StevenGuthmiller

You’re not an oddball. I’m with you. Never been fond of blueberries, but I love most every other berry. My wife loves them too. Steve

I have parts like that too. A flat black interior from a '65 Olds 88 that I tried soaking in among other things, IPA. No affect whatsoever. Steve

My guess would be that almost all of us who've been building relatively continuously for the past 50 years or so, had to figure things out on our own. That's not to say that I haven't pick up the occasional tip here and there on the forums or Facebook groups, but the vast majority of what I've learned during my modeling career came from either experimentation, or face to face interaction with other builders. I don't put any weight at all into Youtube videos. Just my opinion, but I think the majority of those guys that I've seen are better at producing videos than they are at building models. But then again, I don't watch many, so......... Steve

Very well put! Steve

And there you are. Couldn’t agree more. Steve

Not only that, but who’s to say that the plastic spoon is exactly the same composition as the model you’re painting. I’ve heard the argument numerous times that plastic spoons are in fact a poor comparison to kit plastic for testing solvent affects. They can be good for checking color, but I certainly wouldn’t rely on them to tell me whether or not a paint is safe for a particular model kit. Steve

I don’t buy it. It’s an extremely thin coat on the surface and the car already has more than one coat of paint on it. It was repainted in the 80s. In any event, I don’t think it’s penetrating the paint deep enough to require stripping to the metal. It’s just a coating. Steve

Why? It’s all going to have to be sanded or otherwise removed anyway. Steve

For chocolate candy, my all time favorite is “Ice Cubes”. Candy bars? Probably Cadbury fruit and nut, and Mounds. Hard candy is hard candy for the most part, but I suppose I’d go with Life Savers, pineapple or cherry being my favorites. I guess I like Skittles for chewy candy. These are pretty darn good too! My wife’s favorite, hands down! We always have a container on the coffee table. Steve

Yup, I was aware of that fact. I only used one rag and I have it spread out to dry. I might soak it in a bucket of water just to be safe. Steve

Yeah, I’m sorry that I didn’t respond yet Carl. I don’t remember the size of the magnets that I had been using and I was trying to research to find out before I responded. It might take me a little while. Steve

Well, it’s drying VEEEERY slowly, so I might end up picking a few flies out of it later. In any case, as long as it eventually dries, it will be an improvement. Steve

I thought I would try this idea that I saw a guy using on television to try to rejuvenate the tired old oxidized paint on my ‘69 GP, at least a little bit. Of course it’s nothing permanent, but it certainly makes it look a little better for the time being. Just a mixture of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits wiped on with a rag. Only took maybe a half hour to do the whole car, and it doesn’t look terrible compared to what it was. Before: After: Before: After: Before: After: Before: After: Steve

I understand. Things can get way out of hand, and weeding through all of the suggestions can be a flippin’ nightmare. Try to keep it basic and simple and you’ll be much happier. And once you find a good process and reliable materials, stick with it. Bouncing around with dozens of different materials and procedures is pretty much guaranteed to give you ulcers. Steve

I think we often get way too far into the weeds with topics such as this, and for someone who has little or no experience with a particular subject or procedure, it can be really confusing and off putting. There’s nothing particularly magical about using automotive paint for models. Just a good quality lacquer primer is the only key, and for the purposes of building models, one doesn’t need to go looking for all kinds of obscure, unusual products for this purpose. A simple trip to your local auto parts store where you can pick up a can of Duplicolor lacquer primer of your choice is all that you need to do. Use several light coats of primer, followed by a light coat or two of the lacquer, and then another coat or two sprayed heavier, will suffice. It doesn’t need to be brain surgery. Be aware that many automotive type lacquers are a base coat/clear coat system, so chances are that clear coats will be necessary for a good shine. Luckily, because you’re using lacquer, you can use whatever clear you prefer without having to be concerned about how it will react with the paint. Steve

I have to agree with Steve on this one. To take it a step further, if you should decide to remove the details and replace them, do yourself a great big favor and scrap the whole thing and start fresh with a new piece of styrene sheet plastic. It makes no sense to waste time sanding all of that off only to end up with flat piece of plastic. Some of the sheet metal shapes could be easily recreated with additional layered pieces of styrene strip, half round and sheet. It would certainly give you a much more realistic look in the end. I basically built a brand new firewall for my 1965 Plymouth Fury project using a donor from a Lindberg '64 Dodge piece, and in all honesty, it wasn't that hard, and kind of fun! Steve

I really don’t know the gauge of the wire used in that circumstance. It was just taken from a larger copper strand wire. Steve

The easiest way to paint convincing firewall and fender well detailing without going to the extreme of removing and replacing detail is to pay attention to how you’re painting the model and the materials used. The right combination of materials can make painting small details such as this WAAAAY easier. If you’re painting with lacquer, then it’s just a matter of using enamel or acrylic for the detail paint. This combination will make it much easier to pick out the details as carefully as you can all of the way down to the firewall surface, and if you make a mistake, it’s just a matter of removing the mistake with sharpened tooth picks if the paint is still somewhat wet, or with the same tooth picks moistened with the appropriate thinner for the enamel or acrylic if the paint is dry. This insures that no damage is done to the underlying lacquer. I haven’t always replaced firewall detail, so prior to that, this was the general approach that I used. A few examples. Steve

I get that, and I’m kind of in the same situation. I’ll never be able to build everything that I would like to either, and I’ve resigned myself to that fact. So my approach has morphed into rather than fretting over what will get left unbuilt, which will inevitably be many kits regardless of how I build them, I’ve decided that the process of the build is what is more important to me than populating my shelves. I discovered along the way that I get much more satisfaction out of playing with the little stuff and discovering how to do things that I’ve never tried before than I did when I was putting time constraints on myself. I haven’t spent hardly any time at all in my shop over the past year and a half, but I’m at peace with that. Even if I never build anything ever again, at least I am very satisfied and content with what I have done to this point. I just had to tell myself that I can’t build them all, so build what you can to the best of your ability. I would rather that my legacy be quality rather than quantity. Who knows, maybe when I’m too old and ready to get out, maybe I’ll be able to make a little money back on the ones that I have built to put towards a vacation or something. 😁 Steve

Another one that was done by replacing firewall details. Steve

I’ve come to the conclusion that painting firewall wiring never really looks all that great in most circumstances, and often makes the engine bay look worse than if you just sprayed the entire firewall black, and left it alone. It’s for that reason that I’ve begun to sand nearly all of the firewall detail off and have started replacing it with real wire and more realistic looking parts. Yes, of course it’s more work, and you can’t always see all of the changes, but the modeling journey is far more important to me than the finished product. I build because I love building. Not because I need or even want rows and rows of shelves full of finished models. One model meticulously done gives me much more pleasure and pride than a dozen done quickly to average standards. Steve

Johan for me! Mostly because of the cool and unusual subject matter. (Oldsmobile, Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler, Desoto, Cadillac, and AMC). Sadly for me, the majority of the really cool “flat box” stuff was long gone before I even began modeling 50+ years ago, and they’ve proven to be much more difficult to find, and much more expensive than most of the vintage AMT stuff. Steve

I kind of prefer my rat liver seared on a hot asphalt highway. Steve

WOW! Excuse me! 😳 Steve

Did I press a button with my playfulness? I detect a little grumpiness. Maybe you’re just hungry. 😉 Steve