MrObsessive

Sigh............ That Chrysler IS nice!! But until the job situation becomes more stable.......all I can do is dream. And that '57 DeSoto looks mighty fine too!

Beautiful as always Bill! I too remember these all over the place as cheap used cars when I was in high school. I remember a classmate that had one that met an unfortunate end due to a lit cigarette that got "lost" in the interior. What happened later was not pretty at all! Sigh................I've got both the '68 and '69 in my stash............Seeing yours makes me want to add more Mopars to my builds!

I've painted few candies in my whole modeling life, but one thing I do know is that one should paint candies in a criss-cross pattern to ensure full coverage-----as well as minimizing "tiger stripes". It also helps to count the number of strokes you're doing to get the same coverage on all parts. If you're painting metallics, a good idea is to swill the airbrush jar or can to make sure the metallic flakes stay suspended in the paint and not settle to the bottom of the jar or can. If you don't do this, the first thing that will come out of your airbrush or can is mostly flakes which can lend itself to the mismatched panels. Hope this helps!

The magnets are just mocked in right now...........I won't put them in fully until final assembly. Two part epoxy is what I'm going to use-------the magnets are set so they just come up against each other. No chance of getting locked out! The two part epoxy I use is some tough stuff! It should be strong enough to keep them in their places.

Whoops! Raul I got the name of the site wrong..............it's called "Amazing Magnets" and if you click here it'll take you right to it. They've got some neat stuff to try in other applications---------I got the site from someone else who originally posted about using magnets, but I can't remember who.

You can try heating up the pillar under hot (not boiling) water and straighten it out. Be careful though!! As far as the glass, the only thing I would try to do is make my own out of clear stencil sheet. (acetate) The '62 has a semi doglegged windshield with a curved crown up top-------so this may be a little tricky to do. In the end it will look much better than the vacuumed piece. I wouldn't use styrene as it will fog where you try to bend it............

I've been in a mini slump building wise lately................the job front still doesn't look promising. I'm one of those guys that when things aren't going well on the job (ie: possible layoff) I don't do well when it comes to getting work done in a timely manner on models. Maybe it has to do with priorities..............but models don't seem as important if your job's on the line and you have to worry about keeping yourself (and your models) in a house down the road. Nevertheless, I wanted to get some more done on the Cougar, so I went online and got some nice and tiny magnets from "Simply Magnets" to make sure the doors stay shut when closed. There's no room to do a latching mechanism due to the working glass and the shape of the door, so magnets were the next best thing. I got out my pin vise and drilled straight through the door in place as well as the door jamb so the magnets would line up....................... Here's a shot to show you how tiny these things are! I backed up the hole drilled in the door jamb with some sheet plastic so the magnet would sit just about flush with the jamb........... These magnets are powerful!! They hold the door tight as a dog with a bone! I'm satisfied with all of the bodywork now. It's time to move on to the engine.............. The engine needed some small changes so it looks a little more lively than the lump of plastic Lindberg gives you. I added fuel lines, a vacuum advance with the line, a oil filter, coil and some other doodads and such to bring some life to it. Not every detail is 100% correct for a 260, I had to fudge some details due to the fact this car is a concept and there are NO pics I could find of the engine itself or engine bay................ So far the engine is fitting well in the chassis which will be the next thing I turn my attention to. I did have to notch the frame somewhat to clear the oil filter ..................... That's all for now folks...............hopefully soon I'll paint and detail the chassis----------I may add brake/emergency brake lines as well as fuel lines. It'll depend on how my ambition holds up! Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday Jairus!! Hmmmm..........Jairus and I are around the same age, but I think it's his turn to turn the Big 5-0. :P

Welcome Dave.............Love the El Camino!! '59's look their best when they're two-toned that way!

To echo what David said, Pep Boys would be the way to go for Duplicolor Paints. I was just in our local Pep Boys last week to get the car inspected, and they had just about every color imaginable from the Big Three and most of the imports. My only caveat with Duplicolor is that it's a bit hotter than the other automotive paints...............just make sure your model is properly barriered and primered before putting it on. I've found that with an airbrush, Duplicolor isn't so caustic to plastic................but airbrushing atomizes the paint better letting the solvents not attack the plastic so quickly.

