have been able to find is the Modelhaus for the '57 interior but you have to buy the whole '57 Country Squire kit to get it. I have a few new and junk '57's to draw the chassis and other pieces from but the interior bucket is kind of important, if you know what I mean. I believe that some guys have used the revell Ranchero for parts but I don't have any except for an unbuilt stock roof issue - before they screwed that mold up yet again. So Ed, what do you have in mind for colours for your '57? I am leaning towards blue and white with a six cylinder just like my dad's '57 was that he bought brand new. I have seen one in green and white and it looked good but I want the same as I remeber from when I was a little guy. I remeber even at age six or seven, standing at the front window of our house and looking at Dad's wagon parked out on the street and liking the looks and colours of that car a lot. I guess the car bug has been with me for all of my life. the car was written off when dad had a front tire blow out and he went off the road and down an embankment in late '58 or early '59 because his next car was a '59 Chevy Brookwood four door wagon that in years to come, he would pass onto me. I traded it off for a 1960 Monarch Sceptre 2 door hardtop which I drove for about a year before selling it to buy Dad's '62 Fairlane 500. It turns out that my Monarch was one of only 54 that were produced in the Sceptre ( top of the line ) in a 2 door hardtop. *sighs* Talk about a very serious case of seller's remorse when I found that out many years after the fact. The last time that I saw my Monarch was several years after I sold it and it was sitting, abandoned in a field. Oh well... :(

Does anyone here know if Jimmy Flintstone sells parts for his resins? I have his '58 Chevy sedan delivery and I need an interior bucket - also have his '57 Ford wagon and an interior would be nice for that as well. In retrospect, I should have just bought the complete kits from him but it was an error in judgement on my part. I could always build them as curbsides and just put blacked out windows in them I guess.. but I'd like to do stock builds. I know that Modelhaus has the '57 Country Swuire as a kit with an interior but they don't offer an interior bucket as a stand alone. Any help will be appreciated.

I second that request. I have long wanted a '67-'72 F 100 or F150. Any idea on the price f the kit>|? Also, did you ever get that mid '70's Ford Super Cab half ton produced? I'm in for one or two of those too.. Respectfully, Gary

2011 was a year of expansion for my collection but nothing was built to completion. Between some resin cars and light trucks, old annuals, builtups and new boxed kits - and I am not bragging here - but I probably purchased well in excess of seventy five models pluus a few die casts of 1/24 - 1/18 scale. My last score was a 30 piece collection that I bought locally of a combination of built and unbuilt kits. There was even a nicely built large scale B17 aircraft but the rest were cars and an Italeri wrecker and another nicely built highway tractor. My favorite scores are the old annuals though. So in terms of gathering, it was a good year - in terms of productivity because life keeps getting in the way - dismal. Maybe this year will be better in terms of getting some projects past the primer stage...

My wife's daily driver for the last two years is a white 89 Crown Victoria four door sedan - they are a nice car and hopefully, someone will cast that body style - even if it is just a plain police version without the vinyl top trim like our car has. They are still commonly seen and ours has been a totally reliable, trouble free vehicle despite being a high mileage car, except for replacing an alternator earlier this year. I'd love to have a couple to build - one as an RCMP police cruiser and the other as a replica of our car. That's a hint by the way, to any resin casters who bother to read this post..

Hi George, I have purchased several of Frontier's kits including the '57 meteor 4 door hardtop and the big truck version of the '58 Chevy.The '58 is certainly doable with a bit of work and if the meteor is any indication of progress made in improving the castings, it really is pretty decent and easy to work with. No warpage and no holes and the proportioning look awfully close if not pretty much on the money. i have found the owner of frontier to be easy to get along with and I think that he has gotten a bit of a bum wrap much of the time from people who buy a resin kit and expect not to have to do any work to it. The '57 Meteor was my last purchase and it's a pretty good example of a car that I really like and never, ever imagined would be cast in resin. personally, Now if only he would cast that in a convertible and two door imitation hardtop - http://www.motorbase.com/pictures/contributions/990913/std_1957ford_fairlane_500.......jpg (sedan with stainless around the door and rear side glass window frame to make the car resemble a hardtop at first glance. I am just too glad to get stuff like that even if sometimes it is not 110% perfect and needs some work. My opinion is that we should all be grateful that there are guys willing to step out of the box and try something different. I have most certainly bought worse resin kits and products so I would not be afraid to buy from Frontier again. Just be grateful that the stuff is avaiable. I might add that my emails to frontier have always been answered and he seems willing to stand behind what he sells. AT least such has been my experience with him.

