jwrass

Stan, Outstanding!!!!! So much talent in your mind and skillful hands!!!!! thanks for sharing

I had the pleasure to attend one of Robert Benedict (Black Dog Customs) Airbrush classes some 10 years ago. Robert was a amazing talent!!! Robert left the earth on Aug 20, 2007. He has been sadly missed by all who had the pleasure meet and work with him!!!!! Robert however lives on through Videos that he made with Air Brush Action. Their is one video he made that would be of great interest to modelers, the title is MICRO AIRBRUSHING This is a amazing 11/2 hour of Brilliance!!!!! Their are to many tricks and tips to mention, however their is one segment where Robert Airbrushes 23 skulls on a dime with realism that will blow you away!!!!! This Video can be purchased through Airbrush Action Magazine or Coast Airbrush for $29.95. I didn't know where to post this as it is not a tip or trick of mine, However this is a full on tips and tricks video. My apologies to all if I posted this in the wrong place Respectfully Submitted, jwrass

I just checked my Dremel Drill press and I was wrong! It swings 0-90 degrees on the Horizontal Plane (X) so you can drill the holes with the wheel flat on the base at any angle from 0-90. I too own a South Bend Lathe and a Brigeport Mill that I use in my 1:1 shop. I have seen others make small Items in 1:25 but It would be difficult for me to make anything that small with the tooling I have. If I wanted to do something special in 1:25 I personally would buy modeling machines as the cost for tooling for my equipment would exceed the cost of a small machine. As far as the recessed areas go you can do this with the embossing tools I mentioned. You can also make a decent recess with a counter sink by hand (not in a machine) Do some Trial and error with regards to the embossing technique, use the end of a ball point pen, nail set, center punch, etc ( you don't need the embossing tools) on some flat stock say 020 you will be surprised at what effects you can make. Cheers jwrass

You could try Black Silicone gasket sealer. Permatex has it in small tubes (I got mine at NAPA) It sticks to everything. I have used Shoe Goo on my beater lawn mowing tennies and it has worked great! I second what Hugh said.

Mike, I have a Dremel Model # 220-01 Workstation and it works great! It is a Moto Tool holder that turns your tool into a mini drill press. It drills 90 degrees on the vertical and 15-90 degrees on the horizontal. Check it out on Dremels web site. Laying out the holes is a breeze!!!! You need to do some basic Math. Make yourself a mini dial indicator (indexer) with a protractor (or software) and some styrene or wood. Make a flat base say 3" x 3"(wood or styrene) find center and mark it. Measure the diameter of the hole in the center of the wheel, match that dimension to some styrene rod or wooden dowel. Draw a circle or trace the outside of the wheel diameter on some card stock, find the center of that circle and mark it. Draw a bulls eye from the center mark and extend them past the outside wheel diameter and make marks at the 12,3,6,9 o'clock positions (this is just for reference) Glue the paper template to the base matching centers. Drill a hole at center that matches the rod or dowel size, glue the rod/dowel in the hole and make it plumb and square. The rod/dowel doesn't need to be that long, just long enough for you to slip the wheel center over the rod/dowel, with a bit of a margin. Determine the number of holes and spacing and make witness marks on the outside diameter of the template, make one witness mark on the wheel, line up the first mark and drill, rotate the wheels witness mark to the next mark on the template and drill. repeat this until you have all the holes drilled. I would do a dry run on some flat stock to check spacing before you commit to a wheel. I have made indentions with metal embossing tools that you can find at any big box hobby store. You may have to heat the tool to get the effect you want, a hair dryer works fine. (don't heat the part) you may need to back up the part to do the indention for this I would use modeling clay. I have done this procedure before on some wheel covers for some INDY car wheels of the late 80s era. It worked for me!!! I hope this helps. jwrass

