MrObsessive

BEAUTIFUL!! I just LOVE this era of Chevy!

Joe, good job on correcting the roof on that! I had started my conversion on my '59 back in 2012, and I had to consider whether to keep the cowl from the '60 for strength, or losing the cowl and risk breaking the pillars in doing the roof swap. One of them did break during building it anyway, but at the time it was the best option for me. Also, and this is how my eyes (which are poorer now than then) see things..........the back part of the roof particularly at the top always seemed too flat to me. Once again my perception and may not be for someone else. As we've talked about before, and so that others who may not have been tuned in as the time I was building it, my main reason for the change in roof was not so much of the contours of the roof, but the too flat shape of the windshield header where it meets the A pillars and as I've mentioned, the same applies to the rear. Curves that should be on both sides of the roof in my view were absent. You've reshaped the A pillars very well. but be careful however of the front glass in that since you changed the shape, you'll need to have the same contours for that as well-------something else I had to consider when making my changes. Just a little problem with the Trumpeter kit for those of you not in the know about it............yes, lengthening the roof makes a HUGE difference. But..............you'll need to get rid of that inward taper of the beltline from trailing edge of the door to where it meets to the C pillars. On the 1:1's there's a very subtle if not a flat out straight line from point to point. Not the taper inwards I'm seeing. Keep us posted!

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Another clearcoat?? Bro, it looks REALLY good as is! You know how I feel about '60 Impalas! I still say that Revell captured that '59-'60 Bubbletop roofline 'bout perfect, even compared to the old annuals from way back when. Even better than Johan dare I say. It's the reason I went through so much trouble swapping roofs off the '60 onto the '59 Impala. Revell hit the nail on the head as far as roof accuracy IMO.

Steve you wanted to sell that?? It's gorgeous, I could NEVER part with that! Absolutely beautiful, and you did a really good job blending that top in. In another thread, someone wondered what top would be best to replicate a 1965 Impala Sport Sedan four door hardtop....................there ya go!

Hey! Those headlights are EXACTLY it! GM used that style pretty much from the mid '70's through the sometime in the '80's. I saved that auction and I know that seller VERY well! See him all the time! Now I do have a small resin casting kit but I haven't tried it yet. Something small like this would be ideal to practice on. Actually, I'm not sure I'd have to cut away the entire headlight assembly. Simply make an impression on the part, and resin fill it from there------shape and sand as needed.

GORGEOUS!!

Either or........but the closer I can get to what’s pictured the better. ?

Those look nice, but they are not quite flat across.....they’re staggered and not flat like the Olds. Thanks just the same!

Steve, that's it! Thanks so much for the link! I've bookmarked his site, and he's definitely hearing from me! The parking lamps I could make on my own..........In fact, I think I have something laying around that's very close to replicate those.

Larry, I just checked those out and they're too vertical as opposed to the Olds' horizontal quads. Even if I were to make them horizontal, they appear just a bit too large at that. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Ok fellas........I've been wracking my brain lately trying to figure out which kit would have headlights like these.................. I looked at the Revell '83 Olds kit and while similar, they have an inset to the headlights in the bezels, and aren't quite right. In case you're wondering, yes this is a future project I have in mind.............'jus trying to make sure I have all the bits and pieces together before I consider tackling it. No time frame to start----just the piece of mind knowing that all is there whenever I'm ready. Any thoughts? TIA!

Modelhaus's version I believe was a '57 Savoy sedan. I've not seen the four door hardtop from them------I don't think they made that one, although I could be wrong. If you want to get adventurous, you could swap roofs off of AMT's Chrysler '57 300, and after some mods use that as your four door hardtop roof section. Looking at that 1:1's between the divisions, they appear to have all the same roof crown, so with some work it's doable. At least for me it would be.............. I believe that was also a Savoy sedan ('57), although there might have been some hardtops too. I know I've seen Taxi's done in the plainest trim (Savoy) and that could have been what Modelhaus used as a base for their kit. A rare unwarped one for that matter. Speaking of warp, it really kills me to see these once beautiful models of cars all twisted up like a pretzel due to the properties of the material. Sad, as once upon a time I would have loved to have had some of those promos, but wished that they weren't so warped. Oh well, the best we can do these days is make our own out of what's out there.

