MrObsessive

I hate to be a party pooper, but as nice as this kit is, IMO the body isn't as well done as the original Johan. Something about the roofline (C pillar) in relation to the actual car always seemed off to me, Almost like it's too narrow or something. Of course, you do get a decent chassis unlike the Johan which has molded in everything. And at least you get the vinyl roof texture-------something else that's missing in the original Johan. Just my 2¢ worth.

Virgil, I have that issue also, and I did the same as George! I have all the pieces to do that car, except that elusive dash which isn't cast by anyone I know of. One of these days...................... As far as other treasures, I have a mostly unbuilt Renwal chassis kit..............you know the generic chassis which goes together in a million pieces in 1/8 scale? I'd like to tackle that someday, but I'd also like to have the working visible V8 that went with that. Then there's the matter of finding room to display it!

Moray, here's the pic you want. In Photobucket, I've found that you have to enlarge the photo, and then copy the .jpg URL. Above your text box where your typing, there's a picture icon. Click on that and then paste the URL in the field. Hit OK, and the pic should show up in your text box as it did for me. NICE Ferrari BTW!

Another vote for Fotki here! I've been using them ever since I got a digicam in 2004, and have had very few troubles with them. The $25 bucks/year is well worth it for me! I have a Photobucket account as well, but don't find them to be as user friendly as Fotki.

Back in the '60's most Mopars' undersides were gray with slight overspray on the sides. IIRC, the undercoating was a dealer installed option--------most of your cars that ended up in the south or out west (out of the rust belt) weren't undercoated. Even at that, it was done kinda spotty--------a patch sprayed here and there on the floorboards and around the wheelwells. Here's my Dodge Daytona I built years ago where I tried to replicate how the underside would have looked in a none undercoated car. In hindsight, the overspray might be a scooch too heavy------but you get the idea. Hope this helps!

Outstanding paint job John! LOVE that interior!!

I'm going to try to get there this year Dan if I can get that Sunday night off. That way I don't have to rush back home to try and get to sleep to be in to work for that night. Hope to have that '64 Olds done by then, with another new project underway.

As far as I know, Krylon is an acrylic enamel. You're probably not having a problem with the Krylon you're using because the Testor's is of similar makeup. I haven't used Testor's (not a big fan of their paints), but if you're having no trouble, I say stick with it!

Hmmm........then I better get that candy bar tomorrow to eat for my cheat day (Saturday)! I was going to use regular foil, but the foil from a candy bar makes sense. Thanks George!

Hey thanks for the info Ron! Yeah, I was wondering about the 442 badges for it. I've never foil casted before, so this will be a good time to learn! I could spring for the Model Car Garages PE set............but I hate to buy a whole set just for those few emblems, At least if I can foil cast and mess up, the emblems are still there to try it again.............

Floyd, the underbody is actually red oxide primer. I'm trying to replicate what the car may have looked like as it rolled off the assembly line in 1963-64. The underside of the car has a very slight overspray of the green paint that I'll be painting the body. Back in those days there were no robots to paint cars-------it was just the regular assembly line guy working in the paint section spraying away, sometimes with no mask! Thanks for asking!

Mark, I really like this little 1/43.........great paint job!! They are nice to do as a break from the superdetailed stuff! I have a number of these........and among them is a '58 Ferrari Testarossa (Starter). Now after seeing yours, I may dig that one out and get started on it!

I'm going to attempt something again that I didn't do that well of a job on the last time I tried this. At least I think I could have done better on it............. Since I can't get PE scripts for the '64, I figure why not foil over them and then rub them as I paint over them. Actually I did this last on my '63 Ford Cougar II build and it wasn't so bad...............but the '49 Merc I did I thought could have been done better. One of the things that helped is getting myself a jeweler's eye loop for my glasses! As I hit the big 5-0 exactly 2 months from today, I just don't see as well as I did say 10 years ago. Here's the scripting I did with the lettering on the hood......................... And with the scripting on the sides............. One of the discrepancies I see when it comes to the badges, is some of the 442 pics on my hard disc have the Cutlass names on the sides and some don't. I decided to leave the scripting in place if for no other reason, it will test my skill to see if I can get this to come out halfway decent. I did clear over the scripting with Tamiya Clear (acrylic) to minimize any lifting until I get 'er all painted. Thanks for lookin', and hopefully I can get this thing painted by the end of this weekend!

Okay! Not a big update today, but I'm ever closer to finally painting this thing! I wanted to create some realistic looking headlights........so as in the pic above, you can see where I hollowed out the headlight area. Since I'll be using headlights from a junk '64 GTO kit, I needed to back them with a reasonable facsimile of something reflective behind them. Since I hated parting out good kits, (you never know when you'll get the urge to build it!) I decided to take the long route and do something to back up those lenses. I have a bunch of sheets of Squadron's Thermaform which is just what I need to do what I have in mind. Taking one of the GTO's headlight buckets and filling it with epoxy, I made a "buck" of the approximate size that I would need. Here's a pic of the Thermaform which I hear is now discontinued................ ............And here is the epoxy buck from the GTO headlight bucket............ Now I lit up a candle............................ .............And using the old "heat and smash" routine, I came up with this............ I then carefully trimmed around the "bulge" and so far it's fitting in the headlight openings on the resin piece. I did this three more times to complete the set of four. Later on I'll paint the "convex" side of the headlight buckets with Alclad Black, and then go over it again with light mist coats of their "chrome" paint. I might even drill a small hole in the center, which can be then filled with some stretched clear sprue, to represent the tiny bulb that's in every sealed beam headlight. That should give me the reflectivity I need to make the headlights at least acceptable looking to me. The buckets will be backed with some round rod to have something to rest on, and then additional "bracing" will be added to get it to connect to the engine bay structure. Stay tuned for more..............

