MrObsessive

Very nice deep purple! You've got the stance and wheels spot on! 8)

Details?? Hmmm.......age is settin' in, so let's see if I can remember that far back! I built this Ferrari from around August of 1998 and finished it just before the Mid Atlantic NNL in May '99. The reason I can remember the date is because I wanted to build this specifically for that NNL. The kit I used was the Italeri version which I think is the most accurate of all the 250 GT SWB versions. I was gonna use the Gunze kit.......but it's proportions were odd in places (kinda wide) and the ESCI kit was/is just plain wrong, wrong WRONG!! I opened the doors and kept the window frames............in hindsight I would make these out of brass today, they're very delicate and have snapped a couple times. The engine is Norm Veber's from Replica and Miniatures and was a kit in itself!! The engine took about 3 weeks to build and you have to follow the instructions to a T! If you ever buy this engine kit I highly recommend you order an extra set of carb stacks because they are molded in a very thin resin...............once they drop on the floor, they're toast! I would also recommend that the engine have something very sturdy to stand on (a good engine base) as simply the engine turning over on it's side can damage the carbs. The chassis was detailed as well as I knew at the time. Using photos loaned to me by Harold Bradford......he had pictures of a 250 GTO under restoration which showed the full underside of the car. 250 GTO and GT's were pretty much the same underneath save for the GTO's dry sump system. I detailed the underside with fuel lines, brake lines, muffler clamps and brackets, and tried to use different shades of aluminum. The floor was cut away and replaced with actual aluminum sheet.............the actual car is probably not that clean underneath, but I wanted to represent what a pristine restored car woud be like just finished from the shop. BTW, I was trying replicate Sterling Moss's 1961 winner at Lemans that year, thus the markings on the car. The interior was done using Reps and Mins interior set and real cherry wood steering wheel. The shifter comes in the engine kit, and the shifter ball was painted using Alclad. The dash itself was converted from LHD to RHD as per the actual car...............this was tricky because I had to do some "reverse engineering" to get the gauges and switches in the right place. Likewise, I had to make sure the engine was also configured for RHD as the throttle position had to be in the right place. :mrgreen: The Borrani wire wheels are Detail Masters........mounted on Monogram tires with the letters facing on the inside. The most difficult thing was mounting the wheels so that they all sit square on the ground. I painted the model with Krylon Navy Blue, with their gray primer as a base. Even though the model was molded in red, I noticed no bleed through. After I let the body set for a couple weeks, I polished the body out with a polishing kit. I can't remember where the roundels came from (someone may have given them too me) but the stripe across the nose was painted decal paper that was cut to fit. All in all, this was a somewhat challenging kit to do but I do have another Italeri kit I would like to make a regular street version out of sometime. Here's the link if you want to see larger full size pics............ http://public.fotki.com/MrObsessive/1961_ferrari_250_gt-1/ Thanks for askin' Brian!

Those flames are WILD!! Fantastic job on that truck Manny......a lot of patience is involved to get it to look like that! 8)

Hi Ken, That is a decal from Scale Motorsport........I used the macro setting on my digicam to blow things up a bit! The 1:1 car has some gray in the checkerboard pattern, but that's way too tiny to make a big deal about it in 1/25 scale. :wink:

I dunno Terry....... Word has it that the Monte is to be replaced come 2009-10 on a new RWD platform. It may be called something else (Chevelle!! ) or it may keep the Monte name. This is supposed to be based on the new "Zeta" platform which will underpin other models in GM's lineup. There's also a new RWD Impala in the works.............the concept to be shown at the upcoming Detroit show in January.

I'd be interested Kyle!! PM me please!

I like the "HOT" look of your exhausts Bob! Nice touch! 8)

My wish has been granted! Very nice work! What is the roof rack made of? I need to try that technique on a future wagon buildup.....:twisted:

Welcome Stefan! We'd love to see pics of your work if you can!

For those of you interested.......I ran across this gem of a video describing the design phases of the concept car and it shows the car in motion......................ENJOY! 8) http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Featu...cleId=108756#19

HEY!! That wagon looks mighty cool! 8) 8)

Now THAT's what I want to see on the road.............wrapover windshield and all!! If that doesn't say "LOOK AT ME!!" I don't know what does!

If I had to pick between the two I would probably pick the Camaro because I think it looks more aggresive. It has a "GET OUT OF MY WAY!!" look to it that I like! ........And we don't know what the 2009 Mustang's gonna look like yet! Insiders (on some of the Mustang boards) are saying that the '09 redo will be "hippier" and more aggresive. I'm really, really surprised we haven't seen at least a diecast on this one................I betcha Chrysler's being a stiffneck as usual about royalties and whatnot! I like those "teeth".....gives it some character!

