MrObsessive

I agree with what Ed and Snake say. That's going to be mighty tough if not impossible to get that yellow out. The yellowing is more of a chemical reaction in the plastic than anything else. I'm no scientist, but that process goes beyond simple buffing and polishing. If you don't want to go the vacuforming route, you could always use clear stencil sheet to make the front and rear windows. Those are simple curves that bend only one way it seems--------looks like a fairly straightforward job of making a pattern from the window openings, and then tracing that on to the clear stencil sheet. At least that's the way I'd approach it, and I've done my share of homemade glass!

Luc, actually I posted a link there, but I "hid" it by HTML word tagging. Someone commented that they didn't see a link, but I told them it was under the word "here". I like Tom, but I don't get the adversity to posting links to other vendors. He sells on eBay and last I looked, there are LOTS of models there!

Chris, this particular hobby shop seldom if EVER marked anything down! There were kits in there that I swear were there for YEARS and never sold because he would not mark them down........even after the kits were pretty much obsolete with the latest and greatest thing. Part of it may have been that they were located in a mall, and one of the reasons he eventually quit the biz (sometime in the '90's) was that the owners of the mall were constantly raising their rental rates. He eventually got tired of it, threw in the towel and closed up shop.

I've GOT to get a set of those! My next "Obsessive" project coming up later this year will definitely require a good set of lights! I saw this on the other board Luc, and had never knew these existed till someone there brought it up. Thanks for making the link here and showing a pic! With the parts I've lost over the years due to the "carpet monster", I could probably build an entire model!

I wish I could go back in time to 1978 when I started building models, and the hobby shop I frequented was loaded to the gills with Johan kits! Most of them were the "USA Oldies" ones, but the subject matter didn't appeal to me, and I was just starting in the hobby anyway. I do remember seeing some of the flat box kits there, and I didn't care for those at all simply because of the shape of the box. Now I could kick myself as most of those kits were selling in the $2.00 range (or less) and I remember seeing them there for quite awhile. Ah well.........as they say hindsight is 20/20........

Welcome aboard Ed! You and my Dad would have gotten along very well! He was a Chrysler man through and through as that's mostly all he ever bought! 1967? The only thing I can remember about that is my Dad had just started working at the steel mill and would be there for the next 31 years. As far as myself I was what......in the first/second grade? The only thing I can remember about Vietnam was watching the news stories on TV as a kid, and I can distinctly remember my Uncle (Dad's brother) going over there (it was in '67), and the family being very upset when he left. He made it back, but of course he was never the same afterwards.

This is gonna be nice to see! I don't think I've ever seen a buildup of an Ace. I wonder if the Cobra would have ever come to be had not AC not lost their supplier for engines............who knows?

I plan on being there-------I want to make a road trip out of it as I HATE taking models on flights! I had a not so nice experience years ago when I went to visit friends in P.R., and had to get rather brassy with the airport staff there about how my models were handled. Nevertheless, this would be my first time at GSL since '07, and I'll have my latest WIP that'll more than likely still be a WIP by then! For those of you who've never been there-------While not as spectacular as say the NNL East, there's plenty of eye candy there, and it goes without saying that the competition there is FIERCE! EVERY model I saw there the last time I went was superb, and I don't know how Mark and those guys do it. It would be very hard for me to be a judge at a show like that as ALL of them were excellent!

THAT'S what I'd like to see! Better yet, and this is probably a pipe dream--------a 1976-77 Cutlass Supreme which was my Driver's Ed car in high school!

Not my most favorite car of the '80's but that DOES look good! Might just have to snag one simply because of the subject matter, as these will be few and far between of this type of car.

FANTASTIC Finish on that one Jim! I've heard good things about Pearl X powders and at the NNL East, Donn Yost was telling me about 'em. I've yet to find them around here though, so it looks like I'll have to order it online. I'll need the gold particularly for an upcoming project later in the year.

