MrObsessive

I built the MPC General Lee back when the TV show was on (early '80's) and even in my early years of building I didn't find that kit to be terrible to put together. Those were pretty straight forward, and if you don't mind the inaccurate body (it uses the Charger 500 roof which isn't correct for the General), that would be another one to consider. Speaking of the 1:1 General Lee, back when that show was in its heyday one of our local tire stores was giving one of those away. Of course this was the replica and not the TV car, but I really would have liked one of those. Rebel flag notwithstanding! The only other Charger I've built is this one............... Your friend's head would explode if he tried to do all of the detail that went into this one! So, I can't tell you how easy it is to put together, since it's far, far from box stock! Others here might be able to give you more info on how it builds out of the box.

I'd have to put my '69 AMX as one of my all time favorites. I had a 1:1 390 4 spd during the late '80's into the '90's and I miss it dearly. It was a no frills, no options, go fast car! Believe it or not, it still had drum brakes on all fours and no power steering or brakes. The only reason I let it go was I being stationed at Fort Jackson S.C. and couldn't take the car with me. A fellow from upstate PA bought it from me, and that was the last time I saw it. Others I could include: 1957-58 Plymouth Belvedere/Fury (Dad owned a '57) 1957-58 Studebaker Golden Hawk (family friend had one of those) 1968-69 AMC Javelin (Mom first had a '68, then later a brand new '69 SST) I could name some others, but those popped into my mind first!

Revell old tool '70 'Cuda AAR? Forget it! Totally wrong shape! The new tool one (released in the last few years) is very nice and while this is subjective, the shape is on par with the old MPC one. MPC's body is lacking in some areas while the new one got a couple things wrong such as the wheelwell flares, and the upper rear quarter window trim. I've been told it builds nicely without much issue. The Monogram '71 'Cuda is OK as far as it goes..........much older tooling (early '80's) yet a lot simpler to build. It's shape while questionable in some respects (roofline and the headlights are too far apart). It does build up very easily as I did one many years ago. I can't remember anything really untoward about it. I'd suggest that one more than the new tool '70 as it's easier to put together, especially for someone just getting back into the hobby.

That's what I was thinking...............some serious surgery for sure, but with some patience something I'd like to take on down the road. I'm not holding my breath for one of the kit makers to come out with one.

Yeah, they can be fragile pieces! It's an easy fix though.........you can lightly press that back into place and at the same time flow some liquid cement (if you have it) into the break. The capillary action of the cement would help seal that, and then when thoroughly dry, touch up the whole works with paint.

Dave, I keep looking at that Starsky and Hutch Torino...........and some crazy ideas are going through my mind. This was basically the same car with some obvious sheet metal changes. In fact, if I were to get REALLY crazy, a 1977-79 Lincoln MK V could come out of this too. Of course, a wheelbase stretch would be needed. These were brand new in my waning days of high school and are one of my favorites out of the '70's. Along with GM's 1973-77 "Colonnade" coupes which we DESPERATELY could use more kits of! Just some wild ideas rolling around in my "Obsessive" mind......................

Yeah, it's interesting how many folks get that one wrong............peaked (incorrect) as opposed to "piqued".

I can speak to only a couple of them.....well semi two of them as I built the '67 Mustang GT which is very closely related to the '67 Shelby. Mine built up fairly well construction wise as I can't think of any major issues that I had with it. The Shelby shouldn't give you much trouble, but since the basic kit is just like the regular Mustang, it may sit a bit too low in the rear end. I remedied that but adding extra plastic on top of the sail panels which raises up the rear end a bit. The other one is the '66 Fairlane which I built back in the '90's and I no longer have. No issues with that one either 'cept that body shape wise, the front and rear glass is not shaped quite like the 1:1. The windshield header sits a bit low, and the upper part of the rear glass does the same. To the casual observer this won't be a big deal, but of course I notice such things for good or bad almost immediately. Construction wise, that one went together well with no issues, but once again, I thought that the front end on that one sat too high. I'd tweak it a bit if I were to build this one again someday-------make it sit lower like it should. I have a few of the others, but I can't speak to how they build as I've never touched 'em after all this time! Hope this helps!

