StevenGuthmiller Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 2 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said: Is it a 3D printed steering wheel or an original kit part molded in clear styrene? It is the kit part from the AMT 1962 Pontiac Catalina kit. The original '64 Grand Prix steering wheel that I had was in need of some repair that I really didn't want to mess with, and I was going to upgrade it to a transparent steering wheel anyway, so the '62 wheel appeared to be the best bet. The center cap and horn ring however, were incorrect for a '64, so I decided to do some modifications. The spoke pieces were made from wedge shaped pieces of thin styrene sheet framed with thin strips of stretched sprue. These will be painted with simulated wood in the middle, and the edges will be foiled or painted with Alclad chrome. Today I will begin the process of fabricating a new center cap. The horn ring will be added later and will likely be made from stripped wire. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 I think I have the basics of the center cap and spokes done. It was fabricated from various pieces of plastic tube and rod. Should be closer to the '64 look. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doggie427 Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 An elegant solution for the steering wheel. It’s all looking beautiful . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 On 5/10/2020 at 7:05 PM, doggie427 said: An elegant solution for the steering wheel. It’s all looking beautiful . Thanks Wayne! A few more little mods in order to get things up to speed for paint. I added some bezels to the dash for the gauges, made from thin rings cut from plastic tubing. The gauge housings themselves were also made from tubing and will be chromed and added later. Here's a cool little truck that popped into my head for finishing transparent steering wheels! Taking advantage of the horrible yellowing properties of Testors clear gloss enamel, I discovered that it's nearly perfect for recreating a slightly yellowed transparent steering wheel........as they almost always were in very short order on the real cars. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) Just thought I would post how I'm doing the dash knobs. Steve Edited May 13, 2020 by StevenGuthmiller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Nice work on the knobs. The yellowing on the steering wheel is perfect. My first car was a ‘62 Catalina So I know that look well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 I like how you have done the dash board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 Your daring to drill and cut this dash paid-off Steven, you bring it to the next level and it looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted May 17, 2020 Author Share Posted May 17, 2020 On 5/13/2020 at 8:55 PM, Curt said: Nice work on the knobs. The yellowing on the steering wheel is perfect. My first car was a ‘62 Catalina So I know that look well. On 5/13/2020 at 8:59 PM, espo said: I like how you have done the dash board. On 5/14/2020 at 7:43 PM, AmericanMuscleFan said: Your daring to drill and cut this dash paid-off Steven, you bring it to the next level and it looks great! Thanks fellas!! I've finally started throwing around a little paint. The off white upholstery is Duplicolor "Dover White" and the dash and steering wheel are the body color, "Sunfire Red". The dash pad, rear package shelf, floor and lower door panel will get a custom mix that slightly contrasts the Sunfire Red and then the floor and lower door panels will get some embossing powder that I have that just happens to be perfect for this color scheme. The white upholstery will most likely get a light dusting of pearl as well. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 I always thought that was a great color on Pontiacs. I like the color in general, but Pontiac just looks right in that color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 Steering wheel looks like a direct replacement part for a....oh, wait! This is not a full scale Pontiac! What was I thinking! LoL These parts are looking like the real thing, chief! Keep up the wonderful work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 That embossing powder looks like a GREAT match! Ive always ignored the metallic shades, thinking they’d look like glitter when applied...but they work ok, huh? Interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeRS Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 Outstanding work here. I especially like the hood hinge idea. Keep going, im following with interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted May 18, 2020 Author Share Posted May 18, 2020 Thanks guys! 1 hour ago, CabDriver said: That embossing powder looks like a GREAT match! Ive always ignored the metallic shades, thinking they’d look like glitter when applied...but they work ok, huh? Interesting! Sometimes they can be a little too much, but I kind of like "salt and pepper" affect that they produce. Many times, some of these old cars had carpets with some variation in color rather than a monotone look. The metallic embossing powder can help add some of that variation and texture. If the carpet is all one color, it can often be difficult to tell that it has even been done. I suppose it's not exactly correct, but I like the affect. