MrObsessive

Ooooh that's such a gorgeous car! And a pleasant surprise coming from Buick! I'd love to see it come to the market as is, but you can betcha we won't see a pillarless hardtop. The Safety Nazis here in the U.S. will see to that. Just the same, Buick would be crazy NOT to bring this car to market! What's the average age of the current Buick buyer?? I thought I read somewhere that it's something like 59-60 years old. What a neat car to bring in some younger buyers! Seeing that it's a Buick, I would expect this car to start somewhere in the upper 30's low 40K range. I'd also think that we wouldn't see this car until the 2018-'19 time frame. It's now 2016, so they're working on the '19-'20 stuff now as we speak.

Wow! I can't wait to see that Tim! Mine will be more "conventional"........almost. Let's just say that I won't be basing mine on any one particular kit. Yup! I hope to do the whole boat of working stuff------doors, windows, suspension, steering, all that good stuff.

Well, hopefully it'll be out before the end of the year!

I believe so Mike. Larry's T-Bird was what inspired me to get into superdetailing back in the mid '90's ever since I first saw it. He brought it once to the MAMA meeting back in 1994-95, and I was simply blown away by the work he did! I'd like more info too Tim on MCG's set if that's what you're referring too.............I'm curious to see what it might include! If you meant about MCG carrying mesh screen, I've already checked Bob's site, and didn't see the right type I'm looking for.

I contacted Norm yesterday, and he tells me that it's no longer available, but he'll check around to see if he's got a set lying around somewhere. I see Norm all the time at the club meetings, so if he has one I'll get it from him. Time really flies! I know that Norm made this set as far back as the late '90's, as I used it for a '55 T-Bird conversion I did back then. Has it been SEVENTEEN years now since I've built that 'Bird?? Thanks for all the links and tips fellas! I really appreciate it!

Thanks Bill! The pic you posted looks to be the size I'd need to replicate the grille in the T-Bird. I wish it were nickel plated though instead of brass, but no matter, I can work around that if I get it. I do remember K&S carrying the screen, but their sizes were always too big IIRC.

Thanks for the sources Mike! I see a size on the link you sent me, and I'll check that out. Funny, I was just in our local arts and crafts store just the other day for something, I hadn't thought about looking around in there for this. I'd really like to find something that looks "stamped" and not woven like the collanders and such. Thanks again!

OK fellas, I'm narrowing down my choices of what's going to be my next all out detailed build for later this year. One of them (and it's in the lead in my mind), is a '57 T-Bird. It's not what you think though...........since the current one that's available is a tad undersized to my eyes (more like 1/26-27 scale), I'd like to base mine on Monogram's 1/24 '56 T-Bird, with of course some mixing and matching of body parts. I don't consider myself to be a scale bigot, but I'd like to have the '57 in scale and size with the '55 I did years ago, and putting the '57 body next to it--------just seems "small" to me. What I'd like to know, is there a source of PE egg crate screen that I can use? I've checked over eBay, and it looks like Detail Master/MCG sells PE screen, but it's of the honeycomb variety, or the "circle" type for custom grilles. What I'd need is the egg crate style that all '55-'57 T-Birds had for the grille patterns. IIRC, Norm Veber of Replica's and Miniatures had a PE set for the '57 T-Bird. I just dropped him a line, but I don't think his set includes the grille. Any help out there would be much appreciated!

Welcome aboard Jim! Your handle is interesting as I was once a cab driver myself many years ago. I bet you and I could trade quite a few crazy cab stories! Got out of it back in '99, and wouldn't think of doing it today here. Folks have gotten too crazy over the years!

Interesting story about when Annette got the car. The lady in the video says she got it brand new for her 16th birthday which would have been in '58. '57 T-Birds had a extended model year run (till December '57?) because the new for '58 T-Bird wasn't ready yet for new car intro time, which would have been September-October of '57. Just curious if her T-Bird was one of the very late ones built, and was it bought (perhaps by Walt Disney) and just kept for safe keeping till she turned 16? Interesting story just the same! Nancy's T-Bird still looks great after all these years, albeit without the original engine or color. I'll bet it hauls you-know-what down the road though!

That's a very nice tribute to Annette, and I never knew she owned a T-Bird till now! Now speaking of Nancy Sinatra, here's a video clip of her and her very clean '57 T-Bird. I think this was done circa 1967? I wonder if the T-Bird still exists..................Nancy certainly does!

Something I want to add that just came to mind when it comes time to paint the body. It might not be a bad idea if you mask off the window area, particularly the channels where the glass needs to fit in. You'll no doubt get paint buildup in those channels and then you're right back to square one trying get the glass to fit again! Just something to watch out for.

Hey Mike! That's a GREAT idea! To carry that even further, sand the nuts down on the flanges just a tad, drill a hole (centered as well as possible) for the size of the pin on the nut, and then sand everything down flat. This way you'll have location points for all of the nuts, as well (as best can be achieved) have them centered in their respective places. Hmmmm...........the more I think about it, the more I'm tempted to make this my next build instead of the BMW.

