StevenGuthmiller

No, it's more like people getting frustrated and pissed off when they waste their precious time trying to help someone who asks questions and then not only ignores, but won't even acknowledge the help that they try to give. Even just a, "hmm, I'll have to consider that" post might help give the impression that he's actually looking for advice. If I ask for advice on a subject, it's obvious that I'm not going to implement every suggestion, but at the very least, I'm going to be courteous enough to acknowledge that it was received and understood. Steve

Correct. It only needs to be warm. Just hot water straight out of the tap is plenty hot enough. As Bob said, you're really darn lucky the can didn't explode on you! Steve

I agree!! There's no such thing on too much length on a Buick!! Steve

Correct. 1960 was the pinnacle for "fin height" for some of the Mopars. They don't get any higher or more pronounced than Plymouth or Chrysler in '60!! Steve

Dark gray embossing powder makes pretty nice looking hood insulation too, but I don't think it will help in such tight quarters. It adds some thickness as well. Steve

Well heck, you're most of the way there now! Add some parts from the '68 Charger and you've got a model! If you need a grille, I have a bunch of laser printed ones that a fellow forum member was so good as to send me. They're actually pretty nice, with tubs for the addition of clear head light lenses. No R/T emblem in the grille, but there are R/T PE emblems available. Steve

Not likely. He is apparently immune to reason.......unless the information has been recorded on a You Tube video! Steve

I suppose that's true. He seems to have the attitude that if it's been recorded on a video, it has much more credence than if not. Steve

More power to him, but I'm never going to pay to watch a "how-to" modeling video. I don't even watch You Tube videos on the subject. It's become very apparent to me that there is way more dependable knowledge on a board like this than you're ever going to find on You Tube. Steve

Well, it appears that you've got it all figured out David. Time to go to work. Steve

C-mon David. You can't be serious. You have to know what the manual is going to tell you, right? It's going to give you a few technical instructions on how to adjust and clean the equipment, but it's going to give you about as much information on how to create a nice paint job on a model car as the representative from Testors is going to give you. Seriously, you need to stop being so unenlightened about the magnitude of guidance that you're going to get from sources such as these. You're only hope for gaining any true wisdom on this topic is from the people that you'll find on forums such as this one. You're currently conversing with some of the hobbies most highly competent individuals on this board, and if you're not going to take instruction from them, you're going to end up completely on your own, relying on dubious information from unreliable, and untrustworthy sources. You really need to be a little less flippant in your attitude towards the literally hundreds of years worth of immense talent that is available for you to study in this forum. Steve

I use Duplicolor “Perfect Match” straight out of the can, and then polish. I use exclusively automotive acrylic lacquers for my painting. Steve

That’s where you would be absolutely wrong! Some of the best paint jobs that I’ve ever seen were done with a spray can! Even though I now use an airbrush for the color coats on about 3/4 of my builds, I still use a spray can for all of my primer and clear coats, and have used them a lot for the majority of my 50 year building career. Honestly, I would recommend that every novice builder master a spray can before they start messing with an air brush. I believe that you would be much better served by starting out as simple as possible. The number one reason for people getting frustrated and exiting the hobby is biting off way more than they can chew right out of the gate, in my opinion. Please take my advice and simplify, simplify, simplify.......at least for a while Steve

A typical acrylic lacquer clear will not pool as easily in these areas like 2K clear can, but it’s still possible if sprayed too heavily. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of guys successfully use 2K clear without creating this sort of problem, but It’s a lot more commonly seen when using it. As with any paint, you’re usually a lot better off using lighter coats rather than heavy. If you’re set on using Testors clear, it’s going to make a difference depending on which clear you’re using. Testors carries gloss and flat clears in lacquer spray cans and bottles, as well as water based acrylic in both gloss and flat, along with gloss enamel. All of these have different characteristics, and without knowing exactly what product you’re using and how you plan on applying them, it’s hard to tell you what to expect. Honestly, if you plan on using their lacquers in a spray can, you’re probably better off just spraying them right from the can than fooling around with decanting and all of that mess. This is a perfect example of how there’s no substitute for hands on experience. Steve

