Moebius Pontiac Catalina

[happy grumpy]

Moebius kits are really finely detailed and engineered, but this one gave me some trouble. The grille doesn't fit perfectly and the hood drops too much. I found out during the final phase so I left it like that .Still a nice looking car. I remember our neighbor had one like this but it was light blue. The color is a mix that I did with Vallejo acrylics with clear coats TS 13 from Tamiya.

[1959scudetto]

Mario, you continue to amaze me with your wonderful builts - I just wanted to comment on your excellent 53 Ford, and in between comes this one - VERY NICE !!!

[happy grumpy]

That is very kind of you Helmut,

I am fairly new to this forum but I have been building for a long time with a big brake of 17 years. I cannot stay idle for very long. This hobby keeps me busy and not getting any younger, I want to finish my collection while I am still capable. I enjoy photographing my models just as much as building them.

I would really like to see some of your work, I'm not sure how to look for content, Can you post a link ?

Be well

[espo]

I agree, this looks great. This is also one of the great Moebius kits even with it's draw backs. The back side of the headlight buckets in the grill bottom out on the radiator core support and this keeps the grill from seating correctly.  I had to go back into the one I built a coup[le of times after I had finished mine. This will also allow the grill to slide up to meet the fenders and then the hood will also fit correctly. I like how you detailed your chassis. 

[PappyD340]

Very nice!

[Zippi]

Nice looking Catalina.  I always liked this body style.  Dang Mario....you must have an assembly line going ?  I keep seeing all these nice builds of yours popping up pretty quick. Keep um coming man.

[tmb727]

Beautiful work.  So you shot TS-13 out of the can over an acrylic paint?  Didn't think that would be wise, (lacquers too hot for acrylics and all that) but obviously, your results show otherwise.  Nicely done.

[happy grumpy]

Thanks Tom

Water based acrylics are not affected by lacquer, at least lacquers designed for models. I also use Mr hobby clear lacquer with same results. I used clear lacquer over tamiya, vallejo and even cheap craft store acrylics and never had an issue. To be safe though I let the paint cure for at least a week before I clear coat it , I get a better finish that way , and another week before polishing. What I would never do is shoot lacquer over enamel unless you let dry for a very long time. I stopped using enamels a long time ago.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Good looking model, nice color choice. 

[Bills72sj]

11 minutes ago, happy grumpy said:

Thanks Tom

Water based acrylics are not affected by lacquer, at least lacquers designed for models. I also use Mr hobby clear lacquer with same results. I used clear lacquer over tamiya, vallejo and even cheap craft store acrylics and never had an issue. To be safe though I let the paint cure for at least a week before I clear coat it , I get a better finish that way , and another week before polishing. What I would never do is shoot lacquer over enamel unless you let dry for a very long time. I stopped using enamels a long time ago.

I agree. It has been my experience that acrylics are pretty inert and very resistant to solvents once they have cured.

Lacquer over enamel is high risk.

[charger74]

It looks very good 

[carbuilder1950]

29 minutes ago, Bills72sj said:

Lacquer over enamel is high risk.

@Bills72sj

Been doing this for years with enamel colors I like, not available in acrylics.

There is a way to do it that's pretty simple, when you know about paint chemistry.

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[slusher]

Very sharp and very clean Pontiac..

[tmb727]

On 10/26/2021 at 9:49 PM, happy grumpy said:

I used clear lacquer over tamiya, vallejo and even cheap craft store acrylics and never had an issue.

That's good to know.  Especially since most paints in the hobby stores these days are acrylics.

[the goon]

Another winner.

Mark

[ewetwo]

Nicely built.

[papajohn97]

Nice job on this wonderful Moebius kit. Yes, the front grill fit and front/ rear window to body fits are both challenges to sort out on this build. Your window fits look great, much better better than I was able to do. On the hood fit, It looks like you needed to remove just a little more material on the rear of the grill and/or inside surfaces of the front bumper wrap-arounds to fully seat the front grill/bumper to the body/ hood. Most of these builds I’ve seen posted are the Ventura with the finned wheels, it’s nice to see a stock Catalina posted.

[happy grumpy]

Thank you John,

when I get the time, I might go back to it to try to fit the grill better. Your suggestion's make sense to me. It should be easy to fix. the bumper/grill being in one piece.

a project for in-between projects.

B e safe

[Anglia105E]

Liking your Moebius Pontiac Catalina, Mario...... The Moebius kits are really good in my opinion, and I enjoyed building their Hudson Hornet 1953.

The quality of Moebius kits is right up there with the best ( e.g. Tamiya )

David

[Brutalform]

Very nice build of this car. It came out really nice, even with the problems that plague this kit. Fantastic work and detail on the chassis. And that paint is just perfect. I recently started the Ventura, and I would be happy if it turned out as nice as yours. So far I corrected the windows, and the grill. Going to check that hood problem tomorrow. Mine is going to be a drag car with mini tubs, and the 421 engine from the AMT 62 Catalina kit. 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Brutalform

[happy grumpy]

Thanks Tom .Looking forward to see your build  .

[Ulbo]

Nice one?

[carrucha]

Nice Pontiac.  Well built and finished.

[landman]

On 10/30/2021 at 6:40 PM, carrucha said:

Nice Pontiac.  Well built and finished.

X2. And I love the backgrounds as well.