Lone Wolf

Although this is an old thread I felt compelled to put my 2-cents worth in. I've heard lots of horror stories from people using the 2X line of R-paints. Their problems usually started when they shot 2X Clear over the color coat(s), but sometimes even before the clear. After a lot of digging online I discovered that the primer is usually Enamel, the colored paints are usually Acrylic, and the clear is Enamel. In many or most cases, if you put Enamel over an Acrylic you run the high risk of having paints that won't dry, or could take "forever" to dry. Even worse, and more often, you'll end up with the dreaded Wrinkled Mess nightmare, which requires stripping and starting over. I've heard people tell them; they sprayed it too thick, didn't let the previous coat dry long enough, and other inaccurate stuff. The simple fact is, with the 2X paints (and many, but not all, others), you just Can't put (their) Enamel over (their) Acrylic. What I feel made this such a major issue, for some, is the fact the cans aren't labeled as to what type of paint is inside. Even when I was researching what was what inside the cans, different answers came back, making it very difficult to find the correct answer. Notes: Some people have been able to get away with using a 2X enamel over an 2X acrylic, but usually only after letting the acrylic dry for weeks or by using a dehydrator, AND by starting the enamel top coat(s) out with ultra thin layers, combined with very long drying periods. This method doesn't change the fact that most acrylics can't have enamel sprayed over them, because the chemicals in them just aren't compatible with each other, in many or most cases. There are some exceptions, but the average model builder doesn't usually know what those exceptions are.

Steve, Wow, that's too bad on the damages, but the prices were reasonable for complete usable kits. I got my pair of Avenger kits in that general time period, in that same price range. If you aren't aware of it, model window glass is fairly easy to repair, which if you have enough parts otherwise to build another car, might help you? Let us know, we can get the repair information to you easy enough.

Steve, cool car & story. I do have a question for you. Did you ever happen to check the gas mileage on the Avenger? I'm asking because a cousin (who was both busy & "social", out driving around a lot) bought one (VW powered) and said she routinely drove it for a full month, between refueling stops.

Mark, you've got me sitting here laughing at myself wondering "what center support strap"? With what little I've done, fitting the lower front piece and making a front spoiler template, I apparently never paid any attention to the rear glass. I'm glad I have some (Metalglo) metal polish and lots of wet sandpaper to remove mine with. Yours is looking good and moving along nicely.

This IMC Avenger model has been out of production for a long time. If you're able and willing to spend the money for one, they occasionally show up on Ebay, but not very often these days.

Mark, excellent work to date. Is it safe to say the black you painted the headlight buckets with is flat black, or is it an optical illusion and gloss in reality? Please forgive my detailed interest, the Fiberfab Valkyrie has always been my ultimate dream machine, and the direction I plan to take with my Avenger kit.

OK, got you. I don't normally use decals and was planning to offer some, old like yours.

Pretty close match sir. Do you have and plan to use the (lower side stripe or ?) decals?

Scale-Master, you're doing a fantastic job, very impressive. Thanks for the useful unintentional-tip on the headlight repair- modification (I have one of these). If you ever need an original part to create a mould, for a resin copy, feel free to ask, mines not going together anytime soon. Good luck with the rest.

Mike, I've no idea what's up with Car Crazy 81, but hope (you're) - he's OK and doing well. I was really looking forward to him possibly reposting his original photos but that may not happen? I'd post some of mine but after 10 months since my post above, I've only made minimal progress on it (health problems). After not touching the 85 Caddy for months I actually started working on it again earlier this morning. As for it being a typical pro-street machine, it's really more of a "sleeper semi-pro-street machine" with no hood scoop or other noticeable racy external features, other than the wide rear tires, mounted on polished aluminum tubing rims with Johan 70 Eldorado centers (hubcaps), tucked up under it. I'm going for the look of a "professional working man's sleeper street machine". Something that in real-life would fool other street racers at stop lights, hopefully. Edit - Note: This Revell model kit does not represent a true factory Cadillac. The model year is a 1984, not a 1985. I researched the 84 and 85 models, and the 85 is a FWD, the 84 a RWD. Additionally the 84 has smaller side by side rectangular headlights, not the larger single lights. The 84 also has a smaller (shorter) grille. That said, it was an actual "lowrider thing" for builders to use the larger grille and single headlights from certain later (90's) Cadillac's for a unique look.

Thanks for the input guys. I hadn't even thought about trying their enamel bottled paint, until now. I may have to bite the bullet so to speak and try a smaller "test order" of both?

