DiscoRover007

So what are you doing for the color? Please go for something other than british racing green! I painted mine with Ford Medium Quazar blue, probably not spelling that right, but it looked great. Tamiya Mica Blue would be a close equivalent.

What kind of basecoat did you use for this? Looks great

This is one that I did this past week. It is slowly becoming one of my favorites. Im going back to work on my XJ220 kit and I wanted to try and replicate Monza Red. It's a really intriguing color as it changes shades depending on the lighting. I think I got it pretty close. This tamiya lacquer clear red, over mica red, over gloss black. TS-13 as the clear coat. Under direct sun and lighting the paint does appear a little bright. However the 1/24 model doesn't have the luxury of the 1:1 size and curvature so it would naturally look a little brighter in my opinion. What do you guys think? Pretty close?

Picked up some TS sprays to finish a paint job I've been working on. I got back to work on my XJ220. I wanted to simulate Monza Red. One of the more fascinating colors in the auto world in my opinion. I used TS Sprays, clear Red, over Mica Red, over gloss black. It looks quite close in most lighting conditions. Under direct sunlight it might be a bit too bright. However I haven't seen a photo of Monza Red under direct light either. At the end of the day I think its BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH near close. Excuse the overspray on my hand lol.

Looking good. This is the 360 Modena V8?

Nice!

Would like some more photos but it looks good. They still haven't surpassed the design of the original GTS though. That car is perfectly timeless.

Notice this as well. I don’t mind it if they are sharing advice and simply post a picture or two to share a completed build with someone in progress, or a picture with a link to the thread. But yeah you can usually tell when someone is being attention seeking or trying to show someone up.

Hey guys so my faithful workhorse airbrush is experiencing some issues and I was wondering what I need to do to service it. Despite cleaning it I find that it will still spray paint even after depressing the trigger and releasing it. It also seems to leak air somewhere as I can hear a slight hissing noise when not in use. Does this sound like a o-ring seal issue?

I am a younger person in the hobby and to me the problem is that companies like Revell don't offer enough modern selections. Nearly every year was a reissue of old kits, or some obscure kit that (might) guarantee buyers but did nothing to interest new people. There are so many newer subjects just waiting to be kitted and would likely be big sellers if they just made them. It doesn't always have to be a super car either. How about an 2008 TSX? A true 2004 Mustang? Latest gen Eclipse?, Some cool 4x4s, Xterra, Land Rover Discovery, Jeep Grand Cherokee? Popular cars all over the road with no kits of them... Tamiya does a fairly good job of keeping a contemporary selection but even they could kit some new stuff. Aoshima has done a great job of late on delivering kits that people have been longing for. The hobby in general is odd for most people in todays time. Its not instant gratification and to be good at it takes a lot of time, skill, and patience. That won't change, but as long as they make new kits that actually interest people it will stick around.

Dan this is an incredible build. Can’t wait to see the body color and all that jazz. My own question to you is. With all the scratch building and detailing you are doing, why omit carbon fiber decals?

Hey guys I’m about to purchase an aoshima 19 inch wheel set online but it doesn’t come with tires. Is there anywhere online I can purchase a realistic set of 18-19 inch tires? Preferably a thin or racing style?

Switch to lacquer?

Aluminum Metalizer is a great silver paint. However you will be putting in a ton of hours in the primer stage. You basically have to polish the primer and eliminate all orange peel, while not sanding though to the plastic. Tamiya gloss aluminum is a little more forgiving than this. I have made the switch adopting a recent method I use. 1. Use Tamiya white primer(it’s the finest). 2. Get the primer as smooth as possible, go up to 4000,6000 grit if needed. 3. Achieve full coverage in light mist coats to build a base, then spray at one-two at most wetcoats. 4. Let those dry and then color sand with polishing cloths. 3600-4000 at least. Eliminate any orange peel you see. 5. Final 1-2 wet coats. By the time you get to the heavier wetcoat you’ll start to see the paint self leveling with the layers underneath it and it will look darker and finer grain. This is about the level you want to stop at before you risk runs. 6. Mist coat a base layer of clear to protect it from the wet coat. Apply final wet clear coat 20-30 minutes later. BAM In scale silver paint job.

Tamiya is definitely the best for plastic safe and fine grain finish. However I find that you do sometimes needs scratch filler primer like Duplicolor if you had to make a lot of corrections. Tamiya doesn’t have great filling qualities. I recently used Duplicolora Sandable white with many layers and it turned out good. I had to cut it back with 800 grit before moving up though. Got a great paint job out of it though. Duplicolor primer sealer seems like it could sub as a primer to me if you are looking for a cheap primer with very fine grain pattern. It is also darker than their filler version.

