StevenGuthmiller

They will usually recommend a particular product or two for removing mold release agents. Usually this will be Super Clean or Wesley's Bleche White. Both work well as paint strippers in most cases. I've never had problems with resin & Super Clean, but I'm sure it has a lot to do with the composition of the resin. I've used it on Modelhaus & Flintstone stuff & have never had issues. Steve

True, but the OP's question was "what's on your bench or slated for it". Personally, I have nothing on the bench at the moment. But I have a ton of stuff "slated for it". Steve

Nothing going right now. It will have to wait until everything is unpacked. But this is a list of a few that are at the top of the list. MPC 1966 Pontiac Bonneville hardtop. MPC 1967 Pontiac Bonneville hardtop. AMT 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix. Jimmy Flintstone 1961 Olds 88 bubble top. AMT 1967 Ford Galaxie XL hardtop. Johan 1967 Chrysler 300 hardtop. Johan 1964 Dodge Polara hardtop MPC 1968 Dodge Coronet R/T. Johan 1962 Plymouth Fury convertible. Johan 1964 Plymouth Fury hardtop. I also plan on revisiting a Johan 1965 Plymouth Fury hardtop that I started some months ago. Also in the running are: AMT 1962 Pontiac Bonneville hardtop. Johan 1959 Olds 98 4 door flat top. Johan 1968 Chrysler 300 hardtop or convertible. Johan 1966 Plymouth Fury convertible. Johan 1967 Plymouth Fury hardtop. I have a lot of work to do, but after not being able to do anything for the past 3 months, I'm looking forward to every second of it!! Steve

You could do a cop & robber car in one by doing the Monte Carlo in the Denzel Washington flick "Training Day". Steve

Just as a suggestion, when you are ready to install the skirts, you can just tape them in place from the inside of the body. That way they can be removed later if you so wish without any damage. It will also save you from worrying about winding up with a glue mess trying to permanently install them. Steve

Yes, I discovered that........after I built mine some years ago. My understanding is that with a lot of these annual kits, the development of the promos & kits coincided with the development of the actual vehicle & on occasion the molds for the models were ready for production before the actual vehicles were released. That meant that if anything was changed during the development of the 1:1, it may not have translated to the model in time to be changed by the kit manufacturer. Either that or AMT just screwed up! Steve

The AMT annual had "PONTIAC" lettering on the hood & trunk lid. The 1:1 had "BONNEVILLE" lettering. I would be interested to know where the photo etched parts came from as well, just in case I ever build another. Steve

That's a good start. If at all possible, get your hands on a good pointed tweezers. It will make your life a lot easier for a ton of things with building, not just foil. Steve

I agree, if it needs clear coating, use a compatible clear coat. I would recommend Testors "Wet Look" clear. Steve

You got lucky there! The hard tops are generally much tougher to find. Steve

I don't use a lot of the Testors paints any more in general because I've had problems with them, but most other lacquers are just as tough as the clear you put over them, at least in my experience. Granted, most base coat/ clear coat lacquers will not give you much of a shine without a clear coat, but I've had plenty of them that went without clear coats & look just fine. That's why I suggested to the OP that if it looks good as is, I would personally leave it alone. This '65 Impala was painted with an automotive lacquer more than 20 years ago, was never clear coated & looks as good today as the day that I painted it. Steve

First question would be, how does it look? If it is acceptable to you as is, if it looks like you want it to, You may not need to do anything. If it looks shiny and smooth enough for you & you're not going to do a bunch of polishing on it, there's no need for a clear coat. While I usually use an abundance of color & clear coats, I always say "less is best". Don't mess with a good thing. Steve

You can probably manage without, but it will make things immensely easier with a tweezers. You can pick up a good pointed tweezers at nearly any craft store for probably less than $5.00. They have entire sets of tweezers on ebay or Amazon in the $5.00 range. Do you have an X-acto or similar knife & blades? Without that, you will be virtually unable to do anything with BMF. Steve

I would be careful with that. One of the problems that can arise with the Ultra Bright is low adhesion. Getting any baby powder on the adhesive side of the piece of foil that is intended to stay on the model is going to only exasperate the problem. The best thing to do is avoid touching the adhesive side of any foil entirely. Use tweezers to lift & apply your foil. Even the oil from your hands can adversely affect the adhesion qualities of the foil, & you want it to stick for a very long time. Steve

They're original AMT annuals Albert. Although, at least Modelhaus did them in resin. Not sure if anyone else did. The annuals come up from time to time on places like ebay, but they generally don't come cheap. I got really lucky with mine. I found it in an antique shop more than 25 years ago for $8.00! Plan on paying at least 3 figures for a really nice one today. You could probably find a glue bomb for less, but even a Modelhaus resin re-pop will probably run you over $100.00, if you can find one. Steve

I would have advised against buying the "Ultra Bright" BMF, especially if it's your first time using it Lane. I've been using the regular BMF, now called "New & Improved", for decades & have very good luck with it. I don't think I'm alone when I say that the Ultra Bright stuff has issues. Please don't get discouraged if it doesn't work well for you. Before you give up on BMF, try some of the new & Improved. Steve

Don't forget guys, the "custom" wheels from the AMT '58 Impala kit are very nice replicas of the correct '62 Chrysler 300 wheel covers. That way you can save the wires for something that you can't find correct wheel covers for. Steve

I have the hard top kit & the promo convertible of the '68 300. I was considering combining the 2 to do a more detailed version of the convertible. Only problem is, I have a thing for up tops on my convertibles. I wonder where I could find an up top that would fit the 300? Steve

Thanks Scott! I'll have to get busy working on something as soon as possible for next years theme. I don't have a single built example of anything from 1968. At this point it will probably have to either be a '68 Dodge Coronet, or a '68 Chrysler 300, the only 2 that I have. Steve

Yeah, no such thing as a '68 Super Bird. Steve

I've had it happen a couple of times with automotive lacquer too, but that was when I was using Testors clear lacquer over it. Since I've started using automotive lacquer for everything, I have had no issues. That being said, with the OP using enamel for his color, I personally would not put anything over it, except possibly enamel clear, for the period that it takes for the base color to thoroughly dry. With the slow pace at which enamel dries, especially Testors enamels, I think you would be opening yourself up to this sort of problem if you did. Steve

True, but the paint cannot harden if covered with something that hardens first. I think of it a little like molten lava. The hard shell that forms over the surface is no match for the softer stuff underneath & at some point, somethings gotta give. Regardless of what the ultimate cause of the cracking was, it's always a bad idea to spray something that is incompatible over a paint that is not fully cured. Steve

Missed you Wayne! Maybe next year. Steve

Oooh, I want one! Steve

The problem was that the enamel was not fully cured before the clear was applied. This is one reason why I no longer use Testors enamels. They take weeks to cure fully. The acrylic cured much more rapidly than the enamel, hence the cracks. An acrylic should be no problem over enamel paint, but the paint beneath needs to be completely dry before applying anything over it. I used to box up my bodies that had been painted with enamel for up to 3 months before doing any polishing or the like. Better safe than sorry. Now I use nothing but lacquer for bodies. Completely cured in a couple of days, at the most. Steve