StevenGuthmiller

As long as it's not Molotow, it shouldn't be much of an issue. I'm no expert on these "chrome" paints, but I'm pretty sure that most of the actual paints are much more durable than Molotow ink. Steve

Getting a little paint on some of the chassis parts today. Got some of the black parts painted yesterday, along with primer on some others. I got the over spray done on the chassis and then used some MCW "vinyl top" paint to replicate the undercoating in the wheel well areas. Turned out pretty well. On to some of the detailing. Steve

I pretty much deepen every piece of trim on the body with a little extra scribing now, but that was not always the case. But, that said, it's not a bad idea, and I've started doing it on every project. It does make foiling easier, and gives better visual definition of the trim. Steve

It's really not as big of a problem as you might think. All that you can do is as I stated above, just keep agitating the paint in the cup periodically. You'll find that this is a bit more of an issue with Scale Finishes than say, MCW. The metallic particles in Scale Finishes paints are larger than MCW or Alclad, so they will settle faster. It's for this reason that I stick with MCW if possible, and will go to Scale Finishes if MCW does not carry the color that I'm after. I painted both of these models with Scale Finishes paint from a gravity feed brush, and the settling metallic really didn't cause any issues. The paint turned out perfectly uniform in both cases. As I said, give the brush a little shake on occasion, and you will be fine. Steve

The plastic under plated parts is often stained yellow by the lacquer undercoat itself, so the lye may not be causing the problem. As long as it's not damaging the parts, try it a few more times on parts from various kits. If only some of them have the staining, it's the undercoat, and not the lye. I've noticed the same phenomenon with Super Clean and other products, so when it happens, I just chalked it up to undercoat staining. As Peter stated, it might just be the plastic under the chrome as well. As you can see from these valve covers that were stripped of their chrome, they are very yellow. But, if you look closely, the plastic on the inside of the hole that I drilled for the oil filler cap is the same color, indicating that the plastic is that color through and through. A little yellowing on the part is really not going to hurt anything anyway if you're going to paint or re-plate. Steve

Well, my curiosity got the better of me, so I thought that I would give the new foil that I got very recently a trial run. In all honesty, it doesn't appear to me to be as bad as some of the reviews that I've been reading. I cut a quick piece and threw it on a spare body, and this is my assessment. It seems to be somewhat thicker, requiring a little more pressure to cut, but it seems to lift off of the backing pretty much identically as the original. It seems to apply pretty much the same, and burnishes down just as well. I cut this freehand, so the cut edges appear a little more ragged than they would normally be with the painters tape method that I usually employ, but the excess lifted off pretty much the same as the original stuff would as well. It shined up just as good and appears that it lays down in an acceptable fashion also. I then pulled the piece back off to check adhesion, and it appears that it passes in this regard as well. I could detect no difference in how well it was sticking. So, in conclusion, in my estimation, other than the difference in thickness, I can't see any reason to discontinue using it on my projects. Time will tell if there are other hurdles to working with it on an entire project, but I'm encouraged after this initial test. Steve

This. All the power mixers in the world are not going to help in this instance. With these paints, once the solids in the bottom of the jar are no longer evident, it's as mixed as it's gonna get. The metallic particles settle pretty fast, so you just have to keep agitating the paint as much as you can while you paint. There's really no other option. You just have to paint pretty quickly, and keep the paint moving. I spray with a paint cup, so after a few passes, I put my finger over the vent hole and give it a quick shake every so often. Steve

Well guys, this method was designed to work well with "good" BMF. Luckily for me, I still have some of the good stuff. I'm sure I'll find out how well, or how poorly it goes when I have to resort to using the "new and unimproved" stuff. I figure that if I hold out long enough, the company will get enough complaints that they'll get the drift and go back to the original formula. Steve

There's nothing wrong with links Peter. Don't take it so personally. I just don't generally take the time to click on links. It's not that I'm afraid of them. It's just something that I rarely do when I'm quickly cruising through a thread. Others may check out links frequently. Don't change what you do because of me. Steve

Links are a finicky thing on these boards. I’ll be the first to admit that I rarely pay much attention to links. Steve

