Ramfins59

That's a fabulous looking car Steven...... even better looking in sunshine!!! 60 degrees... Wow... get out your shorts, flip-flops and sun tan lotion.

Wow...... Great looking model Erik. Larry Watson would be proud of you.

Very glad to hear that it wasn't anything too seriously wrong Harry. Our health is more important than posting stuff on here. Please stay well.

Nice job Darryl.

Pretty funny Greg. I think you have waaaaaaaay too much free time on your hands finding all of this stuff...... and I thought I had too much free time...!!!

That is a beautiful model Yuri.

I'll use wooden skewers or popsicle sticks attached to the part with a tiny drop of CA glue to paint them. I also use small alligator clips to hold the parts. Sometimes if the part has a hole in it somewhere, I stick a wooden toothpick in the hole and then stick the toothpick in a piece of styrofoam to hold it for painting. I've also put masking tape folded over on itself on a paper plate and stuck the parts on the sticky tape to paint them. Different methods work better for different parts.

From what I understand, they've been working an average of about 60 hours a week at their business (Don, Carol and their son) and after years of doing that I'm sure they need a break. None of us are getting any younger, them included, and I'm sure they'd like some time to sit back and enjoy life in their "golden years" without dealing with resin chemicals and stuff and the pressures of running their business. I, among many others, have bought many of their excellent, top-notch castings, and will also have to place a "stock up" order within the 2 year time frame. I wish the Holthaus family the very best of health and a long life to enjoy the fruits of their labors in their retirement years. I also thank them profusely for their excellent products and service over all these years.

I wouldn't want to have that guy driving behind me with his BRIGHTS on...!!!

My workbench is a Rolltop desk down in my basement. This picture is from a couple of years ago but not much has changed. The "cubbyholes" above the work surface (from right to left) hold 1 - Metal Rifler file set and small vise-grips. 2 - Assorted jars of gloss enamel paints. 3 - XActo knives & blades, Pin vise and assorted drills and bits. 4 - Assorted tweezers, pens, Flat finish jar paints used for interiors. 5 - Jars of Tamiya Clear paints: Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue. 6 - Short lengths of metal tubing and rod (in old cigar tubes), and small plastic boxes holding thin surgical tubing and assorted pins. 7 - (Behind the Pink Lamp) Spools of assorted wire. Just below the top shelf part of the desk are: (Right to left) Clothes pins (for clamps), 2 pair of hemostats, small LED flashlight. 3 different sizes of scissors, alligator clips (held on by small magnets). The top of the desk holds: (Right to left) Assorted glues & polishes, behind those is an office desktop file organizer holding pkgs. of BMF, assorted styrene sheets, assorted sheets of sandpaper. Behind the glues is a bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol, a clock, 2 part epoxy bottles In front of the clock are all jars of various Metalizer paints (in alphabetical order). 2 old tennis ball containers, i holding assorted lengths and sizes of aluminum & plastic tubing and rod, and the other holds assorted new paint brushes. Bottles of Rustall & Weatherall, a bag of popsicle sticks and wooden coffee stirrers, rolls of assorted masking tape, Easy-Off oven cleaner, spray adhesive, and boxes of wooden and plastic toothpicks. The drawers on the right side of the desk hold: Top Drawer - assorted sanding sticks, odd tools & drill bits. Center Drawer - old cans of assorted enamel spray paint & assorted decal sheets in plastic bags. Bottom Drawer - Assorted junk. Center Drawer - Assorted junk. Left side drawers: Top - Whitewall tires and custom wheels. Center - Assorted plastic bags. Bottom - Model display stands/bases & mirrors for use at model shows. My workbench is well lit, with a lamp on both sides and overhead fluorescent lighting. The 5 shelf unit to the right holds assorted parts packs, future planned model projects, pkg. of Q-Tips, a box of assorted colors of flocking and small strainer, and several bins of parts. The rolling 5 drawer unit just visible on the left holds wheels & tires, engine & chassis parts, interior parts, clear and clear Red parts and sprues, assorted body & fender parts and grille & bumper parts. Everything I need when working on a project is within arms reach. I find that having things organized usually helps the building process go smoothly and efficiently without a lot of wasted time having to look for something. That's just the way I roll.

Welcome to our plastic playground Bill. You'll like it here.

Thanks guys...... I can't believe this thread surfaced again after almost 2 years.

Allen, that's a nice looking car...... but it's a '58 Plymouth, not a '57.

I couldn't agree more. I always get many Google reference pictures of the cars I am building to be sure that I can get all the little details as correct as I can.

Those colors look great Blair.

