StevenGuthmiller

By "finishing the rear end", do you mean reshaping the rear quarter panels? That's the only thing that will ever save these kits in my opinion. Steve

I don’t know. The only time that I strain mine is right before I dispose of it. But I suppose that there could very well be some validity to the theory that cleaning it out might extend its usefulness. Steve

It just has one light coat of white primer as a guide coat. Still has a lot of work to be done, but I got a start on it anyway. Steve

I don’t know which particular cars offered them, but I have often seen what’s called “salt and pepper” carpet in some cars. Steve

The thing that I like about the metallic powder is that it gives more definition than monotone powder. Once all of the rest of the interior parts are installed, it’s hard to see a monotone powder. With the metallic powder, the metallic in it gives the illusion of more texture when the interior is completely assembled. At least that’s the perception that I get. Steve

I started one of these projects many years ago, but opted to do it as a convertible. You can save the trim if you're careful. Steve

I've heard that some guys will do all of their primer paint and clear, sometimes multiple coats of each, all in one day! Personally, that makes me a little nervous, but it is apparently possible. Steve

You can get a lot of embossing powder in many different colors, relatively cheaply if you look around for it. Look for sets of various colors from "Hampton Art". I have a set of solid colors, and a set of metallic. Both work nicely for carpet. If you look around a bit, you should be able to find one of these sets of 16 different colors for between $15.00 and $20.00. Sounds like a lot, but a little bottle of this stuff will last you forever! I don't know for certain, but if I had to guess, I would say that one bottle probably has enough powder in it to do 8 or 10 models. with a set of 16 colors, that's a whole bunch of models!! You can paint over the powder as well, but with a couple of sets of this stuff, there's rarely any need to. Here are a couple done with metallic powder straight from the jar. This one was done with black powder, but it looked a little thin so I threw a thin coat of black primer over it. Steve

I agree. I wouldn't fret too much about the accuracy of colors like this. As Richard said, white is white, and I will add that bright red is bright red for the most part. As for the engine? If it were mine, I'd just pick a light blue. From what I'm seeing online, who knows what the actual engine color should be. Steve

You do some nice work! Welcome to the forum! Steve

The parts look fine. Looks like just some staining from the undercoat. Paint away. Steve

Thanks guys. Yes, it’s Alclad. ”White Aluminum” on the mufflers and a custom mix of Alclad for the steel on the pipes. Steve

I do the same with my rattle cans. Steve

Getting a few of the details picked out. Had a fairly productive day for once! Steve

I don't know, maybe I don't use my Super Clean as much as others do, but I've got about a half a gallon in a rectangular plastic food container and I haven't changed it in at least a year and a half, probably longer. It's most likely beginning to weaken, but it still works fine, even for removing lacquer paint. Steve

The color is a correct Plymouth gold, but it's from 1967 rather than '68. A little paler than I was shooting for, but I wanted to stick with MCW paint on this one. I could have gotten the correct '68 color from Scale Finishes, but I really prefer the less "intrusive" metallic in the MCW. I think I'll like it in the end. Steve

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