60 Bonneville Conv.

[epi4561]

I'm attempting to build a model of my Dad's first and favorite care he ever owned. It was, of course, a 1960 Pontiac Bonneville Convertible. Since this is going to be a surprise, I can't ask him too many detailed questions about it or he will get suspicious. To further complicate this project, there are absolutely no pics to use as a reference.

So I got the Trumpeter kit and opened it up:

***Bottom pic - you can see the Photo-Etch kit I purchased from Model Car Garage on the right***

Upon further inspection, I noticed that one of the wheels is missing.

If anyone has any idea where I can get an extra one of these, I would greatly appreciate the help.

actual progress coming soon......

[The70judgeman]

Contact Trumpeter about it. Double check the kit and make sure that's all that is missing before you ask. After, if they agree to replace a part(s), any other parts usually will cost you. Companies will usually, and should, stand by their product and "make it right" if it's imperfect.

[Deathgoblin]

If you can't find it, PM me and I'll make sure I've got my chrome tree from this kit. It actually builds up really nice, and goes together easy. Good call on the MCG photo-etch. The biggest drawback to the Trumpeter kits I've found is the badging sucks. I've got to get a new set of PE for mine. I somehow managed to drop both of the P's from the front.

[Ron Hamilton]

Good Luck on the build. The big problem with this kit is that the interior is an aftermarket rolled and pleated job. When I built mine, I scratchbuilt a replica stock interior for mine. My dad had a '60 Bonneville convertible, just like my signature car, except that I added a set of 8-lug wheels from the Modelhaus, which are better than the ones in the kit.

[epi4561]

Ya.... I noticed that about the seats... still debating on which direction I'm wanting to go with that one.. I'm just real pumped, yet totally scared to do this one. I mean, I really want to see the look on my dad's face when he opens it up on Christmas.. But that is also, making me put some unnecessary pressure on myself to "not screw it up". Who am I kidding though... I'm never satisfied with anything I've ever built. I always nitpick it to death... anyway... think positive...

@Deathgoblin... Looked everywhere... nowhere to be found. pm sent your way...

thanks..

[Deathgoblin]

I did the kit seats, but painted them more in line with what the stock ones should have been. I'll have to post pictures. Overall, this is one of their better kits.

[blunc]

that chrome tree also looks like one of the rumored "badly chromed" run, you should see about requesting a full replacement chrome tree from Trumpeter.

I got a 60 bonny off fleabay that already had the replacement "good chrome" in the box.

If you strike out on wheels send me a PM, I wasn't planning on using the stock wheels on my project, my plans for the kit I have are to build a (phantom) '60 Sport Safari (Pontiac El Camino) so I'll be getting some 8-lug or mounting some Torq-Thrust2's.

[epi4561]

Good Luck on the build. The big problem with this kit is that the interior is an aftermarket rolled and pleated job. When I built mine, I scratchbuilt a replica stock interior for mine. My dad had a '60 Bonneville convertible, just like my signature car, except that I added a set of 8-lug wheels from the Modelhaus, which are better than the ones in the kit.

Hey Ron, My dads bonnie was white, but also had the maroon/ burgundy interior like your model. What paint(s) did you use for the tri-color seats? I was planning on just finding a real decent burgundy and then adding black /white to create the darker/lighter shades.

thanks-epi

[AzTom]

that chrome tree also looks like one of the rumored "badly chromed" run, you should see about requesting a full replacement chrome tree from Trumpeter.

I got a 60 bonny off fleabay that already had the replacement "good chrome" in the box.

I thought the same thing, they look like the satin finish.

It's not a "Rumor". The first run of these had a "Satin" chrome finish and the boxes were not Cellophane wrapped. Stevens International told me the factory took it upon themselves to change to the satin finish thinking they were making an improvement. Stevens sent new shiny chrome trees out about a month after the release to replace the satin chrome.

The exhaust on the satin tree looks WAY better than on the chrome tree.

Well, that only took three reloads to get posted I had to eliminate the Quote then add it manually.

[my80malibu]

At one time you get a new chrome tree from the hobby shops let me know if you need a replacement a friend of mine who passed away had some in his estate sale that i can heterosexual a hold of if you act quickly

[epi4561]

At one time you get a new chrome tree from the hobby shops let me know if you need a replacement a friend of mine who passed away had some in his estate sale that i can heterosexual a hold of if you act quickly

Is this quick enough? lol Sent a PM.

[epi4561]

Here are some pics of the engine so far.

and a couple shots of the chassis

I know, they still need a bit of touching up. More to come soon. I hope you enjoy.

thanks-epi

[charlie8575]

I can see why things were said about the engine....it does look a little odd, but I can also see that when nicely painted and detailed, it'll look pretty decent once installed.

