MrObsessive

I had to do a double take when I first saw this..........you got rid of the B pillar! Very slick indeed!

Now that's got to be one of the slickest and cleanest builds of the '69 Camaro 'Vert I've seen!! Doubly excellent work!!

Cruz, you knocked that one outta the park!! Nothing beats a '59 Bubbletop for pure attention getting! I'm glad you used the fender skirts as I always thought '59 Chevy's looked their best with them on!

Well, I have a face that can't be forgotten so...............

Jonathan , the more I see of street rods like yours, the more I've got the mind to build one! Yours is comin' out nice! And the paint is smooth as glass!

Now I have to work on the door panels..............as I mentioned in another post I couldn't use the diecast door panels as they're just too thick and heavyhanded. I went and scratchbuilt my own starting with just flat .020 sheet for the main panels and some thicker stuff for other sections. Here are some pics.................... The lower section was made from V-shaped ribbing plastic sheet to replicate the 1:1. The chrome trim was made using .010 plastic strip and then BMF'd after it was all painted. The handles came straight from the diecast and were epoxied in. With the interior now out of the way for the most part.........I needed to start working on the glass. Since this was a conversion from a '56 to a '55 I can't use any of the kit glass, so I'm making my own from clear stencil sheet. What I did first was to lay some masking tape over the opening and then traced around it in pencil. This was then cut out and layed on 3x5 card and then cut again along the tape's edge. I like using 3x5 cards for templates as they are flexible enough for templates, but not so thin that they fall apart like regular paper. If the writing on the templates seem as though they come from the Department of Redundancy Department, it's because if I don't write on 'em what's what..............they'll get accidentally tossed! Especially as long as it takes for me to get something done...........it's good insurance! The templates will be transferred to clear stencil sheet and then cut again. This'll probably take several tries to get right.......but that's okay as I'm a real stickler for well fitting glass. Nothing drives me crazier than ill fitting glass with huge gaps around the posts-----it's worth my time to make it look correct. Now it's time to see what can be done about the headliner-----and this is where a horror story was about to take place. I first wanted to trace some lines to replicate the pleating in the headliner.................... Then fill in the sides with a bit of putty................Much to my surprise this is what happened................I think from pressing too hard with the back edge of the exacto blade.............. A hairline crack right along the section where the putty meets the plastic! So I got out the Dremel tool........... And I ground away at the original bodywork and "V" ground it this time to overlap the joint.............. I then primered this area again, and got out my Dynatron Putty-Cote after the primer dried sufficiently.............. I let it sit overnight and afterward, sanded and shaped again................. This time it's overlapped so that section is thicker. As far as the headliner. I'll cover it with tape or something and add some light scribed lines................I don't want anymore potential disasters! I'll primer this once again to make sure there are no dips and dives in the bodywork before final primering and painting. Hopefully that'll be in the next couple weeks or so--------I've got some other minor bodywork to do (Maybe latching the doors and inner fender work) before I get to the paint job. Thanks for your time!

