Samuels Succeeds Via ?Hakuna Matata?

Glynn Samuels has elephants and dinosaurs in his workshop.
The owner of G&D Fiberglass in Hindsville, and G&D Fiberglass Inc. of Sun Valley, Calif., Samuels’ fiberglass fabrication business produces everything from tractor tops to fake mountains used in motion pictures.
His products include the faux lifeboats and smokestacks used to film the movie “Titanic,” elephants used in “Operation Dumbo Drop,” the cannons from “Master and Commander” and even Simba from “The Lion King.”
“We’ve had pieces on about 200 movie sets during the last 25 years,” Samuels said. “It’s a lot of stuff you wouldn’t recognize. We produce a mold in one color, primarily gray, and scenic artists paint the pieces for background use on screen.”
The Wesley native left a day after graduating high school in 1955 and went to California to work on mahogany boats.
“There wasn’t anything you could do in Northwest Arkansas to make any money, and so I headed out west,” Samuels said. “Pretty soon I was working on fiberglass sailboats, and then I started my own fabricating business in 1959.”
He moved back to Arkansas four years ago in an attempt to semi-retire. Three months later he found a niche making custom tops for vehicles with roll-over bars (roll bars).
G&D, a supplier to Montana Tractors Inc. in Springdale, now makes about 500 tractor tops in various sizes per year. It also does a lot of custom fitting for zero-radius lawnmowers and the firm gets calls for cattle and horse models that local farmers like to incorporate into entry gates.
Samuels’ tractor tops start in the $265 to $285 range. Other fiberglass pieces such as a horse or elephant start at $850. He’s got a detailed mold for a rhinoceros that produces a life-sized replica that goes for $1,200.
“Basically, we can fabricate anything,” Samuels said.
G&D (Glynn and wife Donna) employs five people in California and two in Hindsville.