1965 Rambler American WIP for a friend

[Ramfins59]

Thank you very much Bart, Bill, Don and Chris. Your positive comments mean a lot. It's good to know that I must be doing something right here. I wasn't happy with the way I painted the seats, comparing them to the 1:1 reference pictures that my friend sent, so I repainted them. I'll post new pictures tomorrow after they are fully dry. I also started detailing the side panels and I'll try to post pictures of those too when they are done. Thanks again.

[charlie8575]

Very nice, Rich, especially the interior and fixing the chassis-plate.

I'll enjoy seeing the final product.

Charlie Larkin

[Ramfins59]

Thanks a lot Charlie. Yeah I'm looking forward to the final product too. I'm liking this car more and more as I work on it. I think I'll have a tough time handing it over to my friend when he comes to PA to pick it up (No way does he want me to ship the model to him.)

[Ramfins59]

Here's a picture of the repainted seats. I think I'm finally done with them now. The interior side panels are painted but are still drying... I still have to apply chrome foil trim and install the door handles & window cranks. Pictures will follow when they're done. I also got to paint the lower body the Cordovan color and that's drying too. Thanks to all for following along on this build.

[Ford guy]

Looking good Rich! That's a nice interior. Keep up the good work, I'm enjoying watching!

Roy the Ford guy

[scalemodelworld]

Looks amazing Rich. The detail on the dash is fantastic. What do you use for the seat belts?

[Ramfins59]

Thanks guys. Troy I used Model Car Garage photo-etched seat belt hardware along with their seat belt material. I think the same belt material can be found in the ribbon section of either craft or fabric stores.

[Ira]

NICE WORK!!!

Looks Great...

[Sixx]

Looking pretty cool Richard!!!

[Ramfins59]

I was finally able to detail the interior side panels today... The armrests are scratchbuilt and the cranks and handles are from TeplMinCoMd.

And I also unmasked the painted body. Still lots to do but it looks like I'm on the "home stretch" now that the paint is done and it came out good.

Thanks Ira and Derrick, I appreciate your encouragement. Further progress will be posted as it happens. Thanks to all for following along.

Edited December 14, 2012 by Ramfins59

[Ron Hamilton]

Very nice Rich. I have an old glue-bomb that I am trying to turn into a convertible, as I did not want to cut up an S/C Rambler for the roof panel.

I can't wait to see the finished car.

Ron

[FASTBACK340]

I wonder if that's the same Rambler I was watching on e-Bay 2 weeks ago!

Looks great Rich. Your interiors are always awesome. It's been a while since I've watched you put one together and this one is neat. Your buddy is gonna go nuts when he gets it.

[Ramfins59]

Thanks Ron. Good luck with your "glue-bomb". I hope it comes out the way you envision it.

Hey John..!! Thanks a lot. My friend picked this Promo up from EBAY back at the end of November. Yeah it has been awhile hasn't it..?? My friend Mike can't wait to come pick this model up... He sent me a picture the other day of a display base he made for it... He said he was "bored"... He's got a 1:1 "Rambler" script trim piece mounted to a wooden base with a sticky note sticking up on it that says..."COMING SOON"........ Do ya think he's anxious to get it......???

[jsc]

Great job! Can you tell me more about where you got the interior handles and cranks? They look great!

[Tom Geiger]

Great job! Can you tell me more about where you got the interior handles and cranks? They look great!

Not Rich but he got those from Norm Veber, Miniatures and Replicas of MD. They're resin and great pieces. You get something like 20 pieces for $5. And they are perfect little castings! I don't know how he produces them for that price. I use them on my builds. Last time I saw Norm I bought 4 packs so I wouldn't run out

.

[Ramfins59]

Thanks John, and yes, Tom is correct. I also bought several pkgs. of those cranks and handles from Norm Veber and I plan on buying more. They are perfect for interiors that don't have good side panel detail. Just paint them chrome silver

and drill a small hole where you want to mount them and put a tiny drop of CA glue in the hole first. They are really great.

[Draggon]

Thats looking great richard. Love that grille. I gotta get me some of those cranks!

[Tom Geiger]

and drill a small hole where you want to mount them and put a tiny drop of CA glue in the hole first. They are really great.

Another tip, I usually put the part in the mounting hole, then add the CA from the back. No chance of glue showing at all!

[Ramfins59]

OK... five hours to trim the BMF on this beast... my eyes hurt...

It all came out pretty well...... except...... when I peeled off the excess foil on the long side trim pieces, apparently the new XActo blade cut through the paint in spots and the excess foil pulled off teeny, tiny chips of paint...Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!! Plus the BMF is not totally even along the side trim. This only happened on the side trim.

My plan is to remove the foil on the long side trim, touch up the paint with a teeny brush and allow that to dry. Then I'll clearcoat the whole body. Once that is dry and polished (if necessary) I'll reapply the foil on the long side trim, that way the XActo blade will be less likely to cut through the paint again. It's extra steps that I wasn't planning on but I feel it's necessary to have the model look good.

In the meantime I can reassemble the interior. Thanks for following along..

[Bartster]

The paint turned out beautiful. This is really shaping up nicely. Your friend is a lucky man !

[cobraman]

Nice work. That Rambler is looking good !

[Ramfins59]

Thanks Bart and Ray. I appreciate the encouraging words. I'm kind of bummed about having to fix he paint that chipped because up until that happened everything was coming along great, with no hitches, but hey... "stuff" happens right......

It will all be right at the end of this project... just a little "bump in the road" so to speak.

[cobraman]

Richard I have been building models on and off for about 50 years and I almost always have some touching up to do. For some reason final assembly always gives me fits. Most times nobody would notice these "little" imperfections but it bugs the heck out of us doesn't it ?

[Scalper]

nice work on the trim.

[Ramfins59]

Ray you are absolutely right. Everything on this build was going great until I pulled off the excess foil... It really ticked me off...!!! I also usually have small touch-ups to do at the end of builds, but when the build is a special one for a friend, you want it to be even better than the builds you do for yourself. A minor inconvenience, but a PITA nonetheless.

Thanks Andre. Doing the BMF on a model doesn't usually give me troubles... I'm gonna blame it on the brand new blade... LOL.