Olle F

This is very impressive, but at the same time it's sad to see all the problems. I don't expect these kits to be easy to build, but I really thought that the engineering and fit would be much better. Have been thinking about getting a Pocher kit of some kind, but now I'm not so sure anymore. I get mad enough when the parts in a $10 1:25 kit don't fit, so it might not be good for my sanity...

I have a Chevy 350 project on a Harbor Freight $35 (on sale) engine stand right now, and I'm telling you, it looks much better than what I have seen for twice that much from other places. I won't put it in my mouth though. You need to know what you're looking for and what you need when you buy from them, that's for sure, but they do have some very good deals. As long as you don't think that their $14 cordless drill is professional grade (as they might state), you'll be fine. I think the problem people have with their products is that they expect them to be better than they are, but if you need an angle grinder for a one-time project and you know that you'll never need it again, it's the way to go. It's usually cheaper than renting.

So you get real decals, and not those nasty stickers with this kit? I built the Yenko version and I just loved it, so it sounds like it's time for me to build a convertible. BTW: Are the decals black/white or clear with black print so you can make them any color you want? Would really like to build a white pace car with orange stripes and orange houndstooth interior.

I used to work for a company that makes high-end custom cabinets (like in $30,000-40,000 sets of cabinets for one single kitchen... ) and they use boatloads of cheap spray guns, probably very similar to the one you got, for special finishes and touch-ups. They use them simply because it costs less to throw away a cheap gun than to maintain an expensive gun, when they are too clogged up to work they just go in the trash bin. The guys in the spray room said that they work great, and I don't doubt that considering the kind of work I saw them do. And of course, they loved the fact that they didn't have to do all the tedious maintenance work. It may not give you the perfect control you need for custom painting a car or a model, but as you said: For $14.99 it's sure worth a try.

I use water based adhesives, usually Microscale Crystal Clear. First, I put a drop of it on the tip of a tooth pick and let it dry for a few minutes to make a handy tool to handle the parts. Then I use this tool to pick up the part (the glue will stay sticky for a while), put a small dab of the same glue where the part goes, then I carefully put the part on and adjust it while the glue is still wet. Sometimes, it's easier to let the glue set up for a minute or two, and then put the part on there by pressing it into the tacky glue. I prefer water based adhesives for this, as it's easier to clean up if you make a mess and have to redo it. It's also easy to clean up any excess glue with a small paintbrush dipped in water.

Man, you're quick! Looks really good so far, I built the hardtop version many years ago and it sure is a good one. Can't wait to see the finished model, the '69 Camaro is one of my favorite cars.

I agree: It would be easy to cut a piece of plywood with an attached duct that you can put in the window only while you're using the booth. Open the window, put the plywood in there and pull down the window to hold it in place. Would anyone really be concerned if it's not a permanent vent? And if someone has an opinion, just paint in the middle of the night.

Wow... That's some interesting reading right there! I was going to follow Harry's advice and use dessert topping to polish my next model, but after reading that I might try Future instead.

I see... so it's just an alternative to other clear coats then. I think I'll stick to the method I'm already using, The Treatment has always worked well for me. Thanks for the replies, guys!

Seems like a lot of people use Future for different purposes, and one thing I would like to try is to polish paint with it. However, I have never used it so I have a few questions: First of all, is it compatible with enamels and waxes? Right now, I have a body that is painted with Testors enamel, and I have already polished it with Micro-Mesh and The Treatment model wax. It looks pretty good as it is, but the model is not assembled yet and I would think that some Future will make it more resistant to handling and fingerprints. If it's ok on the enamel, what about The Treatment? Second: How do you apply it? Do you wipe it on, spray it or is there any other method that would be easier/better? And do you have to polish it after it dries? I'm not sure if Future is a good idea in this case (especially as I have already used The Treatment on it) so any information will be appreciated!

That's sweet, have to pick up one of those kits one day! I love that color combination, had to look twice to see if the windows were tinted or not. Too bad they didn't include the original parts, but I think there is an early issue of this kit that can be built all original.

