Tedxobj

Actually Rusty, you were on the right trail. My interest in sports cars started with my pre-first (and only ex) wife. I say "pre" because we bought (in '68) a '63 Porsche 356B cabriolet in lieu of an engagement ring for her. It cost around $3500 and she got her dad to cosign a loan and we borrowed the rest from the seller. Fifty-three years later, she still has it (probably worth around $60 k) but I don't know what shape it's in. For my second (and current) wife I somehow managed a '64 356C coupe which she had no interest in, nor any car for that matter. This car soon turned into a down-payment on the house we still live in. Yes, I have had one very interesting life and the best is yet to come 'cause years ago I landed two Fujimi 356s, a cabriolet and a coupe! Ted

Thanks to everyone for the welcoming; I've never really joined much in life, but this feels really nice. Thanks also for the indoor spraying comments...I will be rounding up the goods soon and start practicing some spoonwork. Ted

Thanks to everyone for the comments regarding acrylics sprayed into a booth. I'm pretty confident enough that this system will work, so I should be spraying soon. Thanks again everyone.

Got my start as a youngster following visits to the dentist...Mom would take me to a nearby drugstore for one of those Revell kits that you had to burn/melt the wheel hub a bit to keep the wheels on. Kept at it through my teens and left behind American cars for a cabin cruiser, Mississippi steamboat, nuclear sub, Mobile gas tanker, Long Tom (?) cannon...and a squirrel (with flocking!). Eventually I developed an interest in foreign sports cars and when I could no longer afford the real thing, I started collecting models of mostly older Porsches. I finally switched to cars I've always wanted to own 1:1, so that today 30 or so are waiting for me. I'm switching to acrylics (to save my marriage) and am trying to figure out if I can airbrush in the house with an exhausted booth and no fumes. Wish me luck.

Is it possible to have an odorless workflow using acrylic paint, an airbrush and a spray booth with available exit for booth fan/hose?

Here's a magic trick for installing hinges on hoods or trunks for cars that already have the chassis/engines permanently attached. There needs to be enough space between the cowl and the back end of the hood to glue the ends of the hinges that stay with the body. The hood or trunk also needs to be flat from side to side. If not, see further down. Using any of the methods shown online for making hinges, epoxy the hinge ends that stay with the body in place. When dry, this leaves the two "arms" that glue to the hood lying loose. These arms need some kind of flat surface attached to the top of each arm that will meet the hood's underside. Check fit before gluing, as the hinge arms may need to be bent upward to meet hood/trunk underside. Next place a thin thread from side to side of the engine/trunk opening UNDER the two arms and long enough to clasp with each hand outside the opening. Load pads on each arm with 5 min epoxy, fit trunk/hood in place (over thread sticking out each side), tape hood/trunk securely in place, pull string taut and voila! Hinges glue blindly to hood/trunk. If the hood has deep sides (like an older pickup truck) there needs to be small ring-like devices attached under the hood/trunk at the flattest area (a small bead on each side of the flat hood area would work) to make the string pull the arms up to the hood/trunk bottom. Care would need to be taken to place the body side hinge parts where they would meet the hood/trunk in this flat area. Thread the string through the "left eye," then under the arms, then through the other eye and out the side leaving enough loose string to be able to put glue on pads and finish as above. Just pull the strings. The string method will need fine tuning for people who want hood/ trunk to stay up without support. I hope this is useful.