I've had a few days off for Easter so thought I'd give you an update of what's been happening with the '55. Well, I finally got the interior parts painted and redone the way I wanted! In my last post, I mentioned the difficulty in getting the seats and whatnot out of the diecast. Little did I know what a nightmare it would be to get the parts stripped and repainted! I had a heck of a time trying to strip the paint................whatever the Chinese are using over there, only the harshest lacquer thinner would remove it. I had to be extra careful with the dash as it was ABS plastic and the laquer thinner wanted to melt it the second it touched it. Nothing else would touch the paint..............not ELO, Easy-Off, CSC, nothing! The front seats were tricky likewise as the seatbacks were plastic, but the seat bottoms were a rubber like vinyl which the lacquer thinner didn't hurt. I knew the stripping part would be a challenge, so I started with something easy such as flocking the floor........ Please excuse the little flecks of dust............digicams pick up every little speck of dirt that's around! I didn't try to cover up every nook and cranny, as the seats will take up most of the real estate inside. Now I wanted to move on to the tougher part...........and that was the dash. The difficulty with this is not only the scale difference, but also the curvature of the dash didn't match the model I'm building. So after adding plastic, and filing and sanding down, particularly at the sides, here's what she looked like before I painted.............. Care was taken with that neat Y-Block decal as I didn't want to lose that......also there was a PE Ford emblem next to it that I carefully took off and put in a safe place. I didn't try to strip the paint bare on this as I wanted to keep most of the detail...............it was tough enough to remove out of the car as it was! Here's the repainted result with the gauges and emblem put back on................ I test fit it in the dash before painting and she's lookin' pretty good. I may build a support bar for the dash to rest on so there won't be any drama when it comes time for final installation. The paint BTW, it Polly S "Engine Black" which was polished up a bit as the 1:1. Actually the 1:1 had more of gloss black, but this didn't look right to me so I settled for more of a semi gloss black instead. I can't imagine driving the real thing with all that polished glare in your face, but I guess folks dealt with it back then! Now it was on to the seats...............As I mentioned above, lacquer thinner was used to strip the seats except for the front seat backs and the rear seat side panels. These were molded in ABS (I think) and they would have melted. I just tried to carefully sand off as much as I could and painted over 'em............ The rear side panels were glued on to the rear seat as this'll have to be put in as a whole unit once it comes time for final assembly. It's also not as stable as I'd like due to the seat being a very flexible vinyl. I sure some super glue will be needed to keep everything in place. The rear side panels likewise had to be thinned down a bit as they would have been too wide for the rear seat fit in properly due to the scale difference. Stay tuned for more!..............

Maybe I've got my model makers mixed up! Anyway, someone did a Maserati 450 S because I've sure seen one in that scale.

I have a 1/32 scale '77(?) T-Bird that was made my Lindberg........but I know of no Cougars from that era by a resin maker unless one was scratchbuilt ala Juha Airio. It would be nice to see some of those mid to late '70's GM and Ford midsizers kitted................but I know in this day and age of budget watching, it'll never happen.

Bob, did the BAT 5 use the slight offset Borranis? It's hard to tell because the car has those low cut wheel well skirts. Herb Deeks is selling his PE Borranis once again............'cept he's doing it through eBay. I'd link to it here but eBay's links never work right on this board-------I guess because their addy's are so dang long! Just do a search on eBay for Herb Deeks and they'll show up.

I'd like to see him rerelease some of the more obscure stuff he had------such as the Alfa Romeo BAT 5 and the Maserati 450S! Love your Porsche Terry! Anything from Porsche in the '50's is neat in my book!

Okay, I'll bite.............Here's a pic of my sister and I around Christmas of 1975. The reason I think it was Christmas was because I can remember who and when this pic was taken.............also the electric candle in what I think was my Aunt's bedroom window. Sorry for the not so great pic..............it was scanned from an old not so hot pic that's seen better days! Ugggggh!! Dig those '70's aviator glasses! I would have been 14 in this pic and my sister 12. Models were the farthest thing from my mind back in those days! My mom and dad have all of my high school pics.............including one of my senior prom and my date. I don't know if I wanna show that one though!

This I definitely want to see! I can still remember the first day the cartoon came on here on WPHL Channel 17 in the fall of 1968. When I went to school the next day, everyone was talking about it! Boys and girls alike! I scratchbuilt a Mach 5 years ago in the early '90's-----I'll see if I can dig up pics of it later. Anyone else see a more than passing resemblance to the now released '58 Ferrari Testarossa??.............Hmmmm......

Gee we have some young whippersnappers on this thread! Unfortunately, I have NONE of the models from when I started building (incidentally in '78 Jeff when I was a senior in high school). I think my Dad has an old polaroid pic from '78 or '79 when I was building something at the kitchen table. I'm going over his place Sunday for Easter dinner and if I can remember I'll see if I can find it and scan it for y'all! Hmmm...............I wonder what the average age is on this board?