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nazz Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 I think it's pretty close to the factory affect. I can't wait to see what's next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djflyer Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said: Thanks guys! Sometimes they can be a little too much, but I kind of like "salt and pepper" affect that they produce. Many times, some of these old cars had carpets with some variation in color rather than a monotone look. The metallic embossing powder can help add some of that variation and texture. If the carpet is all one color, it can often be difficult to tell that it has even been done. I suppose it's not exactly correct, but I like the affect. Steve Have you ever tried a first layer of solid color powder (or flocking) then add a dusting of the metallic? I remember some cars with carpet or mats that had that kind of look to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 9 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said: Thanks guys! Sometimes they can be a little too much, but I kind of like "salt and pepper" affect that they produce. Many times, some of these old cars had carpets with some variation in color rather than a monotone look. The metallic embossing powder can help add some of that variation and texture. If the carpet is all one color, it can often be difficult to tell that it has even been done. I suppose it's not exactly correct, but I like the affect. Steve Knowing how good your builds always look I’m sure it’ll look outstanding - thanks for the response Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 On 5/10/2020 at 10:08 AM, AmericanMuscleFan said: Very nice job on the transmission Steven, the added details pays off and it's now a really better match with the 64 Pontiac 1:1 transmission. Agreed. If you showed the underside to 20 people, maybe one or two would notice. But you know and that’s what matters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotnitro? Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 (edited) Impressive work as always and trying new techniques that we can all use on our future builds to enhance them...thank you Edited May 18, 2020 by gotnitro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 Thanks folks! This morning I got some color on the floor, rear package shelf, lower door panels and dash pad. It appears that a did a little bit too good of a job of mixing this custom color. I was shooting for a slight contrast between the dash pad and the rest of the dash, but it turned out a bit "slighter" than I was looking for. If you look closely, you can see that the dash pad and the area around the defroster vents and the speaker grille are slightly different. That's how close I managed to mix the custom mixed enamel! There is still some contrast, but it's more in finish than color. The dash pad is dead flat and the rest of the dash is more of a matte finish. Oh well. It'll work. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 On 5/18/2020 at 1:15 AM, djflyer said: Have you ever tried a first layer of solid color powder (or flocking) then add a dusting of the metallic? I remember some cars with carpet or mats that had that kind of look to them. I have not. I've only used the metallic embossing powder. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 On 3/26/2020 at 12:28 AM, StevenGuthmiller said: I appreciate that Richard, but I have a set of those hinges and I likely won't use them. If I do decide to add working hinges on this project, I'll try my hand again at scratch building them. At this point, it's too early to tell what I will decide. Thanks for the offer though Richard! I do appreciate it! Steve Here's a thought for you guy contemplating working hood hinges. Find a junker diecast from one of the mints or better diecast company and make those work. They are prebuilt. I haven't taken one of these diecasts apart, but they have some beautiful working scissor hinges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrobarry Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 OK so I`m looking forward to the end result for sure! Now you need to do a 1961 Ventura and or Catalina! That would be awesome indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 46 minutes ago, Nitrobarry said: OK so I`m looking forward to the end result for sure! Now you need to do a 1961 Ventura and or Catalina! That would be awesome indeed! Thanks Barry, but I have far too many vintage Pontiacs waiting for my attention. Some time, in the not too distant future, I would like to get to work on an AMT 1962 Bonneville hardtop, AMT 1964 Bonneville convertible, AMT 1964 Lemans convertible and an MPC 1966 Bonneville hardtop. My plate is pretty full. I did do a '61 Bonneville convertible some years back, but not to the same level of detail as this GP. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brutalform Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 Wow, I can see you are at it again, Steve. I don’t know how I missed six pages of your progress on this build. I’ll be following along. I always get some good ideas watching your builds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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