Maindrian Pace

I bought that exact grille from the Modelhaus, perfect quality, better than a kit part, with flawless chrome. But I second the hot water, I'd run it under hot tap water for a few seconds, if it doesn't bend easily enough, a few more seconds. When it's in the right shape, flash it hard by dipping it in cold water. -MJS

Thanks Roy. I think that this would be a difficult body to cast as is, because of the integral front and rear bumpers. Revell did a complicated die for this one, with several moving components to release the bodies. I believe that to cast it in resin, the front and rear bumpers would have to be cut off, have locator tabs added, and cast separately. If I'm wrong, I hope a caster comes in to correct me. -MJS

It's a hobby, no hypocrisy involved. You may not have to raise the roof on the resin body, but it needs lots of other surgery to be accurate, so no easy way out. It's nice to have a choice of which one to work with, right? -MJS Jonathan, I can't make this meeting, but the next one looks pretty good... -MJS

Yes, the trunk doesn't slope down quite enough, and looks just a bit to bulky above the taillights. It also lacks the subtle kick up at the back edge of the trunk lid. None of this is serious, and I don't think it would detract from the model if it was left that way. But I don't intend to leave it that way. Thanks! -MJS

Bradley, I'd like to see how you did that. A dozen? Ya building a whole police force? And yes, having a real one does have its' advantages. Roger, In a perfect world, it would have been as accurate as the average AMT body from the '60s, but it's not, and here I am wanting to make a model of my driver, so here we go. As to the body mod skills, nobody is born knowing all this stuff, and the best way to learn is to start cutting. This is a good beginner/intermediate top mod, because it's not very complicated and the car is pretty square. -MJS

Thanks for the nice words, guys. I've been filing away at the pillars to redefine the various groove details. Bill, preliminary test fitting is showing that with some very minor filing at the lower sides of the front/rear glass, they can be reused by centering them in the frames, and adding strip stock at the top and bottom of the openings. This is one option, but I'll experiment with making new glass because I'm not thrilled with the size of the frosted areas. The side 1/4 glass will have to be made, but these are simple, featureless glass with a very minor curve that can be made easily so I'm not concerned with them. The windshield/rear window are not compound curved, so they shouldn't be too hard either. I've had good luck in the past with Butyrate sheet, it bends without discoloring. We'll see. Easy. Golden Valley in Mesa. Great food, huge portions, all fresh ingredients, and the price is like a flashback to the '80s. Best chain: Panda Express. -MJS

They did a super nice job on those. The Mustang II world must be beside themselves now. I'll probably get a white/blue stripes '76-'77 when it becomes available. -MJS

Great restoration, color, and wheel choice, and the car sits just right. I like your photo surface, it looks like smooth graded dirt with tire tracks. Very realistic. -MJS

Because you are moving the rear of the roof upward and forward, the B pillar can be bent back slightly to give it the proper angle, instead of straight up as supplied. The pillar spacers are Plastruct strip pieces measuring just a hair under 1/16" on the B and C pillars, and just over 1/16" on the A pillars. Because the A pillars are at more of an angle than the others, they rise less with the same spacers so thicker spacers are necessary to raise the roof level. Check the fit of everything with tape before you commit to the glue. When it all looks good, let the glue fly. I use good 'ol Testors toob gloo for my chops (and un-chops) because you can move the parts around a bit to finalize the fit. Then I touch it up with Hobbytown medium CA and kicker for extra strength and for minor body filler at the joints. Better? Total time to get to this point: 5 hours, 30 minutes, with one break. Next time, we'll talk about those rear wheel wells, the trunk lid, and where to get the best Chinese food. -MJS

The roof is to low. The world truly has come to an end. Revell is the Devil. I'm so disappointed, I think I'll switch hobbies. Boo hoo. Let's fix it. This will be a replica of my 1992 LX. This pic was taken at a dead-on side view at 30 feet with telephoto to minimize lens distortion and show what the actual car looks like. I'll have to kitbash it into an automatic with power windows and A/C, not a problem. That roof, however, will need some work. I cut it along these marks. Whack it free with the razor saw. The angles of the A and C pillars are right on, the roof was lowered along those planes. When you chop a top like that, you must lengthen it, which is what they did. Use tape as a guide to cut the roof in half like so, then a sheet of sand paper on a piece of glass makes a perfect broad flat file to reduce the two halves. Reduce a little at a time, checking the alignment of the pillars as you go. -MJS

You would think that they would have this problem under control, especially with later diecasts and toys... This one really frosted me. 20+ years ago, I restored a rare gluebomb AMT '69 Cobra Jet coupe, and now the dreaded tire melt. Only on one wheel, though. Now I wrap the wheels where the tire makes contact with narrow strips of masking tape. We'll know in another 15 or so years if that works. -MJS

Excavators - serious business. You should see what they can do to a car. -MJS

Outstanding fit and finish, very unique subject matter, love the color scheme and the stance. -MJS

I do have a dog in the fight, and I still don't have a kit. I doubt that Revell will change the roof, because that would mean all new glass as well. I'll just buy one and do a model of my daily driver. With all of the black window trim painted, they don't look that bad, and very good next to older Mustang kits that are much more out of proportion. -MJS

Great looking MK II GTI, those are a very worthwhile car to restore. Now pretend that you are an episode of Wheeler Dealers, and go all Edd China on it! -MJS

The good thing about P-J is that when you see how much he wants for common parts, you either buy the whole kit from another seller for a few bucks more, or you fire off an order to the Modelhaus or one of the other good casters in the biz. Then you thank ol' Peej for bringing you back to your senses and making you do the right thing. -MJS

Looks like a $3 eBay glue bomb. -MJS

The tires were also pictured in white in many vintage advertisements of the day in artists' renderings, and properly stored archived publications were not susceptible to the same discolorations as photographs. Fanciful artwork aside, the tires were most likely off-white, yellowish or slightly tan, but mostly white. -MJS

A tiny minority of troublemakers exists on every board. They are easy to ignore, place on ignore lists, or ban; at which point they go somewhere else to be unhappy. Life goes on, nothing wrong with this forum. -MJS

Corvorado - actually based on a '70s Corvette. The conversion did nothing for the handling. -MJS

Some time ago, I became addicted to watching demo derby videos on YouTube, and that car looks pretty much exactly like modern prepped derby cars. Really impressive. It amazes me how much effort goes into a car like this - almost as much as in some race cars - to be used up in such a short time. Derby people are a devoted bunch. -MJS

Looks like I'll have to shave the window cranks and add door pockets to make it a power window '92. -MJS

I think it was mentioned that those decals were photoshopped, the kit decals will hopefully be better. -MJS

Great job on the car, and great movie with a pre-insane Charlie Sheen. -MJS

Túlio, Whenever I open one of your threads, I expect to see a beautifully built Ford, and you always deliver. And this Fairlane shows that you are getting better with each one too. -MJS