MrObsessive

I can remember exactly what I was doing. I was at work and had literally just sat down after break and a coworker of mine said, "Did you hear about a helicopter or plane hitting a building in NYC or something?" I had told her no, and didn't think much of it. We had a radio station that played over the speakers at the time, and there was music playing. All of a sudden the music went off and news of a second plane hitting the towers was all we heard about for the rest of the day. Folks were numb and couldn't believe what they were seeing/hearing. There were people leaving work early as some of the schools were shutting down and they had to pick up their kids.........the local malls were closing early as there was wind that a terror attack was in play. I remember driving on the way home, how eerily quiet the streets were. This was 3:30 or so in the afternoon........hardly any traffic on the road as folks were shutting down early and sending people home. VERY strange to see here in this area on a bright sunny day on a Tuesday no less. And yes, after that just about every other car I saw had an American flag flying in the breeze. People are forgetting, and we have to remember there's a whole bunch of young ones born since that time that have no idea what happened then. Not to stray into the political, but I'm of the mind the real truth of what happened that day back will be coming out sooner than later. I have to admit that model wise, I was putting the finishing touches on my '58 Chevy convertible back then. I remember that because that previous Saturday, a bunch of us from the club got together at a members house for a get-together/cookout and I had brought the model along which was all but finished, except for the wheel covers/bumpers which were still out at Chrometech. We were laughing and having a good time with no idea what was to follow just three days later.

My how time does fly! I started very shortly after the forum got going in March '06. I think I was member #53? One good tip I found when trying to search something on here is to type in............."site:modelcarsmag.com 1969 Camaro" for example. You'll come up with all kinds of results and more than likely find something you were looking for.

OK, I was going to refrain from commenting on this section as I'm of the adage..........."If you don't have anything nice to say......." But I'll use myself as a good example of how constructive criticism can indeed help especially when you're on the downside of getting a model done. A few years ago when I was trying to finish up my '59 Chevy, I had showed the body sitting on the frame, but nothing was quite glued together just yet. Someone had pointed out (John Goschke?) how nice the work was coming along as they loved the car, but could something be done about the way too low hanging frame rails that ALWAYS showed up on every '59 Chevy build he's seen. I took a good look at what he mentioned and indeed, even after I had re-engineered the kit to keep the frame as tucked away as possible, the frame rails were still peaking below the rockers. Sooooo...........after some thought, I decided to mask off what was already painted, got out my Dremel and ground away at the excess. Here's what I'm referring to................ Before... And after..... Hard to see in the last pic, but no showing of the frame now. Just goes to show that even among us who've been building for a loooong time, there's things we miss that others can see and vice versa. So now I'm happy with the way it turned out and for future '59 Chevy builds (there will be more ), I'll definitely remember this particular issue with this kit.

John..............Yeah, I forgot about that one. While to my eyes it's not bad, there are some changes I'd do to it if I had one. I also forgot that The Modelhaus made one. I may as well forget about that one as the price if one ever turns up on the 'Bay, would be outta sight! ? If I wanted to spend some time, I could scratchbuild that car using a '57 Chevy as a base. Way down the road I may got that route as I'd rather work in plastic if possible than resin.

When I was restoring the '74 Corvette, I got disgusted with how much glue was used to put in the glass, I got out my Dremel and ground it out! So much was used that the roof was damaged............. Of course, I had to fill in the depressions which I did with my Dynatron Putty-Cote. Now one would never know what damage there was unless I showed them. That can be the drawback to buying a builtup......too much glue can be used which sometimes can be more trouble than it's worth to fix.

All I'll say is this is another familiar car for me from my young childhood. You NEVER see these anymore! I'll add that this would make a VERY cool modeling subject!

Very interesting Dave! I do remember a post where I used those words (maybe a WIP post) and I can remember those words in it as it was a long one. I kept getting the error, but I think I ended up getting rid of a couple emojis to get it to take.

I've got a real ratty one of these that I'll get the ambition to restore someday. Not long ago, I found an uptop for it as I think the early '60's Fords and Mercuries were some of the best looking cars as convertibles with their tops up. I'd like mine to look like this one below.

Oops............I guess I'm threadbare! Thought I had one topic picked out to make a comment and it turned out to be quite another! ?

Another Great Save! Just commented on a well saved Camaro and now this beauty!

Excellent rescue!! Very good bodywork you did......I wouldn't have known it unless you pointed it out. I love rescue jobs and I'm sure that Camaro is thanking you for rescuing it! It's also the next best thing to owning that really rare model, but it costs nowhere near what a pristine example would bring.

Nice Invicta! The uptop is a nice touch as personally I hate building convertibles without 'em. Keep an eye on the 'Bay......I got a VERY clean restorable '61 Bubbletop off of there for less than $50. It didn't have its original wheels which I was able to find later on, but even those I paid less than 10 bucks for 'em. Deals can be found, it's just being in the right place at the right time.

