MrObsessive

David, you might want to try a thinner sheet of PET perhaps a .020 size. When I was molding the windows for my '59 Chevy, that's the thickness that I used. Also, I'd try lowering your base a bit. The vacuum has an awful lot to pull against, and that may be what's inhibiting the shape you want. Hope this helps! Edit: Here's some pics off my Fotki album of the buck I used to vacuform for the Chevy..........

I figure while I have the ambition, I need to get started on getting one of the windows working. Since I already got the passenger side door jambs, and the door itself fitting pretty well----may as well start with that side. As you can see here, I'm using some K&S Special Shapes (not sure of the size, but it's their smallest) H-Channel brass to serve as a window guide for the leading edge of the "glass". Since the kit's vent window frames were not quite the right shape, and since I wanted something a bit more in scale than what those represent, I went with this H-channel. So that the guide is anchored solidly in the bottom of the door I used a piece square rod, drilled a hole, and superglued the channel into that. Same went for the front part of the vent window frame. That's about a permanent as it's gonna get as it ain't goin' nowhere! Here's the other side of the vent window frame, but I can't leave it just bare brass as that. I roughed up the brass somewhat with some 220 grit sandpaper, and epoxied some plastic strip onto it. Roughing up the surface allows the epoxy to "bite" better into the plastic and it's not as prone to pull away if the brass is too smooth. BTW, the same can be done to aluminum.......I've done this years ago on a build where I wanted an aluminum skin over a gas tank of a car I was building. This does look better and the vent posts say "Mustang" better than the kit molded ones. When the door is closed, you can see the more in scale appearance that the H-channel will have in representing a guide for the window. OK! Let's move on to what's going to make all of this work. I have here next to a penny a pair of watch gears. In fact, I have a WHOLE BUNCH of these types of gears as I got literally a ton of these off eBay many years ago, and doubt I'll ever run out of them at the rate I use them and at the pace I build! I filed off the rivet on the other side of the larger gear which was holding on the small gear that has the pin sticking out of it. This won't be needed for what I want to do. The other small gear was soldered on to a piece of metal wire which is about .024" diameter in size. This was bent to an approximate shape of what the crank handle will look like, but doesn't necessarily represent how the final appearance will be. I drilled a couple holes onto a plain plastic support sheet for the gears, and wanted to get them to mesh as tight as possible. So far so good................ Next, I wanted to solder a brass arm on to the larger watch gear. This is what will allow the window to move up and down on its guides. The long pin sticking up is what will be in a groove on the bottom of the window channel which will enable it to slide back and forth a bit as the window moves up and down in the door. Ok-----checking things again to ensure that the gears are still meshing with no problem. The smaller gear to help keep it in place, has a plastic cover or retainer over it. This holds the gear tightly against the larger gear, and as things get built up on the other side of this support in time, it'll hold together that much better. This pic here is showing a middle support rod or guide which will keep the window steady as it moves up and down. Since this is a hardtop car, naturally there are no frames on the doors to keep the glass straight. This rod is a must to keep things stable, and it keeps the glass from rocking back and forth sloppily as the crank is being turned. So that there is no binding of the glass as it's being moved up and down, I've tried to keep the middle guide at the same angle as the front guide. The proof will be in the pudding when it comes to final installing of the glass in the channel, and it comes time for it to work. Finally, here's another video I put together of how the window regulator will move up and down with the turn of the crank. As I mention in the video, because this model is so small, and because of the number of teeth in the gears I have to work with, I don't have the numerous turns that you get when you're rolling up windows as in a 1:1 vehicle. But, what I wanted was the appearance and not the "gimmicky" look of simply turning the window crank, and the window moving in the same direction as in flicking a light switch on and off. As usual, thanks so much for tuning in, and hopefully by the next update the passenger side window and its workings will be fully done, and then I'll move on to some other aspects of the bodywork.

Here's one that was fully built at this years NNL East. Very nicely done with the V8, and you can see how much room this would take up! I have the engine also (in the original box barely started), and this is one of those dream projects I'd like to do sometime. He also had the Revell Slant Six in front of it...............might be nice to see that one come back too, but unfortunately the tooling for that one is probably long gone.

Chuck, I had to chuckle at your color description! Yeah, this is how I saw most of those by the late '80's into the '90's here in Central PA. They were the "disposable" cars of their day, to be followed by the ever present K-Cars which are all but extinct now. Great job on the weathering, and yes I can almost hear that all too familiar slant six clattering away!

I have one of those in pieces and in need of a resto, and they take up LOTS of room! No doubt that was one the reasons they were not that big of a seller when new, in addition to the high price. A lot of houses back in those days were not very big so not many kids were fortunate to get one of those. The V8 on the other hand naturally didn't suck up so much space, so that's what sold. As Bob says........you never know what might turn up these days! Some of the things that's turned up on the hobby shelves in the last few years we thought we'd never see again. I'm sure there are some more surprises to come.