WOW! Now THAT is a nice build!! So clean and the colours are pretty.. It is not hard to see that you put a lot of time, energy and love into the wee girl and she looks soooooooooooooo pretty and likelike. Ol' Henry Ford would be proud of that one if he could see it. The attention to detail is amazing and the job so tastefully executed.. AAA+++

That will be a beauty indeed!!!! What colors do you have in mind? Black on black or white with a burgundy interior? or that pretty tan colour that they had in that year? It'll be an interesting build for sure. is that resin kit still available and does it come with an interior package or do you have to scratch build it? Keep us posted on yourt progress please!!!

the '59 Chevrolet is my first automotive love and I have loved and noticed them since my dad bought a Snowcrest White Brookwood four door wagon brand new from Kenora Motor Products in Kenora, Ontario. I do not claim to know it all, but I have been a big fan of those cars and trucks since I was seven years old and I have seen a ton of 'em in my day. So based on a lifetime of observing and owning many '59's ( I currently have over 20 of them here including six El Caminos - project and parts cars ) I think that I can speak with a bit of certainty and authority on this subject. I have or have had every piece of factory sales information and when you are seriously in love with something, you tend to study and observe more so than if it is just a "like". If ever an El Camino came with different side trim than the Bel Air series trim, I have never seen one in reallife or heard of one from anyone who knows these cars. The interior is Biscayne as far as seat upholstery and door panels go and the dash board has a narrow strip of anodized aluminum that runs across it right above the heater controls and switches which is bel Air trim only. The Biscayne only had a small anodized aluminum strip about twoo and a half inches long ( roughly ) that is located above the ignition switch with the positions for the key's functions. The seats being Biscayne level were only available in vinyl - there was no cloth unless you had a Bel Air or Impala and vinyl with cloth inserts was the norm unless the car was a convertible in which case, the seats were all vinyl. El Caminos all had rubber floor mats as did the Biscayne models - no carpeting at all. The Bel Air had a curious mixture of carpet and rubber - the basic floor mat where you put your feet was rubber with carpet covering the drive shaft tunnel only. Only Impalas received full wall to wall carpet. The headliners were vinyl as in the Biscayne and Impala's but the material was totally different between the models. Bel Air had a cloth headliner that tended to stain and IMHO was not at all attractive. The front fender ornaments or "airplanes" as some people call them were standard on bel Air and Impala models and optional on the El camino. Stainless rocker panel moldings were an option on all models but was most common on the Impala series. The 235 cu. in. six cylinder and three speed manual transmission ( column shift ) was standard on all models including the convertible but variations of the 283 and 238 could be ordered in any model as an option as was either the Power Glide or the notorius trouble plagued Turbo Glide automatic transmissions. many Turboglides were replced by Power Glides by the dealers under warranty because of problems and people opted for familar, proven old Power Glide on second thought. It is rare to find a '59 that still has a Turbo Glide in it - I have a 348 powered El Camno here that still has that transmission in it. To the best of my knowledge, you could order most options on most models and dealers were pretty accomodating back then so I suppose that to make a sale, a dealer could have been persuaded to replace the stock El Camino trim with Impala trim but it would have been a fairly big undertaking involving some repainting on the sides of the car. I have heard of only one El camino that had the level Air air ride suspension but I have never seen e in real life and you know how stories go. Fuel Injection was also available on the V8 cars and apparently one El Camino is known to have been built. You could order a four speed manual transmission in any trim level but to the best of my knowledge, very few if any six cylinder cars would have been ordered as such but anything is possible. There was '59 Businessman's coupe on Ebay in texas awhile back that was totally unusual in all respects and it may well havebeen a one off car. It was a Biscayne salesman's two door sedan that came from the factory with no rear seat and a platform in the back seat area for the salesman's sample packs and stuff.It was Frost Blue with a harbor Blue roof and rear deck, 348, Powerglide, power steering and power brakes, factory in dash air conditioning ( not dealer installed ) and a factory grille guard like the one on the Monogram '59 kits. There was a hardtop on Ebay a few days ago in that color combination - it is VERY unusual and I think, attractive - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1959-chevrolet-impala-2-dr-58-60-61-bel-air-ss-/200659597286?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2eb83e77e6 The insert on the stainless side trim was always white and the interiors came in gray ( the most common regardless of exterior colour ), blue and green - the same as the Biscaynes. Bel AIrs also came in brown and Impala added red to the list but I have only ever seen umolested El caminos with gray, green and blue interiors - blue being by far the least common. The thing with gray is that it goes OK with any exterior color. So after over 50 years, there is not a lot that has not been tried or done to a '59 El camino and not a lot of untouched examples still exist. I have one here that is totally unmolested and it is a Crown Saphire with a gray interior car running the original, untouched 235 and three speed standard transmission. I have seen so called "Impala El Caminos" for sale but I have to say that I am more than skeptical about their authenticity and originality. If you really want accurate information from guys who really know their stuff, you could try www.ChevyTalk.com and go to the '58- 60 forum. There are guys on there with a lot more knowledge than i have and I think that you'd get some good information there. I hope that this helped a little bit.

