gtx6970 Posted March 30, 2015 Posted March 30, 2015 (edited) Well after my recent chrome ladens builds. I decided to try somethin less lfashy. This one had been in my mind for some time I needed to build it. So, that time is now. I have already done a white glue assembly mockup to see how it goes together and see where/what mods are going to be needed.( and theres are lots of them ) One is the area above the rear wheels needed some strip stryene to continue the body line around the side of the car like its supposed to be The second is the chrome trim that goes inside the lower ft nose,,,no way was that going in with the body assembled and painted.. So I cut the lower nose off the car and will put it back on once everything is painted,,,,,,,theres supposed to be a seam on the side of the nose anyway . Finally I drilled a hole in the outer center hub on one wheel so I can install the tires and wheels by sliding the axle all the way thru one into the other. In my mockup I could get all the interior pieces in with a fully assembed body,,its just a slow process. Comments or suggestions welcome. If anyone has a suggestion to fill the seam on the sides in front of the doors AND save the 3 star emblems,,, I am all ears Edited January 12, 2016 by gtx6970
Eshaver Posted March 30, 2015 Posted March 30, 2015 I'll follow this closely as this kit has some horrific gaps in the sides ................
gtx6970 Posted March 30, 2015 Author Posted March 30, 2015 I'll follow this closely as this kit has some horrific gaps in the sides ................ You not kidding. To fill them where the ft section right in front of the doors is horrible. and I have a feeling the 3 little stars on the sides will not survive the filling and sanding work . Plus the gaps right in the middle of the doors on both sides is probably 1/32 of an inch . Hopefully I can fix it without getting disgusted and put it back in the box . I would like to do the Futura as well here soon.
Guest Posted March 30, 2015 Posted March 30, 2015 Whenever I have to do putty and sanding around details that I don't want damaged, I tape or foil over them to protect them. I've had to do it a few times and it works. You still have to be careful when sanding.
spencer1984 Posted March 30, 2015 Posted March 30, 2015 Looking forward to seeing what you do with this, I don't think I've ever seen one built
Bob Ellis Posted March 30, 2015 Posted March 30, 2015 GTX, when I saw this, it reminded me of the Revell '57 Eldorado Brougham. I think the floor/chassis should be cut to be made separate from the sides. This way, the sides and the interior floor can built separately. This is how I plan to build the Eldorado.
robertw Posted March 30, 2015 Posted March 30, 2015 I hope you'll continue to post progress on this build. I built the Futura a few years ago and planned to do the DeMer next but the challenges encountered in the first build have kept me from starting the second.
gtx6970 Posted March 30, 2015 Author Posted March 30, 2015 GTX, when I saw this, it reminded me of the Revell '57 Eldorado Brougham. I think the floor/chassis should be cut to be made separate from the sides. This way, the sides and the interior floor can built separately. This is how I plan to build the Eldorado. Bob. I thought about doing just that. But with a little patience I think I can get it together with just removing the ft lower valance like shown. .....at least I really hope so. I glued the ft half of the body on this morning and will start filling seams this week....so only time will tell.
bobthehobbyguy Posted March 30, 2015 Posted March 30, 2015 Great start. Another option for the stars would be make an impression into foil and cast replacements. If tou drill holes where they are located you will be able to add them back after paint.
kruleworld Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 When i built the Futura, i assembled the body and then cut out the chassis to make it a separate piece. This allowed me to do the interior, etc separately after i'd blended the body parts together.
Dominik Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 I hope you'll continue to post progress on this build. I built the Futura a few years ago and planned to do the DeMer next but the challenges encountered in the first build have kept me from starting the second. i'm with that. the same here. When i built the Futura, i assembled the body to make it "perfekt" and then cut out the chassis to make it a separate piece.
