StevenGuthmiller

Thank you Dennis! You're projects are inspiring as well! Steve

Fabulous looking interior Dennis! I agree. Sometimes replacing the floor is a big improvement. Especially if your plan is to use a different modern chassis and the floor pan and frame are integral to one and other. Of course, I usually blow apart the rest of the interior as well, if nothing else but to make it easier to detail. Especially the door cards. When I did my '68 Coronet, everything was basically based on the floor pan from the Revell '68 Charger kit as I was using the chassis from that kit. Sometimes you can end up doing a lot more work than anticipated though. The only remaining parts from the original '68 Coronet kit were the front and rear seats, and a very small portion of the door cards. Everything else was either modified from the Charger kit, or completely scratch built. Steve

You can get even thinner clear plastic sheets than 0.01. The stuff that I use routinely for replacing kit glass is 0.007 “clear lay film”. The same stuff they use for overhead projectors, etc. Extremely flexible, but still might cause you headaches with wraparound glass such as the ‘59 Ford. Steve

Certainly make sure that any depth modifications to the interior tub are made with the understanding that the chassis fit can be adversely affected. It’s not always possible. Steve

One of the biggest reasons to remove door panels and rebuild them (aside from enhancement of the details) is because a large majority of older annual style kits used convertible interiors in every kit regardless if it were a convertible or hardtop. I like to rework these convertible interiors to make them at least closer to accurate for a hardtop vehicle by removing the convertible top mechanism bolsters, or “wells” from the rear door panels and replacing them with closer to accurate hardtop door panels. This can be illustrated by this Johan 1965 Plymouth Fury interior that I modified a few years ago. Steve

Do it all the time. Steve

Steve

Okay. We can do that. I don’t have much interest in talking to anybody who closes their mind, takes everything said as a personal attack and is more interested in protecting a brand than having a simple civilized conversation anyway. I've added you to my ignore list, so that should make it easy for both of us. You have yourself a fabulous life. Steve

Well, I don’t always post solely for the benefit of the individual that I’m responding to, but to anybody that might get anything useful out of it. More information is always better than less, but yeah, I understand where you’re coming from. Steve

Looks terrific! Steve

Yeah, I should probably get one of those at some point. Seems like it would come in handy to help eliminate “flying part” syndrome. 😁 Steve

No, it didn't take a few days. It took 50+ years of experience. And again, you're bringing your emotions back into it. I'm not "cutting Rustoleum down". I'm merely citing facts. If you're interested, the reasoning for the number of coats are as follows. With the primer, I'm using an initial coat or two to achieve full coverage and using it to check for body work imperfections. The remaining 2 or 3 coats are used as guide coats to insure that body work is to my standards, and to make sure that there is an ample barrier against the hot solvents in the lacquer paint to be used. With the color coats, the airbrush lacquers that I use are somewhat transparent in nature, so more coats means more color uniformity, color depth and uniform coverage. The number of clear coats not only helps to provide depth of color, (ie, helping the color to "pop") but as I utilize a cutting and polishing regimen on all of my models, the more clear that you can apply without obscuring detail, the less likely you are to burn through the clear down to the color coats, or beyond, during the process. I've been using this process for the past 10 or 15 years and in that time, I might have encountered one instance where a paint job had to be stripped due to a paint issue, so it's been working very well for me. If I were using Rustoleum, I would fully expect to have to cut that number way down to 4 or less coats, and it's my opinion that my paint work would suffer for it. Believe me, I've used numerous different types of paint, including Rustoleum and other enamels over the past 5 decades, and I've never had the type of paint success with my projects as I have in recent years. Seams to me as if I'm on the right track. Steve

Okay. I'll buy that. Steve

What paint did you use? Steve

No disrespect Bill, but it’s a model car. The only real requirement is for the primer to be smooth. If you can achieve that without sanding, I don’t see any disadvantage that’s going to matter with something that’s going to spend it’s lifetime indoors sitting on a shelf. Steve

Well, whatever the reason, it seems to set faster on the card than on the parts. Steve

Usually it’s a thinner cardboard, sometimes with a coating on it, not your typical corrugated cardboard. But I don’t discriminate. Whatever I happen to have laying around the shop. Steve

Sort of, but not nearly as scientifically. I just go by past experience and feel. Steve

Well, as I said, with this particular product, (and I use it all of time) it definitely takes longer than 5 minutes to begin to tack up. I'll usually set the timer on my phone for somewhere around 10 minutes after applying the glue and then leave the shop. After that initial time, I'll return and periodically check the glue remaining on the card until it feels right. Strangely enough, in most cases, the glue on the card will actually set quicker than the glue on the parts, so I generally have additional time. I suppose the quicker set time on the card is probably due to absorption as I just use pieces of regular cardboard. Steve

