dmk

I do it pretty often actually. Especially when you scratch build or kitbash things (which is almost always for me), then later you realize that you have some interference in final assembly or maybe you have some gaps where you shouldn't. On top of that, I rarely follow the instructions build order. I try to mock up the chassis, body, engine and interior with tape and poster tack every once in a while (and certainly at the very beginning) to make sure I'm not causing myself problems, but sometimes you get on a roll and forget to stop and test fit everything. It's not so bad if you haven't painted yet, but it can be a real drag when you need to go back and re-paint. Lately I've been trying to leave painting to much later in the assembly if possible and temporarily stick the larger parts together with poster tack so I can go back, paint then glue when I know everything fits right. The drawback to that is you end up with a lot of paint drying time at the end with no more assembly left to keep you occupied while you wait.

I love looking through the pictures of some of these caches and picking out the kits that go for stupid money on Ebay.

Thanks for all the interesting info guys. And thanks for that cool link Foxer!

Thanks Peter, they do look just like the ones on the 'vette. I'll have to order a set or two. Beautiful 'Camino BTW. You do nice work.

I built an MPC Jeep CJ5 last year. It was my first automotive model in a long while so I didn't weather it at all. I like how it came out, but it has always bothered me that it's squeaky clean. It just seems incomplete. That is one of the primary goals of this model. Well used with trail damage, dirt and mud. I just hope I can pull it off convincingly. If I can do it on this one, I may go back and muddy up that Jeep.

Hmm, I found this bit of info. Looks like some had regular passenger car hubcaps. Might be able to steal a set from one of the Impala kits. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-and-c2-corvettes/914856-what-years-for-dog-dish-hubcaps.html

Thanks! I forgot all about them. They do have three sets of Corvette Dog Dish hubcaps for '59, 59/60 and '60. I wish they had pictures on their site. Does anyone know what the difference between these are, and would they be appropriate for '62?

Is there a kit or an aftermarket source for these Corvette hubcaps? I'd love to build something like this car with the Revell kit. http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=FP0912-137227&entryRow=480#2

Thanks Brandon! I've never liked 2WD on a truck, so every truck kit I get, I immediately start thinking about how I might convert it to 4WD.

Everyone likes A-bodies. Even those who say they don't, secretly do. Personally, I'd love to find one of those AMT 'Caminos in my stash. For some reason, I love cars that can't decide whether they are a passenger car or pickup truck.

Hotrod did a video about this. I never knew these guys had to actually drive the cars from race to race. Pretty cool actually. It gets back to the Two Lane Blacktop type of thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TccUZOHuJuI

Very nice! You've definitely done your homework and research.

Thanks for the info and link Matt! So it looks like a US serviceman buying a car over there needs a UK plate, a tax disk in the lower left window, and pink vehicle pass on the sun visor. (seems like everyone needs the tax disk over there right?)

I have a couple car kits that are left hand drive. I was thinking it would be cool to build a model of a car owned by a US serviceman stationed in the UK. (especially for cars that never got imported to the US) Would this just be a matter of throwing some UK plates on it and calling it good, or would a US serviceman in the UK have special plates or stickers that may be obvious on a model?

White plastic. It's just some parts sprue glued together in the general shape of a chassis. Then I glued a spare rear and front suspension on it. I'm just testing this technique here. I plan to use it on my Chevy Silverado 4x4 build here. I'll try to document it better in that thread.

Thanks Hugh. I'm glad you're enjoying it. None of my techniques are original. I've learned them from someone else here or elsewhere on the web. I'm just re-sharing them in the hopes of getting someone else's creative juices flowing as well.

That's looking nice. I like the stance.

Thanks guys!

I finally started working on the engine this week. Most guys do this part first right? The engine in this kit is very nicely molded and is a great candidate for an engine swap into a Jeep or an older year truck. It can be built to represent an LQ4 6.0L or LM7 5.3L by painting the block black or it could also be built as the aluminum block L33 5.3L by painting the block an aluminum color. Externally there are no differences between these three engines other than the L33's alum block. Compared to my references, the engine detail is spot on. The one potential problem I noticed is the plug wires are molded on the cylinder head where they plug into the spark plugs and they are supposed to meet up with their other half molded on the valve covers where they plug into the individual coil packs. However, with just a few light passes with a sanding stick, the valve covers fit tight and the wires matched up perfectly. You'd have to get a jewelers loop to see where they joined. I started by assembling the engine/transmission halves and fixing a few minor seam issues. Then I found all the engine components and painted then with a flat black base coat (except for the oil filter, oil pan, fan blade, and exhaust manifolds. I wanted them to have a smoother finish). After the black base coat dried, I painted the components with varying shades of silver. The block was painted semi-gloss black and the intake manifold pieces were left flat black. Using reference pictures as a guide, I hand painted the aluminum areas of the valve covers with Testors Flat Aluminum. The plug wires were hand painted with Tamiya Nato Black. The exhaust manifolds were painted with Alclad Light Aluminum for the heat shield. Using reference pictures as a guide, I then painted the flanges, the back side and various detail areas with Testors Rubber (which is very dark brown, not gray as you'd think). I dry brushed some Testors Rust over the darker color to give it some highlights, then with a fine clean brush dampened with a little mineral spirits, I gently wiped across to blend everything together. The fan belt assembly was airbrushed with Tamiya Nato Black and then I hand painted the pulleys with Testors semi-gloss black. The fan itself was painted with Testors Flat Sand that I mixed a little yellow in. I mixed it very thin with mineral spirits and misted it lightly over the bare white plastic until it looked about right. The flan clutch was then painted with Testors Flat Euro Gray. The oil filter was airbrushed with Testors Gloss Blue and while I had the blue in the paintcup, I painted some washer fluid at the bottom of the windshield washer reservoir. I masked the top half with poster putty and shaped the edge around the part using a toothpick carved into a chisel shape. Once the blue dries, I'll seal it with Testor's Glosscoat lacquer and then spray a light, thinned coat of off-white over the whole thing.

