MrObsessive

Just a small update this time around as I FINALLY have the chassis and its bits and pieces about 98% done! There are a few very minor details I want to add before it's all said and done. Here are some pics to show what we have so far............ I wanted to add emergency brake detail to the chassis-----X-frame bodies are interesting in that the cables run practically through the inside of the frame, exiting out the rear to meet up with the rear wheels. It would have been interesting to see this car come down the assembly during late '58 into '59 to see how it all came together. Here's a pic of some bead wire soldered on to H-Channel brass to represent to the cable "horseshoe".........I couldn't get the pin to be exactly centered on to the horseshoe, but you get the idea. Now here are some beauty shots of the chassis.............. I have some straightening out of the rear brake line on the axle to do yet. I got the inner fenders painted and reattached to the chassis. I wanted to make sure everything is copacetic as far as fit is concerned-----here's how things are looking so far........... Of course, I'll need the radiator and its shroud put on the bulkhead, but no problems so far as the hood goes on with no trouble, and there wasn't a lot of fighting to get the chassis on the body. Now I need to see how the stance is going to be with the wheels test fitted on the front and rear suspensions............... Now it's on to the interior----------the interior will be red to match the exterior. I want it to look much like this below........... Of course mine won't be air conditioned......... One BIG hurdle I'll have to deal with shortly is the glass. Cars of the late '50's early '60's (actually any year car) SCREAM for clear distortion free glass! One of my pet peeves with a lot of the kits out there is their out of scale appearance when looking at the model from the outside in. Too wavy, too thick and sometimes just doesn't plain fit right. . I'm going to try a "plunge molding technique" which I saw someone else do here on the board. I have all the materials I need, and I'll of course put the results here on this thread so stay tuned! Thanks so much for looking!

The only difficulty with sanding the beltline straighter is that you still might end up with a body that has the rear quarters too low IMO. Just looking at Tim's pic here, the rear quarters on the body suffer from a "pinched" appearance. Almost as if they tooled the body from the Coronet------and of course in the 1:1 world, those two cars shared very little body wise. Unfortunately, the AMT body suffers from the same malady that afflicts the Revell '67 Coronet...........it looks to me like a car that was hit in the back and wasn't restored properly. If it were me, and of course I'm considered a bit radical when it comes to things like this, I'd angle cut the entire rear section lengthwise starting from the leading edge of the C pillar where the "kickup" starts, and terminating all the way back to the rear fender just above the side marker light. You would need to do this on both sides, and then raise the rear quarters ever so slightly.......not maybe more than 1mm or so, and then fill in the void with plastic and putty. To make it easier, you would need to remove the roof then reattach it later on. Now that would leave the rear part of the car at an outward angle not straight as you see in the picture. You'd then need to perhaps sand that area straighter, or cut out that section, tweak the angle on it, and then reattach it. A lot of work, but original Johan bodies are getting harder and harder to find. IIRC, Jon Cole did something like this in correcting the body on the '58 Plymouth, which is a whole 'nuther story in itself!

Thanks for posting your review on Fotki Tim! I left some comments there for you.

I was posing for this picture here................. I'm maybe six months old in this picture, so this would have been taken in the March-April '62 time frame. That's a really cool dio you've got going on! It'll be neat to see the period correct cars parked around that when it's all done.

:lol:

Thanks fellas for all of the nice words and encouragement! As I mentioned this is an ongoing battle but this time around, I'm better armed with info as to what my "trigger foods" (as Jason put it) are, and what those early weight gain signs are. Most importantly, I have my health to consider as I'm not getting any younger, and I have the aspect of diabetes running so rampant on both sides of my family. Interesting enough, I have a good friend of mine who's a few years older that can't gain weight to save his life. He can eat all the starchy and sugary things all day long, and gain nary a pound. He told me that he wish he COULD gain weight which just goes to show you that each of us have our battles.........obviously very different ones from each other. As far as keeping on the right track, there's an interesting saying written on the board at the gym where I work. It says............."If you're tired of starting over, stop giving up!" How true!

