StevenGuthmiller

I agree completely Tom! The paint is the first thing that will be noticed, and therefore, probably the most important component of building a model car. Why you would "cheap out" on materials for this step is baffling to me. Often times, these are the the same people that will spend $3.00 on some discount store finish paint, but have no issues with spending $100.00 on all sorts of after market parts and decals. Steve

I couldn't tell you. I've only used Tamiya primer a few times and I didn't see any cost benefit over Duplicolor. I use Duplicolor "sandable" and/or "primer sealer" on every project. You just need to be aware that it is a hotter primer than any hobby primer, and adjust for that accordingly. Granted, most of my projects are old kits with more robust plastic than many of the new kits, but I've done some newer kits with the same paint regimen that I use on old ones, and the Duplicolor primers worked fine. My method is to spray a coat of hobby primer, (usually Testors lacquer primer) as my first primer coat. This helps to seal up the plastic to some extent for the following Duplicolor coats. It also gives better initial coverage than the Duplicolor primers. The Testors covers well, but it is not as fine or smooth and does not protect as well. The Duplicolor primers are finer, and go on much thinner and smoother than Testors, especially with the aid of the unmatched "fan spray" nozzles that they have. When I begin with the Duplicolor primer, I start with at least a couple of very light coats, followed by a few more successively heavier ones. By the time 4 or 5 coats of primer have been applied, I have an extremely smooth base with no sanding between coats. Let's just say that I have had crazing issues with automotive lacquers in the past and my entire painting process has been formulated over many years to avoid it, and with the techniques I use today, with Duplicolor primers, I have zero issues with it. I'm completely confident going into every paint job that there will be no problems with crazing. In closing, I'll just say that I don't think any paint needs to be "avoided" in conjunction with plastic modeling. You just need to know how it's going to act before you just leap in and start spraying. Spraying a pretty heavy coat of any hotter automotive primer over bare plastic right off the bat has an even chance of giving you disappointing results. Steve

Thanks Nigel. Glad to hear that someone is thinking about me. Continuing to make some pretty good progress on the engine. First, I threw the lids on the air cleaners just to see how they will look. I think they will do pretty nicely. I'll assemble and add them permanently at final assembly time. I also added a "grunge" wash to the majority of engine parts and then glued on the carbs. Believe it or not, I'm really looking forward to running all of the linkages, fuel lines, and other lines on this intake. Sick, I know! Steve

Thanks guys! I think the air cleaner assemblies are finished satisfactorily. The embossing powder on the air cleaner elements is not a perfect solution, but it should look okay with the lids on. The Alclad on the lids turned out great! Steve

As I was fiddling around with the air cleaner thing, I also managed to get some detail painting done on some of the engine and engine bay parts. I found some time ago that it's a good practice to finish as much of the detail painting as possible, and then shoot on a coat of clear when finished. This eliminates the tendency for the detail paint to rub off due to handling during the assembly process. Steve

Thanks guys!! Okay, am I the only one who routinely gets sidetracked with details? I find myself doing this all of the time where I start looking at a part, and suddenly ideas begin forming in my brain about how it can be improved, even though I really had no intention of changing it. Before I know it, I'm experimenting, followed by complete commitment to the alterations. This time it was the air cleaners. I started contemplating how I could add some texture and detail to some rather boring looking air cleaners for this tri-power engine and settled on removing the lids from the existing air cleaners, and fashioning new bases and elements for them. My thought is to cover the elements in a gray embossing powder to more closely replicate the exposed foam elements. Let's see how it works. Steve

There are a couple of ways that you could tackle this. If you don't mind a flat finish to the panels, foil them as you do the rest of the trim and then brush on some flat clear to the panels. Another technique that I like is to sand a section of regular foil while it's still on the backing, in one direction. This gives you a nice "stainless steel panel" look. I recently used this technique for the stainless roof panels on a '60 Chrysler Imperial. Steve