Yeah, one of these days, I'll do another Impala......more than likely the '58 hardtop. Which one I'm not sure. The Revell one while nice, has that "chrome inside the channel" construction which I'm sure more than likely I'll have to tighten up like I had to do on the '59. My better sense tells me to stick to the old tooling AMT kit. And yes, those doors can be a challenge, but I'll be re-engineering the kit from bumper to bumper anyway!

I echo what Michael says...........there's no rush to make models come out nice. They'll still be there when you've had enough for the day and can come back to 'em later. A couple observations.....it looks like you've got a split in your steering wheel. I don't know what type of glue you're using, but some liquid cement applied (sparingly) with a tiny paint brush (for that purpose only) can help reattach that back together. After everything's dry, you can touch it up with whatever paint you were using. I also see that you're using a type of mini clip to hold your parts. That can be OK as far as it goes, but I strongly suggest on a painted part such as your dash, you may want to use something other than a tight clip that can mar the surface-----especially if that particular grip has "teeth". You might want to try something I use called "Fun Tac" which is like a soft silly putty. I use this along with a plastic spoon to hold parts temporarily for painting. This is a really good kit as it has lots of detail for this era 'Vette.........you shouldn't have much trouble getting 'er together!

Still hoping and wishing for a couple of 'em.......... 1963-71 Mercedes Benz SL series "Pagoda Roof" 1961-72 Volvo P1800 either twin SU carbed or fuelie versions. I have both of these actually, one resin and one diecast in 1/24-25 scale. It sure would be nice though to see these done in full detail plastic. Why they've been ignored is anyone's guess. John mentioned the Facel Vega.........ANY of those would be terrific to see especially the Chrysler powered coupes!

John, nice to see this one back on your work table! That's a really neat idea about the interior tub------I have to give that a try sometime. Somehow, the body on your annual looks a little bit better than the full detail kit that AMT did a few years later. Especially in the windshield area it looks more accurate. The shape of it says "1958" better than the '63 release. Of course this is a convertible, and I don't remember if SMP did a coupe annual along with this back then. Just goes to show that long before computers and CAD systems, they were able to get it right.

Welcome Thomas! LOVE that Levin! Great job in turning that into a standard Corolla!

Super slick paint on both, but especially that '57!!

The state recognizes that there are intersections especially at rush hour where it's nigh impossible for drivers to make left turns unless they get out into the intersection, They're not necessarily running the red light, they're trying to make a turn and make that turn after the opposing traffic has already stopped. Maybe aggressive is not the right term....................assertive should be more like it and too many drivers are lacking it when it comes to driving in this situation. The same applies to merging into traffic on the freeway. If I can see traffic is at least a quarter mile (or less) behind me as I'm trying to get on the road, you betcha I'm flooring it to get ahead (and stay ahead) of them. With too much tractor trailer traffic on our roads, you gotta be a bit more than assertive to keep from getting nailed by one of them. I've seen it happen often and more likely than not, it was someone who was too afraid to step on it and get out there.......stopping for no reason when they could have moved right into traffic without much difficulty. Now mind you, I have the kind of car that can get ahead of traffic and then some------not everyone has that and that might be the reason for their timidity. Annoying just the same, and it's the reason I'm glad I learned to drive in one of the nastiest places in the country--------Washington D.C! As far as Yield signs........traffic can be so clogged around here that you have no choice but to stop. When I learned to drive back in the '70's, our Driver's Ed teacher had told us that the red around that sign meant you could stop if needed. But I hear what you're saying.......traffic is clear, no one's coming and dang if they stop anyway!