Thanks Ed. I'd glad you liked it. I think it could be adapted to regular road wear as well. With some very thinned various shades of gray and tan, this could also simulate road grime. I only used a very heavy application because I'm currently building a 4x4

Thanks Jake! This week I was researching and experimenting with some weathering techniques. I really like the Salt Weathering technique. I posted a thread about it in the Tips and Trick section here. I'll post some more about this technique in this thread later when I get to that point in the build

I tested out a Salt Weathering technique for chassis weathering that I thought some of you guys might appreciate. This is not an original idea. I've seen military aircraft guys use this to simulate random patchy camouflage paint on modern Navy aircraft, and armor guys use it to simulate rust under peeling paint. I recently watched some Dr. Cranky videos on Youtube and he was using this technique to simulate a grungy chassis on a post-apocalyptic zombie hunter type vehicle. That got me to thinking that it could be used to simulate a muddy chassis on a 4x4 that I'm building. This is my first attempt at this, so I decided not to risk ruining the model I'm building. Instead I mocked up an approximation of a ladder vehicle chassis with some scrap sprue. The floor pan is a sample credit card from the junkmail and the front and rear suspension are a spare set from one of those Revell "Donk" kits. With the test mule assembled, I sprayed the whole thing with flat black Krylon right from the spray can. After about an hour, I airbrushed two shades of dark gray (Tamiya Nato Black and Testors Engine Gray) lightly around the chassis. Leaving more protected the top of the chassis darker and spraying the lighter gray more on the more weathered areas areas towards the ground like the bottoms of the frame rails and the bottoms of the axle and suspension. I let that dry a couple days, and in the mean time bought some fresh salt (the stuff I had on hand was gummy from moisture and would not work).From all the research that I did on the subject, it seemed that I would need some fine and some course salt. I picked up these two at Walmart for right at $2. I poured equal amounts of the two salts on a piece of paper and mixed it together. I then I wet the chassis with a spray bottle filled with warm plain tap water and started sprinkling the salt mixture around just pinching it in my fingers and just carefully dropping it all over. I heavily salted the chassis, especially the top areas that may not get as much mud and dirt. I let that dry overnight and then airbrushed some dark brown randomly around from the bottom (though I did hit the tops of the axle and suspension). After the dark brown dried, I wet the chassis again with warm water and sprinkled another layer of salt. Then I went with a lighter brown. I did this four times working my way down to a tan color. This picture shows after my third layer. It was saltier than a ballpark pretzel by that time. After the last coat of tan dried, I took a stiff toothbrush and scrubbed off the salt. I got 95% off that way, but some salt was left in the nooks and crannies. It actually looked a lot like some small pebbles and dirt clods were stuck up in the recesses and I may choose to leave my model that way. However, just to see what would happen, I rinsed the assembly under warm water in the sink and that was all easily washed away. Here's the final result. I don't think it came out half bad for a first effort. (sorry about the poor pictures, my camera wasn't cooperating with me). BTW, the paint I used was cheap craft paint. I've wanted to test using this in an airbrush for a long time now so this was a good opportunity. To thin it, I poured some Liquitex Airbrush medium in a small cup about 60% full. I then took a craft stick and added a small amount of craft paint to the mix until I got it about the consistency of 2% milk. I made it a little too thick at first, so I added some Testors Acryl universal thinner to one of the mixes as well, but it wasn't really necessary. All you really need is the Liquitex Airbrush Medium to thin it. I wouldn't want to use this as a primary paint, but for weathering I think it works very nicely. One of the complaints about craft paint is that it isn't very durable on plastic. For weathering I think that is actually a benefit. Mud and dirt are not durable either. They are easily wiped or washed off, so if the weathering gets rubbed off on the high spots from handling, it actually makes it look more realistic. When I am finished with my weathering, I'll seal it all in with some Future mixed with Tamiya X-21 flattening agent. You could also mix some of that mixture in with the craft paint as you airbrush it to increase durability.

Nice tip! This is one of those details that really grabs my eye. I need to try this. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Clay. I haven't tried Testors fabric paint. I need to look into that.

I never saw the movie but that's a nice car and well done!