Stan, I think your build is very unique, great out of the box thinking (that was a bad pun but you know what I mean) I had a friend in high school who had a brand new 73 it was almost like a school bus yellow. He beat the snot out of that thing and never had a problem, it truly was a fun car! Seeing that it's a early 70s car why not do paint from the era! Maybe Funny Car themed, paneled out with Candies, Pearls, Candy Pagan Gold (HOK) over White Pearl looks awesome. The term Gold is kind of a misnomer, When shot over the White Pearl it is a Super looking Yellow. I will continue to watch this build!!!! GREAT JOB Mate. jwrass

Hugh, Back at ya!!!!! I'm going to look through my wood scraps to see what I can come up with. Thanks! jwrass

Greetings I have some solid surface tiles 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 flat on top with 90 degree square edges that I use for sanding that work great. I didn't know what to call them but they remind me of a machinist surface plate. I got these as samples at a home improvement show. They are flat and square on all sides. to make these I do the following: I clean the solid surface material with lacquer thinner then spray the surface with a lite coat of 3M Super 77 adhesive, I also spray the backside of the sand paper of choice ( I have 100, 180, 220, 320.) place the paper on the tile and burnish (I use a small ink brayer) trim to fit your style. I have some that paper is just flat and some that I folded the paper over at the 90. These work great for squaring engine blocks, valve covers, rear ends, yata yata. I put cork bumpers on all four corners to prevent slipping when I use them on the bench, I also use them like a sanding stick. I think they work great and inexpensive to make! Cheers jwrass

Rudy, I responded to this post before you posted your pictures, That's quite the contraption you have there!!! My day profession is as a Sales Engineer for one of the largest producers of Heating Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC) equipment. I ran some Air Calculations at lunch for grins to show the air flow loss of Round Galvanized Pipe VS Flex. In my field as many others their are many acronyms and I will keep this as simple as possible. Pressures in any device that are moving air are measured in Inches of Water Column (W.C.) Lets deal with the forces you have in play here. CFM = Cubic Feet per Minute. ( how many cubic feet can a fan move in one minute at a prescribed static pressure) Fans are rated in this measure. Bathroom Ventilation Fans like you have are typically 70-150 CFM Static Pressure = Force applied to the pipe by the air from the fan. Static pressure creates friction , many times you will see this stated as friction loss Velocity Pressure = Speed at which the air moves in the pipe, measured In Feet Per Minute. Their are various types of pressure rating for different applications. Residential furnaces and exhaust fans are in the low pressure class. Static pressure in these systems is based on 0.10" of Water Column. The calculations I did were for static pressure (friction loss) because that is the biggest problem I see with your Anaconda. Calculations were done on 4" Galv VS 4" Flex at a 10' length. Flex was in a linear plane pulled taught. Galv- Total Pressure Loss = 0.065 wc. Flex- Total Pressure Loss = 0.095 wc. As you can see their is a 30% loss in the Flex VS Galv. Now throw a few kinks and elbows in their and I could blow wind harder than the air that will be moved with all that flex. Best practices in the HVAC industry is to use flex only at the end of a run pulled taught and no more that 10'. That is for all low pressure systems be it Residential or Commercial. Art makes some great points, I personally witnessed the aftermath of a sugar silo explosion at the Nestle Co, It looked like a war zone. With regard to the collection of fumes and particles as a hazard there are two ways to look at that. 1) If you don't have a filter well then yes you will have particulates in the discharge. The filter in the picture is not adequate, you need a pleated type filter, however this will increase the pressure drop across the filter resulting in less sucking power. 2) If the pressure is less (negative) in the booth and related connections with relationship to the space you are spraying in I don't see a problem. The fan blades on your unit look really strange to me, similar to a forward incline fan, what is it that you are using? Most all of the residential equipment I have seen use Forward Curved fan blades ( the blades look like a Half Moon) I have to agree with Art. Make a really good one or buy one. Keep this in mind!!!! I don't care how good of booth you buy or make, if it's not properly vented it won't perform!!!! I hope this helps, jwrass

