I picked up my first kit

[oversteer]

Hi everyone.I picked up this Revell kit from the hobby shop the other day.The shop had a good amount of kits but none that really caught my attention accept for this one.I really wanted to do an American car but most of the stuff the shop had was the "regular stuff".The guy at the hobby shop tells me I dont need to use primer for 2 reasons,1)The primer along with the paint will fill in the details and 2)"You really don't need primer for plastic models only for metal"??So I wasn't so sure about this.Anyway I picked up hobby knives,sand paper,Tamiya paint and some other odds and ends.I have a ways to go in the tools dept,I dont even have a good light to work under.The kit comes in a nice grey plastic and its 1:24.I have been going through the body and the bigger parts retro fitting them and correcting to the best of my ability any imperfections with my hobby knife and sanding.I lightly sanded the body using 600 grip paper(darn was I supposed to do that wet?).I can see that I will need some filler putty for the tiny gaps that appear here and there.I hope I didn't mess the kit up by dry sanding it,I realized I goofed.Anyways I'll continue retro fitting and wet sanding(just to remove the shine and give the paint something to grab onto).After I order some more things from the hobby shop I think I'll paint this one without a spray booth(since I didnt order one yet).I'll paint it outside in a big card borad box or something.I'm planning on painting the interior "Mica red"including the dash and the exterior Gun metal.what do yall think about that?As always any advice is appreciated.Thanks,Rich

[Corvette.Jeff]

nice looking kit richard. i like the color choices. im not sure about the sanding thing, i know when i sand down a real car i always do it dry, unless i have paint on it.

-Jeff

[Brendan]

The hobby shop guy is right in a sense that you don't need primer. But if you're sanding and filling, you do. You're better off getting into the habit of priming plastic no matter what. It makes for better adhesion of the paint to the plastic. I always wet sand even if it's bare plastic because it keeps the sandpaper clean. Let us know how you do with the build. And get some pictures up so we can follow along.

[oversteer]

The hobby shop guy is right in a sense that you don't need primer. But if you're sanding and filling, you do. You're better off getting into the habit of priming plastic no matter what. It makes for better adhesion of the paint to the plastic. I always wet sand even if it's bare plastic because it keeps the sandpaper clean. Let us know how you do with the build. And get some pictures up so we can follow along.

Thanks yall.I was online looking up pictures of the prototype 635csi and I noticed some things about the model.The hood is too short,the rear deck angle is off,the wing that goes on the rear deck is way too big,the wheels are way too small,and the angle of the door is off.Is it common for plastic car models to be noticeably different to its prototype?I'm new to model cars and actually was active in O scale trains.I just thought it would be easy to replicate a car accurately in minature.

[The Creative Explorer]

I strongly disagree with the guy from LHS, you should use primer for 2 reasons; 1- Adhesion for the color-paint and 2- for prepping the body for a smooth coat.

I know there are people not using primer, but I strongly recommend it. It makes sure the paint doesn't peal off if you had to mask a part or scrap alongst it with a knife ( for what reason that might be haha)

But also, it makes the body extra smooth. I always polish my primer-coat, it makes the body-supersmooth for the following coats of color.

There is no difference between dry and wet-sanding in result. Both are the same. The advantage of dry-sanding is that you can follow your progress better.

But I would recommend wet sanding, because the water will keep the dust-particles from flying around and makes your sand-paper to last longer. But other than that, there is no difference.

Another recommendation; I would go for grid 2000 if you are going to put a color-coat over it. 600 is too coarse for a nice smooth color-coat.

But above is just IMHO

[Brendan]

Thanks yall.I was online looking up pictures of the prototype 635csi and I noticed some things about the model.The hood is too short,the rear deck angle is off,the wing that goes on the rear deck is way too big,the wheels are way too small,and the angle of the door is off.Is it common for plastic car models to be noticeably different to its prototype?I'm new to model cars and actually was active in O scale trains.I just thought it would be easy to replicate a car accurately in minature.

It's not uncommon at all. The better manufacturers such as Tamiya or Fujimi are usually more accurate, but cost quite a bit more. Anywhere between $30 and $80 for a 1/24 or 1/25 scale. Revell has gotten much better in recent years with the accuracy. But no kit is going to be 100% accurate. That's why you see so many people coming out with transkits (resin) and so many people cutting up the cars to fix the problems. That's how you build your skills up by fixing all the problems done by the manufacturer.

[sfhess]

Isn't the Revell 635 a reissue of the old Monogram kit? I built one several years ago and it seemed to be a little pudgy-looking compared to the real thing.

I have a Fujimi M635 kit that has a lot of metal parts for the engine and suspension. It makes the standard Fujimi kit look simple!

[plumnuts]

welcome to the hobby. I have sprayed models without primer and the paint has a marbeling effect to it . definatly primer.

the details will still be there.(several light coats is the trick) the colors are cool I'm using both colors on a build now.

the mica red is a gloss matalic color might recommend a flat red for the upholstery. good luck