Jim Gibbons

Thanks for sharing this link. Funny how life works; yesterday, I was sitting on my porch with a friend, and there was a wedding at the church up the street. The limo that carried the wedding party was an unbelievably long Cadillac Escalade with four rear wheels. I related to my friend about a very large family I knew years ago whose car was a Checker Airporter wagon. Hadn't thought about it in years, now twice in less than 24 hours!

Thanks for the Mercury history, Art. It's sad that another name goes into the history books, but when a product offers nothing different other than a badge and a name, it's time to bow out. There's a local dealer here in the Hudson Valley that has sold Lincoln, Mercury, and Saab since the 50's. I imagine he must be a little nervous, even with Spyker's purchase of Saab from GM in February. Another local dealer is now down to only Buick with the demise of Pontiac. Buick sells more cars in China than in the US. Looks like there might be some available real estate here in the near future unless these dealers get another franchise to support them. That's where I think the greatest employment impact will be; not at the manufacturing level, but at the dealers.

This is incredible, amazing work! I, too, will follow this to the end. Thanks so much for sharing your assembly photos and scratch building techniques. With the working suspension, are you going to have working u-joints? Just curious...I think it would be a piece of cake for you! Eagerly awaiting future installments.

Wow, this is a tough one. My first impression was model, but after looking at it, I have to agree with the polarized glass statement, and the fact that it appears to me that the steering wheel (it might be a "ghost" image from the glass pattern, though) is on the right hand side, makes me think this was an export car photographed from a museum collection.

I wish there were a good Gremlin kit. I had a '71 in that funky persimmon color; kind a lavenderish blue. I eventually painted it in Army sand colored camoflage I got from my Reserve unit that was going to be thrown away. It was actually a pretty good little car. I hated the glass hatch as "trunk" entrance, though; too bad AMC didn't have the funds to tool a real hatchback. Since I owned a Gremlin, and one of my best friends bought a Yugo new in '87, will I be categorized as a Geek?

Wow, that looks great! I like your taillight treatment. Beautiful work!

Sounds like a great project idea. If you are able, could you post pictures of the Modelhaus parts? I have another unbuilt one, and am thinking about converting to a '57. I love the taillight treatment on the '57. Would like to follow your progress, too, if you post it in On the Workbench. TIA

Here's my take on it. I built it a while ago, but had written some comments on my instruction sheet as I went along. I have pics in my "Builds" gallery. To address the backlight issue, I didn't have a problem, and mine seems to be okay. Before I painted the body, I inserted the rear glass in place, then snipped the roof mounting studs flush with the glass, as they are a bit long. I can't remember if I screwed up, or AMT did, but when I cemented the carb to the manifold, then test fit the air cleaner, it was in the wrong orientation, so I had to ream out the D shaped mounting hole on the carb to fix it. That might have been my screw up; I can't remember, but I suggest test fitting those parts better than I did. I wish they had provided decals for the chrome instrument insert, as there's no detail for the faces. I used a black Sharpie, with tics of white paint for numerals, and red for needles. I shaved the tierod ends thinner on one side, than used the old "hot knife" swage method to make the front wheels and tierod posable. I also found that you should attach the exhaust pipes before putting the tierod on. Fortunately I test fitted before doing it. The exhaust pipes do a funky twist around the torsion bars up to the exhaust manifolds, so I again suggest test fitting. I had assembled most of the chassis as a unit before painting, so may have had a trickier time than most with the exhaust. I also found that the mufflers do not align with each other; there's a slight offset. I found that installing the exhausts after cementing the chassis to the floor pan insured proper alighnment. I also cemented the firewall to the body rather than the floorpan/interior assembly for a better fit. Just my opinion, I guess. That also allowed me to paint the body/firewall as a unit. I also inserted the rear valance to the body before painting, again to paint as a unit. Those were the key points I found; again, some may have been mistakes on my part. I guess the trickiest thing was the fitting of the exhaust around the torsion bars. Hope this helps.

If the Joker from Batman were to have been a designer, this would have been it!

Great video! Thanks for posting it. Had to share it, too. I used to go to the Canadian Grand Prix in the early 90's and saw him. Great driver.