Chris, Great fix!!!!! The addition of the plates add depth and dimension (as if it needs more ) those cars back in the day saw many a match race during the week and many a repair!!! I think you made lemonade out of lemons!!! Great job Chris!!! I love watching this build!!!! jwrass

Bad55 Those are some awesome looking builds!!!!!!!! As I see you are from New Zealand. What kind of vib are you looking to do? In the states in the 80's those would have been some bad ass Pro Street Cars. In those days guys were running full out Race Cars on the street. I know some of your Drag Race Cars run different classes than we do here. What class would those run in ? Again great skills!!!!! jwrass

Bruce, Great looking flares and paint!!!!!!Smooth transition, to scale of the era. Very Very Nice!!!!!!! jwrass

If the motor is in the air stream and you use any type paint that is flammable this is a HAZARD!!! Fans for bathrooms or kitchen applications are shaded pole motors and have A Electromotive Force between the Rotor and Stator that creates a constant spark between the two components. Will you BLOW the house up!!!!! I doubt it,,, but there is a chance of fire. Best practice for building a booth!!!! Keep the motor out of the air stream. jwrass

Bummer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!For you Chris this just a bump in the road! With your skillful hands you will have it back together in no time! STEP AWAY from the box you may put it in!!!! take a deep breath, and let it go!!!!! I look forward to the upcoming progress, I should say we!!!! Their are many of us who are watching this build in amazement. We all feel your pain, However we are pulling for you!!!!! get busy Respectfully jwrass

I only use BIG BOY paint and don't have any of the problems listed

Fixative is for the purpose of Sealing Art Work that has been done in Marker, Pastels, Chalk, Colored Pencils etc. I won't list the contents as there is two much to type, however looking at the chemical make up they all look to be compatible with styrene. If you must know google blairs web site. All I know about hair spray is my mother used to use it

Nice 57!!!!! Where can I see more. jwrass

Not allowing the proper flash times (time between coats) will trap the thinner that is trying to off gas. Think of it like this, Thinner/Reducer is a carrier for your paint to the substrate (object) once the paint has been applied the Thinners/ Reducers evaporate (gas off) if you apply more paint before the previous coat has had time to flash off you will in theory drive that Thinner/ Reducer back into your substrate and soften the previous coats, usually all the way to the primer which typically results in swelling, swelling produces sand scratches, bubbles, delamination just to name a few. I have seen it many times over the years of painting 1:1 most of the failures of paint are due to improper flash times, Waiting a bit longer between coats is always better than trying to hurry it along. Great paint work is a exercise in patience!!!! jwrass

Rob, Not a problem, I understand, I know how that go's, I personally would never post something that I have no experience with. Giving out bad information just drags the whole system down. I buy my products from many suppliers. Coast Airbrush is a great source, I know the owner Dave Monning. Most of his staff are Airbrush Artists of different types media and know their product lines well. If you want to experiment before you dive in you can get some leafing supplies at Michaels or Hobby Lobby for under $20 it's not great stuff but to experiment with it's fine. I bought some size at one of the two stores (just to check it out) the name is Gold Leaf Adhesive Size by Houston Art & Frame. They also sell the Composition Leaf but I don't know of the quality of the leaf. I thought the afore mentioned size to be fine but not as good as the others I listed in my post. I would not use the Houston Brand on 1:1 but for modeling it should be fine. jwrass

Brandon, Don't use mineral spirits!!!!! you will have a mess!!!!! Mike makes some great points!!! Ratio of paint/reducer more reducer less paint . As rattle can paint is already reduced you are going to have to experiment. Duplicolor to me smells kind of like lacquer but not a true lacquer, who knows what they put in it. Your needle and nozzle should be sized to the material you are applying, if you are trying to push a high metallic through a small hole it's going to be tough. As Mike stated you could use a high temp reducer or you could use a retarder, However with either of these flash times will be longer as the paint will dry slower. try not to trap the thinners as this can lead to many problems. A good rule of thumb for non reduced lacquer is 1 part paint to 11/2 to 2 parts reducer. I hope this helps, jwrass