You're talking about this section here................. Yeah, that was Revell's attempt at some kind of stop or "positive location" for the bumper cover, but it's not very effective at doing so. I noticed this right away as I was block sanding and test fitting things out, and mentioned that when I made the initial post. And yes, the bumper sticks out on the sides a bit too much where it should be flush. I'll try to put some .020 strips or something inside the front and rear fenders on both sides to give those covers some more real estate to sit on. I'll have to keep checking for clearance issues though as there is a separate trunk compartment that goes in the body among other things. That's a bit down the road before I get to that as it'll be the one thing I check before I paint. Painting the body is always (for the most part) the last thing I do when I'm doing a WIP. I hate having surprises when it comes to final assembly because there was something that got missed beforehand--------I want to make sure everything fits well and have a method of getting the body/chassis together with as little drama as possible! Well as of now folks, the chassis is all painted and now it's just a matter of getting the front and rear suspension done, and then moving to the interior. In a rare move for me, I'm pretty much following the instructions to a T. While the instructions are pretty clear, as I mentioned before there's a LOT of parts to this kit, and I'd say it about rivals Fujimi's Enthusiast Series of kits namely their Porsche and Ferrari ones as far as parts count. Hopefully more to come with some pics before the end of the weekend......... Stay tuned!

Yes, and YES-----On those two! I once owned a '65 P1800, and the closest I thing I have to it is a nice resin, but needs some cleanup to make into a really nice model. I happen to have a 1/24 diecast of a 230SL, and it baffles me why there's never been a proper 1/24-25 glue kit of this car.

Certainly not the prettiest car in '62, but WOW is that ever nice!! I LOVE the details you put into it..........you sure did an excellent job with the chassis as those old Johans were sorely lacking in that area.

That's why I jumped on this one as soon as I saw it-------body damage notwithstanding. I have a pristine kit I got from the 'Bay a few years ago and yes, I paid three figures for that one, but the kit is pristine and never touched, and I didn't have the heart to build it just yet. Likewise, the kit I got from Gerry Paquette is also quite nice as it builds the tuner "Alpina" version that was sold when this car was new. If you see these for a reasonable price grab 'em quick! They don't last long on a "Buy It Now", and I happened to be at the right place at the right time. I also have to say that this is probably the first time I built a kit I got off eBay so soon as I've had this less than a year. There's kits and builtups I've bought from there that I've had for YEARS, and they're still on the "someday" list.

Ron, dark metallic red with that same color interior was among the color contenders, but the Laguna Green won out. I want to get away from red cars for a spell, and in fact I can tell you.........the next WIP won't be red either!

That's a fair question and it's an easy one summed up in one word----------economics. The place you ordered your paint through is charging $6.99 for a one ounce bottle. I got eight ounces unthinned for $14.31 including PA sales tax. Those same eight ounces if I were to order it for instance through ScaleFinishes would come out to roughly $56.00. Granted he gives free shipping with each order, but the folks I deal with are literally two miles from my house. Another fly in the ointment is that most if not all of the online paint sellers pre-thin their paints. I'm not a big fan of that as in the past (I won't mention names), I ordered paint from an individual and I found it to be woefully runny. Not to mention that it was not especially durable around edges as it seemed to chip easily. Another part of the equation is that since the paint is not thinned from my local seller, I determine how much thinner I'll need for my airbrush and compressor. The paint you see on the spoon was airbrushed with acetone as a thinner, and sprayed at about 20 P.S.I. Not every paint job I do comes out well, so I'll have more than enough to go back and repaint if necessary, and not go through the hassle of re-ordering paint all over again because I spilled it, or just simply had a bad paint job for whatever reason and don't have enough to go back and redo a paint job with multiple coats. Since I was there in person at the paint shop, I was able to let the fella know that I wanted him to use the smallest metallics flakes as possible. I've seen paint jobs that while nice, the metallic flakes are a bit "big" and out of scale for a model car. He understood that and you can see where he made all of the mix out of the smallest flakes, and didn't add the "coarse" metallic which would have been just too much IMO. I've been doing this since the '90's ever since I had the above experience, and while I'll have usually a good bit of paint left over, I can always use it on another car, or later on maybe give some away to my modeling buddies in the clubs.

Dave that is absolutely gorgeous! I've always loved this car, and it seems a bit underrated compared to the Ferrari Testarossas of the same era. I forgot that Harold made this one..........A few months back I went and bought the ProFil 24 one from Ed Cervo on eBay (ed427Vette), and certainly would like to build it sometime. And yes, it was pricey! Most that I've paid for a kit in a loooooong time!