I agree - a '57 two door sedan of ANY model would be great!!!! I am not a huge fan of the '50 Olds but I really appreciate the '57 Fords. There is a green and white fairlane 500 two door hardtop for sale near where I live and I looked at it the other day. Sure is purdy!!!!! But it's 'wayyyyy too much money for what the car is and it's the wrong clours for me. This car could be driven daily but I know just enough about old cars and old body filler and boay men who really should have been sculptors to know that that car would a huge project one you got into it with sandpaper and a grinder. It has some issues that are downright scarey but to someone who doesn't know.. it looks not too bad. But back to models - I have been looking at resin '57 sedans but I'll wait and see what Revell does. Like it has been said though, I'll believe it when I see it.

Our hearts in this household go out to you and yours and our prayers are that things are going to work out better than you dare hope when all is said and done. We lost our home to a fire on November 30, 1988. We were away from home when the fire started and the house was a total loss and we were left with nothing but the clothes on our backs. You know that things are bad when you have to go and buy a pencil and note pad so that you can start documenting things. *sighs* The only thing left standing after the fire was part of the dining room wall where our floor to ceiling book case stood and most of the book case and the charred remains of the books. They survived only because they were tightly packed together and our awesome volunteer fire department was quick to respond tothe call when it came in. The firemen said that it was one of the hottest fires they had ever attended, due ib part to the hardwood construction of the old home. So I can certianly identify with your loss but as has been repeatedly said, those things that matter most are still intact - you and your family. Please believe me when I say that while I do not at alll mean to make light of your circumstances or discount your hurt, pain, suffering and/or sense of loss, you fared better than many people did through that wretched storm. I would encourage you to use this situation to draw ever closer to each other as a family and to really appreciate the fact that you still have each other and that no one was injured or worse. Like Ed, I lost ALL of my model collection in one fell swoop in our fire. We cleaned up what was left of our home ourselves, sifting through one shovel full of ashes at a time and it was surprising by what actaully survived. Basically, we were hoping to find keys for the many vehicles that we owned as well as any important papers that may have survived and indeed, some did, including a very few precious photographs, We kept important papers stored in our deep freeze and they too were OK. I never believed in safety deposit boxes before that but all of our phtograph negatives and important papers are now stored in a safety deposit box and all of our digital pictures will also be put on flash drives and stored likewise. It's those little, personal things that are really missed as anyoone who has ebdured a major loss can testify to. A fridge is a fridge - a bed is a bed and a television is a televion - those things do not matter. But family heirlooms, gifts from special friends and items from your childhood - those can not ever be replaced. Of all the things that we lost that day, the most missed are our photographs and family videos, our wedding gifts, the things that my wife and I had from our childhood and my toy and model collection, like Ed's dating back to the late 50's. I can never replace all that I had although I have tried over the years but unbilt '59 Nash Metropolitan kits and unbuilt annual Ford and Pontiac kits from 1961 through '67 are just too much money for me. I had dozens of unbuilt and built annuals and they are all gone but I thank the good Lord that what matters most is still here - my wife and family. I disagree that everything else can be replaced because some things just can't. But a lot of stuff can be, so it is not all bad news I guess. Still, it is the really important things that when lost, are lost forever. Perhaps the one thing that had the most impact on me when we were sifting through the ashes was something that we found on the floor behind what was left of our son's bed in his bedroom. Fires are pretty amazing because alhough the house was levelled, the wooden gropund floor was amazingly intact and the carpet on it was still almost still useable, believe it or not. The house was old and of fir lumber construction and it burned so hot and fast that the roof simply burned before it could collapse, as did the second story floor - so most of the heat went straight up. But when we were cleaning our son's room, we found an perfectly unscathed, unmarked little item that was given to us when he was born and it hung on the wall above his bed. It was a blue velvet covered pad with a pewter image of a little boy kneeling and praying - how it survived is a mystery to us because it had been on the wall the night before when my wife had put him to bed - he had just turned five years old the day before the fire. How it ended up off the wall where it weas hanging and on the floor...????? You can take that to mean nothing, but it really spoke to my heart and that little, kneeling boy is sitting on our entertainment stand in our home today as a reminder of what is important and that there is One far greater than us who watches over us and cares for us. Our bedroom was upstairs in that house and I have little doubt that had we been at home asleep when that fire started, we'd likely have never gotten out. You and your family will getthrough this - you guys are winners and not quitters and there are really only two ways thata you can look atthis - you can choose to look at it as a victim and feel sorry and moan and groan - or you can see yourselves a students and ask yourself, "What can I learn from this and how can I use this circumstance to become a stronger and better person?" At least, that is what we did - and it helped. Hope this all meant something.. and we wish you guys the very best in overcoming this challenge because it is not a small one nor should it be taken lightly by anyone. Best wishes from the Cooks.

