StevenGuthmiller

The wife and I had to have a little laugh yesterday when this story was featured on the national, network news. Not because fires in Canada is funny, but because according to the networks, nothing happens unless it happens in New York or California. Every time we have a catastrophic weather event, or something like this smoke issue from the Canadian wildfires in my part of the country, nobody knows about it until it eventually hits the east coast. We had 1/10 of a mile visibility, suggested mask use, and outdoor events canceled in my area due to Canadian wildfire smoke several weeks ago, off and on for a week or more. Don't remember seeing any national news about it, and if there was something I missed, it was likely nothing more than a blip. Same thing happens every winter when we get hammered by a huge blizzard. Doesn't count until it makes it's way into New York. Steve

Personally, I would start by foiling all of the side trim, and then, using a dark brown paint, do the wide portion of the lower trim that's supposed to be wood grain. I would probably take it even a little further and paint the wood grain area with a light tan enamel, and then when dry, do a thin dark brown acrylic wash and allow the dark brown to draw away from the molded in wood grain ridges to create more texture and a little more of a wood grain affect. Then of course, with a little thinner on one of the tightly wound Tamiya conical swabs, wipe away any paint that gets on the surrounding chrome portion of the trim. Then, using the same technique, flow a thin black wash into the voids in the remaining upper and lower trim areas, followed by careful paint removal from the ridges of the trim with the same swabs barely moistened with thinner. You would be surprised at how well this sort of technique works on fine detail, not only for trim, but for badges, scripts and chrome parts as well. Steve

Why not just foil them and then use washes for the background? Steve

Here's another part that I recently made from just basic shapes as Bill suggested. I needed a wiper motor for a '64 Pontiac, so rather than try to scrounge something from another kit, I decided that it was just as easy to make one from plastic sheet plastic. It will do the trick very nicely. I didn't take photographs as I progressed with this one, but you can pick out the individual shapes and pieces used for the overall part just by viewing the finished part's photographs. Steve

I agree. Don't get too involved right off the bat with stuff that's too complicated and takes a half a dozen different materials, especially if it's a part that can easily be substituted from another kit. As Bill stated, look for the basic shapes in a part and devise the best way to put the part together using those shapes. Here are a couple of basic and relatively simple examples. You can put together a pretty easy GM power steering pump with basically 3 shapes, starting with an appropriately sized plastic tubing or rod for the base. With a little filing and sanding, you can make the "bottle" shaped portion from thicker plastic stock. And finally, the cap from another piece of plastic rod. Then, if yo wish, you can continue on to make things like mounting brackets pretty simply with thin plastic sheet and thin rod for bolts. Steve

I did something similar a dozen or so years ago when I paid around $300.00 for a mib Johan ‘61 Plymouth Fury. Other than that, I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $150.00 or $175.00 for a kit, and that includes some pretty rare stuff, including Johan “flat box” Plymouth Fury’s from ‘64- ‘67, and Chrysler 300s from ‘62- ‘68. Steve

I’m with Joe. I almost never use Novus #3. If the pads have been used in succession as they should be, there shouldn’t be any reason why you can’t move on directly to #2. Steve

Old kits are all that I build anymore. it helps to keep me motivated knowing that I’m not building the same kit that 5,000 other people are building. Luckily for me, I filled in the vast majority of my wanted vintage kits 10 years ago or more, when it was actually fun to bid on eBay. You know, back when you might be able to bid $40.00 or $50.00 on a Johan 1969 Roadrunner, and actually win it! It appears to me that most prices for these old kits have more than tripled, as a rule, over the past 6 or 8 years. But, the prices reflect the market, and if people don’t mind paying $600.00 for a model, I guess that’s their business. Myself, I’ve got enough subject matter to easily keep me busy for the rest of my life, so it bothers me little. I will say though that it gives me a bit of a chuckle when I see people asking $300.00 or $400.00 for a ‘60 Ford Pickup, or a 1971 Dodge Demon, when Round-2 is about to re-issue them! ? Round-2 seems to be destroying quite a few individuals dreams of fortune as of late! Steve

I knew right away it wasn’t a Palmer. The body was far too “in proportion” for a Palmer! ? Steve

