MrObsessive

Skip, here ya go! Bill Geary's Modeling 101

Tim, your link is broken or you have it misspelled..............I have your link below for those of you that want to check it out. Very nice BTW! Tim's Carbabble Blog

I had an original MPC '66 Bonneville, and I once measured it and the Hasegawa body side by side, and the measurements were identical. I thought I read somewhere that the Pontiac in particular was the old MPC tool reboxed (and with non original parts) into the Hasegawa kit.

I was going to recommend that Charlie, but I hate the total lack of detail that '65 Bonnie has in the chassis department. Of course, if he wants a quick build without a lot of fuss------then that would be the way to go. I'm just not a big fan of molded in exhausts and driveshafts!

Cruz, this is lookin' mighty sharp! If you had a spare kit, the engine alone would look fantastic sitting next to the built example it's that nice!

I have that kit as well (unbuilt), and the AMT '67 Chevy Impala chassis would be better suited for that than the '62 Poncho. You may have to do some chassis tweaking of the Chevy, but the B body Chevy and Pontiac rode on identical frames in those years, with the Pontiac more than likely being a bit longer in the wheelbase. Hope this helps!

I can't think of any offhand................I've made one of kind uptops from the model's hardtop roof. You'll need some good pics, sheet plastic, half round stock, (for the cross ribs) and putty. I've got several pics here of a stillborn 1/24 '64 GTO Convertible which I needed to do this................... Of course, lots of time and patience would be needed too but the end result would be worth it if that's what you want.

Chrysler had to do it this way because the rear part of the roof was so low, hanging the mirror from the windshield header for instance wouldn't have worked--------the roof would have blocked your view. If you take a look at the '57's, the mirror is dead on in the center of the dash. Chrysler started getting complaints that whenever there was someone sitting in the rear seat in the middle, they were blocking the mirror's view. Chrysler tried to remedy that by putting the mirror off-center on the dashes of the '58's, but the problem persisted. I don't think Chrysler got away from dash mounted mirrors until maybe '62-'63 when they were getting away from the "Forward Look". The Christine movie cars were actually Belvedere's with "Sport Tone" trim. The reason why Christine was so unique was that she was the only "Fury" painted red that year for 1958. In '58 you couldn't get a Fury in any other color except Buckskin Beige. Not until the '59's did Plymouth offer the Fury in other colors than beige. HTH!

Marty, I'll give you ten points if you can tell me why Chrysler did it this way!

Well for a blind man Irv, that's lookin' mighty fine!

Very, very nice!! The color and paint are sharp, and those wheels and tires seem to suit it well!

OK, I'll throw my 2¢ in.............I'm not a big fan of Testor's enamels because as a durable paint, they don't hold up as well as your genuine automotive brands will. Having said that, you'll want to put on at least several thin coats of primer but not so much that details get buried. After the primer has dried sufficiently----------(a while for Testor's!), lightly sand the primer with some 600 grit sandpaper to get rid of any dusties, and to give your color coat something to "bite" into. Since you're spraying out of a can, a rule of thumb is to NEVER spray directly on the model when starting. Start to spray away from the model, pass over it, and then stop once your past the body. This will minimize any "surprises" the can might give you, (another reason I don't like can spraying) and you'll have a bit better coverage. You might make as many as five or six passes before the color is all even..............If I were you, I would be practicing on a junk body to get the hang of it before painting on a pet project. If your color coat is a solid color (non metallic) I generally don't recommend clearcoating as the paint can be rubbed out and polished to a great shine. However, some on the board will disagree, and say to go ahead and clearcoat. I would once again use light coats, as you don't want the model to appear to have been dipped in shellac. If it were a metallic, by all means clearcoat as rubbing out metallic paint will lead to a mottled, swirly appearance on the surface. After you're done. you might need to once again rub out the clearcoat and polish to give you a nice appearance. As far as washing the other parts, I generally don't do that---------I might wipe them down with some alcohol to get rid of any mold release..........but I haven't done it all the time and I've never run into a problem with paint adhesion. Hope all this helps.........everyone has a different technique for painting---------as they say "Your mileage will vary".

One of the sharpest profiles of any '50's car IMO! RC2 missed the boat somewhat on the kit, but with some work it can be done nice. Brian, yours is lookin' pretty good..........My Dad owned one of these (actually a '57) when I was a kid, so I have a special attachment to this car.

Lee, I tried to send you a PM but apparently your inbox is full.......drop me a line with your email address if you still need the pics.

Sean, I never would have noticed it as it's so gorgeous as is! Gotta get me one of these when it's released!

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!

Jim, I can certainly empathize with having to put a cat down. The day after Thanksgiving '09, I had to put my Kitkat down who's picture was my avatar near the end of the year then. He was only 8 years old, but developed liver failure to the point that he stopped eating and drinking water. Needless to say, when the time came to have him put down, that I was crying so badly that even the people in the waiting room were crying as well as the staff. I didn't take his ashes though.........I just knew that everytime I'd see them, I'd break down and cry. Here are the two critters I have now...........I still have Captain who's almost nine. I've had him since he was a tiny six week old kitten. And then there's Yori..........a Japanese Bobtail I got from a friend of mine in my church when she was six months old about a year ago. Here are a few pics of 'em................. Captain parked in his usual place when I'm at the work bench........ .........And then there's Yori at a rare moment when Captain lets her near him. Yori CANNOT come into the model room! I've already had things "disturbed" and once I found her on the work table! I keep the door closed and she meows to get in there sometimes. (Cats don't like shut doors!) For your entertainment, here's a quick video clip of Yori chasing after a laser light. Needless to say, her movements had me doubled over laughing in stitches!

SUPER clean job Jeff and LOVE that Verdoro Green! Your opening doors are exceptionally well done! Nice to see a Firebird done other than the standard big block V8!

Not in the near future Jim. Lately, I'm just not in the building mood........not to mention, got a lot going on in the family right now. Maybe later on when I get over this slump.........

Jim, I don't know if you ever saw this but here is my thread that I did as a semi tutorial on ghosting a while back. It's pretty much what the others have said and yes..........you'll need to use a hotter solvent such as Ambroid or Tenax. Hope this helps!

Michael, any good craft store should have it. You want to ask for "Clear Stencil Sheet"---------if you ask for acetate, they may look at you as if you've grown another head and you won't get anywhere. I get mine from a place called A.C. Moore Crafts, but I would think any of them like a Michael's for instance should carry it. HTH!

Thanks Charlie and Dan! My how the time flies! It's been nearly four years since I finished this car and I still have it in great shape in a case. I do have a couple other Turbines that need some TLC as far as restoring...........but I'm in no hurry to build another as this one can be a real hair puller!

I'm just BLOWN AWAY by this thread! OUTSTANDING castings and great informative step-by-step so far!

Here ya go Jon! http://fantastic-plastics.com/catalog.html