Looks absolutely excellent Bruno! I see you also did something with the upper quarter window trim..........you sharpened up the corner that supposed to be there.

That's very true Harry! In the early '80's when I was in my early 20's, I was just a tick over 300 lbs then. I managed to lose 100 lbs over the course of a year, and I was still able to eat all the sugary and starchy stuff. Now, that's not the case! Like you said, things change as you get older and I can't eat that way any longer. I have to for the most part stay away from all the high carb foods. When I do eat them it's first thing in the morning, so I have all day to get rid if it--------especially on days when I know I'll be in the gym. Back in those days I wasn't schooled enough on how to KEEP the weight off.............now I know but it's still a battle nonetheless.

Good for you Ray! I'm no Doctor and I can't guarantee this, but I've known of quite a number of cases when folks have lost the excess weight, they no longer need the meds. As much as I hate to take pills, that was something I wanted to avoid. Interesting side note: This morning when I was checking out at the grocery store, there were two clerks at the counter, and one of them noticed the big bag of raw cashews that I had, and said she'd love to get a bag of those. I told her that I don't really eat them raw, but I roast my own as I don't like the commercial brands and the type of oil they use to process them. The one kid who didn't appear to be in bad shape said, "Well I don't have the time/patience to do all of that!" The point I'm making is that in today's society, everyone wants things to be easy and fast. Well, look at the shape we've gotten ourselves into because of "easy and fast". Your health will go a long way when you take the time to actually prepare and cook your food, then to grab the nearest sandwich off the shelf at your local mini-mart. Losing weight takes time--------I started I believe around June of '09, but by the end of the year, I was still in the 290-295 range. When I joined the local gym here and started to keep up a regular routine of working out, then the weight (fat loss) become easier to shed. Keep it up Ray............you'll get there!

Fred you hit the edit button on your original post, and then hit "full editor" or something like that. A new page shows up and at the top of the page is where you can then edit your original title. Hope that helps!

Bill, I've had people ask me how can I go do a workout after a day's work..............aren't you tired? My reply is, if I didn't work out, I'd be that much MORE tired! As far as weight gain, I've learned to pay attention to when the weight is creeping up just a little. For me, I start to put weight on right on my lower back, and under my arm pits. I've learned that this is hormonal, and it's telling me that I need to cut back on the sweets and starches and up my protein. It's letting me know as well that those things are spiking my blood sugar, which in turn is spiking my insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone, and it wants to go wherever your body likes to store fat. For me, it's in those places I just described.

John, tell Amy thanks for the compliment! Yeah, in fact I just got home from the gym! I workout on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. In between those days I might do some cardio. Cardio sessions are very brief (when I do them), but intense. It might involve some hard sprinting for several rounds on the treadmill, or very brief but intense runs on the Elliptical Machine. Workouts are no longer than 30-40 minutes------TOPS! Any longer than that for me is counter-productive, and long cardio sessions more than 15 minutes leads to muscle loss. Yeah, you can see the '59 Impala in pieces there to my right.............with the cold/bad weather heading our way, at least I can get some building time in. I fact, I went to the store after my workout to stock up on some things as freezing rain is apparently heading here followed by a really severe cold snap.

John, I remember that you WERE a big boy! You look really great now! Your 'Cuda build has the wheels turning in my mind after seeing what you and Ron are doing. It won't be the next build, but maybe sometime in the near future?? Ron's build looks neat with those mag hubcaps. Yours with the steelies and poverty hubcaps looks much more sinister now! BTW, not to further hijack your thread, I made a new post in the Off Topic Lounge about my weight loss.........yes, it is a battle, but one that's worth fighting diligently.

