Metalbeast

I've never used the primer, but I did use some Touch and Tone gloss paint on a Model A body some time ago. I sprayed it straight onto the plastic with no primer after I'd sanded off the mold lines and flash and for cheapo hardware paint I was happy. It was kind of a shot in the dark. I wanted a bright red for the Model A and I just happened to have quite a bit of the bright red Touch and Tone left over from the can I bought to touch up a mower deck. I try to use primer from the same mfgr as whatever top coat I'm using so I'd like to hear your results on what works with the Touch n Tone primer.

Kinda like the time Family Guy killed Brian. LOL!

Ride height and diameter of wheels and tires. ertl was the worst at that. I remember that a wheel that would have been 14" in real life would be the same diameter as a wheel that was supposed to be 17" in real life. That was probably a cost cut so they could use the same five or so sets of tire molds they had. Sheesh, I think the 1992 F150 kit originally came with old MPC bias ply tires! I think they went back and fixed the ride height on the Taurus SHO.

If it were all the red color of the right fender, and had the back tires, it would look an awful lot like one I used to see in my high school parking lot! Oh it would need a Misfits skull sticker on the back too.

Many years ago (late 80's early 90's), Ertl used to print info about the kit on the bottom of the box. One of my purchases back then was an AMT '32 Ford kit, but the bottom of the box had the info on the '69 Hurst Olds kit. That's slightly different because I can see a separate box top and bottom that are supposed to go together getting mixed before packaging. I want to say on a recent trip to a hobby shop I saw a Datsun truck with the name spelled "Datstun" on the box. Humans are only human after all!

Looks like I picked a good time to get back into the hobby! I've only built a handful of Tamiya kits but each one was a pure pleasure every time. That was 20 odd years back now. I'm guessing their new stuff is even better than that.

I may be in the minority as far as the Testors version, but years and years ago I painted about five or six models with the same can of Ford Jade green metallic with a can of PlastiKote touch up paint from my uncle's shop.

I have friends in St.Johns, so I'm aware of the area. I'm originally from the Grand Rapids area.

Personally, I get everything straight and square and then glue them in place. Had a finished model I was fond off roll off of a shelf once and shatter into a billion pieces. Fortunately I was able to repair it but from there on I glued my wheels solid. Starting with the one that took a tumble! I think of it as a parking brake for the shelf, lol.

Years and years ago I built their Hyundai Excel kit- it was a motorized kit with glass molded in this weird bluish green. I mean the windows, headlights, everything. Didn't seem too bad at the time but I'm sure if I got that same kit today I'd be horrified. I'm really interested in this, though. I love seeing kits of ordinary, everyday cars and this fits the bill to a T. I even have a little experience with a 1:1 Santa Fe- I drove a 2003 version years ago as a body shop loaner!

A Y-block would be an easy swap, in the kit and real life. The real trucks got the Y block for '54. Years ago I built one with a Y block, I want to say I used one from a Revell '56 and fitted a supercharger from an AMT '57 Ford. The Buick would be interesting. Never having built the 62 Buick I know nothing about that particular enine but I seem to remember the AMT '66 Riv had a really nice dual-quad Nail head. The custom grille you refer to always reminded me of a '65 Studebaker front end.

My name's Kevin. Well, I go by Kevin. It's actually my middle name. Let's just say my parents reached way back into my family history and pulled out a first name that never really worked for me. After bouncing around the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan I finally settled back in the last one, my home state. It's been quite a while since I last built a model, but once I get settled in I plan to get back into the hobby. The new place is an old two-story farmhouse and I think there's a room upstairs which will serve well as a workshop. My interests are all over the place, as I get things unboxed and dusted off I will share some of the stuff I've built. For now I'm just going to poke around and see what's what. Have a great evening!