I would just finish polishing around it, and then touch it up with a brush. Lightly polish the touch up area, and chances are you’ll never know it’s there. Steve

I would just get some cheap, craft store, acrylic craft paints. You can do some pretty convincing weathering with just craft paint and nothing else, just using wash and dry brush techniques. Steve

I had been buying cases of acrylic display cases from "Pioneer Plastics" pretty reasonably for a few years. I think I was getting them for somewhere around $6.00 or $7.00 apiece? Since I moved my models to stand alone cabinets, I have empty acrylic cases everywhere!! Not that it's a bad thing. I use them mostly now for transport purposes to shows and such, and when the day comes to thin out the built kit herd, each one can be sent off in it's own case. Steve

A lady in an SUV with a half dozen six year old kids inside! Steve

If you don’t want to cover them, you’re gonna have to clean them. There’s nothing in between. Steve

And if the body in question was painted with enamels, it's a pretty quick and easy operation to strip the paint and begin again. There really shouldn't be any reason to ever toss out a body because of a bad paint job. Chances are extremely high that it will be salvageable. Steve

What is the shade of blue your using? If it's a darker blue, or at least a medium blue, you can use Testors enamel gloss. Testors clear enamel gives you a nice gloss with a single wet coat, but it yellows fairly rapidly, so use over a light color isn't recommended. It also takes a long time to cure, as do all of Testors enamels, as well as most enamels. For that reason, if you're using enamels, you have a couple of options. Either you can use a dehydrator to try to speed up the curing process, or you can just plan on putting it in a safe place for a number of weeks while the paint cures. Way back when I was using Testors enamels, once the paint and clear were applied, I just planned on letting it cure for a good 6 weeks to 2 months, especially if you plan on doing any polishing. The paint should be dry enough to handle after a week or so, but I wouldn't do much else with it until it's fully cured. Just be aware that Testors clear enamel can run and pool, so don't apply it too heavily. Just enough to give full even coverage, and a glossy finish. While it's a little testy to work with, as are Testors enamels in general, a fairly decent finish is possible. If you plan on going this route, just plain old Testors primer, whether enamel or lacquer primer, will work just fine. As a matter of fact, back when I did the paint jobs depicted below, I often used Testors "Metallic Silver" in a spray can for my primer. Here's a couple of old models shot with Testors enamels and clear that I painted many years ago. They could be fairly presentable if I ever decided to finish them. Steve

Sounds like you have the basic inclination required then. Now settle in for a long and illustrious ride! Steve

It was a bugger to get in and out of, I can tell you that!! Steve

I agree. If you're new to the hobby, you have a considerable road ahead of you. This hobby is not for the "instant gratification" crowd. It takes more than a casual desire to throw together a couple of models. It takes commitment and drive to get really good at it. First order of business in my opinion, is to think hard about whether or not this is something that you will really love doing, or if it's just more of a passing fancy. I can't tell you how often I've seen guys accumulating hundreds, or even thousands of dollars worth of kits, supplies and materials over the course of a year or so, only to be trying to sell it all off the next year. Some of them without ever doing any work on a model at all. They see pictures of some beautifully built models on line, and think, "i can do that" without having a clue of what is involved with getting to that point. I don't want to discourage anyone, but unless this hobby is something that really trips your trigger, and something that you're committed to for the long haul, it's likely not going to materialize into a whole lot. Steve

I work in the valet/guest services department at a local medical facility, and a patient entrusted me to park this little gem for him today. Steve