John Agugliaro's Barracuda build turned into an interesting discussion about weight loss. Those of you that have known me for some time know that I was a BIG BOY!! I hit an all time high weight of 330 lbs sometime around springtime of '09 and that's when I had a number of health scares that made me really take notice of how I looked, and more importantly, how I was feeling. One of those health scares was a recurring numbness in the left side of my left foot. Now, diabetes runs rampant on BOTH side of my family, and one that had me worried as didn't want to fall into the trap of taking insulin, worrying about worsening foot troubles with possible amputation of toes, limbs, etc. Not to mention, I was always having headaches, backaches, knee troubles, high blood pressure, and the list goes on. Well, I clamped down and made first and foremost a complete change in what I was eating. No more fried stuff everyday, cut waaaaaay back on the dairy (I was drinking a gallon of milk every couple days), cut way back on the starches, and started eating strictly single ingredient foods, and shunned (still do) packaged and boxed stuff. I do have a weekly "cheat day" which for the better part of the day before nightfall, I'll have pretty much anything I want within reason. I might have pancakes for breakfast, chocolate chip cookies for a snack, fried chicken for dinner with a baked potato, and for dessert maybe a slice of cheesecake with ice cream. Yesterday was the cheat day, so today it's back to normal-------and I don't want to see any of that stuff until the next cheat day which is usually Saturday's. At 330 lbs and 6' 2" I was wearing a size 50 in pants and 3X shirts, and was busting out of those! I'm now down to 238-240, and wearing size 38-40 pants and a regular large shirt (XL's are too big). OK, here's some pics for you............enjoy! Here I am at the October '08 Toledo show........I don't remember the name of the fellow I was talking to. Needless to say, I would NEVER come outside shirtless! A couple more pics from that show..................... And here's how I am today................... Please excuse the messy model room.........also I'm a nice guy so excuse the scowl as I have to take off the glasses to minimize the glare------I don't see well without them! .............And yes, I do wear shorts in the house despite it being super cold outside! BTW, I'm 52 years old, and it's never too late to do something about your health! It CAN be done------just find what works for you and keep at it! For me, this will be a life long battle among other things. I have to watch whenever I go grocery shopping, and I am an avid label reader! If there's certain ingredients that are on those labels.........back on the shelf it goes. I'm a big believer also in the all natural approach to weight lifting/dieting. No drugs, pills, injections or any of that stuff. I think it does more harm than good in the long run. Thanks for looking------comments and questions are most welcome!

John, if I were building this car right now, I'd pin those mirrors with some .020 brass rod. Yeah, they don't seem like they're too sturdy with those little recesses that they're to be glued on. At least pinning them would give them some strength.

John, thank you so much for that compliment! Sometimes we don't know when we're making an impact on someone! Yeah, I'm a real big believer in "Cheat Days" which is usually Saturdays for me. Come Sunday though, I don't wanna see the stuff in the house until the next time. I'm right now down to 240 wearing a size 38-40 in pants. Back in mid '09, I was up around 330 lbs wearing 3X shirts and size 50 in pants-----------and was busting out of those! Headaches, backaches, knee aches, and just not happy with the way I looked (I daren't come outside shirtless! ), and not feeling well most of the time made me make some major changes. The model is coming out great! I wouldn't sweat the interior details too much since this is a curbside, and it is a closed car. BTW, I always wondered how well Revell's '69 Dart chassis would fit under one of these? I have the MPC '69 Barracuda as well, and that was always a project in the back of my mind to do a detailed model of that car.

Gene, I hand painted the wheels with Tamiya's acrylic Gun Metal Gray. BTW, the wheels came out of Revell's years ago reissue of the '69 Shelby GT500, which gave you the option of the modern Cragars on low profile tires. The wheels required some tweaking to get them to fit properly with the Viper's kit tires however.

Totally sharp Shelby and gorgeous color! One of my favorite '60's musclecars! I bought this kit myself not long ago--------can't resist a muscle convertible kit that's got an uptop!

:lol: That gave me a good laugh Ed! Thanks everyone for the nice comments! Still plugging away at the '59 Impala, so hopefully this year will produce more than just one.

