Pete J.

Model - Love the DB 5's. Classic Aston-Martin. Overal perspective just looks wrong. Background it to high. Makes it look like a very low angle shot of a very short subject. Kind of like you see of RC models. Of course, knowing Harry and his ablities with photoshop, he could easily have adjusted the background. Yes, he doesn't photoshop the model, but he has been known to play with the rest of the photo.

This is for the hardside guys. Heavy metal by the side of the road.

I always get a kick out of this subject. There is never a cosistant opinion and both sides have valid points. Having said that, here is my opinion. Decals should all have a clear coat over them. For the most part they are just a bit to delicate to withstand the rigors of time if you don't. A fingernail accidentally hitting them can scrape them. As to the other issues, thickness of the edge is always a discussion point. Frankly, clear coating alone does not remove that edge by it's self. To get rid of it, you have to lay on enough clear coat and then sand the edge away. If you want the edge, then you can leave it with judicious sanding. Your choice. Second is the level of gloss. Again, this does not have to be a funtion of the gloss coat. If you want the area over the decal to have a little less gloss, then a light sanding of the area can scuff it enough to give the appearance of a sticker. A 4000 or 5000 grit sanding stick will do the job nicely. I like to have my models last in good condition as long as possible. Clear coating over the decals promotes that result. Getting the look you want is still possible even with a clear coat.

Ditto- great stuff for anything you might have an issue with super glue or epoxy.

It is a deceptively simple kit. Lots of things to do to make it intersting and since the original cars were sold as build it yourself kits, you can pretty make it yours. Mark Jones has done a couple. Lets see if he will throw a couple up for inspiration. Here is one I did a few years ago. Great fun to build.

It is a bit more difficult but the results are better if you just strip it, clean the part up and respray it with Alcad chrome per the instructions. It gets rid of all the hickups.

I'm with Mark on this one. He turned me on to Zap Formula 560 canopy glue. It is a white glue like Kristal Klear from MicroScale in that it dries clear. It is a lot tackier that Kristal Klear and any residue cleans up with water. You can get it anywhere that sells R/C aircraft stuff. Made my life a lot easier for this type of stuff. Thanks Mark!

Man, nothing like the late '60s early '70s! Highschool, college and the Air Force. First muscle car I remember was a blue Chevelle SS 396 with white stripes. I thought that was just cool beyond belief. Then I went off to college and there was a plethera of great cars around. Mercury Cyclone that a Frat brother had, a white Super Bird just down the street, and then there was a GTO Judge. Old Fart professor driving an AMX. Thought it was a crime that a car like that didn't belong to a young stud. Shelby GT350 that was owned by one of the coeds and this was when a Couger wasn't a 30 year old house wife on the hunt. Went and saw Gran Prix and it changed my direction in cars. I suddenly saw the wisdom of light weight cars with small displacement engines. A friend was into 4 cam Porsches and another had a MGA. My first car was a '69 Mustang with a 6. Dad had more sense than I did. Traded that for the first of my sports cars. Wish I still had my 72 240Z. Went to pilot training and could afford(just barely) a new 74 Porsche 911. Got it at Blackstone Porsche in Frezno. Loved that car. All the car stuff and crazy running around ended in 77 with wife and family. Kids are gone and now my nostalga kicks in and I drive a '93 MR2 turbo. Has only gotten me in trouble once. 360 off an onramp to the freeway. Got on it over a little gravel and looped it. Thank god it was late at night and no one hit me. Stupid move. The old reactions are not what they once were.

Use signals???? It would also be nice if they would quit using them when they are done! How many times have you driven down the road and some idiot is churning along with a blinker on. What, you are going around the world to the left?? You never know if they are going to suddenly change lanes or not. Why can't we all just pay attention to driving! Well, that is my soapbox entry for the day.

I keep several of my most used paints in plastic squeeze bottles so that I can load my airbrush quickly and easily. I also keep a couple of bottles with thinners in them to clean the airbrush. All are clearly marked. I was spraying on the last couple of coats of clear and the air brush went empty. Grabbed a bottle of clear to finish up. Instead of clear, I grabbed the bottle of acetone. Needless to say the last coat really went on nice. Ruinied about 4 weeks worth of decals paint and plastic. Since then, I am a bit more careful to check which bottle I grab.

How about a Shelby 1000 for $200,000.

At that point on the map it is difficult to tell where it is. 100 yards in any direction puts you in Vista, Carlsbad or San Marcos. I stopped by the new location a day after it opened and agree, it is a much better location than when it was in the Sherline building. Great displays getting better every time I stop by. Down side is I don't have the opportunity for impulse buys at Sherline. Money stays in my pocket a little longer.

