MrObsessive

Thanks Rob! I consider that a real compliment!

Yeah, you'd have to highlight your text and select what you want each time you post under fonts. I for example type everything in blue/bold for a very practical reason----------I can see what's there MUCH easier with my sight the way it is, and it simply looks better to me on the page than the plain, small black font.

As you all know, I'm mostly a builder, but when I get into a "builder's block" such as is the case somewhat with my Shelby project, I'll take a look at the diecast sections on eBay to see what's available and what's not going to cost an arm and a leg to get! The other week while surfing eBay I came across an auction for one of Danbury's 1956 Buick Roadmaster four door hardtop models. I was quickly interested as it looked for all the world just like a car that my Great Grandmother owned back in the early '60's when I first knew what a car was. I followed the auction and I figured that it's going to go rather high, but I'll go for it since I really like this car, and there will never be a standard kit made of it. Well, I won the auction by a good margin, and I was doing the happy dance! I got notice the seller shipped the model the next day, and I waited patiently to look this baby over, take some pics of it, get 'er in a display case, and in my cabinet safe from dust and nosy cats. The model showed up in about 2-3 days, but much to my surprise (and chagrin) this is what I got........................... Oooookay I thought, this isn't exactly a '56 Buick! Very nice model though, but not exactly what I won in the auction. I contacted the seller, and he apologized profusely as this model was on his active auction page! I told him that everything is still intact as far as the box and all, but since it was a Saturday, it would be Monday before I could get the model back in the mail. He later on wrote me back and said, that he was a bit nervous about it being sent yet again in the mail as there's a chance of it being damaged in transit. He offered for me to keep the model for $25 and he'd be sure to send the one I won come first thing Monday. I said SURE as I know these '55 Olds can go for MUCH more on the 'Bay, and this was too nice to pass up and say no. Well, a few more days went by and I got this beauty in the mail...................... I am VERY, VERY impressed as I remember seeing these when Danbury was selling them, but for whatever reason passed on it. Danbury is now out of the diecast car model making business, so these can only go up in value if they've been kept in good shape. The only thing wrong with it is that the passenger side mirror was off, as well as the windshield wiper. They were both wrapped up in the trunk, and I've since reattached them. What's missing altogether is the driver's side fender ornament------using the other side as a pattern I can duplicate that with no problem. A BIG plus is that it came with its original box, and that was in very good shape. So...........a BIG shout out to the eBay seller who sold me these, and in fact, for those of you interested in these types of diecasts, his page can be found here. We've been ragging on eBay lately because of some of the scammers on there that have been rather active of late. But if one is patient, GOOD deals can be found, and in this case, I got a very nice model I wasn't expecting pretty much by accident. They're both definitely keepers! Here are some more pics of the Olds and the Buick.................enjoy! Thanks for tuning in!

So when did this kit come out Snake? Pic courtesy of eBay. I built one of these around the early '90's but this one doesn't have the removable hardtop, or the stock hubcaps. It does give you the uptop however like in the Prestige kit. I see the flatter windshield header on it which is correct.

That would explain the discrepancies Don. More than likely the original '63 tooling was either long gone, or was too worn out to be useful in making anymore kits. Frankly, I like the Prestige kit.......I just wish the chassis was more up to snuff as far as detail, but there's always Revell's '67 to kitbash and make something really nice out of it.

OK, I just took some pics of what some of the differences were in the hardtops of the '63 Prestige kit, and what AMT did originally when they started putting in hardtops for the '65 annuals. On the left is the original '65 hardtop or so it seems to me. On the right is the hardtop out of the '63 Prestige kit which to my eyes has a bit more accurate shape per the 1:1. You can see here the windshield headers are different-----the original has a bit more of a curve......not present on the 1:1, whereas the '63 is a bit flatter. With the exception of the body brace which I don't want to remove till it's time to build, the roof fits pretty well, albeit some tweaking would be needed. This is the Prestige hardtop and '63 kit body................. Here it is on an original '64 buildup, and its header is clearly different from the '63, which leads me to believe that the '63 is a retooled body and not based on the original. The original had working rotating lights which the Prestige kit and subsequent reissues did not have. The Prestige kit body looks more accurate to my eyes, but nonetheless looks to be a different tooling. Here's the other '65 issue hardtop on the '64 body and its fit is 'bout perfect. It's curious how they did things in those days........not always did they get the shapes correct, but more so than some of the woefully inaccurate stuff I see today. Nevertheless, when it comes time to restore the '64 buildup, I'll be on the lookout for a spare 63 Prestige kit hardtop as to my way of seeing, looks more accurate than what was done over 50 years ago. Or barring that, just reshape the one I have into something more accurate. Just to show, here's the pic of that '64 which was shown earlier................ Thoughts anyone?

Clear stencil sheet does not vacuform very well.......mostly due to its thinness. I used .020 Clear Vivak (PETG) sheet on my '59 Impala as suggested to me by Carol Holthaus. That's what they used to make their glass for their kits. I did slightly tint the glass in my build and it takes paint very well.

Speaking of '63 'Vettes with the removable hardtop.............the Prestige kit has a very nice shaped hardtop among its parts. Not long ago, I wanted an extra hardtop to go along with a very clean '64 convertible buildup I have. I got a resin one off eBay.........very cleanly molded with no defects, but I notice that the shape is not quite the same as the Prestige kit. Did AMT change the mold to recreate the hardtop for the Prestige kit? Or were there two different hardtops done at different times? When I get a chance, I'll dig up the hardtops and take pics. The differences to me stick out like a sore thumb!

