David G.

Paint, fit and finish all look just about perfect! Well Done! David G.

I'm sorry to learn of your heath issues, I hope things are better for you now. Excellent color choice and the engine looks great so far. David G.

Sometimes I have to wait for my skills to catch up with my ambitions. But I do have some solid plans for my next move on this one. Thanks for your comment Nigel. David G.

Thank you Chaz. Thanks Greg, I appreciate your comment. Thanks Carl. David G.

Gorgeous paint and foil work! That was quite a novel approach to masking for the stripes. I've used plastic wrap for similar shoots, I will have to keep this in mind for future use. David G.

Hello Everybody! I was able to get a little more work done so here are some more photos. First is laying out and masking the basic colors on the interior. Tamiya white primer masked for the white portions on the door panels and Dupli-Color Chrome for the for the computers. Tamiya AS-10 Ocean Gray for the carpet and rear deck is applied and being masked to shoot the Dupli-Color Flat Black black for the seats and door panels. Here's the interior with all the basic colors shot and the masking removed. I did get a little tape scarring on the computer consoles but I have a plan to deal with that. The next step is some detail painting and maybe a few more scratch-built bits and pieces to add casual visual interest. Most of this won't be visible through the tinted windows after final assembly so I don't plan on going over the top with the added details. And of course, the obligatory Test-Fit! As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment. David G.

I agree. The two good things that the Polar Lights version has is a stock rear bumper and wheels. The AMT version has a rear step bumper and Western Smoothie style wheels. Overall, the AMT kit assembles better too. I ended up buying one Polar Lights kit and two by AMT. My plan is to build the original Ecto-1 using mostly the Polar Lights kit, convert one of the AMT kits back into a standard hearse and the other AMT kit either into a flower car or a standard ambulance. Though I'm currently working on the first two plans, I'm not so sure about the third at this point. I'm also very curious to see what this new Surf Shark version has to offer. David G.

Chassis, engine, body work and paint all look great so far. David G.

Looks great! Excellent idea for the top, it looks the part. David G.

Nicely Done! David G.

Nice rescue on the paint error! That's a perfect color for a car of that era. David G.

Top quality work as always Bill! David G.

If anyone can work this kit into a quality build, it's you Gareth. I can't wait to see where you go with this, best of luck with it. David G.

Thank you Scott. You may be correct regarding the seat placement. Working that out is part of the reason for my most recent building break. Most of the hearses I've driven have had a bit of stowage space behind the seat, usually a foot or so. This one would be closer to two feet. That does seem to be a bit too much. But then again, I've never driven a '59 Cadillac hearse. Given that the seat should only be so far from the dashboard and the dashboard has a very fixed position, I was thinking that the headwall in the cargo area is just too far back. I may remove and replace it but I'll need to build in a little more structural integrity first. At this point, I'm thinking that the best way to go is to get the driver's area secure and stable first and work backward from there. Thanks for your comment Scott, it struck a spark in my thought process and helped me come up with some new ideas. David G.

Thank you Mario. Yes, this could be converted into an ambulance but it would take some modification. The computer equipment would have to be removed from the cargo area and you'd have to find some period appropriate emergency lights, but it could be done. Hi Carl, thanks for your comment. The thickness of the chrome on the bumper did cause some interference between the locating tabs and their slots. I would have had to file the tabs or open the slots to get a proper fit. Even without the issue caused by the improper fin alignment. Between those two issues, there would have been just no way to get a satisfactory fit on the bumper without some modification or correction. I just attribute this to the age of the molds. Thanks again, David G.

That is one sweet Chevy! David G.

Spectacular Work, every detail looks perfect! I can't tell you how much I would like to get one of these, thanks for sharing yours with us. David G.

Great looking paint and detail, excellent assembly, nicely done! David G.

Looks great! The patina is very convincing, love all the added details. David G.

Thanks Bob. Thank you Scott. I also have a couple of more kits, both the AMT version of Ecto-1A. One of which I've been working on converting back into a hearse, here's a link. It's been a while since I worked on it but I plan on cracking back into it after I wrap this one up. Thanks Steve. I remember seeing that one. I remember asking you about the custom decals. It reminds me of one of those promotional parade vehicles that companies used to have made for them. Thanks for posting it. Thanks again, David G.

Hello Everybody! Welcome to the "Fun With Fins" episode. Fitting and installing the tailfins requires a bit of care and attention to insure proper positioning. At least for me it did. One of the first actions I took was stripping the "chrome" from the rear bumper. Not only did the thickness of the coating significantly interfere with the fit, there were noticeable drips and sags in the finish. ? Since both fins need to be fitted simultaneously with the rear bumper to assure proper location, I tacked them in place with Tamiya Extra Thin Cement to allow myself a little working time. On the first pass, there was a noticeable gap between the lower bumper pods and the body. While the gap on the inboard side was even along the entire mating surface. This told me that the fin pieces were too far back, preventing the bumper from fitting properly. The first thing I did was cut off the aforementioned locating tabs at the front of the fin inserts (finserts? ). While this allowed the fins to fit more closely at the front, it didn't move them forward enough to entirely address the fit issue. I also had to file about 2 mm from the front of slot the at the top of both fenders to cover the rest of the distance. I even considered cutting away both the locating tabs entirely. This may have even worked better but I decided to keep the ones at the bottom to help hold the pieces in place as the cement cured. In this shot, the top of the fin is a tipped a little outward. I was able to mostly correct this by clamping it in place during the cure. Fitting these and installing these fin pieces used up an entire build session. But correcting such an obvious problem was certainly worth the time and effort. After all, that's what model building is all about. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment. David G.

Thank you Steve, I appreciate your comment. If you have any photos of your ambulance conversion, feel free to post them. I'd love to see 'em. David G.

It looks perfect! Crazy amount of detail in the engine bay. David G.

Way beyond cool! David G.

Nice touch with the marker light bezels. I'll have to try that technique some day. David G.