Tom Geiger Posted April 1, 2015 Posted April 1, 2015 Kewl! I'll be watching this one, classic kit with all the imperfections of injection molding 55 years ago!
jbwelda Posted April 1, 2015 Posted April 1, 2015 this is a neat car! I built one but I just built it out of the box with minimal mods, which means it looks pretty breezy from the side view! its one I would love to do a proper job on one day. those stars...I would make a mold of them by pressing some silly putty against them and then pouring some mixed 5 minute resin in that mold. shouldn't be a big deal. then just sand them smooth, might be a good idea to drill some locater holes like suggested, and continue with your body smoothing. its gonna be like a boat in a bottle to get the interior painted and installed with the body sealed and painted. jb
gtx6970 Posted April 1, 2015 Author Posted April 1, 2015 Before I go to far on the body work ( and theres lots of that ) I plan to hit the beading isle in hobby lobby today and MAYBE get luck to find something similar to the 3 stars ,,but I dont have high hopes for that idea. I like the silly putty idea . I can pull an impression off the 58 Bonnevile and not have to worry about paint adheasion issues on this body
Draggon Posted April 2, 2015 Posted April 2, 2015 A fellow over at Coffin Corner scratchbuilt the stars. Here's a link: http://coffincorner.proboards.com/thread/18488/revell-pontiac-club-de-mer
gtx6970 Posted April 2, 2015 Author Posted April 2, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the note. I found that thread on a google search a while back looking for images of the 1/1 . I did spend a little time on it this one this morning. And looking at the body comparing to pics of the actual car. A - The kit doesnt have the 3 fins inside the scoops on the doors. So I need to figure out a way to make those. B - And the body line above the rear wheel opening where it continues and wraps around the back of the car is all wrong. Plus the tail bezels are right where this line is supposed to be . Problem is ,I dont think theres any way to fix this without radically cutting up the body. Which to avoid getting disgusted with it,,,, I dont really feel like doing . I guess I'll just build it as is and live with it. I did pick up some Alclad dur-aluminum paint over the weekend that I think will be a good match. Edited April 2, 2015 by gtx6970
gtx6970 Posted April 2, 2015 Author Posted April 2, 2015 I did add the strip that wraps areound the nose of the car to replicate the thin moulding as on the 1/1 And managed to get the red interior pieces painted and BMF on the seats mouldings. Just trying to keep moving forward,,,,,and not to stress to much about this kits flaws. Thanks for cking in
gtx6970 Posted April 10, 2015 Author Posted April 10, 2015 (edited) Been working on it as time allows. ( summer is tough for me to get model bench time in ) I think I have most of the multi piece body seams taken care of. Door seam alignment was horrible between the upper and lower sections of the body. And for the most part the entire lower seam has been rescribed in with the backside of a Xacto blade . I plan to work on finessing the body line above the rear wheel opening and where it wraps around the rear sides of the car next . Its gettin there , slowly but surely. comments of all kinds welcome. Edited April 10, 2015 by gtx6970
gtx6970 Posted January 12, 2016 Author Posted January 12, 2016 (edited) Well,,,after nearly a year away . I finally got some time back at the bench ,,,,,, and this one was still sitting there. I was in my local hobby shop last week and found some Tamiya aluminum paint. So I did a spray out on some spoons and I decided it was close enough. So decided to get it done MY one issue after all the work fixing the body seams was while putting the seat back in place.Unfortunately I cracked the body work so I spent some time fixing that. Its not bad but I'm not 100% real happy with it. But I want it done off the bench and in the case( I'll just display it with the best side out ) If you look at pictures of the actual car, this kit isn't any where near accurate. But I decided to forgo most of it and build it . As doing major amounts of body mods I loose interest pretty quick But at least it's looking like a Club De Mer. Later I'll do the instrument panel and steering column in red and glue the canopies and front lower splash on . touch the red tailights . Tires are the kits hard plastic tires sprayed with Sems brand satin black with the white walls hand striped ( that was no fun ) With any luck I'll have it buttoned up in the next week or so . and finally move on to the next started project Edited January 12, 2016 by gtx6970
High octane Posted January 12, 2016 Posted January 12, 2016 Lookin' good Bill, and I don't think that I have one of those kits in my stash.
oldcarfan Posted January 14, 2016 Posted January 14, 2016 You might try this for the stars.... Hobby Lobby sells an Alumilite two part mold putty that you can use like Silly Putty and then it hardens out into a silicone mold that makes a good mold for surface details. I use it whenever I need to copy a piece of trim or a nameplate or something.
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