Wow, another one of my grails, but I had to choose either that or their 330 LMB. Well, not long ago I got my grail from Ed Cervo of Island Collectibles. I had seen the 330 at the NNL East, but didn't' bring enough cash with me for the money he wanted. I DID pick up the 250 Lusso transkit by Airtrax from him! While certainly not as detailed as the MFH kit, it'll certainly do as the body lines are spot on 'cept for a couple minor details. I've got an engine kit on the way from HRM, and some decent Borranis lying around. When the time comes to build 'er, I'll be all set!

Wow Rick! They look pretty good and the proportions look spot on! I was hoping for an up to date kit of this from Revell since we had their very nice '56, but with the looks of things it's never going to happen. Guess I'll have to make my own someday and no, that hoary Revell kit doesn't count!

I love your story telling Mike! This '55 reminds me of me Great Grandmothers Buick. Hers was a '54 (similar type roofline and windshield but a hardtop), and was red/black two-toned. That's probably (along with my Dad's '55 Plymouth) one of the first cars I can remember seeing when I first knew what a car was. Interesting enough, I can remember hearing her say that was the very reason she always bought Buicks. They were not as "showy" as a Cadillac, yet still had the same comfort and a lot of the features of those Caddies. Her last Buick would be a '58 Roadmaster Limited----talk about a chrome BEAST! She stopped driving sometime in the later '60's due to failing eyesight, but she loved those Buicks though! Very nice and interesting build, and I don't ever remember seeing a Buick police car done up before! I'm a big believer in taking a diecast and do whatever it takes to get the model you want. It's still a model, that happens to be cast in metal.

BLECCCCHH!! ????

It's so hot here in Central PA today (90 degrees and humid as I type this) that I ordered a 10" pizza from Domino's. Extra cheese, pepperoni, and beef, with double the BBQ sauce. That'll last me three meals as I'll take a slice to work tomorrow for lunch, have Couscous the next day, and then finish it off by midweek.

Rico, I've bought from Shapeways before (actually quite recently) and I'll definitely keep these in mind! What's your vendor name on Shapeways............the same as it is here? Thanks!

WOW! That really jumps right out at ya! I like that one Jim, and that's the EXACT shade of yellow my '69 AMX was in!

Very good technique! I'll have to keep that in mind if I ever decide to build one of those again. One of our LHS's is associated with Hobbytown USA. Next time I'm in there, I'll have to check that wood type out.

A classic kit that's simply timeless! Very clean and excellent build! You used Oak for the floors............where did you get that and did you section it or put it on as whole sheet? Looks very convincing!

OK.......this is WILD! I was just talking to a fellow at our local club meeting yesterday about this very thing, and now I come across this thread! VERY nice 3D rendering you got there! Those details look very correct, and I want to say your wheels are looking good too! I take it that you'll use the 3D printing for a master and cast these in resin? Also for the trunk lid and taillight panel...........those will be resin cast too? Excellent!

A little off subject, but your story reminds me of something I saw on eBay just a couple days ago. I saw listed a Johan 1971 Eldorado kit which was not sealed. As I'm looking through the pics, I'm looking for pics of the model but all I see are pics of a stripped AMT '59 Pontiac convertible and its parts. There were a bunch of pics but none of the Eldo listed. So I wrote the seller and said to them that their auction listing is a bit confusing. You have listed a '71 Eldo, but all I see are pics of the Johan box, but the model is definitely a '59 Pontiac sitting outside of it. So which model is the auction for?? The Eldorado (not seen but the box), or the Pontiac? He wrote back and said that "somehow" the models were switched and that the auction was for the '71 Eldorado. He pulled the auction but as I check the vintage section all the time on the 'Bay, somehow that Eldorado hasn't made it back to its box to be listed again...........nor the Poncho for that matter!

I learned a lesson about "sealed" kits many years ago in the mid '80's. I was off work due to an accident I had there, and couldn't do anything more than sit at home and look through the model magazines (SAE) or build. I came across an ad in SAE (pre internet days) for a sealed AMT "Golden Classics" '53 Studebaker Starliner coupe. The seller was asking $20 for it and at the time (1985-'86) that was a good chunk of change for a kit. I was excited as could be when the kit finally got to my place.............opened it up, and much to my chagrin only to see the body completely leaned over on one side. Almost as if it was set against something warm, and the body warped. Nothing else in the box was damaged. Chassis was straight, no tire burn, nothing missing-----just a body that was absolutely worthless. Since the kit was sealed, I would have had a hard time complaining to the seller as they could claim ignorance. I figured it was probably damaged from the factory, and they went ahead and shipped it anyway. Sooooo............from that point on I never bought another old sealed kit again. I ended up using the body for paint practice as it was useless for anything else.