That is a truly fine piece of machinery. For those who live in southern California or if you happen to get down this way, you really must stop by the Joe Martin Craftsmanship museum in Vista. If you think this blows your mind, wait until you step into a huge room full of these master pieces. Here is the link. http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/ By the way, Joe Martin is the founder of Sherline, so that might explain the interest in all things mechanical and small.

I've seen this argument go on before and there seems to be mixed opinions. Generally there is referance to the model rather than the builder. Anyone who takes materials and converts them into something differant could be refered to as a scratch builder/fabricator. I think that includes almost anyone who has picked up a file or exacto blade and shaped a piece of styrene rod into a part would qualify. That would be just about everyone here. On the other hand a scratch built model is an entirely differant animal. This would be a model that is build entirely from raw materials. Every part started as sheet plastic/metal, turning stock or made from resin cast by the builder. There are very few of those people and I am certianly not one of them. In this catagory I feel more like a fabricator. I do scratch build part, but by adding them to model kits, I am fabricating parts, not the whole model. True scratch built models are in the catagory of Gerald Windgrove, Dale King, and a few others. I think that is were the distinction lies.

Actually, I need to add two brushes to this list - The first was a very old Pactra piece that blew air accross the top of a tube that went into a paint jar much like blowing air over a straw. It was better than a brush, but not much. The paint was adjusted by screwing the tip higher or lower into the air stream. Kind of like filling your mouth full of paint and spitting it. It worked but just barly. It is probably ok for some 5th grade art project but that is about it. I learned a lot about how not to use an airbrush from it. The second was a plastic Aztec which is now the Testors plastic airbushes with the replaceable tips. This was my first introduction to a double action airbrush. Pretty rudimentery. I is probably ok for shooting water based paints, but even though it says it is good for sovlent based paints, the plastic tips swell slightly when shooting lacquers and after a period of time quit working. All plastic is not good for what we do. It is also very difficult to clean. The instructions say to not disassemble the tips, but if you want to clean it you don't have a choice and the price of the tips keeps them from being disposable. Spend a little more and get an all metal airbush. In short, having a poor quality airbrush with teach you a lot about how not to use an airbrush and that may be valuable to some, but if you are serious about the hobby, don't waste your money. Spend the extra bit and get your self a good brush from a name brand company such as Badger, Paasche, Iwata, Tamiya, Grex etc. Stay away from Aztec/Testors. For the same money you can get a good top quality all metal brush. Long term you will be money ahead because you will eventually get to the point that you will want a better brush. Buying one to start with will save you the cost of the cheap brush and you can save a ton of frustration. If you have friends with brushes, see if they will let you try it out. Decide what you like and don't like and go from there. Frankly, the differances between brushes in a given price range is really not all that much and what ever you buy, you will adapt your style to and come to know what it does best. So, save your money and get something decient.

Glad to see that I am not the only one with more than one brush. I started with a Badger Cresendo - I did the job for many years but the seal finally went out and the model I have, apparently the seal can be changed. I did like the size of it. It is heavier than most and it felt good in my hand. It also had a large nozzle for spraying the heavier automotive paints I like to use. When the Badger went south, I bought an Iwata LPH-50. This is the workhorse in the stable. For those who are not familiar with it, Iwata refers to it as a side feed gravity fed, miniture spray gun. I bought it with all three tips(.4,.6.1.0 mm) I can do just about anything with it. It has an adjustable fan so you can spray either a round pattern or fan shapped pattern. With the smallest tip I can get down to the smallest size of most air brushes. With the largest tip, I can spray as wide a 5 to 7 inches. Very versitile and not cheap. http://www.coastairbrush.com/proddetail.asp?prod=LPH50 Scale of 1 to 10 - A definite 9 - Looses a point because you can't get into tight spaces. The next one I use most often is the Tamiya HG. Again, a great workhorse. Very easy to use and clean. I like the removeable paint cup. It makes it much easier to clean. Excellent quaility and consistant paint patterns. As an airbrush - it is a 10 I also have a Tamiya HG superfine. I use this for close touch up work and very fine line work. Limited use because of the small spray pattern. Great as a second or third brush. Definitly not a first brush. To narrow of a pattern. For it's limited flexiblity it gets a 5 but for it's primary use, it would be a ten.

