StevenGuthmiller

Steve

Sure seems to be a lot of vitriol from somebody that's so confident in their position. Steve

Because although you may not believe it to be the case, you don't necessarily know everything. I don't mean that as disrespect Bill, that's just how I feel about everyone. Steve

Mostly because I for one am not willing to dismiss an option for something that I have not tried myself personally just because someone tells me that I shouldn't. Nothing against you or anyone else Bill, but it's often been my opinion that the "experts" are not necessarily always what they're cracked up to be, and I would just as soon do my own experimentation rather than just take a guess based on someone else's experiences or directions. I'm always open to suggestions, but that isn't going to stop me from trying things myself. I have several varying items sitting in my shop right now that have been glued together with epoxy. After they have cured for some time, (possibly a day or 2), then we'll know for certain whether or not it will work in each of those situations. If not, so be it. If it works, than all of the expertise and speculation in the world will not change it. In the end, I'm willing to give it a shot and see what happens. I don't see any circumstance where there's anything wrong with that. The only thing that will never work is the thing that's not tried. Steve

And you know it's "not suitable" because? I'm Only trying to offer an option that could at least be tried by the OP. All of the speculation that it won't work, is at this point, just that......speculation. Offering "something" is a whole heck of a lot more useful than offering nothing and just shooting everything else down. Steve

If you read the entire post you'll see that I'm talking about glues for final assembly. I mentioned MEK in the post, and it is absolutely my choice as well for assemblies prior to paint. No, it's no miracle epoxy. Just simple JB Weld "Plastic Weld". The beginnings of my prolific use of epoxy actually had it's zenith come from the realization that I needed something more viable for gluing in glass than the usual characters. Most clear parts glues are nothing more than glorified Elmer's, and CA is a disaster waiting to happen on clear parts, chrome or paint in my opinion. I needed something with a strong bond that would set relatively quickly, and wouldn't potentially destroy everything around it. Once I discovered that epoxy was the way to go for clear parts, it quickly became apparent to me that it would work as well, or better, than the majority of what I was using prior for all of my other assembly purposes, and being all about stream lining, I decided that there was no need to keep 15 different adhesives on hand cluttering up my shop when I could achieve everything I needed to with just 2. Maybe if I get really bored, I'll sit down in the shop this afternoon and put together a little demonstration for the non believers. I'm certainly not going to destroy one of my assembled models to demonstrate! Steve

I understand your reluctance to recommend solutions for something that none of us are really sure about, but, the OP is looking for recommendations, and all that we can do is suggest what we have experience with. That said, I have, and always will, endorse 5 minute epoxy as a superior adhesive alternative over most of the glue types used by modelers today. I can certainly see how epoxy would not be the best solution for chopping and sectioning, but I guess I just assumed that anybody doing those sorts of modifications on bare styrene plastic would be smart enough to know that a good plastic cement, or MEK based glue would be the very obvious choice for those kinds of operations. I use epoxy primarily as a final assembly glue, and believe me, some of those sub assemblies, throughout the course of the final assembly process, get a LOT of very harsh handling! I very rarely EVER have a part come off as the assembly process progresses, and many of those parts are often nearly microscopic, and get my big mitts all over them possibly hundreds of times as the build advances. Being able to peel it off with a fingernail as with white glue?........No! In any case, sometimes I get the impression that we often think of a model car as something that's going to be subject to all sorts of rough handling and conditions, which they almost never are. Just like it's unnecessary to apply a tough weather protecting coating of some sort over a paint job because the model will never be subject to the weather, adhesives that will hold a diesel engine together are completely unnecessary as well, as the average model is going to see very little "action" in it's life time, other than an occasional move from one shelf to another, or an odd dusting or two. I have many models in my collection that have been nearly completely assembled with 2-part, 5 minute epoxy, most of them some years ago, and nearly all of them have taken numerous 400-600 miles, or more, round trips to various shows, been moved, cleaned and generally handled frequently, and to this day, I have never lost a single part, or had an assembly come loose. Some of those parts, such as some grille and bumper assemblies, have had mounting tabs removed, and are held in place with nothing more than a few drops of epoxy strategically placed between the grille/bumper, and the body. If there were ever going to be instances where a part were to fall off due to the choice of adhesive, that would be the case. They most certainly would not have held up to the handling and transportation rigors had they been installed with CA, or a host of other glues. The only models in my collection that I've ever had to re-glue parts on to in the past 30 years were ones that were assembled using other glues before I began using epoxy. In the end, I cannot definitively suggest that epoxy will work in the case of the OP's circumstances, but I will absolutely recommend the use of 5 minute epoxy as a final assembly glue with complete confidence, and without hesitation until my final breath. Steve

That might be the case if you’re planning on gluing a few things together and then throwing it across the room a few times, but if you are gluing together a model, handling it as you normally would a model car, and placing it on a shelf, 5 minute epoxy is more than adequate. I use 5 minute epoxy for the majority of my assemblies, and in my experience, it’ seems to be a much stronger bond than a good number of the glues used in model building, with a few exceptions. How it would perform on the plastic in question I don’t know, but in general, it certainly holds better than most CA, UV setting or clear parts glues without question. Believe me, I’ve had the pleasure of trying to pry apart parts glued together with 5 minute epoxy on a number of occasions. Not an easy task by any stretch. Steve