Thanks for posting those pictures Greg.

This is looking great Dave. I had a '71 Plymouth Satellite back in the 80's that I got from my brother-in-law. I loved that car. It had a 318 that wouldn't quit. I really miss it.

Chuck, when I said "glue on every part" I actually meant every part in the box . I also forgot to say " Paint all the chrome trim with a shaky hand using the old Testors silver paint that never dries"... Wayne, I don't know about being the "perfect guy who deserves it", but it will be a ton of fun when I eventually get around to working on this kit.... ahhhhhh the memories. Steve, I wasn't into building models back in the 80's so I know nothing about those Monogram kits. Our daughters were born in '81 and '83 so we were busy with learning to be parents and earning a living to support a family. I didn't rediscover the hobby until 1992.

While continuing my 1950's model building "quest", I'm sort of lining up the cars that I want to work on. I had decided to try to concentrate on staying in the 1959 model year after I finished the '59 Buick. Since I've been told that I'm a bit anal about being organized, I figured that I would continue working on the '59 cars in alphabetical order, the next one being Cadillac. I have a Monogram convertible kit, but, I wanted to do one or 2 quick Curbside cars after all of the work involved in finishing the '56 Chrysler, as I'm not quite ready to do another "full detail" kit just yet. So I'm skipping over Cadillac for the moment and moving on to a '59 DeSoto because I already have a completed '59 Chevy and Chrysler. The DeSoto Is a curbside Johan promo and I have a resin '59 Dodge interior that I'll be using for it. In my mind's eye I see the car in a Silver and Red color scheme but I haven't yet decided if it will be Red over Silver with a Red side trim insert, or, Silver over Red with a Silver insert. In the meantime, continuing on the "plan ahead", after the DeSoto comes Dodge which I've already built when I replicated the car that I used to own. Now for the "Looking back"...... After Dodge comes Edsel. In March of last year I picked up a real SCORE. I won an original, in the original box, unpainted, unassembled 1959 Edsel convertible kit for $54 on EBAY. This afternoon I opened the box again (it was slightly wrinkled when I got it from apparent water damage) and I was taken back in time to when I first got this kit back in the early 1960's when I was about 14 years old. The skinny box with the Red price of $1.39 on the end and the cool, multi-colored artwork. The side panel shows the "extra parts" for customizing. The body is as straight as an arrow and the windshield frame and vent windows are straight and solid. No holes were made anywhere on the body for antennas or mirrors. The vent window frames do have holes for spotlights but it looks like the kit was molded that way because the holes are perfect with no other marks. All of the kit's parts are STILL ATTACHED TO THE SPRUE TREES...!!! The glass is scratch free with no embedded tire burns. The chrome tree is perfect with nothing looking like it'll need Modelhaus replacement parts. The screws for the chassis were in the box. The original decal sheet is in the box, although it looks a lot yellowed from time and may have gotten wet with the box. The only things missing were the metal axles (plastic or aluminum tubing will solve that problem) and the chassis (I got a resin replacement piece from Modelhaus). Looking at the parts on the trees brought back a flood of memories from my early, long ago, modeling years. All of the "extra parts...... fins, louvers, skirts, spotlights, antennas, lake pipes, moon hubcaps, mirrors, a full width continental kit extension...... Wow. Should I paint it with a 3 inch brush and have fingerprints all over it...... glue on every part with tube glue with a BIG splotch of glue on the windshield...... put on every decal,..... ruin the wheels & tires with a hammer putting them on axles......?????? I think NOT. It will certainly be a fun kit to put together.

Very nice work Al. That sure is a wild color.

Thanks a lot Clayton.

That is one gorgeous car Steven. Everything is just perfect...... the colors......the connie kit...... the up top...... the interior... Fantastic job.

Thank you John. It was great meeting and speaking with you too....... and you didn't do too shabby in the awards dept. yourself. Congratulations.

Steven, no way would I want to live in Minnesota.... You guys have about 3 good weeks of summer . A very good and old friend of mine lives in Duluth. I made the mistake of visiting him in January once about 30 years ago...... snow up the ying-yang. My younger brother lives in Laconia, NH up near your neck of the woods Bruce...... no picnic up there in winter time either.

Yeah, I have 3 5-shelf glass display cabinets that came from IKEA years ago. The dust still manages to get in through the quarter inch side and front gaps on the glass doors. Weather stripping Face slap... Duhhhh.....I was wondering how I could seal up those gaps...!!! I need more cabinets anyway for my 1950's car collection. The plexiglass cases by Carney were recommended, but boy are they pricey. I've been looking around for something to get that will hold A LOT of cars.