MrObsessive

Wow!! Is that nice and fancy Miguel!! I just checked it out and it's very good!!

Your welcome Richie! And welcome to the board! I've been asked by several people about a book..............I'm not much of a writer-----like my building, it's whatever hits me at the moment! Maybe someday..............

Kevin, a loaded question for sure! Your hearse has a frame around the windows which will make it easier for the window to ride up and down on. Now mind you, what I'm going to explain will take a LOT of trial and error.............what I've done to make working windows had no exact measurements or scientific algebraic theories to rely on! Also, my method won't appeal to everyone because it's labour intensive----------and won't apply to every type of model out there. Before I go any further, I just remembered that Ken Hamilton did an article on working windows in the October 1986 issue of Scale Auto Enthusiast. His method was quite simple, but it requires a very thick door width wise such as he used a '49 Mercury to do this. You're going to cut the doors away from the body, and then you need to build a suitable door jamb on both of them. The door jamb is the part of the structure that you'll need to place your window tracks, and I strongly recommend you find a pic of a '59 hearse door that's open to get the shape right of the jamb. Next you'll want to create a "inner" panel of some sort to rest on the door jamb. On the inside of the panel you'll want to start making your window regulators. Here's some pics of what I made for a '64 GTO..........this is one example of what a "hardtop" door window mechanism would look like......... To make your window regulators and to have some durability, you'll need to solder. I soldered first a tiny watch gear to a handle............... You can check eBay for watch gears as they turn up regularly, or go to your nearest jeweler or watch repair place and ask them for some junk gear parts.........these will have some gears in them. Next, you'll want to solder a larger gear to a brass arm............this larger gear with the brass arm, is what will move your window up and down on the track. Now, you'll need to position the window crank gear somewhere on your inner panel------you'll want to position it somewhere on the panel where your window will clear and move freely and also to have enough turns to go up and down the door to be believable. Here's another pic that I started on my '55 Ford, but have since abandoned for expediency in getting the model done................. You'll notice the smaller gear is held in place by a scratchbuilt "box", and the larger gear which btw, has to be tight against the smaller gear for it to mesh------is to be held in place by a plastic "washer" on a plastic rod. You'll not want to permanently glue the washer in place until everything is working smoothly and without binding. Now you want to focus your attention on the window tracks on the door. Since your hearse has sedan like framed doors, you can build a track to run up and down the leading edge as well as the trailing edge of the door without the need of a balance arm which you would need in a hardtop car. Here's a pic of tracks I had started in the Ford................. The tracks I made from H channel plastic stock with some strip plastic placed in to narrow the track and be more in scale. You'll now need to make your door glass.............I use "clear stencil sheet" which can be bought at an Arts and Crafts store............or you may just want to use clear styrene. I personally don't like clear styrene as it scratches too easily, and is doesn't bend well without fogging. Your glass is going to need a "tray" to sit on........if you look at the above pics you'll see that the window is sitting on a brass H channel piece which I soldered another channel to get the brass arm to move the window up and down with a soldered pin in the brass arm. From this point out, it's going to require a LOT of patience, and I'll tell you that one door window may take you a couple weeks to get to work correctly depending on the amount of time you have to work on it. If I can find that original '86 SAE article maybe I can scan it and send it you------I don't think copyright laws allow me to post here on the board. Hope this all helps..............any further questions I'll try to answer, but as I mentioned, everything I did was trial and error and a lot of patience!

Dave, here are a couple past posts that cover how to put pics on the board here................ Here's Jairus's post about Fotki and Photobucket from late last year. Here's Clay's post dealing with Photobucket specifically with some very good screenshots. Hope this all helps!

Andy, that is a super nice '58!! I love all '58 cars from back then right down to the Ramblers and pedestrian Studes. This looks like it went together pretty well..................maybe a little easier than the AMT-----although everyone knows what I did to mine!

Amen Mark! God bless those that have/had a great mom and a great relationship.............but there are those of us out here that have had a TERRIBLE relationship with their moms all of our lives! Mark, my mom is very much like yours except she's ten years younger. She's gone through four marriages and thinks it was all their fault. She's got a great way of making herself the victim, and without going through a lot of detail.........all the trouble she's having right now is all due to bad/selfish choices on her part. She'll never admit that, but I've told her as much.

There are a variety of different things to use...............some guys use CSC (The Purple Pond), I use Easy Off Oven Cleaner (Yellow Can). There's also Polly S paint remover which is a lot like brake fluid but a bit different. Just be sure to wear gloves when handling any of these products. Be careful what material you're stripping though.............resin for instance doesn't like the Polly S, and never put resin in brake fluid as you'll have a gooey mess afterward! Some will have some more suggestions in what they use I'm sure.