Looking at this auction here on eBay, I see an open hood and on the box art, the RX-7 is showing an engine. I've never had this kit, so I may pick one up. I do know that those RX-7's are MIGHTY fast as I can remember having a street match with a late '70's one with my '69 AMX many years ago. The tiny two rotor couldn't pass me going across a mile stretch on a bridge, but it was never more than two car lengths behind the whole time. I'd say we were going at least 120+ MPH and I was quite surprised as I never knew they could move that fast!

Well, just literally a second ago I checked again (page 9 on my end) and the pics are now showing up. Very nice Steve, and I do like the whitewalls on this one!

Mark, Kevin mentions that you get the rear window in the kit. I take it that you'd use the Moebius kit for the windshield. And yes, I agree that this is the best rendition of the "Bat Wing" roof that I've seen!

Oooooh! I wanna see the pics! They've gone AWOL on my end!

Randy, after a long day at work, it was so nice to come home to see you've left such kind words! I have to tell you that I learned this attitude of building back in the early '90's when I first laid eyes on Larry Booth's '57 T-Bird at the MAMA meeting. For those of you that remember, Larry's T-Bird was a VERY labor intensive effort in recreating practically everything about the car, right down to him perfectly reproducing the Burtex trunk mat in the car. I was SO BLOWN AWAY by this model, that I knew that I wanted to follow in similar footsteps. Larry mentioned to me back then that he took each part of that car as if it were a kit in itself. The engine, the interior, the working steering, the opening doors and trunk with perfectly replicated hinges, the separate bits and pieces to the hardtop----all came together to make a super clean, almost seamless build. IIRC, this car won the GSL Championship, and had stormed its way through different shows winning practically everywhere it turned up. So when I get in the super-detailing mood (such as my current Shelby build), I get into this mode of thinking quite intensively, especially because I want the car to have so many working features on it, and for everything to appear in scale as much as possible. I understand not everyone wants to super-detail their models..........but this can apply to your basic out of the box builds as well. Basics trump everything! Cleaning up of parting lines (within reason---sometimes bumpers can't be done), sink marks, block sanding the body for proper paint coverage, clean glass fit, adjusting ride height---all go a long way from being just an average build to becoming a real head turner.

David, I don't have a specific ratio that I use if I need to thin the BIN. I like to refer to what I call the "sheeting" action in the jar. Like the consistency of milk, when you swill the jar--------when what's inside the jar settles in a smooth "sheet" that's translucent, then it's OK to airbrush in my experience. As far as alcohol, just plain 'ole Isopropyl alcohol has worked for me. Either 70 or 90%. Mark, you make a good point about the paint consistency these days. Like everything else, manufacturers (doesn't matter the product) or trying to stay ahead of the game as far as their costs are concerned. So it very well could be that they're substituting more solvents instead of solids. All the more reason particularly with the kind of work I do on models, to barrier the plastic as much as possible. I've come to distrust the plastics in kits today, as well as the paint coming from the manufacturers------especially using the 1:1 automotive stuff.

Looks absolutely gorgeous Ron!

GORGEOUS!! LOVE that color!!

Very nice and quite an unusual subject! I know the car, but I've never seen any of those here in the states. I can remember seeing another model Opel (Kapitan?) as a kid, but its styling was a bit different with a late '50's/early '60s very GM-like wraparound windshield.

Yup! This was undercoated with the BIN, then primer put on....... And then color coats put on. The paint came from my local paint jobber that matched the Viper Red I wanted for this. If you remember my '59 Impala build, I did the same thing with that. LOTS of bodywork was done, and I didn't want to deal with any possible paint crazing.

Wow Greg, that's bad! I've come not to trust newer plastic these days, especially anything molded since '05 or so. The plastics have changed------they seem "softer" to me, not as durable as they were in the old days. I'm a BIG believer in using this.................. Yeah, it's more work to put it on, but I've had ZERO troubles with crazing since I started using this years ago. Especially with the kind of work I do, I don't like surprises near the end when it comes to paint and bodywork. I use an older airbrush (Badger Crescendo) and if it needs to be thinned, you can just use plain 'ole alcohol. Hope this helps!

Len somewhere in the "Under Glass" section, there was someone who did what you wanted. I can't remember the builders name, but it was the newer tool '67 they used. IIRC, it was white and I'll dig around to see if it's still out there somewhere. EDIT: Whadya know? Here 'tis! Just click here to see the whole thread...........

Thanks Richard and Mike! The body alone (at least to me) is a kit in itself. However, there's something I have to bring up regarding the format of the board, and it's this one......... Somehow, someway, sometime I really really wish the preview button could be re-into'd back on this board! The format in which this is laid out is somewhat annoying, particularly when I have a lot of pics I need to post. The "squished" area of the text box I'm not a big fan of, and of course there's a limit to how large it can be. I'd like to be able to see how the post will appear just before I hit the save button (as it would appear on the board), so that I'm not constantly going back and editing misspelled words, incorrect punctuation, etc. I'm not making a big deal out of this, I just like to see the return of the preview option as sometimes what I composed is not fully seen until it's posted.