Very nice! One of my FAVORITE cartoons I watched in the '60's as a kid! Funny how they did this model. In the original Japanese "manga" (which I have), the car is shown in some stories as having a mid engine. In the cartoon series though, a number of times I saw the car as a front engined one. I built one of these from scratch a loooong time ago using a Ferrari 250 GTO as a 'base'. One wouldn't recognize it as such by looking at it as the car to me looked like a customized '57 Ferrari Testarossa. ?

This is an interesting thread! I bought myself a VERY nice Christmas present this past one which was a pristine AMT '63 Pontiac Lemans convertible kit in its original box. It was a pretty penny, but like others have said, the chassis leaves much to be desired. IMO this is a unique rear end setup especially for a car like this back in those days, so I appreciate the leads as to where to find something proper to represent it. Yeah, it would require some hacking and cutting of the chassis, but that doesn't bother me as I'm foremost a builder.......not so much a collector even though I have my share of "rare" stuff. I REALLY appreciate the pics of the bare rear suspension setup. Those will come in mighty handy! ?

A GOOD '57 Lincoln two door hardtop. Hendrix resin once offered one (don't think it's made anymore), but that's a very classy car that you just don't see represented anywhere.

Out of curiosity I'm watching this one. Thank goodness I have one of these.........a very restorable one with no box however. I've also got a '65 promo which has a cracked A pillar. A very easy fix if/when the time comes I want to restore that one. I expect this one to crack the $200+ mark. Seeing these in this shape with the original box can be very few and far between. Another reason I like clean builtups that haven't been glued to death. Still, it depends on who's watching and how badly someone wants a particular model. I've seen even builtups go for CRAZY money! A certain Johan '66 Chrysler 300 comes to mind which I happen to have, but not till after I got into a bidding war. Won't be doing that again anytime soon!

I was having a problem with ads REALLY slowing down my PC. I just turned it off to see if things are better. I don't mind the ads, but when it gets to a point where an ad is not letting the page fully load, I have to use a blocker as it's frustrating waiting for a script or other such thing to load up.

I'll echo what Steve said. Flocking has its place, but IMO it's better suited for larger scales for the reasons you mentioned. It can come out clunky/splotchy looking but David's tip is a good one. Still, the fuzziness of flocking still seems a bit out of scale to my eyes for 1/24-25th scale. Here are a couple pics of models I did with the red embossing powder. You can get this in all sorts of colors and it has just the right texture that can be seen in carpets like 1:1's for example. Here's the brand of embossing powder I use. You can check your local arts and crafts shop, or they're all over the place on eBay. Hope this helps! ?

Jean-Philippe, that is one gorgeous, GORGEOUS Caddy!! I had to do a double take and look twice as I've not seen this one before. Gotta love those "skeg" fins! Whoever did the master did a terrific job as that looks like Johan DID make that one. I've built a Modelhaus '61 Caddy two door and one can't have too many Cadillac models. You got it! There's a number of four doors I'd LOVE to see on the hobby shelves over their two door brethren.

That's the same thing I was thinking too Chris when I first saw that! ? Back then though, that '57 was considered "just another clunker car" and no one would have thought twice about taking care of it let alone restoring it. Today, those are SUPER RARE and are virtually rolling real estate in pristine shape! I have to wonder if any of those cars that were in that film survive today. It would be interesting if one was able to trace where they ended up and if they're still around.

LOL!! That WAS cheesy but good! Now you know your age is catching up with you when you can remember as a kid seeing these new on the streets, but having no idea what they were. What was in that Fairlane?? I can't believe that if it was running a 427 would it fall THAT far behind! ?

That's been my way of building for almost forever! I like to do the cars that were in my sight when I first knew what a car was...............lot of fins and chrome. Later, muscle cars would have been the thing as there were a few in our family. I'll do a new(er) car every now and then, and as time goes on I'll be getting into the mid '70's stuff........and era that's all but forgotten by the model manufacturers as the GM Colonnade cars come to mind.

Thanks for the nice words guys! If there's no bad weather like there was last year, I hope to be there Tom. Last year it was raining so bad and I'm not a fan of driving the Challenger in heavy rain......especially here in PA with trucks everywhere you turn on the highway.

Tom, that's what I had heard too among other things. It's no small feat to do what they did......and for all those years! The last time I saw Don and Carol (Toledo NNL in 2015), I could tell that it was wearing on them. Glad to see that they can finally take it easy, although I heard Don is still casting some things, but nowhere near spending the amount of time that he once did.

I like it! This is one kit that NEVER gets old. I sure wish though we could see new tooling of the 1957-'58 Golden Hawks. I have a loooong stalled project of a '58, but to see a brand new kit (Moebius??) would be a dream come true.