Thanks for the reply, and I hear you (especially about the quality Japanese paints, which is one of the reasons I've been switching over). That said, I'd love to hear from some(one) who's currently using the bottled Tamiya LP Lacquers, please? I also forgot to ask in my original post, if these Tamiya lacquer brush paints cover better than the (very thin TS-14 gloss black) spray lacquer I've used recently? My instincts are telling me they should cover better, but I don't have 100% accuracy when guessing.

I'm interested in trying out some Tamiya bottled LP Lacquers (for brushing on small parts) but am curious how well, or not, they apply, go on, or "lay down" compared to Testors bottled Enamels or Lacquers? For me, the Testors enamels go on fairly easy and smooth. Their lacquers have given me mixed results, where the less than ideal results are likely from me not loading the brush heavy enough (I know lacquer paints in general, dry faster than typical enamels)? Are the Tamiya bottled lacquers also "sensitive" to quick drying, also requiring heavy brush loading? Are there any other issues with them you've noticed? With none local to me, I'm planning (unless told otherwise) on ordering a qood selection of colors, yet don't like wasting money. Thank you.

Like the OP, I too have very high regards for: Fireball Model Works (best, highest quality & highest detailed carburetors I've ever seen). Morgan Automotive Detail - MAD Modeling. Calgana Castings. All three make great, high quality, Cast Resin products! Please alway remember, making cast resin parts normally takes significantly more time than 3D Printed parts, so expect & allow roughly a month, sometimes more, before pestering the sellers with "when are my.." emails. Such emails only slow these often very busy "lone wolves" down. The better known and more popular these guys are, the more likely they stay swamped with steady flows of orders. The smartest move you can make, imo, is to do your best to plan ahead, and order enough parts for several (or more) future builds, so you'll have what you need on hand, as you get to each build up. That said, larger orders could easily add to the completion & delivery times, so patience helps. I always tell them to take their time as I'm not in any hurry, besides I'm slower than molasses at building anyway (due to numerous health problems).

I'm well aware this is a now ancient thread, but, wanted to throw some related information out, in the slightly rare event someone (else) comes across it while seeking "custom rims"... Although I've recently made some wide, 17mm od (X 15mm id) rims (aluminum sleeves), they're for wide pro-street rear meats on a custom (85 Cadillac) build, still in progress. But, I also needed Super Swamper sleeves, which (in my case, are later BNL made, of a somewhat flexible black rubber-like resin) and require a 20mm od tubing, and mine came with an 18mm id (in addition I needed a 2nd 12" long piece for an unrelated hobby project). What I did was Google 20mm od X 18mm id aluminum tubing. I ended up finding several Ebay sellers offering them, but all were in China. Having no other options, I picked one, selling 3 pieces about 12 inches long, each. Although it did take "forever" to arrive (1st shipment got lost making it take even longer...), they finally showed up. For my custom Cadillac rims/sleeves, I measured the length needed and marked them. I used a small tubing cutter (2nd smallest typically found - 1 size above the smallest model) which worked great. I then used a Dremel rubber-sleeve sanding drum (largest of the 3, I think) with a thin plastic cap slid over it (my cap came from small brass fittings, as thread protectors, but some tape wraps might work) to hold a cut sleeve in the Dremel. You only want about 50% engagement of the drum into one side/end of the sleeve. At low speed, I held one end up against a short (about 3.5" long) hand held, 3-cutter 45° blade, deburring tool, to taper and smooth the inner edges. You can use the same drum to sand, then polish the sleeves, one side at a time. I dug up a random metal "axel" to fit some kit (70 JoHan Eldorado) wheel centers - wheels - hubcaps, to spin-sand the outer diameter (to fit inside the sleeves) with the Dremel as well. This was also at a slow speed with 400 grit, as I only needed minor outer diameter removal, and I also didn't want to lose any wheel detail. 2-part epoxy will be used to hold both the wheel centers and the vinyl kit tires in place, after roughing up the outside of the sleeves first. Using this, admittedly time consuming method, does give you the option for almost any wheel width and offset, you could possibly want, or need... If you're using tires with some other inner diameter (smaller/larger?) you might get lucky and find some (as I did with the 17mm X 15mm tubing & a "spare" 5/8" od piece) aluminum tubing made by a US supplier (K&S Metals, as one possibility), or possibly a supplier in what ever country you're in. You will need to pay close attention to the wheel od and tubing id, in addition to the tire id, tubing od.