mrmike

Well David, just git-r-dun! lol Foiling was one of my most hated jobs until I had done it enough that I was comfortable with it. Almost done! More to come...

Thanks Tony! I'll watch for that if I do clearcoat the T-Bird. I got the rear seat cover and the hood out of the stripper yesterday and I started sanding this morning. This afternoon, I gave them both a good coating of primer and tonight or tomorrow morning, I'll sand any imperfections and paint them with Testors One Coat Lacquer White Lightning. Meanwhile, I've been doing some assembly of the T-Bird. It should be ready for the Classic Plastic Model Club Exhibition on Sunday! More to come...

Great job, Jim! I even like how the windshield washer fluid is sloshing around in the tank!

I dove into my parts box this morning in search for parts to make a buddy seat for my '68 Charger R/T. I found a bench seat from the AMT '71 Charger R/T and started to wonder if I could use the center section for this. I pulled out my razor saw and cut away the seats and removed the fold-down armrest and center cushion. A little sanding and trimming and I have a buddy seat. The buddy seat looks pretty good in a mockup. I need some more sanding and filling in the gaps in the seat cushion and the armrest and it should be good to go! More Mopar to come...

I got the body polished and foiled and now to clearcoat it. The hood and the rear seat cover are back in the stripper since my new can of paint ran like crazy with just using mist coats. I'm going to re-prime and repaint these pieces.

I love it Randy! As usual, your attention to detail and the clean building is very apparent! Excellent job!

Thanks Ron! The White Lighning paint is a really nice shimmery color, but I have to be careful when using it. I need to make sure of the coverage is even on all surfaces. It's great to have a tribute of a relative's car for the collection! I have one of my father's '71 Merc Cougar that I made from the AMT '73 Cougar. It's close to what he had-351 2-bbl., single exhaust, auto trans., whitewalls, and black vinyl top with a maroon body. I should do one of his last car, a '79 Caddy Coupe deVille. Black over black with red leather. I wanted to insert the taillights and looked at the instructions which says to add the rear bumper first then insert the taillights, but something didn't seem right. The taillights stood out a country mile and needed a lot of chrome trim around the lenses! I mounted the taillights inside the bumper and they fit nice and flush. This seems the better way to go! More to come...

That is a great looking tribute to your Dad! Love the color, too! Several years ago, I took the Revell Uptown Caddy STS-V and de-blinged it and built it as a stock STS-V, so it is possible to build these low rider types of models as stock.

Thanks Kevin and JC! JC, I was fortunate to be able to get the can of Chrysler Engine Turquiose paint from Summit Racing! And, I still have plenty left for future projects. I also have a can of Mopar Street Hemi Orange that I got from Summit and that can has been used quite a bit over the years. I am noticing a lot more parts stores (Pep Boys, Auto Zone, etc) are selling engine paint and this color is showing up more often. I'm not sure if it is an exact match for the Mopar color though.

Progress on the Charger has been very slow. I got the MAD distributor assembled, painted, and installed in the 440 CID V-8. Now to run the wires and finish the engine. More Mopar to come...

OK Martin, let's see somemore!

I was rummaging around the parts box and came across this photoetch set that was left over from another project. I am using a distributor from MAD and maybe the chrome air cleaner on the 440 CI engine. The 426 Hemi is complete except the distributor fell off somewhere and disappeared on me. Good thing there is a second distributor in the kit!

My kit didn't come with the five spoke wheels you had mentioned, but my friend who gave me the kit said that they are in that particular kit. Bill, thank you for the explanation and the pictures on the leaf sprung rear end and traction bars. This gives me a little more food for thought as I plan out this build.

With the speedster style windsreen now out of the question, I went and opened a gap between the dash panel and the cowl. The kit windshield and frame now fits in there perfectly and the body and interior now fits together tightly. I am tempted to pry the dash out and shorten it a little on each side, but I think I'll let that slide for now as I do like the tight fit. More to come...

I pulled out the windshield and the frame just to see how much grinding with a Dremel tool is going to be needed on the dash. As it turns out, a lot!!! I had a brain fart last night. I have three of the chopped windows from the '53 Studebaker and I wondered if I could make one fit the T-Bird. Like i said, it was a brain fart! More to come...

I had noticed that the rear tires were not centered in the wheel openings. But, I can fix that depending if I want to change the rear axle. I might change the leaf springs to a four link set up or a two link with a Panhard bar. I'll have to rummage through the parts box!

I shortened the ends of the rear axle and the wheels and tires fit nicely, but I'm wondering if I should keep this rear axle or look for something a little more modern and perhaps lower the rear a little more.

Thanks Mike, Steve, and Kevin! Thank you guys! I found the engine stand in the AMT ProShop '57 Thunderbird kit. I've also have the engine stand from the AMT '39/'40 Ford Tudoe Sedan kit. I finished the dash and installed it into the interior. The interior is a very tight fit into the body and the dash is touching the cowl and there is no room for the windshield or the frame. I'll have to do some serious grinding here. The engine is detailed and touched up and ready for the chassis. More to come...

A small update. I cut out the inside of the wheel wells and the more I thought about it, the more work necessary to get the new wheel wells in and flush fitting. I went and cut off the rest of the wheel wells and sanded the edges smooth. I'll make new wheel wells to cover the open gap.

I go by what the box art says it is. It is more difficult if there is no box art to go by and then you have to go by your best guess. But, then by all means, ask away!

That is an excellent model Tony! Great job!

I created a spread sheet for my stash. I include maker, year, model, missing parts, added parts, plans, and comments. I note when they are on the bench or issues for leaving the bench. Works very well for me. I found a spread sheet online that just had too many columns and it really didn't fit my needs.

Thanks Terry!

The 390 CID engine has been assembled and wired.

Sorry, I don't build dioramas. I'll pass.