WOW!! I can't wait to see that rumblin' down the road! Unfortunately, when that car hits the road, I'll still be payin' for the Saturn. Maybe when the payments are up I can use this as a second car?? (NOT a daily commuter! ) Looks as though GM has no choice but to build that Camaro now!............and with a restyled Mustang due for 2009........Oh man....happy days are here again!! It's good to see a true 2 dr hardtop back on the American Scene too!! BTW John, where did you see the car? It's supposed to be here in Carlisle this weekend at the Chrysler show.......a show I won't be able to go to because of the US 30 reunion the same time.

Absolutely Gorgeous Bob!!:mrgreen: You've laid the groundwork for the rest of us when it comes to building this kit. I get the sense though that Revell kits (new ones particularly) are starting to go the "fiddly" route! :shock: While the subjects they're putting out are nice.......whomever is doing the engineering for these latest kits needs to back off on the tolerances a bit. The kits are approaching Tamiya like quality..............but they're not there yet! :shock:

IRV!! How's it goin'?? We all miss ya at the York Meetings! Welcome aboard! Are you going to the US 30 reunion Saturday? The club will have a display there.

Hmmm...............The only caveat with that I would warn is to NOT use Testors Silver! :shock: Years ago I used that as a "sealer/primer" and the color coats chipped very easily off of it. I haven't used that technique since. This may have happened due to the silver being so smooth or the silver having such a high metal content that the paint had nothing to grab on to. In any case Mal............I would always test your paint (maybe on the back of the chassis or interior tub) and see what happens. Hope all this info didn't drive you crazy!

Okay Guys and Gals...........I've been off work since Friday, and here's what I've accomplished so far on the Buick's interior......... I added the plastic where this was cut out before. I have to remember to put some putty where the areas were cut. I don't think the flocking will necessarily cover this when applied. I'm trying to "level" the surface of the rear seat...........pretty much like the 1:1 pic shows me. I'm using Tamiya putty here (GOOD STUFF!) instead of the Dynatron. For small areas like this, it's better for me to use Tamiya putty This pic shows how I needed to fill in the rear speaker area. I like to fill areas in with as much plastic as possible............then use putty to fill in the rest. This minimizes shrinkage in that area, although Tamiya putty shrinks very little if at all. The work is pretty much done for the rear seat....................I used Tamiya white primer to cover everything since I need a white background for the upholstery decal. I'm not sure why this pic has a "sepia" look to it........:shock: I'm not good at making seats look "vinyl" with paint. So to counteract that, I've covered the seat with wide masking tape. Some will be trimmed away for the decals, but this is pretty much done for the rear seat save for painting it. Okay, now on to the front seat, using the same technique for the rear seat, Tamiya putty was used again to make the surface more level. Same was done for the back of the seat. I smoothed everything out with 220 grit sandpaper..........so far so good. This will also be covered with masking tape when all is said and done. Whhhooooo!! Your eyes are not deceiving you, but I wouldn't stare at it too long! If you stare at it and it's starts to spin.......you've just hit The Twilight Zone! Actually this is a closeup of the decal upholstery pattern from Scale Motorsport. It's not 100% exact to the Buick pattern, but very close to what's needed. Whoops! I forgot to putty the sides of the seats and also the top! :shock: I had to sand down the sides of the front seats because '59 Invictas didn't have the chrome accent piece unlike Chevy Impalas of the same year. When everything is said and done, I'll add some .015 piping for some detail. This is the dash that came from the resin kit. While not bad, it's kinda narrow, (doesn't fit flush with the windshield post) to be fair though, I have an old plastic builtup and it fits the same way. I'll add some putty to the sides and "widen" it out....................and then send it out to be chrome plated. This will make it much, much easier to detail down the road. Well what's next on the agenda? Finish up the front seat, and then get to work on the dash and then the side panels..........I'm sure I'll get this done in time for the September show! (I hope!) :mrgreen: Stay tuned and thanks for lookin'! WHOOPS!! I meant to add this link for those of you wanting to see BIG pics........ http://public.fotki.com/MrObsessive/1959_buick_invicta/

Ahhhhh.....what a cute little car!! 8) I like the color too Mark..........it suits it really well! It's hard to believe I can remember this car back when it was new ('73) I was in Junior High school or something like that back then. :mrgreen: I know what you mean about the heavy duty detailing............I've put the '55 Ford on hiatus for awhile so I can concentrate on less intense builds. It's a relief for me to get something completed for a change!