“Panel lines” are the gaps between body panels, such as between the doors and the body, and the trunk lid and body. What I’m referring to is the build up of paint along the edges of the panels when the paint has been applied too heavily. When any paint is applied too thickly on a model body, the paint has the tendency to pool along those edges making the body appear as if the body was dipped in the paint rather than it being sprayed on. This is one common mistake that is often made with 2K clears. The paint is thicker by nature than other clears, so rather than drawing away from sharp edges as is often the case with other paints, 2K clear has the tendency to build up into a hump on those edges. Steve

I just have to bring this up as well. Does anyone else agree with me that this model exhibits "exactly" what you don't want in a clear coat finish? This is a prime example of what is commonly referred to as the "dipped in paint" phenomenon. Looks nice and shiny, but the clear coat is so thick that the paint actually builds up into "drifts" along the panel lines. And God help he who wants to foil or paint any "buried" moldings, trim or badges. In my opinion, this is a perfect example of a video "not" to follow. Steve

I agree as well. It's very possible to be able to pick up on certain things rather quickly, but I think we would all be doing the OP a huge disservice if we were to give him the impression that getting a perfect paint job was somehow an easy task to learn. As others here have said, it can take a lot of trial and error and experimentation to settle upon a regimen that works for you. Simply watching a video might give you some general ideas and techniques to apply, but to expect that you're going to get great results right out of the gate is very unrealistic. I think this entire kerfuffle is about "expectations". The OP appears to some of us to be very impatient, and seems to be expecting immediate results that he's not likely to achieve, and not particularly eager to work for. It's almost as if he's expecting this hobby, and painting in general, to be easy, and along with that, seems to be an unwillingness to listen to the great deal of experience offered, and I suppose it rubs people the wrong way when you plead for their advice and then just shrug off whatever they offer. Granted, it's impossible to use every single piece of advice given, but when someone appears to be so short sighted as to blow off sound advice in favor of thinking that they are going to get better guidance from a failing paint company, it's understandable that it's going to make people question his sincerity about learning some actual skills. It strikes me that like some people new to the hobby, there's not a lot of appreciation for the knowledge to be gained from the experienced. They're looking for the shortest and easiest avenue to achieve their goal, but they don't realize that there are really no short cuts. Steve

You were lucky! My dad would have never painted anything for me! ? But I agree, a can of Testors enamel in one of a dozen or so color options, was all that I had available to me for years. If I had given up after a couple of failed attempts, or a bad can of paint or two, I’d be playing golf or fishing today instead of modeling. ? Steve

I missed this statement, and I have to respectfully say that this is about as naive as it gets! If you really think that Testors is going to give you some sort of magical, omnipotent insight on painting your models, you’re in for a very rude awakening! First of all, Testors has all but ceased to exist over the past couple of years, and is now basically a wholly owned subsidiary of Rustoleum, and if you’re counting on the fact that anybody at Rustoleum knows anything about models, I believe that you’re in for quite a disappointment. Steve

I would feel pretty safe in assuming that the majority of us cut our teeth on rattle cans well before we ever considered moving up to an airbrush. I feel like if David loses patience so quickly after such minimal effort with spray cans, it’s probably quite likely that his patience with the entire hobby will follow suit. You’re going to need a much thicker skin to advance very far in this hobby. Steve

And that’s the case with anything in life that you want to do well. Steve

To answer your original question bluntly, if you want to do anything “perfectly” in this hobby, plan on putting in a couple of decades of work! It’s hard to make “anything” look like you put in the work unless you “actually” put in the work. If it’s instant gratification you seek, collect diecasts. Steve

This has been my overall thought after reading through several of his posts. I keep thinking to myself, if only I had asked these questions, I could have saved myself 5 decades of trial, error and practice. I’m sorry, but even the guys who make it look simple have been honing their skills for many years. I believe that this is is one of biggest misconceptions of modeling is that it’s somehow a very simple hobby that requires no practice or skill, just a couple of bucks and a few tools. Steve

Yeah, I’ve never seen that either. I don’t doubt that it exists, but it must be some “off the wall” stuff. Steve

I should probably clarify that when I’m complaining about MM, or Testors in general, I’m talking about the spray cans. I still use a lot of Testors flat enamels in the bottles for a lot of things, but the spray cans, whether they be lacquers or enamels have always been sub-par in my opinion. I discovered, like many others, that there are just far too many superior alternatives available today to spend my time trying to figure out a consistent way of dealing with the stuff. Steve