Well, maybe we should approach this discussion from a purely analytical stand point, and remove the emotional. I get it, people sometimes get triggered when someone dismisses or condemns their product of choice, but my observations have nothing to do with the individual, but rather the performance of a particular material. And yes, I understand that some people will record good results with darn near anything, but my question is, which product is the least likely to perform to expectations, and which is the most likely to excel. I approach that question from this stand point. If one were to make a list of the advantages of one product over the other, the answer becomes clearer. From my view, Rustoleum enamel spray cans have a few advantages, for the sake of this discussion, over most lacquers. Those advantages being, that it's cheaper, more easily obtainable, and you get more product for your money. Unfortunately, none of those advantages have anything at all to do with the performance of the product itself. When you consider only the performance of the material itself and take the emotion out of it, there are many actual material advantages of lacquer over an enamel such as Rustoleum. #1. Spray performance is almost always superior with lacquer in a spray can, as you've eluded to when you mentioned the propensity for Rustoleum nozzles to clog. This is partially due to just bad nozzles, but it also has to do with the paint itself being much thicker It's thicker because it's designed specifically as a one shot product that covers in a single coat, (maybe 2) so therefore it only makes sense that it will clog nozzles much more easily. #2. Drying and curing times are miles away from one and other. Lacquers can be dry to the touch in a matter of minutes, where an enamel can take hours to days before it can be safely handled. Complete curing times could be a couple of days with lacquer, and weeks to even months with enamel. #3. Re-coat issues can be a huge problem with enamels, (especially Rustoleum) as this is the most often seen problem that I witness. Re-coating at the wrong interval can cause disastrous results and determining the proper re-coat times can be guess work at best. While the can will have instructions, those instructions will not take into account factors such as atmospheric conditions, which can throw re-coat windows way off. With a good lacquer, all of that uncertainty goes out the window. Most lacquers can be re-coated whenever you choose, whether it be 5 minutes, 5 hours, or 5 weeks. #4. Problems with paint thickness, and by extension detail hide, is a big factor with enamel, and virtually non-existent with lacquer. If you happen to have a situation where you've already applied a couple of coats of Rustoleum, and a problem arises that requires another coat or 2, there is a high probability that you are going to have a problem with obscured details, even to the point of beginning to fill panel lines to the extent of them becoming non-existent. At that point, the most likely option is the dunk tank. With lacquers, multiple coat systems are not only possible, but in many cases desirable. Using lacquer products, I routinely use as many as 15 coats of primer, color and clear producing no detail hide whatsoever. I won't go into the rationale for using that many coats at this time, but there are legitimate reasons for it. Using the same scenario above, should an additional coat, or 2, or 3, be required when using a lacquer, no problem. It's just a matter of adding more paint without the inherent problems you're probably going to encounter when adding additional coats of enamel. #5. Another issue related to paint thickness and chemistry is the fact that enamels such as Rustoleum level out very slowly. This can be an advantage as slow leveling allows for the paint to smooth itself as it drys, but it can also be a disadvantage as it also allows the paint to pool, or draw away from sharp edges which is also another problem I frequently see. Slower drying properties also allow for such issues such as runs, sags, fish eyes, etc, which are much less likely with a fast drying paint. And as I've already stated, exposed sharp edges, or lightly covered panel line edges can be a difficulty due to the fact that additional coats to cover can obscure other fine features of the model. Lacquers begin to dry so quickly that paint pooling, drawing away from edges, and runs and other related anomalies are virtually eliminated. #6. Another frequent problem with Rustoleum seems to be over coating with a clear coat. Not only do I see frequent paint disasters with people who have ruined paint jobs by merely trying to add a clear coat from the same company, or even the same paint line, but the fact that you are highly limited to the products that you can use over it makes things much more difficult. With lacquers, there are virtually no limits whatsoever. Should you choose to use a waterborne acrylic, an enamel, a 2K product, or a lacquer clear coat, type and manufacturer of the product you choose to use will make absolutely no difference over a lacquer base, and the interval at which you apply it matters none either. I could go on, but I think that these few examples of the versatility of lacquer over an enamel such as Rustoleum should be quite evident to anyone who's been experimenting with different paint systems over many years of trial and error. On a side note, I too have more than my fair share of trophies, plaques, ribbons, and magazine appearances with my projects, but I never attribute that success to a particular product that was used during the build. The accolades should always be given to the craftsman in those circumstances, and not the materials that were used. Steve

Sometimes I sand the final primer coat, sometimes I don't. If there happens to be any dust particles or visible orange peel, (which with Duplicolor primer is almost never) I'll sand it very lightly. If not, I leave well enough alone. You shouldn't have any adhesion issues if you're using lacquer over lacquer primer. Steve

The epoxy that I use is a "5 minute" epoxy, but it takes longer than that to tack up to the point of being able to hold the part without slipping. As a matter of fact, I'll often let it sit for longer. (maybe 15 minutes) I'll gauge progress by checking the viscosity of the glue that's left on the card, and when it feels right, I'll install the part. Steve

I use 2 part epoxy. I mix a little and put a dab on the body with a tooth pick. Then I let it set up for ten minutes or so to tack up. Once it has tacked up sufficiently, you can stick the part onto the glue and it will pretty much stay where you put it, yet there will still be enough viscosity where it can be positioned if needed. That said, I pretty much pin all of those parts now. It’s just a lot easier and more secure. Oh, and by the way, always apply the glue to the surface that the part is to be glued to and not the part. That way, if you happen to slip and drop the part, you’re not going to wind up with a glue smear down the side of a quarter panel. Steve

You shouldn’t have to glue the tires to the rims, unless there’s some strange issue. you glue the front of the rim to the back of the rim, squeezing the tire in between. Steve

Here's the thing. I don't use Tamiya or Rustoleum paints, and yes, I have used them both. But when the topic arises, for the sake of those who might not be familiar with either one, I recommend Tamiya because I have used both, and I know which is a better product, and which one a novice is likely to have less problems with. I don't care what paint people use. Never have, and never will. But when the comparison is raised, I'm going to offer what my experience has been, regardless if I ruffle any feathers or not. I've seen instances when people have had unflattering things to say about my paint preferences too. Does it bother me?........Nope. Steve