Some nice builds Sam! That '60 Pontiac is also a fave of mine! The Jag you have was originally an Aurora kit............reissued by Monogram some years ago. The front end was never correct on that model.............I have this kit and remember swapping the front end off a Revell XKE years ago------looked much better! I may be in the same boat as you come tonight on the job.............they're lowering the boom on folks as it's near the end of our quarter and some folks have already got their walking papers. I'm bringing my extra tool box from home tonight just in case they tell me my job is toast. The company supplied me with some tools when I started there, but there's some stuff there I got from home.........I'm makin' sure they leave with me!

Thanks for posting that Hans! I just love Juha's builds! That '60 Mercury is fantastic!! Olle............I have the P1800 kit that you see----it's made by Taupani Rauramo. If you click here, you'll get a good look at it. I should tell you it's not for the faint of heart though............

I say model...............view through windshield looks distorted and I see no tire valve stems.

Bob, that is soooooooo clean and slick!! I think this is one of the first of these snappers I've seen built up-------I wonder how much trouble it would be to put the '67 chassis underneath?

I learned my lesson about old sealed kits way back in the mid '80's. Long before eBay, I was checking out vintage kits for sale in SA(with an E) mag and came across what looked like a nice sealed '53 Stude (Golden Classics?). The guy wanted $20 bucks for it (pricey in 1986) but I wanted the kit and I sent him a money order for it. Much to my chagrin, when I opened the kit (looked like the original seal) the whole one side of the body was all bent under, like it was pulled out of the mold too quickly and it got distorted while still warm in the box. There was not much I could do as the fella could've said "How was I to know------the kit was sealed!" Needless to say, I've never bought an old sealed kit again (eBay included)................'cuz if I can't see it, I don't want it! Heck, even the new ones could leave you fuming because they're warped!

Looks good Erik! I see you got those fussy hood louvers on just right!

You could try foil casting the emblems (ala Juha Airio ), do the bodywork, and then replace 'em after the body's all polished out and foiled. I know of no one that does scripts specifically for a Starfire.

Another benefit is having the fan suck the dusties out of your way while the paint sets up on the body. Nothing's more irritating than to have that perfect paint job, only to have a speck of dust land right on it while wet!

AAAHH! I thought there was something off about that windshield header! The one Johan uses is too "straight" and "flat"-------while the 1:1 has the rounded '61-'62 "crown" with the straighter A pillar like the '63-'64 2 door B body hardtops. The Revell '63 Impala comes to mind as a perfect swap for that as that windshield frame is dead on accurate.

Well, as a little kid in the '60's I saw a BIG contrast between the squared up new cars (circa 1967-68) and the befinned and chromed out '50's beasts that were still on the road then. I may not have known the exact years of certain cars (until later) but they all sure looked different to me. Mustangs, Camaros and Chargers were relatively new kids on the block so I definitely knew what those were then! I do have a hard time telling the difference between '30's and '40's cars though...............Of course most of them were on the road and off the road by the time I came along!

Well, that frame out of the '62 Pontiac Catalina, would be mighty close if he wanted a detailed chassis for the Olds. You might have to tweak it some to suit but that's what I would use. It was nice how each division had much more autonomy in what bits and pieces they wanted to use back then. From frames, to engines, and certainly styling------you knew what was what coming down the road from several blocks away. Not so much the case these days.

Yeah, Johan cranked out quite a few of those USA Oldies kits in the '70's. And yes, they did mold them in whatever color plastic was in the factory that day. I've have somewhere in my stash of models, a Superbird molded in that hideous aqua-----and once had a Turbine Car molded in a deep burgundy that was so translucent, you could practically see right through it. That Caddy convertible is a nice model, but I think Johan used the wrong windshield frame to cut costs IMO.

Absolutely Gorgeous Paint Dave!! .............And I love that silhouette from the side! Like George said, it looks like it was meant for the track or somethin'! You ought to send your ideas to GM........seems as though they could use some inspiration in the styling department in more of their cars these days....................if they make it.

Yes, Harry's idea is what I do most of the time for windshields. The optical clarity is much better than kit glass, adding to the realism. If you check this page of my Turbine Car builltup, you'll see step by step photos of how I did the glass for that. ................And yes, compound curves CAN be done with clear stencil sheet (acetate)-------it just takes some practice! Cover up the excess epoxy on the edges with electrical tape "weatherstripping" and you'll be good to go!