Ramfins59

Hi David. I've used Molotow pens to touch up bumpers and grills, but have so far only fully "chromed" the grill & bumpers on one car...... the '55 Mercury that I just recently finished. I didn't paint them prior to chroming and I could have done a better job of smoothing out the resin pieces before applying the Molotow ink. I used the 2mm pen using long, slow strokes to let the ink "flow" and almost "bubble" as it is applied. I think the 4mm pen would be better for chroming large areas, but I "misplaced" mine and will have to get a new one. Try not to go over the same area twice until after the ink has dried for at least a day. Then I let the pieces dry for almost a week before handling them, but there were eventually some "duller" areas from repeated handling of the parts to get them properly positioned at final assembly time. Overall I'm pretty pleased with the way they came out.

I can totally relate to the "fear of dentists" Johnny. As a young teenager I had a wisdom tooth pulled and all I could remember was excruciating pain.... back before the days of good numbing of your mouth... I swore I'd never go back to a dentist. Well, after about 40+ years, and missing and broken teeth, I eventually "bit the bullet" (pardon the pun) and had the few remaining teeth and pieces of teeth removed and now have full upper and lower dentures. I can now eat whatever I want (corn, nuts, etc...) and I sometimes kick myself for not having done it sooner in life. Yeah, having to use denture adhesive sometimes several times a day (especially for the lower dentures) can be a pain in the butt, but, I'll never have to go back to a dentist again😁.

That is a gorgeous model Rodney.

Welcome to our plastic playground Tony.

Thank you again to all of you for your well wishes and great comments.

Nice job Ron... I've never seen that kit before. I like the custom parts.

Thanks to all of you for your very kind comments and well wishes.

I finished my latest build of a 1955 Mercury resin kit... It's in "Under Glass".

That looks fabulous Steve.

Hey there fellow modelers. Here is the car I finished up this evening. It is a curbside resin kit of a 1955 Mercury. I bought this kit back in 2017 from a guy named Jerry Koszut who did resin casting for an outfit called Mason City Miniatures in Ainsworth, Nebraska. He was quitting the resin casting work due to age, and health issues related to working with resin for many years. This was the last casting that he had of this car and fortunately I was able to get it. The casting was very clean needing hardly any cleanup. The color is Duplicolor Flame Red and what seemed like feet of BMF. An AMT '56 Ford kit contributed the chassis, steering wheel and headlight lenses. The whitewall tires, mirrors, antenna and license plate came from my parts stash. The bumpers, grille and taillights did not come chromed and I used Molotow markers to chrome them. The interior is painted with various red paints, metallic black and BMF trim on the side panels, gray painted seat inserts and red embossing powder for "carpet". The dashboard is painted body color with BMF & Molotow trim. I also added an interior mirror, visors and a dome light. This will most likely be the last model I will have finished for a while, depending, of course, on how well and fast I can recuperate and recover from my Bypass surgery next Wednesday. I don't know how well I'll be able to navigate up & down the 13 steps to my basement model area. I plan on bringing several kits upstairs to do some prep work on either at my dining room table, or sitting in my recliner. Enjoy the pictures, and feel free to comment, good or bad.... and...... Please all stay very well. Rich

That really looks great Jason.

I've used several techniques to "polish" the paint on a model, always after a couple of good coats of clear first. Once the paint and clearcoats have fully dried and cured (at least 2 full days for lacquer paints), I have used; Novus 2 Plastic Polish - Squirt or pour some either onto the part of the car you want to work on, or, onto a piece of soft cloth like flannel or an old T-shirt, and rub... rub...rub... wiping off the polish after awhile to check how smooth the finish on the clearcoat is getting. Continue doing this until you achieve the desired "smoothness" or finish that you are looking for. MicroMesh Polishing Kit - This is a series of very fine grades of polishing cloths, from 2400 grit to 12,000 grit. Depending on how rough your initial paint finish is, you'll usually start with the lowest grit cloth and sand away until you have an even "dull" finish where you're working. This may seem counterproductive to be dulling the finish that you're trying to make shiny and smooth, but keep on... Move to the next grade of cloth and do it all over again. What that second sheet is doing is removing the scratches that the first sheet made. That's why you should always apply several good coats of clear, because the polishing cloths are removing some of the clearcoat. Continue moving on to the higher grades of polishing cloths until you finish with the final 12,000 grit. Now you should have a pretty much "perfectly" polished paint finish. Stay away from high points and raised edges with the cloths or you'll go completely through the clearcoats and paint. Once done completely you can wax. Good luck.

Thanks again guys for your great comments.

I hope to be able to attend and participate in this show. It all depends on how well I recover from Bypass Surgery on February 26th. I have several newly built models to bring if I do.

Welcome to our plastic playground Jeffro.