Well Brian, lemme see if I can remember that far back! The model started as Monogram's '56 T-Bird............but just about every body panel was modified to some degree, not only for the '55 conversion, but also to make the body more 1:1 scale accurate. This model was started around mid 1999...........I had always wanted to build a really nice 1/24-1/25 '55 'Bird, but there was no kit available and there still isn't today, save for AMT's old 1/16 scale version out of the '70's. I lowered the rockers a hair because the body in side profile appeared "thin" to me. I also lowered the rear quarters a bit. Also in the side profile, the rear deck (especially behind the seats) was way too flat.........so I cut part of the rear deck from an AMT '57 T-bird (which is more correct) and grafted it onto the rear of the '56. The grille area was modified as the grille seemed too tall, and I used PE screen from Replicas and Miniatures to get the egg crate look. The side fender vents were filled in (they didn't appear until '56) and the portholes were filled in on the hardtop (another '56 feature). The hardtop's general shape was also modified somewhat as the rear window was too small, and the hardtop didn't look right when looking at the model from a front 3/4 view. In hindsight I like the windshield frame from the current '56 kit better (more accurate shape) but I had to work with what I had at the time. :wink: The car has full opening panels, (doors, trunk, folding seat, gas door) and has working suspension and steerable wheels. The rear bumper was made using an extra bumper from a junk kit, but the exhaust bullets had to be moved further out as they are not the same distance as in the front bumper. It, along with the front bumper were sent out to be replated by Chrometech. To give the model a different look on display, I modified the hardtop from the junk kit to a convertible uptop. The top was covered in masking tape and then painted. To finish everything off............the model was painted Dupont acrylic enamel Thunderbird Blue which as I mentioned in the above post was sprayed over the Future as a barrier. I did use Krylon Gray Sandable Primer as a base, but spraying the Krylon over the Future gave me no trouble at all. The interior was painted the same but dulled down and the carpet was done using flocking. A couple inaccuracies................the dash should be a darker green as well as the tops of the inside door panels, but I was using pics from what was a restored car and that's what it had................besides I think my version looks better! Here's a direct link to the 'Bird in my Fotki page...... http://public.fotki.com/MrObsessive/1955_ford_thunderbird/ Thanks for asking! PSSSSST...............if your like me and a real cheapie when it comes to barrier coats, try the Future! 8)

UN-FREAKIN-BELIEVABLE!! C'mon......you're yankin' our chain and that's a real Navigator ain't it?? 8) I have never seen anything like that and they say I'm Obsessive?? If you don't get that published they're crazy!!

Hi Mal! Believe it or not I use Future Floor Wax to seal that nasty red/yellow plastic. It sounds radical...........but talk to any of the military builders who have been into it for awhile and some of them swear by the stuff. I learned this trick years ago out of Scale Auto magazine. In your part of the world, it may be called "Kleer" or "Super Shine". It's not a wax per se........but a aqueous acrylic clear used to put a super shine on floors. Here's a link which shows some of the crazy things that can be done with Future as done by another modeler..... http://www.f-15estrikeeagle.com/howto/matt_01/matt_01.htm Also, here's a couple pics of a Monogram '56 (converted into a '55) Thunderbird I built which was molded in red plastic and is notorious for bleeding. (Yeah, I know the hardtop is on crooked in the first pic! ) I built this is '99 and the paint still looks fresh and new as when it was first built and has not cracked over the Future. Those that know me and have seen the model can vouch for the paint job on it! :wink: Here's how I applied it...........I airbrushed about 5 or 6 thin coats......Very carefully....as the Future is quite thin. I recommend that if you're going to airbush, let the jar sit out for a spell.......maybe a 1/2 hour or so. It'll thicken up a bit and won't run so much out of your airbrush. Let the body sit overnight.........then go over the body very lightly with 1500 grit sandpaper to get rid of any airbubbles and then paint away. You can also brush it on........but I recommend a "sponge" brush you get at the hardware store so you don't get brush strokes. If you make a mistake, you can use Ammonia to take it off and start over! I have heard of guys spraying polyurethane over the stuff with no trouble! :shock: In the near future I'm going to be building the Revell 2006 Mustang which is molded in that too soft plastic. I'll post the results here on how it turns out when I use the Future to overcoat the plastic first. I could use some of the other barriers............but I've had trouble in the past in that if you use too much thinner in the barrier, it can also craze the plastic and you're right back to square one! :x Hope this helps! 8)

Nice Build! I used to drive a taxi once upon a time..............I should try to build my old hack someday! 8)

You Bet Ron! I'll be in with the '61 Cadillac.........and the '59 Buick (which should be done by that time) There may possibly be one more that I could build to tickle your fancy........

Wow! Yours is an unusual case in that I have never heard of that happening before! You mean you didn't add any solvents (glue, epoxy, etc...) to the area.......it was just resting against the plastic?? :shock: The only thing I can think of is whatever chemicals are in the resin have reacted with the plastic and there may be no fix for the model. If you have a digicam...........it would sure be nice to see this phenonemon! :shock: P.S...........you did mean Heavenly Hearse did you not? :?