Interesting and nice project! I too liked these alot-------especially the '92-'99's. Just curious as to what body you started with-------the Impala? Is that body in plastic or diecast? GM seemed to be on a roll during those years with styling, especially with Pontiac. You don't see many of those '90's Bonneville's on the road anymore unfortunately. They were handsome cars!

Working butterfly doors??! I need to step up my game! Romell that is FANTASTIC work you're doing! I wouldn't have thought of creating a fuel splitter like that! Hmmmm............I need a couple more "pedestrian" builds under my belt, and I'll be back in the super detail mode too.

Wow! That is a NICE job you did on that Impala! I'm sure he'd be tickled with it! BTW, '64 seems to be a popular year for builds on the board here as of late..............

I built the convertible years ago, and I don't recall anything really bad about building it. I think the engine sits a bit too far back under the cowl as the 1:1 '59's weren't quite like that. I do have some nits about the roof shape on the hardtop, as I think the roofline is a bit too flat compared to their '60 which is about perfect to my eyes. Also, watch out for sink marks around the tailfins-------particularly at the top of the fins. It will take some careful body work to fill those in, as well as trying to preserve the chrome trim that's there. Hope this helps!

Ahhh! Definitely much better! David, you're taking what is a sow's ear of a kit, and turning it into a silk purse! Keep us posted!

I'm biased against brush painting on bodies for the very reason you stated.............the brush strokes or "marks" will remain no matter what you do to 'em. You can try to clear over them, but you can still see the waves-------or you can try rubbing then out, but then you may still end up with an uneven surface due to the very nature of brush painting. Not to mention that any time you rub out a metallic.........you run the risk of getting a mottled or splotchy appearance in the paint due to the metallic flakes getting "disturbed". Now as far as getting a smooth paint job on a black vehicle------in my experience solid colors need not be clearcoated since there's enough hardener in the paint to make this rather redundant. Since you're dealing with a lot of raised edges, it may be a good idea to mask off the edges with Tamiya Tape or Parafilm to keep from burning through those edges. I mention those products because in my experience, those are the least harsh to the paint surface unlike regular masking tape which in my book is a big no-no! Especially with wet sanding, I'd work very carefully in this respect because the water can tend to "hide" those areas you are rubbing out, and before you know it, you've burned through to the primer or plastic. You'd run into the same problem if you were clearcoating...............Clear coats tend to dry in thinner coats, so you'd still need to use just as much care and caution when dealing with a vehicle with a surface like that. You don't say what kind of paint you're using or how many coats................if it's a hobby enamel (such as Testors) I'd say get ready for a repainting as those paints are so soft, they don't stand much of a chance of lasting through too many rub outs. Hope this helps--------this is just one man's opinion!

I LOVE these little cars as I once owned its younger cousin------------a '72 MG Midget with the round rear wheelwells and wire wheels. Only thing about it was that it was probably one of the most troublesome cars I've ever owned before or since then. But when the carbs were in sync, and the electrics behaved themselves------it was a BLAST to drive! Now this was many years ago (mid '80's) and before I got too big to get in one in later years-------but would probably have no trouble getting in one now. Keep us posted.............this'll be a fun one to watch!

Let's see what we have here....................... Okay, what I did Jim was enlarge the photos to max------right click on the pic, and then selected "Copy Image Location". I then hit the image button in the text area where you're posting. Right clicked again and hit "Paste", or hit "Control V"-------hit OK and you're pics are showing as above. BTW, I'm using FIrefox 5 here on the board. NICE seats BTW! Hope this helps!

Another first for me dealing with resin................I hollowed out the molded in headlights with the intention of replacing them with more realistic lenses.................. I found a suitable set of lenses from a junk Monogram '64 GTO kit..........they fit in the openings well. I may want to deepen them a bit so they're not quite so flush with the headlight openings. I also have a way to add some chrome behind them instead of covering the back of the lenses with BMF. Thanks for following along!

Mike, everything is lookin' real nice! Some super glue with accelerator might take care of those pinholes. The trick is to not let the CA sit for too long, as it gets rock hard and difficult to sand. You then run the risk of losing some of your contours. I had the same trouble with the resin I'm working on, and the super glue worked.

The roofline is definitely squashed on this one.............and NOT due to packaging or warp. If I were building if for myself, yeah I'd take a saw and exacto blade and fix that roofline in a minute! If however I were building for someone else, I'd ask how they'd want it. Of course, the price would go up accordingly...........looks to be a lot of work due to the complex shape of that fastback.