Ramfins59

This was a quick and easy build of an American Metal Collection diecast kit by Classic Metal Works. About 80% of the parts were plastic that either snapped in place or had to be glued. I wound up gluing almost all of them anyway just to be safe. Aside from the engine compartment details that I added (pre-wired distr., heater hoses, resin master cylinder & brake line, battery cables & PE radiator cap), I flocked the carpet black and painted parts of the interior white. The dashboard, wheels and hood and trunk emblems got a blackwash with the Detailer and I gave the convertible boot a couple of coats of dullcoat. The rear license plate is from my stash. This kit turned out really nice and is a good start to the "Class of '55". I previously built a mild custom '55 Chevy (about 15 years ago). Thanks for looking in on this build. Now to pick another one out of the pile.

That's another beautiful model Peter.

I used to subscribe to Street Rodder and Custom Rodder magazines a long time ago but they're more like a monthly catalog with all the Ads, and when they dropped their model car sections to make room for more Ads, I dropped them. I will occasionally pick up Ol' School Rods and its sister mag, and Collectible Auto whenever I can get to B & N but the prices of those mags when you wind up buying 5 or 6 in one shot can really bust the budget.

Thanks James. Hey... s--t happens!! Tom, actually I think I'll stick with the red & white color combo. I like the way it looks.

Tom, thank you for your kind words. Actually, whenever I get back to working on this model, I was thinking of trying to use the PE scripts from the MCG set, providing I can get them off the fret without mangling them. They are just about as thin as a strand of hair.

While waiting for the aggravation to die down over my '56 Nomad fiasco Yesterday, I started in on a new project. This is a Diecast Kit of a '55 Oldsmobile from the American Metal Collection by Classic Metal Works. I picked this up on EBAY for the bargain price of $22.00. It is in 1/26 scale, which doesn't bother me as the size difference isn't huge. Plus it's not made in plastic kit form and makes a nice addition to a new "Class of '55" group build. It qualifies as a model since it is in kit form and the parts have to be either screwed or glued together. All the parts for each assembly are bagged separately. The chassis with all the details molded in and the interior floor are separate pieces which I first sprayed flat black. Here's the chassis after I detail painted it. The engine compartment is very rudimentary with only the top of the engine, air cleaner and belt assembly with oil filler tube. There is a battery and a radiator and support piece with separate horns. I added a bunch of extra details like a prewired distributor, heater hoses, a resin master cylinder with brake line and a PE radiator cap along with some detail painting. The top of the engine piece came painted green with Oldsmobile Rocket lettering on the valve covers. I think it looks a lot better with the extra details. It was just too bare and empty without them. My plan is to detail the interior with flocking. I'm thinking black carpet with red & white to match the exterior. The seats and door panels are very nicely molded with good detail and the cranks and handles are separate, chromed pieces. This should turn out to be a cool looking model with all the extra details I'llbe adding. It would build up to a very nice model even without all the extra work that I'm doing to it. I would assume that once I'm done with this (should only take a couple of days) that this would then qualify as a "Modified Diecast". Am I correct..?? Thanks for looking in on this build. Your comments are welcomed.

No problem Harry. It's a lesson learned. If I was going to use the gold wheels I should have stayed with my original color choice of orange and white. Jeff, If I was able to have finished this model by next weekend I thought that I might bring it to the show. Now that it's all apart I'm not worried. I have plenty of other models to bring to the show. Hopefully we'll meet up there. Just look for the old guy with the white Santa Claus beard.

OK...... So I'm not a totally happy camper at the moment. I again attempted to remove the gold wheels without success, In doing so, however, I did succeed in removing the front axle assembly (with the wheels still attached) and the rear axle, springs, shocks, and driveshaft assembly (with the wheels still attached). I can't get to my LHS to get some CA glue debonder because I don't drive anymore due to some vision problems as a result of the stroke I had 13 years ago, and my wife, who plays chauffeur for me, is out of town until tomorrow visiting close friends. So at the moment, all the parts are in the box until I get the debonder. Instead of being almost finished with this build, I went backwards a bunch of steps. I guess that's all part of the "joys" of modeling isn't it..?? I searched through my wheel and tire stash and the modern sets of wheels (like on the Fast & Loud car) all had tires that were too wide and would involve modifying more than I'm willing to do at this point. I think I will use the chromed reversed wheels & radial tires from the Revell chopped '49 Merc kit, and then reassemble everything. Then, of course, I'll still have to go back and re-do the trim on the car that I did in the gold foil, to do it in chrome foil. Happy-happy-joy-joy...

