Pete J.

Kind of depends upon how you look at it. I started as a kid, probably 8 or 9. I remember my dad built a P-40 and a PBY for me and I started with a 32 ford. I built up until I was done with pilot training in the Air Force in 73. The training squadron had a contest and the ceiling of the flight room was covered in aircraft models. I didn't build another model until my son came along and was about 5 so that would have been 93 when I picked it up again and have been going gangbusters ever since.

Paul - The F2000 was the Barbie Ferrari as the tint came out a bit on the pink side. Looked a bit weird.

Tamiya 1:12 Ferrari 641/2 McLaren MP 4/6 Motorcycles: Yamaha YZF-R1 Taira I believe that there was one Kawasaki that had a clear green cowl 1:20 Brabham BT46 Ferrari Williams FW24 McLaren MP4/13 Ferrari F2000(the infamous Barbie Farrari because the clear was tinted pink) Ferrari F2001 1:24 Ferrari F50 Toyota TS020 Mercedes CLK-GTR Porsche 911 GT1 Ferrari Enzo(very limited) Ferrari FXX(rear cowl only) Nissan GT-R(clear hood only)

Coast Airbrush in Anaheim, Ca. If it is an airbrush part and they don't have it, you don't need it. Largest supplier of air brush stuff I have ever found. Great fun to visit their shop. It's about three miles from Disneyland. Kind of a theme park for airbrush artists. part # 41-012 $5 plus $7 shipping. Probably make sense to buy two or three of them because $7 is their basic shipping charge. http://www.coastairbrush.com/badger175parts.

Jim - I hope you don't mind but I have a bit of a technical question. I am very much an amateur machinist and I have been futzing around with my Sherline lathe on some wheels for a WRC car. I noticed that on several of the sets you have a very clean dished out rim(concave transition between the vertical and horizontal piece). Did you cut a special tool to do that? I can's see any way to do that manually with a boring bar. Thanks.

Lighting looks a little bit harsh. Are you using a diffuser over the bulb? Do you have more than one source of light? I noticed that the back of the model looked a little out of focus. I would also suggest closing the aperture on the camera a little(a longer exposure). This will increase the depth of field and will give you clear focus across the entire model. Background and floor look very nice. Hope this helps.

I can't stress enough that people really need breathing protection. The only time I don't ware a mask is if I am outside and there is a breeze blowing. Tamiya TS paints have MEK in them as well as fine metallic particles. It is not just the lungs that take a beating but the brain cells get toasted also and I don't know about you, but I barely have enough to get by now. Please take precautions!

Most of the armor modelers that I know use microballons. They are a filler used by the R/C aircraft guys to make lighter plastics. The are little hollow spheres that are almost pure white and will not dissolve like baking soda. They are pretty cheap and can be purchased at most well stocked hobby stores. Incidental, they make really good extenders for the various types of putty we auto modelers use. Mixed with super glue they make a great quick setting filler and are easier to sand than straight super glue.

Tamiya has a forum that is monitored and operated by Tamiya USA at Tamiyamodelers.com. The corporate people will respond if they feel the thread need the corporate touch. Only trouble is that the forum requires that you go through an approval process.

Ever pay way the heck too much for a kit that you wanted to build and had to go to eBay because it was long out of production? Well, I sure as heck have! Hated every minuted of it. So, I buy the kits when they are availible and store them for later. Kind of a retirement stash.

The best moment I ever had in modeling was when they announce that I had won one of the trips to Japan at Tamiya/con. It got best auto but won the trip for Best extensive conversion, which autos were not suppose to be considered for. Worst moment in modeling was when I got up one morning and found that my garage had been broken into and the model was stolen!

That's not the point! The point is that you gave Uncle Sam a blank check for you life that he can cash any time he needs to. That kind of commitment elevates every member of the armed forces of the United States beyond cool to hero status!