Well, as I said-------Paul got a well earned sum for this beauty! Click on the pic if ya wanna see what he got for it! Congrats Paul!!

You can try sanding the tread with some 220 grit sandpaper to give 'em that "on the road" look. In the past I've scrubbed tires with Ajax and a toothbrush to kinda take the "blackness" off of them. Tires aren't really black but a shade of gray................scrubbing 'em makes a difference.

Abe, Kevin's got some very sound advice! If you're not familiar with a particular painting step or those of us out here have not tried that particular cocktail of painting, it's always best to TEST, TEST, TEST!! Those unwanted junk bodies are great for that! This'll save you a lot of headache, and who knows, you can fill us in on what you did with a particularly new type of paint. I myself am mostly a factory stock builder so I won't be that familiar with custom type paints or candies for that matter. The paint I use is actual automotive paint mixed at my local paint jobber or ordered off the 'net.

Another tip to keep the mold lines from "ghosting" or reappearing, is to sand the mold lines smooth, brush the mold lines with liquid glue (Ambroid or Tenax), wait for the glue to dry--------You'll notice that the mold lines have reappeared. That's because the "hot" solvents in the glue have caused the "memory" in the plastic to show what was molded there previously. Next, you want to sand that area again smooth and then when you paint, the mold lines shouldn't reappear because you've sanded away the memory in the plastic-------as the solvents in the paint are not as hot as actual liquid glue. HTH!

The bonnet may be a problem............But at least the boot is molded in!

Gorgeous Car Bill!! Ditto on Lindberg doing more '60's cars..............They were on a roll for a while! That '61 still looks great after all these years------it's styling still turns heads compared to the junk GM put out in the last couple decades. Now I'm a 1961 model myself............But my "styling" turns no heads!

Prayers granted Brian! That's terrible news! Tell me, are they near a river or stream, or is this all groundwater?? If it's the latter, that's INCREDIBLE!! My house unfortunately sits in a flood plain as I'm just a stone's throw from the river.................Tropical Storm/Hurricane season is here and even though I'm in PA, we get our share of the remnants that can sweep through.

Don't know if this was posted............but just the same, you'll get a laugh out of it!

Ditto on that! One would never know that was a 1/43 unless you said something Mark! I love 1/43..................just the thing to build in between superdetailed projects. I've got a number of esoteric 1/43rd's that I should build as I've had them for years! Alfa Romeo Disco Volante anyone?

Abe, you can try here for ChromeTech. They'll have the full scoop on what's up. I don't think Little Motor Kar Co. has a website, but it's run by Dale Horner here in PA, and he can be contacted at littlemotorkarco@verizon.net Both are very good at what they do........it'll all depend on your preference as to where you live, prices, etc. HTH!

Good ideas those are.......................But nothing drives me crazier when you've got one big, fat, mold line running along the sides of the bumper. Alclad and BMF as good as they are, can't replace the consistency of the chrome that you're trying to achieve. The absolute best way (albeit a little pricey) is to totally strip the chrome, clean up the area, and send it off to be replated to Chrometech, or to Little Motor Kar company. If you plan to enter a contest where the judges will inspect everything with a fine tooth comb, the above suggestion is a must!

I'm here.........and yes, I'm listening! That makes sense about the bumper guards............Speaking of Chrometech, I have to get some parts ready for the '55 Ford to have sent to Bob. I had to totally strip the paint on it unfortunately though as it had some imperfections in the body work I could see. To add insult to injury, now my central air in the house is not working having tried to run it for the first time this season, and it's too warm and humid to try and paint right now.

Nice work so far Dave...............Here are a few of your pics........

No I haven't built one yet........................The woodgrain alone would be a first for me as I've never done any like that! Does the kit have a separate hood, or was everything molded in? Also would the '53 Lindberg Ford chassis need some changes for a wagon, or is it standard fare?

That sure is a sharp wagon!! I'll betcha Paul will get a huge chunk of change for that one! I follow his auctions all the time and his models are always super clean, and the price he gets for 'em shows and are well earned!

Oooooh Yes! I DO remember seeing that up close and personal at the '05(?) GSL!! That's a knockout build that I kept coming back to over and over!!

I second that!! Knockout job Jeff!!

Thanks for the pics Clay! I saved a few of 'em especially of the Hawks and Avanti's! We have a Studebaker meet that shows up here in York, PA every year, but it's been a long time since I've gone to it.