Unless you're from Wisconsin! Steve

It doesn't have to be a promo. The older kits prior to about 1960 or '61 were basically exact copies of the promos, but they had the added bonus of being made from styrene plastic. I've restored quite a few of these simple "screw chassis" kits, and they can be quite fun to tinker with. As an example, this 1958 Ford convertible "kit" is no different from the promo in the aspect of the parts count and manner of assembly. It basically started as a 24 part kit. The break down is, a body, front bumper, rear bumper, a set of head light lenses, tail lights, a hood ornament, glass, a top boot, interior tub, dash, steering wheel, chassis plate, a set of wheels and a set of tires. That's it. Very typical of these early kits/promos. They can be a lot of fun, but remember that these early "annual" kits can be quite hard to find and very expensive. This one had a few extra parts added, most notably a Modelhaus convertible up top and continental kit. Steve

Thank you Dave! Well said. Steve

I'm not saying anyone is wrong either. This is just my experience with the stuff. I did everything possible to correct the situation, but nothing worked. I've given up on Molotow. It's not worth the aggravation to me. I've done well with BMF for decades. I don't see any reason to change anything at this point. I've been much happier with the performance and durability of Alclad chrome over Molotow anyway. Steve

I really don't think it has anything to do with the tips. I believe it's the ink itself. As I said, I rarely used the tips in favor of a brush, and mine did the exact same thing. Steve

Yes. Keith Buckner was so kind as to send me the engine from a Johan '62 Olds F-85 that I then proceeded to butcher. Steve

I've tried both approaches with my 1mm and 2mm pens. Neither produced any better results. Actually, I rarely used the tips anyway. I usually preferred to apply it with a brush. I also tried thinning the ink as suggested by several members, also to no avail. I just chalk it up to another inferior product that I really don't need anyway. If I can't do it with foil, (which is very rare), I'll use a dab of Testors chrome silver or a shot of silver Sharpie as Snake suggests. Steve

Right now mine are being stored in the circular file! Steve

I didn't find one, but I did my best to try and recreate one. It's not perfect, but it's as close as I'm going to get. Steve

Yeah, it's been around for a while. Guess it's just a case of "if it still works, why throw it out". Steve

These pens have a shelf life and it doesn't appear to be very long. I bought a couple of them some time ago and they worked fine at first. After a while, I got the same finish as you. I've come to the conclusion that they are not worth the time and money. I got by just fine without them for decades. I think I can do without them now. Steve

I met my primary goal for the day and managed to get the main engine parts painted. The color is Scale Finishes "Pontiac Engine Blue" enamel. Turned out great! Steve

Thanks guys! I find that I really enjoy monkeying around with some of these little detail parts. There will come a day where the eyes and hands will no longer cooperate with this small stuff, so I just as well enjoy it now while I can. Been spending my afternoon getting everything engine related done so that I can get some paint on things. Drilling holes for hoses, wires, linkages, etc, as well as fabricating a few more details that I wanted in place before paint. I separated the carbs, thinned the belts the best that I could without them becoming too fragile, added a dip stick tube to the block, as well as the beginnings of some carb linkage and a linkage bracket to the intake. It should be a fun challenge to get all of the linkage and fuel lines run for this tri-carb set up. But I think it will add considerable interest to the top of the engine over what is included in the kits. I believe that the majority of engine parts are now ready for paint. Steve

Let's just be happy that there are members here who actually participate. I see boards all over the place, (this one included, I'm sure) where a large percentage of their members just hang around in the shadows and never contribute a thought, or post a word. Conversation, no matter how trivial, is what keeps these boards alive. Steve

I'm honored to be in such great company! Steve

All I can say is that with this much hype, it better be a goody! I pray it's not some NASCAR kit or something like that. Steve

I must be a hell of a blabber mouth! Been here just over 6 years and already have nearly 10,500 posts! Steve

There we go. All finished and ready for paint. Steve