I have a similar method for doing things as small as you are doing. The concept is the same as above but differant materials. I use a piece of 1/4" plexiglass and drill the 1.5 mm hole through the side. I then drill the .5mm hole through the top. Using plexiglass means that I can see my material to align the drilling spot. I have used this method to drill out the holes for hood pins in 1:24 scale cars.

Harry -Definately not my favorite car by a long shot. It really strikes me as a caricature of the original SLR's instead of a retro/tribute to the real deal. I much prefer the AMG SLS. That really looks like a true update of the original gull wing. Assuming that money was not a problem ....SLR - I would rather have the money - SLS I would rather have the car.

No! See the notes above about the hinge. They should, but I just couldn't make them work the way the instructions indicated. The passenger side was fine but the drivers side kept falling appart and glueing it made it not fit. Also the support rods were missalinged. The instrutions look like they may have changed the part but did not include the changed part. Very disappointing for a Tamiya kit.

Jonathan - Several cautions about building it. It appears that the kit was intended to be a die cast because of the way it goes togeather. The windows are snap in. I would recomend that the file the smaller tabs off and glue them in. I chipped the paint trying to snap them in. Second do a lot of trial fiting. Unlike most Tamiya kits, the inner door panels don't quite fit right and if you are not very careful the doors won't close right. Last, the front door hinge is a piece of wire and really isn't the best. The instructions tell you not to glue it in, but I couldn't make it work that way. It kept falling out. Very poor design for a Tamiya kit. This isn't your usual shake and bake from them. Good luck.

It is really tough to capture the true color. It is matt Black with a mist of gold titanium.

These are some photos of a model I just completed for the San Diego Model Car Club meeting. This months theme is Super cars. It is a Tamiya SLR done custom style. I decided to go with a "Black Edition". Special paint job, blacked out most of the chrome trim, tinted windows and lenses, red stripe rims, Red interior. Just a "build for fun". Straight from the box. Just add paint, imagination, shake well and out it pops! Well, not quite but you get the idea.

###### shoot at best. It really depends upon how many are made and who wants them. I don't ever buy a kit as an investment(well maybe a couple of Tamiya/SMS 956's). I buy them because I am intersted in building the car. That way I am never dissappointed. Watch Antiques Road show some time. Consistant advise, "Buy what you like."

Scott, I am sure that MSRP does have an impact on the food chain. My point was that as a consumer, what matters to me is what the current market on this kit is and that it is availble for $390 to $450 with a couple of online retailers. I would love to buy it locally, I just get real nervous about limited issues like this one. I have had to pay stupid prices on eBay before because I waited and couldn't get one retail. Unfortunately, scarcity can increase the cost. Just glad mine is in the box in the garage. You are right the MSRP makes little sense to those of us on the outside looking in.

Harry, just to clarify it a bit. The two models share a lot of parts. Chassis, body panels and a lot more. The differance according to my sources it that they mastered a new set of dies for several sprues to give the builder a better quality kit for their money, so yes it is the same but it is upgraded. Just exactly what is upgraded I don't know. The Semi Assembled is kind of a strange story of import duties. Semi Assembled means you had to put the wheels on and attach a nut. I don't recall the excact regulations, but it had to do with imports duties, having Semi Assembled vs. completed. Now a bit of why Tamiya did it. Simple! The 1:24 scale Enzo is by a huge margin the best selling auto kit of all time by Tamiya. Frankly, as a model, it set a new highwater mark for the quaility and complexity of an injected molded kit that nothing else could touch. The absolute perfect fit of a multipart body and chassis has never been done by any other kit maker. The detail of the parts and the fit were high even for Tamiya. I am still amazed every time I look at one of the kits and I have a bunch of them stashed. When they sold as many of them as they did it only makes sense that they do a large scale one. Now, to the cost. I bet the boys in Irvine are scratching their heads over this one. Here is how I compare them. The new Yamato(ship for the unelightened) is a tour de force for a ship kit. It also has a similar MSRP in Japan. The Yamato's MSRP is 27300 Yen. The Enzo has an MSRP of 29800 Yen. Stateside the Yamato's MSRP is $417. A little quick math would suggest that the Enzo should be about $455. Discount retailers are selling the Yamato for about $335 and the Enzo where I can find one is going for about $395. All this seems about right. How they came up with a MSRP of $600 has us all scratching our head but then MSRP mean no more on a model kit any more that the window sticker on a real car. Both are starting points and what really maters is how many real dollars leave my pocket to be replaced by a box of plastic parts. So ultimately it looks like an open market has resolved the problem and makes a MSRP of $600 irrelevant.