For me, there are various reasons for each operation. Priming, color and clear. I've been using automotive acrylic lacquers for many years, and the amount of primer that I use was born out of the fact that inadequate primer depth can open you up to issues such as plastic crazing, which can destroy a model body in short order. That, coupled with the fact that I've been building a lot of irreplaceable vintage models, prompted me to be extra careful to be certain that there will be no possibility of body damage, and once you have found a system that works virtually every time without fail, there's little reason to change it, whether it be a rare kit or not. I often see people on various boards that spray one coat of primer on their model, expecting it to protect, only to be sorely disappointed. I can't tell you how often I've seen crazed paint on models on Facebook for instance, and the builder asking what happened? And just to compound the situation, you'll usually see endless posts from people who apparently don't even know what their looking at, trying to explain what has happened when they don't even know themselves. It's pretty easy for a seasoned builder to identify crazing, and it almost always comes down to the same cause. Inadequate priming. The primers that I use are relatively thin, and go on in pretty thin coats, so I have just resigned myself to the fact that in order for me to be comfortable with the protection, 5 coats is about what I'll need. The amount of color that I put on a body is a little more subjective. I use an airbrush as a rule, and my objective with the color coats is just to get a good, even color with enough depth to give it the richness and the color saturation that I desire. Usually, this translates to anywhere from 3 to 5 coats. In other words, I keep spraying color until it looks right to me. With the clear, it's pretty simple. I ALWAYS polish my projects, regardless of how "shiny" the finished paint out of the airbrush or spray can. I just feel that it gives a more realistic finish for various reasons that I won't go into now. It's for this reason why I use as much clear as I can to give enough depth to ensure that I'm not going to be sitting and looking at a spot where I polished through the clear into the paint and wishing that I had added one more clear coat. I discovered some time ago that with the clear that I use, 5 coats is about perfect for adding enough protection from burn through from polishing, while at the same time, not obscuring any detail. As an added bonus, more clear adds depth of color to the finished paint job as well, which never hurts. So, in short, I use a lot of primer to be darn certain that the plastic is protected from a hot paint, and I use a lot of clear to protect against that one little spot of polishing "burn through" that can really ruin your day. Since I started using this regimen, my paint job failure rate has dropped to almost nothing, so the way I see it, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Steve

Thank you for this post Greg. This depicts exactly what I was referring to when I was talking about a fine line of primer being visible around the perimeter of the script in some cases when applying the foil prior to primer. It might not always be evident, but you are running that risk if you apply it that early. I didn't bring this issue up because I heard it somewhere. I've experienced it and just wanted people to know that it could be a possibility. This is exactly the reason why I began applying the foil later in the painting process. Not only does it eliminate the possibility of this happening, but the less paint that you have to remove from the foil, the easier this technique is. Steve

I agree. Take your time and you'll do well. You don't have to have years of body shop experience, or spend decades trying to perfect a perfectly shot paint job, (that's often not perfect anyway) to get fantastic results. The willingness to put forth a little sweat equity is all that's required. Steve

I brush paint almost nothing. Everything is sprayed, either with an airbrush, or spray can. There was virtually no masking on the body depicted, except for the black area on the radiator shroud. The rest is foil, most of which is applied after the paint process is finished. But be aware, I'm not getting these results straight from the airbrush or can. I always cut and polish my projects to get the finest finish possible. Steve

Maybe at this point some examples of people's work might be helpful to back up their techniques. This is not directed at anyone in particular, but with as much time as I spend on various social media sites, I can attest to how often I see people making statements about how nice their favorite technique works, whether it be paint related, or something else, only to find once photographic proof is provided, that it's not all it's cracked up to be. Very often, we get a lot of lip service on these issues, but not a lot of evidence to back it up. The Molotow chrome issue in particular comes to mind. I can't tell you how often I've heard statements about how Molotow will give you results just as good as foil, but upon inspection you find otherwise the vast majority of the time. I've tried this experiment a few times, and it's usually quite telling. When you ask someone to "show me" how their claimed results are just as good as, or better than another, more often than not, you get nothing but crickets. That's not to say that there are not those out there that can produce an exemplary finished product with whatever their product or technique of choice is, but there are a lot more who's standards are not very high who for some reason or another feel that they should be advising others on their techniques, only to find that it's not always that impressive once you see it. (Mostly I'm thinking of Facebook in this regard) Nobody has everything figured out, (myself included) but I have no compunctions about offering up some evidence to illustrate my successes, (or failures for that matter) That said, I'll throw in a few examples of my work, and they can be taken or left, but they are at least a true picture of what you can expect if you use the techniques and materials that I do. Some of these were painted with and airbrush and aftermarket, hobby related paints, and some with Duplicolor. All polished in the end. Steve