StevenGuthmiller

Be careful with storing models in an attic. It can get hot enough to ruin them pretty easily. Steve

I display mine as well, but here’s an idea so that you can keep enjoying the hobby without filling up your house with models. Begin concentrating on adding a lot more detail to your projects. I used to crank out models at a rate of about 1 every month. Since I began adding a lot more detail, doing a lot more chassis and engine swaps, and doing more interior upgrades and scratch building, my production has slowed to about 1 every six months to a year. I still get to enjoy the hobby just as much if not more, and I don’t wind up with a ton of stuff that I have to figure out what to do with. The true joy of modeling is the journey, not so much the end result. Steve

I love it!! Never been much of fan of the Ford teardrop hoods, but aside from that, it’s phenomenal! I love that kind of stance! It just screams aggression to my eye. Steve

I would go as far as to say that I would think that MM Metalizer would be a poor primer, especially if you have to do any masking after paint. Some of the Testors paints make very poor primers because paint does not adhere well to them. I’ve had ample experience with using Testors “metallic silver”, “gold” and “copper”, and while they make a nice looking base for transparent enamels, the paint doesn’t stick to it worth a BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH. I can’t tell you how many paint jobs I ruined years ago when tape pulled the paint right off of the base coat. Something tells me that Metalizer would be no better as a primer. Just my guess. Anyway, I personally wouldn’t use it. Steve

That’s the way I do it for small items like badges and scripts. In my opinion, it works better than sanding. You have more control with a small conical swab and even a sharpened tooth pick dipped in thinner than you do with sand paper, and you don’t have the possibility of sanding through the foil itself. Steve

I had the opportunity to see the Roger Waters, "The Wall" concert twice when he came to Minnesota. Fantastic concert, even though Roger was the only original band member present. My top 4 albums in order. The Wall Animals Dark Side of the Moon Wish You Were Here And yes, I even enjoy some of the music on "The Final Cut". Steve

Don’t want to dictate what you should do, but I think it will work out better for you. Just speaking from a lot of BMF experience. Steve

Maybe, but my guess would be that they were just being kind. ? Steve

Not impressed. Looks bloated......kind of like a dead raccoon on the shoulder. Steve

Looking good to this point, but I did want to let you know that the “foil under paint”, (applying foil before paint) is generally reserved for small items, such as scripts, badges, door and trunk locks, etc. There are a couple of reasons why it’s not generally used for larger pieces of trim such as this. First, it makes for a fairly large section of paint to remove. Second, if you’re going to “sand” the paint off, it’s going to be a virtual impossibility to remove the paint from any recesses on anything other than completely smooth, flat trim. Third, body trim should reach all the way to the body surface. Sanding is only going to remove paint from the top portions of the molding and not all of the way to the body surface, at least not without adding a great deal of difficulty and the very real possibility of damaging the paint. If the paint is not cleaned down to the body surface, it will give you the undesirable effect of the paint “crawling” up the outside edges of the trim. These are just a few issues that I thought that you should be aware of. Foiling the trim exactly as you have over the primer, but performed over the paint instead will give you a much nicer looking job with a heck of a lot less work. Steve

Agreed. I used Molotow for a short period of time for some small parts and minor touch up, but after discovering that both of my pens had gone south after using very little of the ink from either of them, I concluded that the stuff was way too expensive to throw 2/3 of it away. That coupled with the fact that it’s way too delicate and no easier to use than any other paint, I pretty much gave up on it. Never looked back either. There are better alternatives. Steve

In my opinion, even “bad” BMF is still better than Molotow. Personally, I’ll never be able to make myself put something on my models that I’ll never be able to touch again. Steve

Seems as if the “silver bullet” Molotow pens aren’t all that they’re cracked up to be. I knew that a long time ago. Sometimes there’s no substitute for the tried and true methods of doing things. Not everything improves with modern materials. Steve

Finished and added the scratch made under dash 8-track tape player. Steve

Thanks Keith! Dash and steering wheel are finished. Just for a recap, modified dash pad, added gauge and dash face trim, and scratch made steering wheel, steering column, levers and pedals. I guess I'm happy with it. Steve

Thanks much fellas! I'm calling the dash board done! The worst part to detail in any interior in my opinion! The rest of the interior should go much easier. Steve

Thanks guys. It was a little bit of a slog. Things kept wanting to fight me, but I think I've gotten the dash panel to the point where I can accept it. A couple more details to pick out and gauge faces to add and I think I'm calling it done. Steve

Looking good Al! Steve

Nice work Steve! I don't really remember the '71 Chevy looking that good back when they came out in '71. Probably because most of them that I remember seeing were in some of the most God awful, earth tone colors imaginable. Steve

Something about the dash just wasn't sitting right with me, so I stripped it and decided to try a different approach. I decided to try the "wire ring" trick for the gauge bezels, and I think I'll be happier with that. I also glued some thin stretched sprue around the perimeter of the dash panel so that I can foil it to represent the trim that surrounds it. I think that might be the biggest thing that seemed to be missing. Next I'll mask the gauge panel and then spray the surrounding pad with a coat of clear like I did previously. Steve

Thanks guys, but I decided that I could do better on the dash panel, so into the soup it went. Back to the drawing board. ? Steve

Spent some time today working on some dash details. Not sure that I'm entirely happy with the results, but I may just call it good. If not, I'll have to start over. Steve

Never used the clear, but the base coat goes on like a dream! Hard to screw it up. Just like any other metallic paint, an air brush with a wide pattern will give you the best results. Steve

Actually the entire dash was first shot with flat black primer and then portions were masked off and a fairly heavy coat of Testors gloss lacquer was applied. The nice thing about spraying gloss clear over a flat base is that you can control the sheen with the number of coats that are applied. One normal, even coat of clear gloss over a flat base will give you a pretty nice matte or semi gloss finish. Additional coats will add more gloss. Steve

This is part of what I love about working with lacquers. Basically got all of the interior parts painted this afternoon. Several different coats of primer, color and clear all within a few hours. The dash was just primed with Duplicolor black primer and then the upper dash and lower gauge area were masked and the dash pad shot with a coat of Testors clear lacquer to give it a bit more of a matte finish. The door panels were shot with several coats of Duplicolor "Sand Beige Pearl" and then the gold was masked, shot with black primer, Duplicolor "Universal Black" and then unmasked and clear coated. I might do a little "toning down" on the lower black portion of the door panels. Too shiny for my taste. All of the rest of the parts were shot with gold, black primer or universal black and clear coated accordingly. The rest of the parts that are not pictured have been painted black, shot with Testors clear enamel for a good gloss, and will be finished with Alclad chrome. Steve