Great build! I love replica stock models, especially when they're detailed like this one. I would like to build something like that one day, but I don't know if I will have the patience... I'm usually happy if I can build a decent box stock model with added ignition wires.

It's a pretty old kit, so the chassis is the typical "blob with metal axles". The interior is in the same category, i.e. a somewhat shallow 1-pc tub with (if I remember correctly) the seats molded in. The body is accurate as far as the body lines go, but seems to be developed from a '68, as the side marker lights are located higher up than on a '69. The trim is faint and uneven in places, and some of it will probably need to be sanded off and replaced to look right. Can't remember if the emblems are correct, but I believe there is a photoetch kit to remedy whatever is wrong with it. The headlights and taillights are chromed without separate lenses, and the taillights are very clumsily made and need a lot of work to fit and look right. I would say that the best way to fix them would be to strip the crome, glue them to the body, fill, sand, re-shape as necessary and apply BMF. The vents on the top of the cowl are missing, but should be easy to replicate by opening up holes (for some strange reason, Chevelles did not have the plastic grids over these). The wheels look fairly correct, but had a lot of flash and other production related flaws. The American Racing wheels Chuck used look great on a '69, that's what I would use but I'm not sure if they were included in the kit. I guess I gave up too easily as I was severely disappointed after comparing it to my 1:1 Chevelle, but you can definitely build a good looking model if you're willing to spend a lot of time fixing the body, changing the chassis and kitbashing the engine and other details.

Great tip! The AMT '69 Chevelle kit is a real turd, so I'm impressed every time someone shows a nice build like your's and Chuck's. I started building one a couple of years ago, and the plan was to build a replica of my 1:1 '69 Chevelle. I finally gave up, slapped it together and gave it to my son to play with. After being abused by him for a while, it finally ended up as a BB gun target.

Some of AMT's Nascar racers have them. I got a good looking set out of a Kodak Lumina, just had to cut the heat shield off.

That pretty much sums it up. It all depends on what you are trying to do and there is no universal masking tape that works for everything. My major concerns when trying untested masking materials would be if it leaves residue, if the adhesive will lift the paint and if the material will react to the paint (could possibly dissolve, shrink, swell, bleed etc.). If not, it can be used. One of my favorite masking materials is Bare Metal foil. It works great for masking small areas (like interior panels) and irregular surfaces (like engine bays with lots of nooks and crannies). If I have to cover a larger area, I usually use BMF around the edges and blue painter's tape for the rest. It can be tricky to get clean and crisp edges with tape only, so the BMF really helps IMO.

You're welcome! I forgot to add that I have a metric steel ruler and digital calipers that can be switched between standard and metric. These are very useful tools when you scratch build things in 1:25 scale as you don't have convert any dimensions, you just use inches and millimeters one-for-one. For example: If you're measuring something that's 6" on your 1:1 car, you make it 6 mm on your 1:25 model. Simple as that.

I usually sand down the top of the distributor and drill it, but I decided to cheat and ordered one of Arrowhead Aluminum's prewired distributors for my latest project. It looks great in the pictures so I hope it will look good once I get it as well. It has a realistic cap (as opposed to the aluminum tube you get on other pre-wired distributors) and it even comes with the vacuum canister, which of course can be fitted with a vacuum hose for an even more detailed and realistic appearance. Drilling distributor caps is tedious and kind of a hit-or-miss deal to me (seems like I never get the @#%$&* holes drilled where they need to be), so I'm really looking forward to it. The wrapping wire Monoped is talking about is one of the best materials I have found for wiring distributors myself. It's very flexible, but will also stay put after you bend it which makes it very easy to make realistic looking ignition wires. I have a stash of black wrapping wire that I bought many years ago, and I'm still finding new ways to use it. If you strip some of the insulation off the end, it makes very nice throttle/kick-down/shifter cables, and the wire itself can be used for all kinds of small/thin parts like for example radio antennas, throttle linkages etc. You can also wrap it around a pin to make small springs and in short: It's a must-have in my tool box. You can even use it to clean out those tiny applicator needles on glue bottles with it, so I have sure put it to good use through the years.