I think Norm of Replicas and Miniatures has what you need Jairus. they're listed in his catalog as part #R-31. Here's a couple pics of what I think are his caps that I used years ago on these two models.............. Sorry for the quality of the pics............but these were taken when I was a digicam newbie! If you want to E Norm.......his email addy is here. His phone number is 410-768-3648 from 9AM-6PM ET HTH!

John, a while back a tutorial was shown on lacing wire wheels...................click here to check it out......

Nice Builds! Love that chassis detail especially the overspray!! That's the way to do it instead of plain 'ol basic black!

That's why I LOVE building '50's cars...................nice and round body lines without those pesky sharp edges! Yes, MM acrylics are a softer paint which will rub through easier than automotive brands...............I think switching types if you can will go a long way towards remedying your trouble.

One more thing to add Matt............You mentioned about spraying light coats around edges beforehand. You can try that, but on some cars that have scripts and whatnot around those edges, you just gotta be careful not to bury the scripts and detail under too much paint.

Matt, in my experience of painting, there's no easy fix for rub throughs without maybe masking off that area, repainting and carefully polishing that area again. You don't say what kind of paint you've used, but if it's enamel-----that will rub through easier than say acrylic enamels or lacquers. I have had a tough time with Tamiya sprays rubbing through which is the reason I'm not a big fan of their paints as nice as they are though. One thing that'll help with edges is to lightly round off those edges (not too much) when you do your basic body work. That way the paint won't want to draw away that much from the edge and the sanded surface will give the paint something to grab onto. This is especially important around door lines where the model has molded in "troughs" around the shut lines-----------a sanding block is necessary here to make everything flat and even. You may want to practice also on maneuvering your rubbing out techniques to keep away as much from the edges as possible....................this will take some practice though. Others here on the board may have their own solutions to this problem. HTH!

Beautiful Avanti! I used to see these every now and then as a kid and have always loved 'em! I'm a Studebaker guy at heart as I love all the Hawks, 1959-61 Larks, and Avanti's. Nick, they were definitely RWD! These were built long before the automakers knelt to the altar of Front Wheel Drive...............but that's slowly starting to change now.

Bmw 2002? Not sure..........

Yes!! I WANT that '70 Super Bee! (Any chance of seeing the '69 Coronet BTW?..........) Especially since it has the more accurate (IMO) MPC body.............ERTL's was nice but seemed to be lacking in a few areas. AHHHH...........and I have to get another '60 Ford and '51 Chevy 'Vert......................you can't have too many of those around!

Randy, R&R makes a '54 hardtop.............I don't know if Ray will sell the individual pieces separate, but here's a pic of what he has................... If you click here, it'll take you to Star Models who carries all the R&R kits. HTH!

Thanks James! I got my digicam while in the middle of building the GTO so there's no in progress shots of the buildup of the top frame. The first few pics above were sent to me by a club member...........Basically I got a 1:1 assembly manual showing the top frame in it's various build stages as it comes down the line. I then tried to "simplify" it for model purposes as it's not possible to include every nut, bolt and rivet in 1/24 scale without defying the law of physics . The main part of the frame rails are H-channel brass while the header is brass rod with plastic fastened on using JB Weld. The top frame hinges were scratchbuilt, and "riveted" using small hex head brass bolts and tiny sliced pieces of brass tubing which were then soldered on the other end. The top frame alone I remember took about a month to build and there were some redo's along the way! Here's another pic of the frame out of the model with it partially collapsed taken at a past club meeting.......... BTW, here's the type of solder iron I use....it's the same type I use at work as I train people to solder at times.......... It's a Metcal unit that I got off eBay for around $100 (brand new $300!)...........I use various types of tips depending on what's needed-------from pinpoint to chisel types. I also have a Weller unit (adjustable temp) for various close joints when I need to use a eutectic solder which keeps things from falling apart and from me pulling my hair out!