Jeff, Ok stop with the dumb stuff!!! Harry makes a great point Dr Cranky is a great source and has a great youtube channel with many tutorials. Rod makes some great points! the powders do need tooth to stick to and if you touch the effect before you protect it all your hard work will be on your fingers jwrass

Dave - I do have pictures that I will post, However I am on Vacation until the 15th, I will post sometime the week I get home as I don't have them with me. Rob - FYY one of the definitions of tutorial in Websters " A paper, book, film or computer program that provides practical information about a specific subject" No mention of pictures or opinion I deal in fact not fiction here as I have been using these materials for 35+ years, it is not a opinion!!! As I said to Dave I will post I will give you the sizes I use, in my post I did mention "think of size as glue" I guess sometimes I assume people know the definition of things I use on a weekly basis and for that I apologize. Size is a material (usually clear) used in the application of Gold Leaf and Composition Leaf. It is the vehicle that adheres the leaf to a substrate (think of it as glue) It's use and application is many centuries old, many Roman Chariots were decorated with it. Michelangelo used hundreds of pounds of 23 carrot gold in the painting of the Sistine Chapel (1502-1512) it is most commonly seen on the glass doors of Doctors Offices or high end businesses as this is real gold. Composition leaf is not real gold is a faux facsimile. Custom Painters started using this medium in the 1950s with stunning results and has made a renascence with the advent of Nostalgia Drag Racing, Gassers, Funnies, Top Fuel. The sizes I most use are as follows: One Shot #4008 (oil based) Rolco Quick Dry (oil based) HOK # UC03 (urethane) Sepp Wunda Size (waterbased) The application of leaf depends on the substrate, Window Gilding is much different than Gilding on a race car (gilding = application) Respectfully submitted, jwrass

Jeff, There is never a Dumb question!!!!! There are many ways to weather and highlight, I will share what I do. I personally don't think there is a right or wrong way, I find practice and experimentation go a long way! My first step is to lay down some clear on the subject and let it dry, I do this as a barrier, if I don't like the effects I can wipe if off and not ruin the project I use Prismacolor Nupastels and Prismacolor Colored Pencils, Really anything that will work to get the effect. With the products I use they do have a oily feel to them and can create fish eyes if not sealed properly before final topcoat I will expain that after how I apply effects. With the Pastels and Pencils I sand some of the material of into a small pile of powder, with the texture of the products I use you don't have to use any type of adhesion vehicle (like glue) to get them to stick to the substrate, they stick just fine without them. For application I use Brushes, Qtips, Cotton Balls and Pads, Fingers ( the dogs tail lol ) really it's up to you, Imagination is the Mother of Invention. the Pencils I mentioned are very soft you can use them directly on the piece, by sharpening or dulling the pencil you can vary your detail. Once done I put a series of light coats (usually two) of artists fixative (I use Blair # 110 or Krylon #1306) or a intercoat clear. The key here is light coats, just enough to seal the effect and to create a barrier for your final top coat to prevent afore mentioned fish eyes. I have never had a paint failure applying the fixatives before the final topcoat. I have used these products as a wash (although I don't do many washes) and have thinned them with mineral spirts with good results. I hope this helps!!!! jwrass

Dave, Love the theme!!!! spot on of era. I'm a custom painter of some 35+ years, your choice of lettering, the bug, paint, OUTSTANDING, did you make your own decals for this build?. Again, great build!!!!jwrass

Mike, You need to step away from that BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH they sell at the big box stores. You some need big boy paint! Most paint failures start in the prep procedures and products you use! Through that thing back in the pond if you used Dupli-Color primer and let's start fresh with some raw styrene Send me a PM and I will share with you what you should try. Cheers, Jimmy Rass