Johan 1961 Oldsmobile restoration

[rsmodels]

 Here's another restoration I finished a few weeks ago. I used Modelhaus bumpers, hubcaps, and tail lights along with a set of Monogram 59 Cadillac tires (from the kit). I found glass on Ebay.  It took over 25 years for me to finally do this car as it was badly crushed.

There's a long story behind this model and I became a sort of celebrity because of it. I used to sell with my late brother at many shows  and around 25 years ago we were at the summer Macungie show in Pa. I had this car painted white and for sale. I sold it for a high price ,pocketed the cash, and set it on a chair to go get the box. My brother decided to sit down. The model was about destroyed. Needless to say, I returned the money.  The roof was broken into 6 or 8 pieces and the body had been split in two down one side. I got home and couldn't bring myself to throw it away so put it in a drawer. Once in a while I would look at it but didn't think I'd ever be able to repair it.  I did buy parts and used the interior and other parts from the damaged car to build an identical white Olds and it is still in my collection, now displayed along.with this blue one.

 A couple of years ago I decided to try to see if I could do anything with the broken pieces.  I started doing the body work, then it  got set aside. Last year I went back to it and was able to finish the body and got it primed and painted. A month or so ago I decided to finish it and you see the results.

At that Macungie show there were people coming by the whole time after to see the model. After that at every show I went to there were people talking about it.  If you are one of the older guys and go to shows, you may have heard the story. It never stopped, even at the most recent shows I did there were people that would ask if I was the guy whose brother sat on his expensive model.

Sorry for being so long winded!

                                                                                                                                                                       

 

[Tom99]

Excellent!!

[Bainford]

Great story, and incredible reconstruction. Your recovery of the body seems impeccable. Lovely Olds, and a very rarely seen kit at that. Beautiful work, thanks for posting.

[rsmodels]

11 minutes ago, Bainford said:

Great story, and incredible reconstruction. Your recovery of the body seems impeccable. Lovely Olds, and a very rarely seen kit at that. Beautiful work, thanks for posting.

Thanks Trevor,

   i didn't get the vent window surrounds quite right as can be seen up close but considering what I started with I am satisfied. I wish I had taken photos of the body damage before I started the repairs.  -Rich

 

 

[espo]

Beautiful looking Olds and the chrome trim looks amazing. Hard to think this has been crushed at one time looking at the body now. So do your brother and you still talk? 

[rsmodels]

2 hours ago, espo said:

Beautiful looking Olds and the chrome trim looks amazing. Hard to think this has been crushed at one time looking at the body now. So do your brother and you still talk? 

Hi David,

  I never held it against my brother. He really felt terrible. We were very close, talked models very often , and kept going to shows together. Sadly, he died from a stroke at 57 years old in 2005. He was  a car guy like me and my best modeling friend.

                                                                                                                                    Rich

 

 

[espo]

2 hours ago, rsmodels said:

Hi David,

  I never held it against my brother. He really felt terrible. We were very close, talked models very often , and kept going to shows together. Sadly, he died from a stroke at 57 years old in 2005. He was  a car guy like me and my best modeling friend.

                                                                                                                                    Rich

 

 

Sorry to hear about your brother. My remark was meant to be tung in cheek. Instead I seem to stepped on myself. 

[rsmodels]

6 minutes ago, espo said:

Sorry to hear about your brother. My remark was meant to be tung in cheek. Instead I seem to stepped on myself. 

No problem at all, David. I took it as you had intended, didn't think twice about it.

[GMCMAN52]

nice looking Olds, looking at the box art it looks like the kit may be a Palmer box? need a better pic to see.

 

[#1 model citizen]

Nice save. Great looking model! Do you have any “before” photos?

[rsmodels]

25 minutes ago, GMCMAN52 said:

nice looking Olds, looking at the box art it looks like the kit may be a Palmer box? need a better pic to see.

 

Yes the 65 Stsrfire is a Palmer kit. I may build it one day.

[rsmodels]

5 minutes ago, #1 model citizen said:

Nice save. Great looking model! Do you have any “before” photos?

No, I didn't take any and wish I had. 

[#1 model citizen]

37 minutes ago, rsmodels said:

No, I didn't take any and wish I had. 

Me too!

[bisc63]

Very nice work, and great looking in that color scheme! Near and dear to me, as I recently purchased a fixer-upper (real car), and have been eyeballing a resin kit. I never knew the origins of the kit, but I see now it must be JoHan.

[rsmodels]

58 minutes ago, bisc63 said:

Very nice work, and great looking in that color scheme! Near and dear to me, as I recently purchased a fixer-upper (real car), and have been eyeballing a resin kit. I never knew the origins of the kit, but I see now it must be JoHan.

Thanks Rusty,

My dad had a 63 Olds wagon, I built a model of it and will post photos sometime. My first car was a 63 Super 88. I have a 1:1 63 and I feel like 16 every time I drive it.

                                          

[Kah puts]

61 was such a great year and your 98 is top drawer. Oldsmobubbles had the coolest steering wheels on the planet. That Palmer Olds is kinda rare, I recently missed out on one on ebay, you've got to do that soon, at least a mock,what a tease, through us a bone!

[rsmodels]

21 minutes ago, Kah puts said:

61 was such a great year and your 98 is top drawer. Oldsmobubbles had the coolest steering wheels on the planet. That Palmer Olds is kinda rare, I recently missed out on one on ebay, you've got to do that soon, at least a mock,what a tease, through us a bone!

Thanks for you comments on this and my other models. I'll try to post mockup photos of the Palmer Starfire in the next few days. I've had time lately  and have been posting one model each day. The box art for the Starfire is great. The model not so much but it's not one of their worst, at least you can tell what it is when you see it!   -Rich

[bisc63]

Cool stuff. Now talk to us about the gray car with fins hiding in the garage! 57ish...

[PappyD340]

Very nice, well done!

[rsmodels]

7 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Cool stuff. Now talk to us about the gray car with fins hiding in the garage! 57ish...

As I've said, I like unusual cars and have examples of five marques that are no longer made. This is my 58 Desoto Firesweep Sportsman. I prefer unrestored original cars but I really liked this one. It had a complete frame off restoration over 30 years ago. I've had it about 20 years.

[GMCMAN52]

15 hours ago, rsmodels said:

Yes the 65 Stsrfire is a Palmer kit. I may build it one day.

thank for the update

[bisc63]

9 hours ago, rsmodels said:

This is my 58 Desoto Firesweep Sportsman

An absolute beauty. Thanks for the pics! Have you modeled this vehicle?

[thatz4u]

nice restoration, well done...

[rsmodels]

1 hour ago, bisc63 said:

An absolute beauty. Thanks for the pics! Have you modeled this vehicle?

Hi Rusty, thanks for asking

 

No I have not. If the 58 promos didn't warp I probably would have modified one. Mine, being the cheapest model, has the Dodge front end rather than the Chrysler one. So I would have to graft a Dodge front end onto the promo. I've done plenty of that kind of work but would not spend the time on an acetate promo. I do have a couple of Modelhaus 57 Desoto wagons though and plan to build one at some point.  -Rich

 

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi Rich!

Great work, bravo!

I always felt that this 61 olds rear end, if it were to be mashed with the 61 Buick Invicta front fenders and grille, would make for the ultimate early 60's GM "space age" school of design. Each of those kits is hard to come by, so I can only dream of finding both and proceed with this mash-up. 

Someday, who knows? 

CT