John, this is a really sharp project you got going on! That 1:1 of yours sounds nice and mean..........reminds me a lot of how my '69 AMX 390 sounded........I so miss that car! Good job on the vent windows as well! That detail can be finicky as you want to get the geometry of the shape just right, and symmetrical on both sides I hear you on overindulging on "forbidden foods''. Having lost upwards of 100 lbs, I can tell you that when I eat something that's too sweet or fattening-------it can be like a hangover for me the next day! That's when I know it's time to get back on track, lest the pounds quickly start racking up again.

Yup! Of course, you let it dry before painting! But it works great for those times when you want to paint something small with a hot paint, but don't want to go through the hassle of primering the part, cleaning the airbrush out again, etc. Seals out that nasty yellow and red plastic too!

Nope, that was put away long ago. I'd like to dig it out sometime and finish it. Of course, without the folding top! One reason it got shelved is because ALL of the windows warped on it! I used the wrong type of acetate (actually what drafters use to cover their drawings), and over the next few years the windows especially the windshield curled up like potato chips. I'd have to totally disassemble it and pretty much start over. Not that much ambition to do that one again right now as I've got another project lined up after I finish the '59 Chevy. Got all the pics and reference I need so far, and it'll be a type of vehicle that I haven't built in close to 30 years.

Just a little bit of an update today since I'm off for New Years. I painted the chassis with Rustoleum Red Oxide Primer as was typical for GM chassis' of the '50's and '60's. After this was dry, I hand painted the frame rails with Polly S Engine black. Unfortunately, this paint has been discontinued last I knew, but word has it that another company may pick it up. This paint is perfect BTW, for those that want a really nice looking vinyl interior. It has just the right sheen.......not too shiny and not dull. Just the right in-between look. When everything was dry, I very lightly sprayed the perimeter of the chassis with '59 Chevy Roman Red. My local auto paint jobber mixed this color for me in a half pint size............that was nice as I can add my own thinner/reducer to my liking, and not have to deal with decanting paint from finicky spray cans. I went ahead and sprayed the inner fenders on the trunk as well-----these would be seen when the trunk is open. The pics I have of the 1:1 show that these were painted body color. Not too worried about the unfinished appearance of the trunk floor. This will be covered by a fabric "mat" of some sort. I'll have to see what I've got lying around. Went ahead and sprayed the firewall as well.........pics show that this too was body color. The plastic you see on the sides of the chassis is my trusty 'ol Parafilm. This'll keep the paint from wearing away too much on the sides as I'll be doing a LOT of handling to get things together. BTW, the engine is not placed in permanently as of yet--------just shown for appearance sake to see where things are going to fall every step of the way. Now hindsight being 20/20, I maybe should have filled in those firewall slots...........Not sure if I'm going to have the hood hinge on those or just lift off. While the ambition struck me, I went ahead and airbrushed some of the suspension pieces, radiator and its bulkhead, and the shroud gloss black. Paint was Plastikote's Lacquer Black, but to be on the safe side, I brushed on a couple coats of Future Floor Wax to ward off any crazing before painting. Later on, I'm going to run the brake and fuel lines on the chassis, then attach the exhaust, and then the suspension will go on. The gas tank will be painted and reattached down the road as well. That's all for now and thanks for tuning in!

Well, not a productive year for me model wise for reasons I explained in another post. However, I at least was able to finish one model.......Revell's 2003 Dodge Viper. Some mods were made as far as the wheels (don't like the stock ones), and I did add some engine detailing as well. Interior colors are reminiscent of the "Mamba" version that Dodge offered for this car-----but I wasn't 100% sure that the body color was done in red as I wanted it to be. BUT......I figured if I'm paying upwards of $80,000+ for a car, I should be able to have it in any color I'd like! Speaking of which, the paint is single stage Dupont Acrylic Enamel '03 Viper Red mixed at my local auto supply place. Rubbed out with polishing cloths, and then waxed with Meguiar's Car Cleaner Wax. Now on to some pics! Thanks for lookin'!

Scott, that's a beautiful build of your Turbine! And you got your trunk to open! I didn't set mine on the frame just so (a little too forward), and the leading edge of the trunk binds somewhat with the tulip panel. I'd like to build another one sometime------after all there were 50 of them out there on the roads once upon a time!