Alright! The door is lookin' pretty good for my satisfaction............ Much better! The shut lines are definitely tighter, and once everything's painted and polished, there should be no scraping of the paint as the doors are opening and closing. I didn't take a pic of it here, but one method to check for proper shut line thickness is to slip a 3x5 card in and out of the gap. If the card moves in and out without catching/snagging, then you should be good to go as far as paint. I'm not going to go for super scale accuracy as far as the door hinges. I want something that's going to be sturdy as the door will be opening and closing many, many times once the model is complete, and I take it to shows and whatnot. I have here some 1/16" plastic rod and some .020 brass rod which will serve as the swivel hinges for the door. Here's a shot of the door as it sits in the body after all the sanding and fitting. And here's how the hinge looks once it's inside its support. When it comes to final assembly, I'll simply epoxy the brass rod inside the support, and then cut off the excess length flush with the support when the epoxy is fully dry. Just checking the fit of the door as it turns inside the fender......... A shot of the plastic rod glued onto the door jamb. I'll add a little bit of super glue around the hinge retainers on the door which will ensure that they stay put for practically..........well forever! That's all for now folks! Here's a list of things I need to do yet in the coming days and weeks as far as the body is concerned...... Make the rocker panel trim. Make the stainless for the wheelwells. Take the Shelby rear fender caps off the '68 body and graft them on the '66 fenders------same with the rear deck spoiler. Put in the Shelby taillight panel. Fix that front end! Get all four windows hopefully working, but not fully installed till near the end. As you can see, this will take quite a bit before I'm done just on the body. The next big hurdle will be those windows, and since I've got the passenger side pretty much done and hinged 'cept for some minor details, may as well start on that one first. Finally, here's a video which is a quick sum-up of what's been done. I have it on my channel in a playlist, and I'll add to it as time goes on. Thanks for checkin' in and as always if there's questions, ask away!

It's time to get started and finish up on building up the door jambs for the body. I have a bunch of pics on my hard disc of how the inside of the door openings appear when the door is opened, so I tried to copy the stamping as best I could. Once again, I try to strive for symmetry on both sides.......not an always easy thing to do. Instead of forcing straight plastic to take on a curved corner, I like to take large diameter plastic tubing and section cut it to make the radii that I'll need. Saves the headache of trying to make the straight plastic behave to take on the curve, and everything will be blended in eventually anyway. Once I got the bottom door sills done, I figure it's time to start making the supports for the hinges. Since the leading edge of the doors will swivel or turn in towards the inside of the fenders, this will be for a different hinge than using a gooseneck hinge which would be used to make doors that would swing outside of the body. One thing that's VERY important when making your supports is to make sure they are as straight as possible! If the top part of the support is leaning towards the inside of the body, the doors will appear to be angling up in the air when opened. Leaning too much the opposite way, and the doors will appear to be hitting the curb as they're opened. You'll have to take into account body flex when putting in the chassis-------if the chassis is making the body flare out slightly when you put it in, then you'll need to adjust the supports accordingly. Take note how I did thin out the inside of the trailing edge of the fenders. As the door is turning in, there will need to be some clearance so there's no scraping or binding of the doors as they're opening and closing. Here I'm trying to narrow the shut lines on the doors as cutting them open leaves quite a large gap to my view. Some folks will buy a second kit to cut the doors open a bit larger than the opened door body------but with kits costing upwards of $30 (or more) to me this isn't very cost effective. Then there's the issue of parting out the kit as the body is pretty much toast. What I've done here is simply add some .020 sheet plastic around the perimeter of the door. I used liquid cement to get it all glued on, and then let it sit overnight before I started to sand everything back to an acceptable gap space. When I was satisfied how the doors appeared in the body, I used my Dremel Moto-Tool to thin out the leading and trailing edges of the door somewhat. You don't want to leave thick edges as this is woefully out of scale as 1:1 cars have quite thin metal in this area. Of course, you don't want this area paper thin either as it'll cause grief down the road when it comes time to paint and polish. As you can see here, I began to build up the door jamb on the door itself mirroring pretty much what I did on the body. Stay tuned...........there's more to come!

As one fellow AMC guy to another (I once owned a '69 AMX), welcome aboard!

Neat idea and looks good! And it cost you next to nothing to make that table out of "leftovers".

Those are absolutely beautiful Curt! I've got the '55 (actually two) in my stash, but haven't been bit by the bug to build it...........yet!

Tom, I get what you're saying, but this fella adds fuel to the fire by coming off as downright NASTY! Go back and check the auction I posted, and get a load of his "threats" because some are talking about him. Last time I checked, once you post something on eBay, that auction becomes fair game for someone to talk about it, link to it, or simply criticize it because well, it's a free country and that's what free speech is all about. He doesn't have to like it, but he comes off as somewhat of a real jerk by "shouting" at those that might, just might be interested in what he has. As the old saying goes........."If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen!"

Yet another reason why one should not paint the body till near the end to ensure everything fits correctly! That's been a practice of mine for many years, and I'll test fit things many, many times over to make sure there are no surprises. Even then, you can still run into a little difficulty, but it sure beats having to discover something's warped after it's all painted up and pretty. Folks have been telling me that for years!