'62 Pontiac Catalina Mild Custom

[Bernard Kron]

[font size="4"]’62 Pontiac Catalina Mild Custom

Even though I’ve long been an admirer of what I consider to be the height of American automotive design, the period immediately following WWII through to the late 60’s, and especially the work of GM’s Bill Mitchell as it was revealed in the early 60’s, I’ve never actually built models from the early 60’s This AMT ’62 Pontiac Custom kit has been in my stash for many years, untouched. Lately I’ve felt that it was time I tried my hand at these, and that it was the perfect sort of project to begin to hone my skills in candy paint jobs and epic BMF battles. So this is virtually OOB standard with the exception of the lowered stance (brought down about 3 scale inches all the way around), the Pegasus Sovereign wheels and pin-wall tires, and the Duplicolor MetalCast transparent orange over Duplicolor Metalcast Silver ground. As essentially stock as it is there’s not much to say except that this was a very different experience from my usual diet of Old School Rods and Kustoms and classic drag cars. And the BMF and paint presented real challenges to assure a crisp and clean presentation. But it was a pleasure to build it from what is a well-engineered and detailed kit. It had the desired effect of opening up a new subject area for my modeling.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

Edited July 17, 2017 by Bernard Kron

[slusher]

Very nice Bernard..

[Helix]

Good job!

[GTJUNIOR]

Looks good. 

[Spex84]

A very cool Cat!

If those pegasus sovereigns look good on anything, it's on cars like this. Has that whole proto-lowrider thing going on.

In the 5th photo down, it almost looks like there's a bundle of red chili peppers hanging from the rearview mirror...but it's just my imagination

[Fanof69]

Nice color and engine detailing!!

[cobraman]

I agree, very nice model.

[ChrisR]

Nice!!

[W-Machine]

The color really pops. Very nice!

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks so much to you all for the kind words. Photographing the color was especially important to get across how the car actually looks. It's a text book example of using plenty of diffuse lighting.

With essentially zero experience in building these types of cars I think I was very fortunate in having started with one of these later-period AMT kits. The fit, build-logic, instructions, and detail are all very good indeed. None the less even though it was essentially OOB my rookie status showed every step of the way and I found myself sticking very close to the instructions in putting it together. Even the simple (or so I thought) job of lowering the car (offset spindles in front and blocks in the rear) was complicated by adapting the Pegasus Sovereigns so they would fit in the wheel wells. But the overall look of the result made it all worthwhile, and I'm sure I'll do better on the next one. I'm a HUGE fan of the showroom stock builders and my admiration of their meticulously sanitary and realistic work has only increased as a result of this project!

Again, thank you for all the appreciation,
B.

[Sixties Sam]

Wow! Great model! I like the colors, and the engine looks good. Great work!

Sam

[Phildaupho]

An excellent example of a sixties mild custom. Great color combination and subtle scallops. The wheels, narrow whites and full length lakes pipe were the perfect choice.

 

[RestoModGuy]

very nice work, looks great

[XJ6]

Really like that one ??

[Mike C]

That's nice. I like it.

[Harry P.]

Nice colors, nice wheels, nicely done overall. I like the way you coordinated the interior color with the inner fenders.

Now the downside: your foil work is pretty ragged, especially around the wipers and the base of the windshield. I suggest you burnish down the foil better, using maybe a Q-tip or a toothpick, trying to work out some of the wrinkles... then go over all the edges with a sharp blade and try to clean up some of those ragged edges and excess foil.

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks everyone., Harry, I'll give the foil another pass and see what Ican do. One of the purposes of doing these big Americans is to improve my BMF chops. They offer lotsa practice, LOL!

[Harry P.]

Thanks everyone., Harry, I'll give the foil another pass and see what Ican do. One of the purposes of doing these big Americans is to improve my BMF chops. They offer lotsa practice, LOL!

I'm sure you can improve the foil work. You're a pretty talented guy.

If you have a magnifier desk lamp, that would help.

[Bernard Kron]

...If you have a magnifier desk lamp, that would help.

I've thought about getting one. Working under magnification has always struck me as its own thing, at least for me, requiring a shift in my way of looking at things. I've been more of a "standing back and looking at the overall effect" sort of builder, but I'll be the first to admit that fine detail can have some pretty powerful effects on the "overall effect". Definitely food for thought...

[Harry P.]

I build under a magnifier about 75% of the time. That's how I am able to do stuff like this...

I think if you try it, you might like it.

[darthsideous]

Beautiful paint work

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx!

Broken Photobucket links repaired. For now I'm only updating completed model pics. Updating w.i.p. links is just too huge a task! I'll update them on request...

[Slotto]

That is a killer Cat! Love it!

[FredRPG]

Love the paint colors on this.  From looking at your paint detail work I wouldn't think it will take long for your BMF skills to come up to speed.  I'm sure it's been said hundreds of times around here, but always try to use a brand new blade and very light pressure, let the knife do the work.  Again this build has a great look.

[PARTSMARTY]

Awesome !!!