Charlie Larkin

[sjordan2]

At one time you get a new chrome tree from the hobby shops let me know if you need a replacement a friend of mine who passed away had some in his estate sale that i can heterosexual a hold of if you act quickly

Two subsequent posts and no one noticed this? Is this a text message with auto correct? What did you REALLY type?

:D

Edited October 23, 2012 by sjordan2

[Ron Hamilton]

Hey Ron, My dads bonnie was white, but also had the maroon/ burgundy interior like your model. What paint(s) did you use for the tri-color seats? I was planning on just finding a real decent burgundy and then adding black /white to create the darker/lighter shades.

thanks-epi

Gary,

I custom mixed the paint for the interior. Honduras Maroon is pretty close for the main red, a deep maroon will work for the darler tone, and the third tone is a mauve shade. I hand paint my interiors with acrylics, followed by a flat clear lacquer, rubbed out with skin oil to get the semi gloss sheen. The floorboards were flocked.

Hope this helps.

Ron.

[epi4561]

Thanks Ron, I think I'm gonna stick with my original thought. A while ago, I bought some Auto Air paint and they sent some sample sizes of their Water-borne paints. I was able to get a really decent burgandy/maroon by mixing a little blue with some red. And I'll lighten/darken to meet the other colors. I'm curently in the process of reworking those atrocious things they called seats.

I'm sure you are well aware of Trumpeters pitiful excuse for replica seats, but for you who aren't, this is how the seats looked out of the box.

Rolled Pleats...... Really? Not that there's anything wrong with rolled pleats. Just not for this car. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, If you look closely at the front seat (left), you can see that the seams on the seat bottoms do not line up with the seams on the seat backs. What's that all about? So now I'm tackling the job of transforming those seats into the proper tri-color design, which they apparently had no problem making for the hard top version.

thanks-epi

[epi4561]

It's been a while, but I've managed to make a little progress.

I experimented with using graphite powder to enhance the appearance of the shocks. Here is a before and after pic

I also have pretty much everything attached to the chassis at this point.

More to come.....

thanks-epi

[Deathgoblin]

Looking really good so far. The chassis is shaping up really nice.

[Hakan ERYILMAZ]

Really nice work.Congrats.

[epi4561]

I appreciate the kind words guys. I seem to be putting alot of time in to it and while not seeing many immediate results. Which I suppose every build has these moments. But, nonetheless, I'm sputtering right along. thanks for looking.

thanks-epi

[Duntov]

This is a neat kit (despite problems) I still like it.... thanks for sharing...

[epi4561]

I swear, this hobby is trying its best to tell me it doesn't want me around... But I'm too stubborn to listen. My bonnie project has been put on hold. As I've said before, I wanted to get this done for my dad in time for Christmas.. Well last weekend, out of the blue, one of the PE parts I ordered decided it had better things to do than to be put on this model, so it took a hike... It wouldn't have been such a big deal except that I had already modified the plastic part from the model to fit the piece. and it just happens to be one of the main dash trim pieces. So it is on hold for the time being until I get around to ordering another set of PE from modelcargarage.

If you can't find it, PM me and I'll make sure I've got my chrome tree from this kit. It actually builds up really nice, and goes together easy. Good call on the MCG photo-etch. The biggest drawback to the Trumpeter kits I've found is the badging sucks. I've got to get a new set of PE for mine. I somehow managed to drop both of the P's from the front.

I remember you saying you needed some letters from this PE kit.. Check your messages...

thanks-epi

[Deathgoblin]

I swear, this hobby is trying its best to tell me it doesn't want me around... But I'm too stubborn to listen. My bonnie project has been put on hold. As I've said before, I wanted to get this done for my dad in time for Christmas.. Well last weekend, out of the blue, one of the PE parts I ordered decided it had better things to do than to be put on this model, so it took a hike... It wouldn't have been such a big deal except that I had already modified the plastic part from the model to fit the piece. and it just happens to be one of the main dash trim pieces. So it is on hold for the time being until I get around to ordering another set of PE from modelcargarage.

I remember you saying you needed some letters from this PE kit.. Check your messages...

thanks-epi

I had the same issue with the PE set. Somehow managed to drop both of the "P"'s for the nose, so I just stopped. Right now my Bonneville just has "ONT" on the nose because I was afraid to drop anything else.

[epi4561]

After quite some time away from this project, I managed to get a little work done on the seats. As you can see by the pics, I still need to do some clean up, but for my first "custom" work I'm happy with the progress so far.

Sorry for the huge pics, I can't seem to figure out how to make a small image click to the full size image while staying on the forum,(rather than going to photobucket)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics.

[epi4561]

I'm not totally satisfied with the result so far, so I think I'm going to sdd some piping around the different patterns. I already have the tiny holes drilled. Hopefully this adds the kind of detail I'm hoping for.