Plastic Parakeets Never Die!!

 Plastic parakeets never squawk, shed feathers, need fed, bite, poop, or die. They just get dusty. Here is an old Bachmann "Birds Of the World" series Parakeet model kit from the 1960's that I bought on eBay about 5 years ago, built it up and painted it to look like our late parakeet that we had that we named "Beak" because he had one. Here are pictures that I took of the life sized model recently.

Here, below is another plastic parakeet model that started out as a robotic toy. But because of how that the batteries had to be placed inside a cavity through an access door in the front breast feathers, and a head that looked like it was partially popped off or severed, I decided to modify it into a static, more realistic model, if you will. I filled in the battery compartment cover cracks, as well as the screw holes where the screws go that hold the toy together, using a plastic filler putty. After it dried, I sanded the breast back to its original contours, but I purposely left it a little rough to simulate the layered look of the bird's breast feathers. I also did before I did all this removed the button cell batteries, and disabled the heads animated movements, by cutting off the metal motor shaft that the head was mounted to, and crazy glued it directly to the birds body. While the thing was still animated, my wife said it's head moved when it chirped like it had Turret's Syndrome, the animation was that bad. After I did all this stuff, I went to my True Value store, and bought a small bottle of "Folk Art" brand acrylic paint in bright green, to repaint the breast back to the green color it originally was before I partially sanded it off when I resculpted the breast feather features. Here are the results.

Jim.

Jo-Han's 1965 Cadillac scale model, A miniature masterpiece of an automotive masterpiece!

I have always admired the styling of the 1965 Cadillac ever since it was introduced in October of 1964 as a seven year old boy. Back then, I asked my dad if he could buy me a toy model of the thing, but money was tight, and he either could not, or he would not. I knew that they made already built up promotional models in 1/25 scale plastic, and that is what I wanted more than anything, but to no avail at that time. I was too young to know how to build model kits at that time, so that was out of the question, too. My dad did get me a Japanese tin litho friction toy of a gold 1966 de Ville the following year, but the detail was not there, and I did not like it. I ended up trashing the toy.

I was finally able to get a Jo-Han annual model kit with my allowance money in the fall of 1966 of the redesigned again 1967 Cadillac Coupe de Ville at my local hobby shop, "Smitty's Hobbies" in the Manor Shopping Center in Lancaster, PA. That shop is long gone, now. I still really wanted the 1965, though.

As I grew into a teenager in the early to mid 1970's I started building and collecting model cars and kits of cars, thereof in earnest. Model kit companies started to re issue models and kits from the 1950's and 1960's of all different kinds of cars. Then Jo-Han Models got into the act in around 1974 with their re-issues of some of their stuff from the early '60's through the early 1970's in their "USA Oldies series line, which included their re-issue of their 1964 Cadillac coupe and convertible kits. A year off, but close.

At the time, I was going 1959 Cadillac crazy, and I had my driver's licence, and I had a chance to buy a REAL 1959 Caddy, but my dad would not let me, so I wrote to Jo-Han Models and asked them if they would re-issue their plastic model they did of their '59 Cadillac. Their response was that they sent me a comprehensive survey, asking me, as a collector, what models that I would be interested in seeing re-issued. That survey list had EVERY car model that they ever  made, going all the way back to 1955, and all the way up to the then new for 1977 model year cars. I was very excited to say the least.

That survey list included the 1965 Cadillac, and of course, I checked that one off, along with about half the cars they had listed there, including a 1956 De Soto Fireflite 4 door sedan, as well as others. The result of that survey was the formation of Ex-el Products, a division of Jo-Han Models. That company proceeded to re-issue their old dealer promotional models in a choice of different colors, in the amount of four different cars at a time in very limited quantities. I was  hoping they would re issue the 1965 Cadillac, but that never happened. So I put it out of my mind....

 That is, until 1983. That was the year I was able to fulfill my dream of buying, owning and driving a 1965 Cadillac. It was a very weather worn Hampton Blue Metallic Calais 2 door hardtop that I bought for $500.00, fixed it up, and had repainted in the original color. I had already started going to car shows and swap meets, looking for nice parts for this car. I  thought, why not look for original promotional models and/or kits of '65 Cadillacs, there. In the spring of 1984, at the big Carlisle meet, I found my first one. an old scratched up blue plastic one with a friction motor, but it was intact. I paid $35.00 for it.

 In the fall of '84, I went to the big Hershey AACA car show, and swap meet. There, I found at a vendor called "Grandpa's Attic", an off white, mint, still boxed 1965 Cadillac Coupe de Ville in absolutely perfect shape. That is the very model you see in these pictures here, right now. When I got it home, I tore it completely apart, spray painted it light metallic blue, and super detail painted the body and interior.