The first time I took one of these babies up solo! UPT class of 74-02 Laughlin AFB, Texas. Second coolest thing was going Mach 1.1 in one. yeeeeeeeehaaaaaa!

Looks very modelish to me!

I have always(or at least as long ago as I can remember, which is about breakfast) been turning them upside down and spray until it get just propellant(a second or so) and then I hit the nozzle with a Qtip with some acetone or lacquer thinner. Never had a nozzle clog that I can remember(see disclaimer in sentence #1)

Looks pretty real to me, but then what do I know?

For the last week is has been slow but tolerable. It just crossed into the not tolerable level. Very very slow. Not so much of an upgrade.

I have a whole drawer full of wire in different sizes from .010 on up and in different colors. Any place I go that has wire, be it Radio Shack, Michaels, Value Craft(beading wire is great), Fry's, I am always looking at wire. Spools can be as cheap as a couple of bucks. Just lay a digital caliper on it and scale it out for what ever you want. Or you can pay through the nose for a couple of feet from Detail Master or other hobby brand. Kind of like buying glue in little bottles. Pete

Harry - I know I have suggested it before, but perhaps you could create a new category, with a name like "Shooting Gallery" or "Dart Board", where those who would like an honest critique of their work could get it instead of a disingenuous pat on the back. Rules of the category would be, post a comment, make sure it includes a solution. Don't just be baggin' on the model. If you post a photo, make sure you what to hear the critique. No complaints about, the comments. If you can't take it. Don't put it up here.

I kind of hate to get into this fur ball and will restrict my comment to the subject and not the fight. One of the issues I have, and it has been around scale modeling for a long long time is "Scale effect". I know because when Drew lived on the left coast, we had more than one discussion about it. I hardly noticed it being discussed here at all. Scale effect for those who don't know is what happens when you try to replicate a "look" on a significantly reduced item. As you shrink things down, two things happen. The first is that flaws diminish in size to the point that they can disappear, particularly in the smaller scales such as 1:24 or 1:25 and smaller. If you lifted a paint job off a real car and applied it to a paint job on a model, orange peel, bubbles and all, it would look absurd. So we have to scale our paint jobs. This scale effect is why metal flake finishes never look "right" on a model. If you scaled them down, the flake would disappear. This also happens to shine. In other words the further you get away from a 1:1 car you get the shinier and more error free it looks. Now that is not to say that a car with a flat or semigloss finish winds up looking glossy. The same thing happens to the nicks, dings, and other flaws. The second thing that happens is the the colors become more intense relative to the subject. Years ago, I built a a '69 GTO Judge and got a lot of comments about the "right color" and how far off my example looked. The reality was I used DuPont Lucite Lacquer, mixed to factory specs for "carousel red". I resprayed it with a tiny bit of titanium white added and got a ton questions about where I got the right paint from. Incidentally that is a trick I picked up from out aircraft brothers. They have been doing it with camouflaged paint jobs for years. Clear coat - Oh my, this subject can go on for days but many of you have hit the nail on the head with "too thick". This is double sided issue. Clear coats have been around for ever. I remember my Dad's '61 Olds 98 had a metallic paint job and it was a two part paint job. My '74 Porsche also had a metallic with clear coat paint job. I know because the car came with a couple of pints of paint from the factory. Personally I like to use clears for a reason not mentioned yet. I use it to eliminate the "step" between the masking of two different colors of paint or the decals and the paint. I keep it very thin and always sand and polish it. The main problem that I see with "too thick" paint jobs occurs in areas that have a sharp edge, like a panel line or sharp crease. The paint tends to round these over and you loose the definition of that sharp edge. Sanding and polish can restore that, and is in my opinion essential. I won't get into it with people about clear over decals except to say that if you have a semi-gloss or flat panel on a real car, to get it right on the model you need to make it the same. If you clear over it, you really need to lay down some flat or semi-gloss clear in that area to get it right. On the other subject of chemical toxicity, please be careful! Whether it is paint, glue or paint strippers. Rule #1 : If you spray it, don't inhale it. Anything that gets into your lungs is not good for you. You kind of need your lungs in good shape and prolonged exposure will put you on an O2 bottle, if it doesn't kill you. I survived Mt. St. Helens and that was 100% natural stuff. Really bad. Get a respirator. Rule#2 If it evaporates or dissolves stuff(other than plain H2O), don't get it on you or in your lungs. It just isn't going to help. Kidneys and liver have to get it out of your body and if you damage them and you are in for a great deal of pain. Also, stuff that evaporates quickly will probably kill off some brain cells. "This is your brain. This is your brain on......" Now I am not suggesting that you abandon the hobby, just be careful so you can enjoy it for a long, long time. So, be sensible and enjoy the hobby. P.S. One final story. When I first got an airbrush I was painting in my garage. It was fall and raining and I figured I would just spray one piece and didn't need much ventilation. I sprayed it and looked up to see a fog filling the garage. It scared the ###### out of me. There was a gas water heater in the garage and I was very luck it didn't light. I got the door open and aired the place out. I have never forgotten the terror that went through me that day. I was 2 seconds from a serious explosion. Spraying needs ventilation, no matter how little you are going to do.