Just a spoon test to see how the color coat will sit over gray primer. My primer of choice is Plastikote T-235 Gray Sandable Primer. I've found it to be the most user friendly for me as I've never had any problem with crazing, it covers well, and it dries fast! However, I hate surprises with paint so despite the fast drying time, I still like to let my primer coats sit for at least a day or so before I put on any color coats. As I mentioned before, the color I picked out for the 850i is Laguna Green which to my sight looks more like a nice shade of Teal (Aqua) which was popular in the early '90's. Take a looksee here.............. Looks good so far, and I specifically asked my paint guy could he mix the paint in the smallest metallic flakes possible. He mixed it mostly with the finer pigments as the original mixture called for a "coarse" mix. NO! That's too big for a 1/24 scale model! What he did here looks good to my sight, and after I let the primer on the chassis sit for a day or so, I'll color coat that and then after that dries, get the front and rear suspension fettled together and keep on going! .............And here's the can. You can see the ingredients which go into making this color. What I like best about going to a paint shop to have color specially mixed is that the paint is unthinned, as I like to thin my own according to how I paint and how my airbrush works. Sure there's plenty left over (it's an 8 oz. amount), but there's always other cars it can be used on, or simply give some to your friends. Hope to have another update before the end of the week.....certainly over the weekend with a hopefully done chassis, moving on to the interior. Stay tuned!

Wow! Those look really good Harry! I didn't spray the parts with a gloss black undercoat, so that's probably where my difficulties were. I'll try that out on some spoons and see what happens, although I do like the control of an airbrush......spray cans and I never got along too well. How is the durability once you put it on? I know Alclad doesn't like to be handled but so much. Not the way it used to be, but they've changed the formula over the years.

Harry, did you just spray the Spaz-Stix on directly to the plastic? I tried it once out of the spray can on something and it came out terrible! The current WIP I'm doing, it would be perfect for the wheels on the BMW since they're stripped of the chrome............if only I could get it to play nice!

Aaaah.....one of my favorite colors for a '55! Absolutely beautiful! I could swear that many years ago, I had a guy pass me in a '55 Nomad in that exact color, but the top of the car was painted in a darker green.......maybe a turquoise? Did Chevy offer that combination back then? Either which way, I never forgot that color, and would like to do a Nomad in that exact shade someday.

You got that right! Stick around awhile, and you'll be able to get it at Michael's with a discount coupon to boot!

There are a number of new cars that I like-------a lot of them though are way outta my price range! What I'd like to see make a comeback are the classic proportions from years ago. Front wheel drive notwithstanding, I simply can't stand the front wheels so close to the leading edge of the doors! On a lot of cars it looks goofy to me with too much front overhang, and once inside, foot room (I wear size 15 shoes) and leg room can be marginal. It's one of the reasons I got rid of my Saturn and went back to RWD with my Challenger. It wasn't this way years ago when FWD was first intro'd-----think 1966-67 Olds Toronado/Cadillac Eldorado. Nice classic proportions yet they were FWD. Now I know that the engine in those sat North/South while the new cars are East/West, which is in part the reason the proportions are the way they are. However I look no further than what Volvo is soon to put out, and their latest designs have lost that "FWD" look. They look for all the world like a rear wheel drive car, and I say good for them! As far as cars being nothing more than appliances? I can only attribute that to how society has changed in the last 40 years or so. First, you have a lot of people who simply don't have the time like they used to with tinkering around with a car-----I include myself in that group. With the economy the way it is, people are working either longer hours, or are working multiple jobs just to keep their head above water. Let's face it-----family life isn't the way it used to be with a lot of single parents out there that want a dependable car, and looks unfortunately can take a back seat. They want something that can get them from point A to point B, and want it to be as dependable as their refrigerator. Nevermind that it can have all the personality of one. I don't know what the future holds as far as car design is concerned, but all I can say is that styling is subjective, and tastes seem to change every ten years or so. I personally hope that people actually get back to buying cars again, and leave the lumbering "in your way" SUV/CUV's behind. We'll see...........