I had my real 1965 Cadillac for almost 25  years, and I enjoyed owning it very much,(We used it in our wedding in 1989) and once I was able to afford to buy my REAL dream car, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air sport sedan, I sold the Cadillac to make room for the Chevy.

I still own this 1/25 scale Jo-Han model that I did up of my car, today, as it is one of my favorite models that I have in my collection.

In my opinion, of all the subsequent models that have been issued of this car by different companies, this Jo-Han model stands out as the most accurate in scale proportions, and the nicest in appearance.

In around 2008, I was finally able to fulfill my childhood dream of finding the original annual 1965 Cadillac model kit issued by Jo-Han models in 1964. It is only missing one stock clear red taillight insert and the custom clear red taillight inserts.But otherwise, it is all there, and in good buildable condition. A not too common kit that I found on eBay . Since these were only issued during the original model year run in 1964-'65, these kits and dealer promo models can command some crazy prices, as they are in high demand, today, where they are found in decent condition.

Jim.

"Model Power"'s "N" gauge "Victorian House" kit build up from 1991.

 "Model Power"'s "N" scale kit of a Victorian House is a very awesome and detail packed little kit. This model assembled is only about 5 inches cubed, it is that small, but the engraved detail in the plastic parts is beyond belief for a model that is so small. Even though I built this in December of 1991, it is still available at your local hobby shop. If they don't have it, they can get it for you. At least in the United States. If you decide to build this cool model right out of the box, it'll take you about 8 hours to do so. I added yellow envelope paper behind the windows to simulate the old yellow window shades these old houses would have had back in the early to mid 1900's. I did no painting at all to this great little kit.The parts are very small and some are very delicate, as well as numerous, so you have to be VERY careful when assembling this glue together kit. Highly recommended kit for all you "N" scale model railroaders out there.

 Here are some very nice detail shots of this detail packed little model.

Jim.

"Golden Hind", built up of old Pyro models kit reissued by Lindberg models.

Let's take a break from the R-34 posts to look at a model of a much older ship of the British Crown.

Under the classification of weird and wonderful stuff comes this built up small plastic model kit I did around 2000 of Sir Francis Drake's 1577 ship, the "Golden Hind". It was this ship he used to circumnavigate the globe, in the name of the Queen of England. From what I read, he was not a very nice guy. One of his favorite hobbies was "keel dragging" his crew members if he felt they were not working up to his expectations, and such. People said he was more of a pirate, than an explorer. Model kit is a Lindberg models reissue of the old Pyro ship model kit that they issued in the 1950's and 1960's. The hardest part about making this model look somewhat realistic was doing the rigging, and making the mast "rat lines". There is very little instructions with the kit itself for doing the rigging, other than the full size patterns for making the rat lines out of black thread on wax paper over the printed out patterns on the instruction sheet. Using pins to stretch the thread taut over the pattern, first horizontal, then the vertical. Then after you have the threads laid out, you take a brush, and "paint" white glue(Elmers, or equivalent), to glue the threads together where they intersect. When it is dry, you take the pins out, and trim off the excess thread, and glue flash. Now how I did the rigging, I'm not going to even try to explain that! The paintwork I had to do beforehand was very involved, too as the model came molded only in white.

Jim.

AMT's 1928 Porter from "My Mother The Car" from 1965.

Here is a relic from TV shows gone bad from days gone by. Of course, this is AMT's one time issue of the "1928 Porter", "Mother" from the Jerry Van Dyke show, "My Mother The Car" The show was based on the concept that a man's mom, one David Crabtree's, had passed away and her spirit was incarnated into this 1928 Porter, and the car comes alive. Goofy concept, for bad TV, but hey what do you expect for 1965 television? I was glued to the screen each week, as I thought this was the coolest looking car on the face of the Earth. I really thought there was such a car for real as a 1928 Porter. I knew as soon as I saw that first episode, I had to have a model of it.

Of course, this was the golden age of 1/25 scale model car kits, so AMT stepped up to the plate, and produced this kit in early 1966.

Beings that at the time, I was only eight years old, I could not yet build model kits very good, and all my attempts to build this model ended in a glue-smeared wreck. My parents got this kit for me 3 times. The last time I got it, the show was already cancelled, and off the air, and I was heartbroken, not being able to see the car gracing my black and white Motorola 25" TV screen anymore. Unlike the preceeding two kits, this one did come out somewhat fair, but still glue smeared. My parents got this last kit for my at a bulk discount store in late 1966 for fifty cents. I still, after I built it, I played with it to death, and it, too was destroyed.

Fast forward to the 1980's, when I started to play around with REAL antique cars, and I started to go to old car shows and swap meets. I started finding the old model kits, and dealer promotional models that I got, and destroyed when I was a kid, and started to build up my collection like I had back then.