I’ll try to refrain from that in the future. ? Steve

From Wikipedia. Not always the "last word" factually, but usually fairly accurate. Sand cores are used to form the internal cavities when the engine block or cylinder head(s) is cast. These cavities are usually the coolant passages. Holes are designed into the casting to support internal sand forms and to facilitate the removal of the sand after the casting has cooled. These holes have no purpose after the sand has been removed. A core plug is a cap at the end of these passages used to prevent water or coolant leaking from the engine. The slang term "freeze plug" is derived from many years ago in situations where the water in an engine block could freeze (due to plain water being used in winter rather than anti-freeze coolant). The expansion of the water as it froze would cause the core plug to pop out of the engine, leading to the term "freeze plug". Steve

Maybe so fellas, but as we know, there can be a big difference in scale. Here is a pic of the original tires from the Revell '68 Charger kit side by side with the Fireball 15 inch tires I'll be using on my Coronet. Huge difference! And the '66 Nova tires next to the 15 inch. Steve

So sad! I always looked forward to seeing his latest projects. Steve

Probably none of them. I would assume that the Nova would have been equipped with 14 inch wheels at the largest. These are all 15 inch, so if you don't want taller, my guess is that none of these will fit with what you want to do. Steve

I suppose now it's up to me, (someone who doesn't have the slightest interest in the topic at hand) to demand that the thread be locked. That's the usual MO around here. Steve

The XL could be had with the wide side trim as well as the narrow. A good childhood friend's father had a '62 XL It was Chestnut with a Chestnut interior, a 390 with a 4 speed. It had the wide trim in black. Steve

Thanks guys! Appreciate the info. I might look into the trans tunnel thing, but I will try to remember the radiator support for sure. Steve

Thanks guys! Just getting some parts cleaned up for primer today. Started replacing the hood hinge springs. Steve

I appreciate that everyone. I have to say that it does wonders for my ego to pick up a few awards and see some of my stuff in magazines occasionally, considering that just a few short years ago, I was still working in almost complete anonymity. Prior to about 6 or 7 years ago, I had never attended a show of any kind, I had no club affiliations, had not established any sort of presence online, and I basically knew no one else that was building. I guess that I have my wife to thank for dragging me "out of the closet" we'll say. She convinced me to take a few of my models to a small show back in, I believe, 2015, where I received a "best in show" trophy. Well, that kind of opened things up for me, and now thanks to her, I'm really enjoying realizing that I'm not the only 58 year old on the planet still building model cars! Steve

Thanks Joe! From what I've been able to gather so far, it appears that the undercoating in the wheel wells, similar to what I posted in the OP, was applied on every car from the factory. There seems to be some disagreement about whether or not "full chassis" undercoating was available from the factory or not prior to '69, but there does seem to be agreement that most likely, the vast majority of cars with full chassis undercoating were done at the dealership. But, that's a moot point for me. I was more interested in just the fender well application, and just being sure that this was actually a "thing". Steve

I thought that I would throw this out there to the Mopar experts to see what your reaction is. I happened to sit down this evening and watched a partial episode of "Graveyard Cars" where they were painting and undercoating the chassis on a '70 Challenger. Apparently, according to the show, the chassis would have been generally primed and then the body color would have been sprayed around the perimeter. (The over spray we all know and love) But then they continued on to spray what they called a "factory undercoating" just in the fender well areas just as haphazardly as the body color over spray. I had never seen this before so I thought that I would look it up for a late '60s B-Body and found these shots. I'm contemplating using this detail on my current 1968 Coronet project. Anybody know anything about this undercoating method? Steve

I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of us are somewhere in between. ? Steve

I'll sum up my feelings in this way. You don't have to be a Da Vinci or a Van Gogh to be a craftsman. The people who made these "chairs" were both "craftsman". Steve

With summer coming to a close, I decided that I would use the smoker for the last time this season before I put it away for the winter. Threw on a rack of ribs, and was rewarded with some of the best ribs I've had in a long time! Now I'm fighting off the "pork coma"! Steve