Looks like you have it down. As the saying goes, “anything worth doing is worth doing well”. There’s easy, and then there’s good. Steve

Epoxy works on everything. It’s pretty much all that I use on models now. Saves having to keep 15 different glues on hand. Steve

Probably already been done. Steve

I just have to do this on occasion while I work on the boring stuff, just to keep the juices flowing. Steve

Hi everyone! Thank you to all that have given this thread their attention, but I think that I've found an acceptable set of tires for my '64 Lemans, unless I can scrounge up some Moebius white walls from the '65 Belvedere kit. These came from a vintage AMT 1967 Ford annual kit, and appear to be in very good shape considering their age. I will continue to look for the Moebius tires, but these will do well in a pinch. Thanks everyone! Steve

Anybody have a complete interior laying around from this kit? I could save myself a boat load of work on my '64 Lemans by using this interior for a starting point. TIA. Steve

Anybody have some of the white wall tires from the Moebius '65 Plymouth kit that they're willing to part with? Model Roundup used to sell sets of these tires, but no longer. I absolutely love these tires for early to mid 60s cars, and would love to scrounge up a few more sets if possible. Let's make a deal! Thanks!! Steve

The red line tires in the AMT '64 442 kit look like this. I assume that the whitewalls in the Cutlass convertible would be the same tires. What I would really like to find is a set of the Moebius 1965 Plymouth Belvedere whitewalls! I still think these are some of the nicest early 60s whitewalls ever produced! They just look "right"! I think I'll inquire about those in another thread. Steve

A 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix Model-J that I've owned since I was 18 years old in 1980. Needs cosmetics, but runs like a champ! The hood on this beast is approaching the length of my wife's Honda S-2000! Just for some perspective of how long I've owned this car, here is an old photo of me in a tux, standing next to my "get away" car at my wedding in 1987! Steve

I don't have one of the '64 Cutlass convertibles, but something makes me think that the convertible has white walls instead of red lines like the hard top. I might very well be mistaken. But if it is the case, I would love to trade a set of the red lines for a set of the whitewalls, or a set of similar smaller thin whitewall tires. I need a suitable set for my current 1964 Pontiac Lemans project. Thanks!! Steve

Good lord! Please stop! As if my faith in humanity wasn't already at the lowest point possible!!!! Steve

An "explanation" makes sense to me, especially if the model in question is a total fantasy such as your example David. Someone viewing the model would probably be curious as to what your MO was for building the model. I can also understand a back story if it's an actual factual or historical account. If someone is building a replica of a vehicle that exists, or has existed at one time, and there is a legitimate story behind that vehicle, whether it be a famous custom or race car, or even just a family vehicle that has an interesting history behind it, then I'm all ears. I don't know. I guess it's just me, but on the occasion that I do see a model with some extensive fictional story attributed to it, it really doesn't interest me much. The model itself is the focus, and it's just my opinion, but a made up story about it's existence really doesn't do anything for me. I don't want to stir up a hornets nest, but I kind of feel the same way when I see guys that name their models. Not so much just calling it Betty, or Veronica, but the ones that conjure up some fantastical name that they somehow feel enhances the model in some way, like a bright yellow street machine called "The E-Lemon-ator" or some goofy sh-- Sometimes I feel that their just trying to promote their model as somehow something better than it actually is. In any case, much like the backstory thing, it doesn't really bug me. It just kind of makes me chuckle. But hey, we all have our little idiosyncrasies, and in the end, whatever floats your boat is good I suppose. Steve

I think I'd try some .010x.030 strip, laid on edge. Use some thin rod or strip vertically as your background mounting members, and possibly some .020 or .040 strip for spacers to ensure that the spacing is correct and even. Use a thicker strip for the horizontal center grille member, and the upper and lower outer moldings. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm way behind already on my current project, I'd sit down in my shop for a couple of hours and test this theory, but That's the approach that I would take. The parking light bezels could be done with some plastic tube of the correct diameter, but I'm not sure if I would try to do them before the grille members and butt them up to the bezels, or more likely, add them after. Steve

Nope. The only thing I’m interested in while working on a project is the history of the subject itself. I get all of the back story I require just from researching the subject and trying to translate that into the model. I suppose if you consider building a model that represents a vehicle of a certain age, mileage, etc, or a car that may have been owned by an individual with certain vague personality characteristics a back story, then yeah, I guess. But I’ve never felt the need to create a detailed scenario or narrative around a project. Maybe I just don’t have that sort of imagination. But, I guess if it’s something that helps you, go for it. Steve

Try using this technique. It works for all of the moldings, not just wheel openings, and will not only help give you perfectly straight moldings, but will guard against any slippage of your blade and prevent any paint damage. Steve

I always order mine directly from BMF. That insures that it's fresh, and not the stuff that they were producing a year or two ago with the adhesion and thickness issues. Steve

Use the foil. You're never going to find a better option. Chrome on silver is always a bit hard to distinguish, but if you use the right materials, you'll get a pretty good distinction between the two. Learn how to use BMF and you'll never look back. Steve