Yup, I enjoy building them. I haven't in quite a while as I'm disabled and on a fixed income, so unless I find one at a really good price, I don't anymore. My Gallery pics "Builds" have three of them; '64 Ferrari 275P, '63 Saab 96 Monte Carlo Rallye winner, and Bob Tullius' Group44 '75 Jaguar XK-12. I have some others I'm building for friends including a trio of Porsche 908's, a 935, and the Group44 Jag XJ-12.

Good luck, and Godspeed! Thirty years ago, I went through a similar journey, albeit at Ft. Dix and Ft. Belvoir. I spent twelve years in the Army Reserves, and am proud to have served. You will only get out of it what you put into it; it can prove to be the best experience you'll ever have if you have the right attitude. Be safe, and heartfelt Thanks for your service!

Well, at least I got the model part right. Guessing it to be a Bugatti wasn't too far off; typical Gaellic oddness. If I recall, it was a Voisin in the movie "Sahara" based on Clive Cussler's book.

Very nice! I built that kit and the 356 Roadster when they first came out. I also like the Fujimi Porsche kits; I know there are a lot of folks that have issues with them, but I can't say I had the same problems. The main thing that bugged me on the 356 was that I had to cut apart the dash decal because they spelled it PORCSHE! Unfortunately, my 356 is in rather ragged condition after a multitude of moves, but am considering sacrificing the parts to make a neat version of the Hasegawa VW Type 2 bus (or better still, the Revell Deluxe bus). The engine detail, suspension, and those wonderful wheels and brake drums could make a cool project. I once considered combining the '73 RS wheels and making a "period correct" spoiler with a 356 coupe to make a Phantom 356 RS, but my wallet couldn't support it, as those kits were pricey even in the 80's.

Something about it says model to me. The fuel filler door (if that's what it is) seems a little thick for a 1:1 car. If it is a model, it's beautifully done. If I had to guess, I'd say it's an early Bugatti prototype or test mule.

Thanks for the link. There's some pretty impressive models there. I used to build the Alan Rose models back when they were around. I did the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings, and the very impressive Titanic. Never got around to the front end of the DC-3. Wish those were reprinted.

Beautiful work! Really like the F3F painting; one of my favorite aircraft.

A notecard from a series I did back in '84. Pen and ink on mylar done with individual color separations. A computer would have made the job easier, but it was 1984! The registrations and final ink printing order were corrected, so that the black overlayed the silver for better effect. This is a scan of a printer's proof.

Very nice!

I have no bloody clue. All I can say is that is NOT the way to pull off retro design!!!

Beautiful build! I built this kit for my good friend that I used to go to the Canadian Grand Prix with back in the early 90's. Mine didn't look nearly as good as yours! He was at that race when Gilles won. Wish I had been there, too!

Simply beautiful. I showed this to a friend and he couldn't believe it was a model. Brilliant work!

Wow! You stole that kit at that price! Oh, well...I needed some $ before my disability kicked in, and sold an Aurora 1/32 Beatnik Bandit for $15 back in '97. Kicking myself now!

Pretty neat kit. Unfortunately, it can't be built totally stock as the '58 releases had grilles, etc., modified for the customs. The '56 Chrysler custom was released in the SSP program a while ago, along with the '56 Continental, Ford Sunliner, and Eldorado. I have original copies of the '55 and '56 Chysler New Yorkers. The '55 versions are worth more, as the tooling on all those kits was modified for the '56 models. The Mercury was actually a thin B pillar sedan (Monterey, I believe) for '55, then became a hardtop as FoMoCo introduced that style beginning in '56. They do go together fairly well, but are a little fiddly. You'll need to do a bit of seam filling due to the multi-piece body, and will have to make your own glass from clear plastic sheet. I was really lucky to get both Chryslers for a total of $75 in the late 90's, and I've started building them. The '55 is a bit warped, and has been tricky to correct, but once the roof is on, it should square up. I did lose the left side grille in a move, so unless I find it, I have some scratch building to do. I love these kits, and hope the 56 Ford and Cadillac will be released again in the SSP program.

Thanks for the cool calendar. I'm fairly new to this board (March) and this alone made it worth joining!