I have a lot of pet peeves with building kits but it’s not my place to put my standards on anyone else. If I had to list one though it would be scale of flake on metallic paints. I see a lot of great builds that are well detailed but in my eye they are near ruined sometimes because the scale of flake is just not realistic for 1/24. It is especially true of 1/1 car paints. Silver: If you want true in scale flake silver you basically have 3 options. 1: Tamiya Gloss Aluminum with color sanding before final coat. 2. Model Master Aluminum metalizer under clear. 3. Gravity Color Porsche Pearl Silver

I am near the same way OP. I am obsessed with achieving perfection on models, or at least "visible" perfection. I do now try to let a few things slide. But things like body paint must be perfect. Luckily I now have a great success rate with painting and achieving realistic finishes. But it has taken a long time of experience. I think what it takes is a culmination of skills to finally put together the project you're happy with. I believe I can confidently say I can paint engine, body, interior and detail them with among the highly skilled in our hobby. HOWEVER The one thing that I have not mastered yet it window trim. I cannot mask and paint windows to save my life. I read the tutorials, I watch the videos, and I still cannot get the desired finish I want. It is without a doubt the one thing that is keeping me from finishing my models now. I can get a believable look if I hand paint them with vallejo acrylics and tediously scrape straight edges with a toothpick. But I dread doing it and it takes hours. For the hobby in general one thing I've also tried to realize is that in order to build a model properly, it takes time. Understand that it is a process. I try to look at models like paintings now. Everyone has their own way of doing it. I usually start off painting the body of a kit first. But I sometimes also like to paint the undercarriage first depending on the color. I then try to detail paint that and add the suspension bits and make it look realistic and interesting. And the thing is you can get away with a blemish or two because you can weather it, make it look driven, etc. Then before you know it you have a beautiful looking underside of a car. Half your build is complete and you are inspired to continue and match the rest of the kit with your previous results.

According to what though? When was the last time they took a survey on this stuff? Call it elitist but 1/24 is a superior scale in my opinion. I think most younger modelers like myself are seeing all of the brilliant engineering in Tamiya's 1/24 and now Aoshima and wondering why Revell isn't answering that call. The 1/24 platform is perfect for small scale models that don't compromise detail. 1/25 works in select kits where the actual is small but in any other instance I don't really get it. Plus they hardly have released anything modern that is cool. They tend to rehash old kits that only appeal to older generations. That's not me knocking muscle cars because I love them. but I think they had too many models of old cars. Then they try to compete directly with Tamiya on supercar flagships like the LaFerrari. The problem is though I'd rather shell out $45 for a Tamiya LaFerrari that I know is in a class of its own than buy a $30 Revell LaFerrari that will not be as crisp. Revell hit a slam dunk on the Porsche 918, and they had that all to themselves. I wish they would have pursued similar subjects. There are tons of new Porsche subjects that are not being capitalized on. Or even some modern sedans would be interesting. I'd love for someone to make a kit of the new Acura RLX for example, or even the Lexus IS 350. It doesn't seem like it was really Revell that was tanking, but still I think they had some missed opportunities.

So is the new Ford GT release still on hold? Certainly it is an end of an era. Sad to see. Was Revell suffering in sales? I thought that they had started to turn the corner in their offerings lately. Seemed to me they felt the heat from Tamiya and started putting out better quality stuff since the Ferrari California and the 599 GTO. I had always thought they would do much better if they made a full switch from 1/25 to 1/24 for all kits. 1/25 is toylike and loses detail in my opinion. I also think they missed some opportunities by not offering more modern selections. Why not make a new Viper model? Cadillacs? Saleen S7? New Land Rover 4x4s? Toyota Tacoma? 2004 Mustang?

Tamiya is drastically better. Especially in ease of use. However Testors still does have some use. Their acrylic line is quite decent. If you are good at mixing enamels with lacquer thinner you can get great paint jobs out of them. And their enamel line has a wide range of in scale flakes for metallics. IF you include Model Master Paints I would say Aluminum non buffin, buffing, and other various metalizers are essential to a model builders arsenal. I pretty much use Vallejo Air and brush paints exclusively for interior and detail painting. They are the best without a doubt in my mind. Spray painting bodies is Tamiya all day. Just wish they would come out with a Dark Green or Emerald Pearl spray to the TS line.

Which VA paints? I have both air aluminum and air silver. Would like to give them a shot soon.

Nice job so far. What kind of paints are you using on the engine?

I’ve always wanted to get this kit but I was never a fan of the one side mirror up high in the driver side. I wish the kit came with an option for two regular style side mirrors.

I see some of these on eBay too and a lot of them are rip offs. I see a lot of guys selling built Tamiya kits for anywhere from $50-$200 dollars. Mind you these are models with the mold lines still on, imperfections in the paint and numerous issues. I’m all for seeking built and completed models. But if you sell it for a high price it darn well better be a nice job. Alex Kustov could be selling his built models for $500 a pop at least by eBay standards. I only started noticing these because I buy used and completed kits sometimes with the intention of stripping them down for parts.

Would love to see the new Aston Martin DB11 in kit form. One of the most beautiful cars I’ve ever seen.