The timid "I'm afraid to turn left" drivers have been a pet peeve of mine for YEARS! I've gotten aggressive and simply tooted to horn at them to make them move at least into the intersection. Maybe kinda rude, but I drove taxi once upon a time, and those "rude" moments come back from time to time. Don't mean to sound sexist here, but I've found that it's usually women drivers that are the worst offenders at this. Not to say that ALL women do this, but in the times I've had this happen--------99% of the time it was usually a gal driving. Here in PA, I believe that at least two cars can still make their left turn into the intersection even if the light has turned red for their end of traffic. There are certain intersections where I live when it's IMPOSSIBLE to make a left turn UNLESS you get your butt out there into the intersection and make the left turn.........red light notwithstanding! Otherwise as has been said, you can sit through four or five cycles before traffic clears before you can make your turn. Sometimes you just have to get a bit aggressive and make your move, lest you have traffic backing up for literally blocks due to someones timidity.

In the case of the underside of the trunk/hood, if I know I'm going to be painting in the next week or so, I'll go ahead and paint the underside first so that by the time I'm ready to paint everything, the underside will be dry enough to mask off and paint the topside along with everything else. Same goes for opening doors and such. As Bill mentioned, the door jambs and door sills I may paint ahead of time to let those thoroughly dry and then everything can be attached as one unit and painted together. Yeah, for metallic colors this should be a must as you want to the metallics to have a even coating over the body, and not suffer from irregular "tiger stripes". That can be the case when you paint things separately---------candies can be the worst at this! Solid colors you can get away with painting separate body panels on another stand as long as you can remember how many coats each part received. That's pretty much what I did on the '59 Chevy.

BTW, I've also used Bare Metal Foil as a masking agent. Sure, BMF is a bit expensive, but I've found it to give really sharp clear lines when burnished down thoroughly. I just finished using it in fact to mask off and paint the molded on seatbelts on my BMW build.

I have a huge giant roll of the stuff! Places like eBay and certainly Amazon carry it. I like how it'll bend around corners and stay attached-----something that tape can't always do on irregular surfaces. I have so much of it I'll probably have it for the next 20 years!

It's a paint stand from Tamiya------and it's really great as it can swivel around on its base. One drawback to it though is that the base doesn't always want to stay attached to the upper part holding the body. I put tape around it to minimize any surprises! They can be found on eBay, Hobby Link Japan and other places.

The body is painted as a separate unit apart from everything else. The type of paint stand I use, I'm able to shoot paint to the underside of the roof to paint that. More than likely, especially if it's a detailed build, I'll make some kind of headliner and that'll get painted separately and attached later. As far as the glass, that's another one of those final details that gets put in after the body's all painted and polished. The glass should never be installed into the body before painting. At least that's the way I do it. Here are a couple pics showing my recently finished '59 Impala when it was undergoing its paint job.................. The glass was put in much later after the body was polished out. For this car, I did make a headliner for it, and it was painted to color match the interior.

This is where test fitting everything is an absolute must! I strongly advise this especially before painting up and polishing the intended part. It's another BIG reason I never paint the body beforehand. I build up everything else first, then test fit the body to make sure there's no big clearance/fit issues before paint. I've seen countless stories where someone will complain that the body doesn't fit well-----this after they painted it. HUGE no-no in my world-------that's one of the last things I do is paint the body. I may test fit the body on/off the chassis a dozen or more times to get an idea what will be the best way to get things together, so that in the end it'll minimize over-flexing/over-stressing the body much. Also, instructions can't always be followed to the T---------I'm finding this out doing a box stock build of Tamiya's BMW 850i. Don't rush things.......think things through before semi-permanently attaching something only to have to rip it apart later. Hope this can help!

Jeff! Welcome back! This isn't my favorite bodystyle for '62, but WOW is that ever nice! Super excellent detail!

I won't mention names, but there was a certain individual that made a very rude remark one year at the Mid-Atlantic NNL because all he "got" was a plaque for his model that won. Needless to say short of tossing him out on his ear, he was never invited back to the show, and if he did show up------more than likely he'd be chased back out.

Now John, that is one NICE Fiero! I can remember when these were new, and they were literally EVERYWHERE during the '80's and '90's. Now I can't remember the last time I've seen one, and yours with that many miles is the very rare exception!