'66 Skylark GS (Craftsman) Glue Bomb Rescue/Rebuild

[Snake45]

I bought this off ebay about 2008 at a price that was high-ish at the time but would be considered a steal today. It was fairly complete, but the body had kind of a bad surface finish that took me MANY hours of polishing to shine up. I'd always wanted one of these Craftsmans, molded in that beautiful emerald green.

 

Here's the WIP thread, where I detail the polish job, and interior and chassis painting:

 

I did most of this work around 2010, and then I got a bad case of Dreading the Foiling and it sat on the Shelf of Doom until earlier this year when I dusted it off for the latest Bring Out Your Dead build round. The foilwork turned out to be not as bad as I'd feared, and only took a couple hours. Completion was all downhill from there. Finally, after more than 50 years of wanting a green Craftsman '66 Skylark on my shelf, I have one! Thanks for looking and, as always, Model on, everyone!

[michelle]

nice work on this rescue  also  

[spencer1984]

Looks fantastic, nicely done!

[bisc63]

That turned out really nice. Love the white interior, it complements the rich green.

[Classicgas]

Beautiful restoration. 

[Tom99]

Nice save, looks good.

[Dragonhawk1066]

Looks great Snake! Nice job!

[PappyD340]

Excellent restoration!

[oldscool]

16 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I bought this off ebay about 2008 at a price that was high-ish at the time but would be considered a steal today. It was fairly complete, but the body had kind of a bad surface finish that took me MANY hours of polishing to shine up. I'd always wanted one of these Craftsmans, molded in that beautiful emerald green.

 

 

Here's the WIP thread, where I detail the polish job, and interior and chassis painting:

 

I did most of this work around 2010, and then I got a bad case of Dreading the Foiling and it sat on the Shelf of Doom until earlier this year when I dusted it off for the latest Bring Out Your Dead build round. The foilwork turned out to be not as bad as I'd feared, and only took a couple hours. Completion was all downhill from there. Finally, after more than 50 years of wanting a green Craftsman '66 Skylark on my shelf, I have one! Thanks for looking and, as always, Model on, everyone!

 

 

 

 

This one looks really good Snake. Dreading the foiling is what stalls most of my builds too.

[cobraman]

Great looking shade of green.

[Curt]

Excellent resto, Rich!  The polishing is perfect and your detailing makes it pop.

[Gramps46]

I never would have guessed you could end up with such a good looking model from what you started with.  Well done and thanks for sharing.

[Bob Ellis]

I think I paid $35 for my 1966 Skylark builder in 2012. At the time, I thought that was outragious pricing. Fortunately I got my missing parts from Modelhaus before the end. I used to buy Modelhaus and builders at the same time. Today builders are a real lottery.

[NOBLNG]

Really nice restoration job there. It looks great now!?

[Snake45]

3 hours ago, Bob Ellis said:

I think I paid $35 for my 1966 Skylark builder in 2012. At the time, I thought that was outragious pricing. Fortunately I got my missing parts from Modelhaus before the end. I used to buy Modelhaus and builders at the same time. Today builders are a real lottery.

Thanks for your kind words about my....Oh, wait. Never mind. 

['70 Grande]

I have always felt the Buick Skylark was the overall-best-looking of GM's mid-1960's A-bodied cars, and your restoration proves that point; well done Snake... well done!

[ChrisBcritter]

Bravissimo, Snake! Still got a long ways to go on my resin Skylark but I did fix the hump in the driver's door, per your advice.

[Kah puts]

Man that thing came out sweet. I was going to paint mine but after seeing yours I'm having second thoughts, kudos. 

[papajohn97]

Amazing polish job on raw styrene, looks like paint! I’m in awe of how you and others here are able to foil and avoid knife slipping disasters. I guess I just need to dive into the deep end of the pool on a few “learning builds” to conquer my foiling anxieties ???.

I remember building the original AMT ‘66 Skylark kit when it was new and it looking really sweet after painting and assembly (mine was yellow). It’s amazing how $$$ these old kits are these days, too bad these old molds have been modified to make modified stocker kits...thanks for rescuing and sharing this one.

[Bob Ellis]

22 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Thanks for your kind words about my....Oh, wait. Never mind. 

Snake45, your model looks great! Great save.

[slusher]

Great looking Buick Snake..

[Snake45]

On 5/18/2021 at 3:23 PM, michelle said:

nice work on this rescue  also  

Thanks Michelle! 

 

On 5/18/2021 at 3:30 PM, spencer1984 said:

Looks fantastic, nicely done!

I especially appreciate the kind words coming from you, Spencer! Thanks! 

 

On 5/18/2021 at 5:02 PM, bisc63 said:

That turned out really nice. Love the white interior, it complements the rich green.

It really does, doesn't it? Thanks so much! 

On 5/18/2021 at 5:43 PM, Classicgas said:

Beautiful restoration. 

 

On 5/18/2021 at 5:50 PM, Tom99 said:

Nice save, looks good.

 

On 5/18/2021 at 6:41 PM, Dragonhawk1066 said:

Looks great Snake! Nice job!

 

On 5/18/2021 at 8:24 PM, PappyD340 said:

Excellent restoration!

Thanks for all the kind words, Classic, Tom Dragonhawk, and Pappy! Model on! 

[doorsovdoon]

That's a huge transformation! Looks really nice.

[Geno]

Rich, you knocked it outta the park, absolutely great resto.??

[1959scudetto]

Great resurrection, Snake - hard to believe when you see the original wreck in the first picture.