Nice looking build Guy. Those old multi-piece body kits can be a bear to put together, but as you proved, a good looking model can be built.

Thanks guys, I appreciate ALL of your comments, input and observations. Tom, I spent the whole rainy day here down in my basement model area. I'm not sure how much else I'll use from the PE Set for this car. The scripts are as thin as a hair...should be fun trying to use them..!! Harry, thank you for the interior compliment. I was having second thoughts about the gold wheels when I decided on the green/silver paint scheme. My original plan (6 months ago) was to paint the car orange and white but I couldn't really make up my mind about the colors. I had already completed the engine and chassis with the gold wheels. (I even had a gold plated chain steering wheel for the interior.) After I finally painted the green/silver combo I tried getting the wheels off but I really did such a good job of gluing them on they just wouldn't budge. I really didn't and don't want to have the chassis assembly come apart or have pieces break. I don't remember if I used CA glue or epoxy to glue the wheels on. I know exactly what you're saying about the gold and silver not working together on this car. We'll see what tomorrow brings when I get back to the workbench.

Another crappy, rainy day here in western PA. I finished the BMF work on this Nomad that I started yesterday and, as was suggested, added some gold foil accents here & there to compliment the gold wire wheels. I got the gold BMF to stick without having to fight with it by first carefully painting the area where the gold foil was going with some clear enamel and then applying the foil and burnishing it down well with a QTip and a toothpick. I set it aside overnight for the clear enamel to dry and then was able to trim the excess without any problems. Trimming those narrow tailgate strips was soooooo much fun...!!! I was also able to detail the firewall and added battery cables and a brake line on the master cylinder along with a round pin head for a cap. The 2 wire pieces under the master cylinder are looms for the washer fluid line to go through on the way to the wiper motor. Additional looms for that line are mounted on the driver side inner fenderwell near the fluid container. The radiator has a PE cap and an overflow line. I cut out the kit grille and installed a PE one from MCG. Thanks for following along, and additional updates to come as they happen.

That looks pretty cool Roy, I love the colors......but what's with the front end being so high..? Is it supposed to be a lowrider hopper..? I just scored one of these '55 Pontiac hardtops on EBay myself.

Here goes Ira again..!!!

Andre, that looks really great. Nice job.

Very, very nice Peter... like all your other builds.

Tom, I should take a picture of myself now. I haven't trimmed my white beard in months and I'm starting to get "the Santa Claus look" My wife doesn't care for it but I happen to like it. I figure that by Christmas it will look great for my almost 2 1/2 year old grandson.... and yeah... I sort of have the belly to go along with it.... HO HO HO

Another great looking model Peter.

Peter, you continue to amaze us with your beautiful builds. Well done sir. How many more of these great models do you have in store for us..??

Ira, as usual with your "way out of the box builds" I am speechless. Your combination of various kit parts and scratchbuilding is just amazing. You sir have one helluv an imagination, along with the talent and skills to pull it off. Well done.

Kevin, your Avatar doesn't look like a very well glued together character either...!!!

Here in western PA we have what are called Stink Bugs. They look like little grayish-tan shields. They don't bite, but at certain times they are just all over the place. They try to get into your house where it is warmer as the cooler weather approaches. They're called Stink Bugs because when you kill one by either smashing it or stepping on it, they give off a "stinky smell", which, unfortunately, attracts other Stink Bugs. (A neighbor jokingly says that when you kill one, all of his friends and family come to the funeral...LOL) My wife is on a mission to kill every one she sees around our house. She smashes them, but I spray them with Ortho Home Defense Max which kills them in seconds.

Beautiful job Cliff.

Wow John, that is looking awesome.

Kenn, that is looking great and I love the paint. You've done an awesome job on this build.

Andy, that is looking great so far. The engine looks really good and I like your choice of paint color. Is that a Duplicolor paint..?? You do really good work... keep it up.