GORGEOUS!! Absolutely LOVE that color!

I have my phone at work with me all the time, and on their WIFI, I can get on Spotlight. Also, if I turn off the WIFI on either my phone or tablet, I can get on through Sprint's network. The problem is, trying to post pics or make any kind of lengthy post on either of those is a real PAIN! I'd sooner just forget the whole thing and just carry on. I've got too many other things to worry about than trying to get on a message board. Until a solution comes along as to why it's happening, I'm just going to forget about it. One idea that I know would work is to use my phone as a hotspot for my PC and laptop. This would bypass Comcast, and I'd be able to post pics and whatnot through that. I'd have to call Sprint and ask them how much extra that would be to have my phone be hotspot enabled. I suspect though that can get rather expen$ive! We'll see..............

Yeah, it's just that I know folks over there and for whatever reason they don't want to come on this board. Maybe it's because they have to register and whatnot-----------I don't know. Nevertheless, I don't have enough time in the day to figure out the cantankerous reasons of why I can no longer post there. The Comcast rep tried to tell me that it's got something to do with my OS in the PC and laptop. No! I'm having this problem on ALL my devices including my iPhone and tablet when it comes to WIFI! So it's not the OS, it's something on Comcast's end that they can't figure out, and I'm sick of trying.

Well, I've flat out given up on trying to get through to Spotlight Hobbies forum. I just got off the phone with Comcast, and they tell me that the problem's not on their end. She was able to access Spotlight, but for some reason I cannot. She mentioned it could be the OS I'm using (Vista), but I told her that their page is nowhere near as graphic heavy as some sites I've been on. Not to mention that it's only their site that I'm having the issue with as I keep getting the "time out" error code. So, I guess I just can't post anything there any longer till this straightens itself out-------------I'm tired of fooling with it.

Yeah............I maybe had to add just a little alcohol to thin it out. I'd avoid the spray cans though-----from what I hear they're worthless and the BIN is not as good as you airbrushing it.

Ha! Sometimes other solutions are staring at you and it's not even seen! I have Dremel's drill press and the moto-tool I have is a variable speed one. I also have a vice, so I may try to cobble something together to see if I can get it to hold. Somewhere in my arsenal I have the carbide cutter discs that you described, and I could wear it down to fit inside the rim if I go this route.

That sounds like the same stuff. It's paper thin, but just make sure it's the clear type and not the frosted kind. I made a mistake once at a shop and didn't read the label thoroughly as it was prepackaged------I get it here and it's dang frosted! I usually get mine at the local arts and crafts store, and they do sell it in separate sheets with no name. No you can't thermoform this----------it doesn't work.....I tried it! And yes, major clarity is the reason I like using it. It reflects the light and reads just like actual glass. The trouble with it is you can only bend it one way. Certain cars of the late '50's/early '60's (GM's particularly) with their compound curve wraparound windshields, it's impossible to bend the acetate to get the shape you want. One of the major reasons I ended vacuforming the windshield on the '59 Chevy. Edit: I want to add that if you ever want to get into vacuforming, you'll need .020" PETG Vivak. Amazon sells that also in nice big sheets.

Thanks for all of the encouragement so far fellas! I was just looking at the "views" count..............over 37,800! Wow! Of course, I've only been working on this for the last 3½ years!

Ahhhh.......A Sherline Mill! That's on my Holy Grail of things to get for this hobby------someday! I tried what you did in the beginning, but with a Dremel and it was starting to make a mess. That's when I figured I better go the long route and do what I did. That's a great idea though Art! Sure cuts down the time to get those flanges a bit narrower.

Well as I promised myself, I did get this painted this morning. Paint turned out very well with no issues------the next thing is I'll let this sit for a week or two, then comes wet sanding with the polishing cloths, and rubbing it all out with Meguiar's Car Cleaner Wax and a chamois cloth. I gotta say I'm glad this part is over as painting is not always the most fun thing for me. This will be my next build I'll be working on while the paint on the Chevy is drying. Tamiya's 1990 BMW 850i which was an eBay rescue I picked up a while back. It had a cracked windshield pillar which I've since fixed, and will need a total block sanding to get rid of the waves and ripples I can see in the plastic. I want to do something a bit more modern, and to get away from the fins and chrome for a spell. This'll be mostly box-stock but I'm going to cut away the quarter window glass that's molded in as a whole to show off the true hardtop look this car has. Thanks for checkin' in!

You're welcome Erik! I'll probably sand the flange down a bit more if I ever get around to building this and yes, PE would work better in this instance. One change in painting I would do to "tone down" the size of the lug nuts would be to add just a small dab of silver marker paint on the very top of the nuts. This is a lot brighter (almost like polished aluminum) when dabbed on. IIRC, those wheels changed from year to year, and the Pontiac experts out there can point out the differences as to which model year and whatnot. And yes, properly detailed wheels and stance make or break a model IMO.