Oh man - that is SO sad.. I felt the air leave my lungs when I read that... It's tragic and were I in your situation, I'd be real uncomfortable having those personal items. DOn't get me wrong - I am just saying how I think that I would feel and that;s just me. I am not implying or suggesting anything. I know that I would treasure those items even though I did not know the youngster - but just out of respect for him and his family. I always find it so demoralizing when I see where someone has passed away and the family comes in with a dumpster and most of the person's belongings go straight to the landfill. There was a case in our area where the elderly neighbor of someone I knew passed away and the family even threw the furniture ( all decent and useable - it wasn't filthy or dirty or junk ) into a huge dumpster - emptied the house out, sold it, took the money and that was it. I asked myself if that was all that deceased person's life was worth.. to me, that was just plain disrespectful. Had they given the stuff to a charity orpeople in need, that would have been no where near as bad but to just chuck everything??? *sighs* I just don't get it, I guess. ANyways, at least with you, a part of that young life will live on - and that's good.

For masking, I have many times found that Scotch Magic Tape works really well. Apply it to curved or rounded areas and cut with a sharp Xacto knife - the paint build up at the edges of the tape is next to nothing and usually, even in 1/24 1/25 scale, it is something that can be lived with. For masking irregular surfaces such as vertical lines on a semi trailer, it doesn't work too well but as long as the surfaces are basically smooth, it does the job. I even use it when painting 1:1 vehicles for painting on stripes or masking things where you can not have a paint build up on the edges. I have used it to replicate factory stripes that were obliterated in the accident and you couldn't tell the difference from what I applied and the striping that remained on the vehicle. Regular masking tape is too thick for some jobs but the scotch tape is very thin and works wonders, especially if you need straight, crisp edges and lines.

As was pointed out to me awhile back, the current 2 door sedan offerings are incorrect in that they have the wrong roof. They are just a Impala Sport Coupe with the side trim altered which means that the roof and windshield and rear glass are all totally wrong. The hardtops and convertibles had a shorter windshield than the sedans wagons and El Caminos. The rear glass is a lot too big for a sedan - the entire roof is different and it would be nice if some enterprising individual would produce a sedan body with the proper roof. Having said that, I am grateful to have what we have but I'd be REALLY happy if someone would fix that problem. As for wagons - *sighs* - I'd love to see a '59 or '60 four door wagon - with all three side trim options available - the Brookwood * Biscayne series ) Parkwood or Kingswood ( Bel Air series with the same side trim as the El Camino in '59 and '60 )and of course, the Nomad with the Impala trim. Oh well - maybe some day someone will hear this plaintiff voice in the wilderness.. ..... I'd REALLY like a Brookwood four door wagon myself like the one my dad bought new in '59.. I have the Modelhaus and it's a very well done piece.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww gee.. it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!

I wish that someone would cast this truck in resin........ looks pretty darned good and a better job than I could do that's for sure. We have a '77 F150 long box that we have had since 1986 and I have looked at it many times and considered trying to do what you are doing here. Nice job.. VERY nice job!!!