In, I believe, 1983, I was walking past a vendor at the big Fall Carlisle car show and swap meet, and he had about 15 old AMT kits stacked up on his table. One of them was this beat up old 1965 AMT My Mother The Car kit box. He said the kit was 100% complete, nothing missing. I told him I was trying to find one of these for years. He said, "Gimmie $15.00, and it's yours!" So that is how I got a fourth chance to build this model again, as I still think the car from this show is cool looking.

I never realized, though, how many inaccuracies are in this kit, compared to the real car, such as the fact that AMT based their replica on a 1927 Ford Model T touring car body, instead of the 1924 model T Ford body that was actually used in creating this car. The actual car is much more lower slung than this kit is. The tires on the actual car are much fatter, are wide whitewalls, and run in much smaller diameter chrome wire spoke wheels, as opposed to the bigger stock model T's painted wire spoke wheels.

Nonetheless, this model somewhat captures the essence of the original show's car, and still is the only scale replica ever made of this car, of which only two were really built for the short lived show.

I tried to be very careful with this then 17 year old kit, and painted it up to the best of my ability, according to the original copyrighted 1965 box art and instruction sheet that came with the kit.

The model you see here, today, is the result of that effort I did in 1983, to preserve a piece of American automotive and television history. After searching the internet, these pictures here, are the only ones of this kit  that show an intact, and completed model.

"Everybody knows in the second life, we all come back sooner or later. As anything from a pussycat to a man-eating alligator. But the truth may mean my story, is more fiction than it's fact, but believe it or not my Mother dear, decided she'd come back. As a car. She's my very own guiding star. A 1928 Porter. And that's my Mother, dear. She helps me through everything I do, and I'm so glad she's here. My Mother The Car. My Mother The Car!"

To show how nuts I am about this car/show I typed this from memory.

My mom says I was, and am the only  fan of this show. I don't think so. :-D

Jim.

1957 Chevy Bel Air 4 door Sports Sedan Hardtop 1/25 scale model-Revisited!

Beings that since I posted about this model back in 2010,  it has become my most popular post.  I thought I would revisit it with better, brand new digital photos of this model, that I just took, today. Now you can see this 1984 built AMT/Jo-Han scale model in somewhat more detail. It is a little over 8" long in 1/25 scale.

For these photos, I took the clear cover off the display box, and took the model outside to photograph it.

For a model that I built 28 years ago, I think it came out nice, and it still is very presentable! It is far from perfect but scale model kit builds of this body style of '57 Bel Air 4 door hardtops are practically non-existent.

 That is why I combined an AMT 1957 Chevy Bel Air 2 door hardtop kit with a Jo-Han/Ex-El products 1956 Pontiac Star Chief 4 door Catalina hardtop reproduction dealer promotional model to make this model.

Door lines on the body needed to be filled in and rescribed. Door handles needed to be shaved off and rebuilt in different spots.

The interior cavity opening in the body needed lengthened to accommodate the longer interior box and 4 door hardtop roof.  The back half of the interior box needed to be totally cut away, including the complete removal of the coupe rear arm rests, reconstructed, as well as lengthened, including rebuilding the package shelf, new rear door panels, new arm rests, as well as extending the width of the back seat, and making the coupe split back front seat into a sedan type solid back front seat. The window assembly came from a junked AMT original AMT 1957 Pontiac Star Chief Catalina 4 door hardtop friction promotional model. It fit my body shell without my having to modify it. I also added a turn signal lever to the steering column, as this is missing from the AMT kit. In that time period 1956 and 1957, Pontiac and Chevrolet shared the same hardtop roof sheet metal.

  The AMT '57 Chevy kit has the hood bar molded in as an integral part of the bumper grille assembly.

  

For this model, I cut the piece free from this assembly and attached it to the front of the hood as per the actual car.

A close up shot of this detail

This model is a replica of a yellow and white '57 Bel Air 4 door hardtop that I owned from 1980 through 1983. My dad made me sell it because he said that it was junk, and it would never be worth anything. I had alot of misgivings about this, but I was still "just a kid that did not know anything". so I did not really have a choice.The choices I did have were, either sell the car, or my dad would have booted me out of the house. There was no way that I could afford that, so I sold the car at a tremendous loss. My building this model was a consolation to me.

I thought you might enjoy seeing these images of this what I consider to be a nicer body style than the two door hardtop. I tried to open the hood to photograph the fully painted and detailed engine compartmet, but it was stuck shut. I have not opened it in about 15 years, and I was afraid if I would have used too much force, that I would have damaged the model. So I let it go.

                        So enjoy the images that I was able to take of this one of a kind model car.

Grille, and Chevrolet coat of arms on grille bar.

Let's zoom up on this view!

                                                 Oh, them cool '57 taillights!!

Here is the original post from 2010.

http://jayveejayaresjunk.blogspot.com/2010/11/1957-chevy-bel-air-4-door-sports-sedan.html

Jim.