Personally, as a builder, I would steer clear of a kit like that(unless of course, new it was a $500 kit) for just the reasons that you described. That sort of kit is for the collector, who will never open it. I also get a kick out of those that advertise "factory sealed" on Japanese kits. That animal doesn't exist. There is no such thing as a shrink wrapped kit in Japan. All the sealing occurs here in the US and is done by the distributors, so ripping the shrink wrap off actually takes it back to original form. Oh, dang nabit, you got me started again! I'll quietly put my soapbox back in the corner and leave the room! Ga nite

Been using Weldon for years. I get the 3 and 4 depending on how quickly I am looking for a set. I also use Micro-Marks glue applicator(a short piece of glass tubing with a piece of hypodermic tubing in the end. It really controls the flow very nicely. You are right about the price. I keep two tins of each around. I have a small 4 oz tin as my working bottle and a pint as reserve. I discovered the hard way that this stuff evaporates super quick. I left the lid off my small bottle and it was gone the next day! Good stuff though. I love my local Plexi dealer. He sells his scraps for $5 a pound. Most of his scraps are at least 12" to 24" square. I can make a lot of display cases for that price.

I'm not really slamming the collectors as they have there thing too. They preserve the history of the hobby and can share it with others and that can be interesting and valuable. I am not fond of what they can do for prices, but that is their call. All I was alluding to is that I have a stash but I am not a collector. As a point about earlier issue kits, there can be significant differences for the builder. Strange as it may seem, molds do wear with use and fine detail can be lost or significantly diminished. You may not get the crisp detail you would like to have. Over time some of the molds get repaired and changed. Parts get left off or modified. For instance, early Super-bird kits included part to build a stock Road Runner. These were eliminated in later kits. Cost savings in plastic I suppose. When buying it is always best to look at the sprue's and see for yourself what may have changed. Happy Hunting

Of course this was tongue in cheek reply but you make a good point. I suppose it is a matter of semantics but I have an inventory not a collection. Collection to me means a group collected to be admired and preserved as is. Inventory means a group of raw materials assembled to make something. Now this is not Webster definition, just my opinion and frankly, I know that these models will be here long after I am gone. I have a real interest in each purchase and would like to build them. I know I won't live long enough to build them all, but I do want to have them so when I want to build them, I don't have to pay exorbitant ebay prices. I also think that a collector always have an eye out to upgrade the pieces in their collection. In their case, condition of the box matters, sealed vs unsealed, etc. I really could care less about the box and the wrapping. If the pieces are all there, I am happy.

I find it interesting that no matter how large or small a space we seem to have, when it comes to actual model building space we all seem to use an area no larger than about 18"X12". Everything else is just a place to set stuff we are not using at the moment