Wow Ron! I didn't know Harold sold that! Would you happen to have any pics? Harold IMO ranks right up there among the best resin casters, and his bodies and transkits are top notch! Personally, I'm still sold on AMT's old '63 tooling............just some enhancements with a later kit (namely Revell's '67) would be needed to bring it up to par. I have Revell's snapper '63, but something about it in the roof vent area seems "off" to me. Could be just my perception, but the AMT one has that "it" factor to me when it comes to scale accuracy. I'll have to sit down and really compare the two in 3D and see what can be done. BTW, 1963 was the only year that the Corvette had the chromed A pillar for those that didn't know. All others afterwards through '67 the A pillars were painted.

This isn't a perfect solution Jay, but I've used something called "Faskolor" (a paint for Lexan bodies) and they have a "Faspearl White". I've used this on headlights, and it gives them a kind of frosted look which to me looks like headlight lenses. Here's a '59 Buick I built 10 years ago and I painted the headlights with this................... I'm not sure if it's sold in your area-------I've had the same bottle for years and the paint is still good. Hope this helps!

Tim, we'd LOVE to have you there! Sept 23rd, from 10-2 at the Mechanicsburg Library. The address is 16 N Walnut St in Mechanicsburg. Plenty of seats, nice square tables, we even got a fridge, microwave, and a stove in the room! Gotta have prior permission to use the stove though. Best of all, it's free! Won't cost you a thing! Hope to see you then!

I don't know of any top that was made for this car. I have the kit, and I wish it had one too. You might be able to take the uptop off a C4 Corvette convertible kit as the shapes are similar................ It would take a little work, but you'd have an acceptable looking top for it.

John, I'm a HUGE fan of using clear stencil sheet for glass where it can be used! As you probably know, bad/distorted glass is a major pet peeve of mine in model kits, next to bad/misshapen body contours. '50's cars like this SCREAM out for good glass, and it's one of the things that nearly sidelined my '59 Chevy forever because the glass was so bad. Vacuforming mine was the next best thing--------yours looks absolutely great! A real plus as you mentioned is the '58 Fords had glass that pretty much curved one way. The rear glass might have had a very slight subtle curve from a side view, but in this scale and size of car, it's barely noticeable. Keep it going!

Lookin' Good David! The emblem on the rear roof pillar-------is that a PE part the you painted or did you BMF and paint that? Looks real good either which way! I was fortunate to get some AMX PE scripts and badges from Okie Spalding when he was at the NNL East. Quite nice and would make any AMX stand out.

Looking at that video Doug, and having my screen enlarged as much as possible, I have to say those parts they made came out pretty darn smooth! Now of course, they could have been "enhanced" for the video, but from what I can see that looks very promising.

Just had this come across my news feed. I didn't know he was this old, but yeah-------he had a good life. The story can be seen here.

Wayne, I've been saying this for awhile. Let's face it, the aftermarket guys aren't getting any younger, and there'll come a time when those that we know and regard highly in the aftermarket are going to close up shop. It's already happened with Don and Carol-----although they're still working filling orders, they're not taking any new ones. I can see 3D printing in the years to come becoming a lot more user friendly, and just like with the PC industry, folks with basic skills will be able to make parts for whatever they wish. The more detail of course, the more in depth one will have to be skilled in getting the software to cooperate in getting the part correct. Doug, you are quite welcome! It was neat building the engine as it was a definite first for me, and I can honestly say when I get around to building and finishing the complete car, I can boast that it has a correct 3D printed engine!

Mike, I make my bases out of K&S 1/16 X .014 Aluminum tubing. I place a piece of it in my Dremel Moto-Tool, and form it into a bit of a cone shape. The rubber base is just some plastic rod of a similar size that I drilled a hole in first for the stainless tubing, and then sliced thin and painted Model Master Engine Black for a rubber appearance. The whole works is then epoxied into a pre-drilled hole in the fender. BTW, one habit I've tried to get into when I know I'll be putting an antenna on, is to drill the hole for the body very early on, long before any painting. Nothing's more frustrating after you get the body painted, then you try to drill a hole, and the drill bit "skips" putting a scratch into your paint. I know one can mask around the drilled area, but I've had the drill bit skip past the masked area and put a nick in the paint anyway.

WOW! Nice save!! Gotta love restoring and rescuing those old gluebombs! Beautiful!

This shot here bugs me to death about the Moebius body................ I do not like at all how the windshield header in the Moebius body "curls up" when it should be flatter like the Johan body. Also, that deep sweep in the cowl bothers me too. I'd definitely have to fix that if the time comes for me to build the two door Satellite kit I have. A new windshield would be in order since I'm changing the dimensions but no worries-----I've done that before!

Yeah, I'm a #11 guitar string user when it comes to my antennas. It never seems to fail that once I get the antenna on, it's gets bumped against something (usually the model case trying to get it in), and I need something to be "springy". That's stainless steel tubing for the first stage of the antenna. And yes, I like antennas on my models to make them seem more "complete". Especially if there's a radio in the dash!

I have a feeling that '78 Ford Bronco might be back with us in the not too distant future. It was reissued a number of years ago as a Model King release with a drag Cougar and trailer. I have to believe the tooling is still good for a standard run.........we'll see.

Frank it was real nice meeting you and the others! Hope to see you next month on the 23rd!

Jason, I'd say the weather was 'bout PERFECT for a car show! I was a little nervous as I had left from work that Saturday morning to head to the show. We had some sprinkles that seemed to be lingering and I was hoping that it would not be a rain out. As I got closer to Carlisle the skies really brightened up and all was well. I only left a tad early as the sun was out in full force, and as the morning wore on, it was getting a bit too toasty for me on the fairgrounds with little to no shade. I'll definitely be back next year (if the weather cooperates), as there was so much eye candy there, it can be hard to take it all in.

Well, all I can say is get set to be reeeeallll busy with orders for this! Not typically my type of car, but this is so well done, I might spring for one anyway! Not to mention you don't see many of these on the roads anymore.