Yes, it's that simple: Just divide the 1:1 dimension by 25, and you'll have your 1:25 scale dimension. One inch equals one millimeter in 1:25 (or close enough anyway) so the quick and dirty way is to use standard dimensions when measuring the 1:1 car, and use metric dimensions when you build the model. Most Evergreen material I have seen will have standard and metric dimensions printed on the bag, so what you need to look for is a 2x3 mm rod. Edit: I just looked at Evergreens web site ( http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com ) and they have a .080 x .125 (2,0x3,2mm) rod that should be close to what you need. There's also a neat scale conversion chart for other dimensions ( http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/conver...ersion%20Charts ).

I have never had the balls to do the BMF before paint as I have always been afraid of those primer "ghost lines" Jairus is talking about. Laying the BMF after the paint and then touching up sounds like a safer option, I was actually thinking about doing something like that on my '65 Impala build.

Try it, if you're even half as ham handed as I am you'll love it! I have always had a problem cutting the window trim straight and to the exact width, but this trick makes it a breeze and it's especially helpful on models with thick paint or faint engraving. I adjust the width by simply rolling more or less masking tape around the tooth pick before I tape the knife blade to it. It's pretty tedious to adjust though, so if I can just remember next time I place an order with Micro-Mark, I gonna get one of these: http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?M...ct&ID=83651 It should be easy to replace one of the knife blades with a piece of round rod, heavy wire or something similar, and it will be a snap to adjust for different widths.

Thanks, I appreciate that but it's actually not as flawless as it looks in the pictures. I guess my trick is to shoot the pictures slightly out of focus. Seriously, it was a bit finnicky but not too bad at all. IMO, one of the keys to a good BMF job is to make all cut as long as possible so you don't have to start new cuts along the same line, i.e. don't lift the knife until you have cut all the way around. It won't show much if you're slightly off the line as long as the cut is nice and smooth, but a jagged line can look like ###### even if it's just a hair off. Granted, going all the way around in one cut is a bit difficult to do on those tail lights, so I had to stop a few times while cutting to change grip. However, every time I stopped, I made sure that the knife stayed on the line. And I can tell you that I had to redo a lot of the window trim before I was happy with it, which is par for the course for me. One little trick I use to cut window trim is to tape an X-acto blade to a rounded toothpick, side by side. I adjust the spacing between the tip of the knife blade and the tip of the toothpich to the same width as the trim, and then I use the contraption kinda like a scribe. It makes a perfect cut with little effort. I have a slight tremor sometimes due to carpal tunnel syndrome so I also try to get as much support as possible for my hands, without doing that it would probably be impossible for me to do any BMF at all.

"Pinned" threads seems to just be a new name for "sticky" threads, i.e. they always stay on top until a moderator unsticks them. The reason you don't see them must be that you're entering the forum by checking for new posts. If there are no new posts in the pinned threads, they simply won't show up.

That is the coolest thing I have seen in a long time! Great idea and a great build!

Bare Metal Foil, or "BMF", does a pretty good job, most chrome parts are attached to the sprue in places that are not very visible (like the bottom edge of bumpers) so you won't see much of it anyway. BMF can be a bit difficult to find, but Hobby Lobby carries Model Master (I think that's the brand anyway) foil which is pretty much the same thing. Testors Chrome Silver enamel can also be used for small touch-ups. None of above will look perfect, but will probably be your only choice if you don't want to rechrome or use an airbrush to spray Alclad. BTW: BMF is nice, thin and very flexible, and a great material to use for chrome trim instead of silver paint. Here's a picture to give you an idea of what it looks like when you apply it to the trim on a model. I'm not very good with BMF so I always dread that part of a build, but I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out...