Greg Wann

Try some Bare Metal Foil brand plastic polish. It's cheap and works great on paint too.

How about a 57 Chevy airport Limo or a Apache Limo

Thank you for your suggestion. I know of Louis, I have some items he did for me and they are very nice too. Last I knew he bought a house in the country. He last told me he was going to move and the equipment was in need of some repairs. Not sure how I would get the equipment from him. Probably a long roadtrip in a big truck! I am hoping to learn more about equipment. The process today is much more eco friendly. I have a two acre ranch property here in Sun City with a private septic system if there might be any kind of effluent that might be regulated. It seems to me that recent science is able to make plastic parts chrome without the need for that ugly lacquer that needs to be applied first that can cause part detail to get covered. I'm sure if I had such equipment I would be busier than a one armed wall paper hanger.

http://www.pftechnologies.com I found this company here in the Phoenix area. I'm thinking about applying for a job there. Perhaps they will hire me. What better way to learn about the equipment and processes than to be paid and be hands on!. It could help guide me in equipment choices and help with a learning curve too. Lots of interesting reading here about cosmetic coating, etc.

Yes, I dunnit again! Another resin interlude. It makes a awesome looking part. That little bird cost a lot of money, but I did get the rest of the car for free. LOL

Yes, sometimes I even impress myself as to what can be achieved with a little tenacity. Dialing in the master was a lot of work with all that tedious sanding and polishing. I really dislike any kind of power tools to do this kind of sanding. It's just to easy to screw up the detail on the part. I'm not in a hurry nor am I running a race. I also really like the Bare Metal Foil brand plastic polish. This is amazing stuff that works great and is cheap too. Back in 05 when I got back into modeling I actually talked to the old guy that ran the company. He was a airplane builder and developed it for clear canopies. Then it was not available for several years due to production problems. Last year I noticed it was available again so I bought some and it still seems to be a great product. Hobby shops should stock this stuff. This is good stuff for rubbing out a paint job too. Also I learned yet another lesson about using clear resin from a company called Hapco. The tech told me to warm the material to help boost its ability to properly cure. It does irritate me to no end that I get told something different when I talk to people that sell me resin products that are supposed to be highly trained. When some one is hired by Reynolds Advanced Materials where I buy my Smooth-On stuff, they have to spend nearly a month at the factory to really learn the processes and material. There are vats that hold hundreds of gallons of material at a time while being made.

I had a chat with a Hapco technical rep today. It seems everytime I talk to company reps I learn something new. Today's lesson was to keep the resin material in a really warm place. This helps give the material a boost to help it cure since I am making really small parts. I'm not always the sharpest tool in the shop. It does seem to be making a big difference.

Perhaps you could consider a 57 airport limo. That might be an unusual project that would keep you out of trouble for awhile. Lol. Beautiful cars.

Yes Do you all like them in a yellow tint? I will allow you the pleasure of opening them up from the back.

I think it is 1:24 scale.

I have this 1:25 scale MPC kit of a DB6. So far I have only made a mold and a couple of copies of the body. I have a guy that wants to create a convertible version for me to cast. I paid a fair amount for this kit.

I bought a diecast copy of a Franklin Mint 71 Road Runner. I was able to carefully remove the grille and remove the mesh part with the bird in it. I made a mold and was able to successfully sand it open from the back. I added some yellow die to help detail the bird. The mesh part could be colored with a black felt pen and I suppose the top purple part could be colored likewise with a purple felt pen. Like Neal Peart on drums, I can reinvent and improve resin casting ideas and techniques. This is a cool little piece that will enhance the long wanted detail of your RR build. RIP Neal, you were a true master. Greg

Marty and I wanted to make some nice grilles from one of his original rare kits, MPC, I think. We removed the chrome and that goopy yellow lacquer film. I carefully sanded out the ejection pin marks that were in the middle of the headlights on the back of it. Then I carefully sanded the backside until it was opened up. Once this was successfully accomplished, I made a mold. Then I made a couple of copies, then for the true purpose of the excersise I made a couple out of clear resin. Marty wants to carefully detail paint it and then apply bare metal foil to the back of the headlight area and see how it looks. I used q-tips and Bare Metal Foil brand plastic polish to give the headlight area a nice high luster to give the headlight a nice realistic look.

https://hapcoincorporated.com/materials/clear-urethanes/ I am going to try the 480N clear resin from this company next. This is a UV non yellowing resin, so it might be good for those precious models that you worked very hard to create and proudly display in your home. I have tried several brands that lack consistency and success. I do like it that I can drive to Tempe and buy their products fresh off the shelf and get help from Reynolds Advanced Materials. They are the company that sells SMOOTH-ON products. Some of their products I have had good luck using. I use the TASK 8 for making most of the parts I make. I have been trying the TASK 9 for clear, but it is a PITA! https://www.makeyourownmolds.com If you are thinking about a silicone that is food safe and really easy to work with then this is what I have tried with great success. SMOOTH-ON has a couple but are too thick and horrible to work with. This info is for you just in case you wanted to make a model car you could put on a Birthday cake and eat. Finding this silicone was all about double nine dominoes. You can make pictures using them. So I thought about edible art. YES, I don't focus well. https://neos-guide.org/content/domino-art You should be able to upload a photo and get back a domino layout. I presume this is easy but I am confounded by the depth of how complex its all looks. This would be a awesome project if you have kids. You could turn coloring the dots into a sort of video game. I have made some domino molds. I call the project "DOTS OF JOY". I first started the project as a surprise for my wife who was a grade school teacher at the time. I thought this project would be great for young kids covering math, science and art and then once the project was finished, the kids could eat their work. I thought it was a super cool idea but my wife quickly rejected it saying a food handlers license would be needed, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!! NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED. Anyway, science says pointillism art is good for the eyes and mind. You can also make pictures using dice. I tried to upload a photo once but I had no idea what I was doing! This could be a great way for your kids or grandkids to earn money too, or an interesting 4H project if that still exits. So much for me to think about it's hard to focus. http://smcbofphx.proboards.com/thread/2060/albert-einstein Here is a thread I created on another forum.

https://www.svc.org/ Here is a link to the vacuum coaters society. Lots of interesting info here. If you live in the Chicago area, you might want to attend this conference if you would be allowed to. This is a huge industry, far beyond simply applying aluminum to plastic parts and resin parts. The idea of plating resin parts I make here at the shop is mesmerizing and quite daunting too. I talked to Don Holthaus, he said there is a rejection rate of parts he gets back from the plater. What he and his wife and family did for the modeling community was huge. All the work was tedious and done by hand and eye. And he agreed that clear resin and making taillights is a big PITA. I have tried a few brands of clear. The lack of consistent success can certainly take the wind out of ones sails.