StevenGuthmiller

If it’s not a metallic color, you probably don’t even have to re-coat. Just sand out the dust with very fine sand paper and polish. That is of course unless you need more color, in which case, a light sanding, followed by another coat of paint. Steve

Yes, don’t let one little kerfuffle bother you. It probably won’t be your last Steve

You’re taking this a little too personally Juergen. As Bill said, it’s not a personal thing against you. If you stick around for a while, you’ll quickly discover that these types of discussions morph into other avenues very quickly. Nobody is directing any of this at you. It’s just become a general discussion about a common phenomena. Besides, anybody on this board that tells you that they’ve never added their 2 cents at some point where it didn’t belong, is blowing smoke up your backside. You just have to be like a duck and let it roll off of your back. Either that, or if it’s really bothering you, just send the admins a PM and ask them to lock the thread. They’ll be more than happy to oblige. Seriously Jurgen, we are all happy to have you here. You just have to learn to roll with the punches. Steve

Oh, I agree with you......to a point. But if I’m posting pictures of what I’m doing to a power steering pump on a ‘64 Bonneville in a WIP thread, I don’t want to see a half dozen pictures of your finished ‘64 Chevy pickup just because it’s “close” to the same color and it’s a ‘64. I see that sort of thing relatively often on some forums. Steve

The problem is, is that's what it looks like when you post a half dozen photos of something that's either barely related, or completely different than the subject at hand on someone else's thread. I've had situations on Facebook groups where I've posted progress pics of a '64 Pontiac Bonnevile, and somebody replies with pictures of their '55 Chevy. Huh? Steve

There’s a pinned thread in the “tips and tricks” section called “Wheel Arch Molding Foiling Tutorial” that describes this technique. Steve

It’s not a race. No penalties for only finishing 3 or 4 per year. I prefer to concentrate on one at a time, and do it to the best of my ability. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’ll never get to build everything that I would like to, and there are new kits popping up all of the time. I view every build as if it might be my last, because after all.....it could be. Steve

If you’re airbrushing enamel, you can speed up drying time exponentially by thinning with lacquer thinner. As an example, I sprayed this oil filter and starter with enamel thinned with lacquer thinner Tuesday night. I added the decal to the oil filter, and painted the starter solenoid, (with Testors enamel) yesterday, and then sprayed a coat of Testors clear lacquer over both this morning. Both are easily dry enough to handle this afternoon. Steve

Getting a little weathering finished on the engine. Steve

I’ve never seen that either. It would make absolutely no sense to make requirements such as that, unless it was some requirement for a box stock category or something. It would be like requiring all models have opening doors, or functional hood hinges. Stupid. Steve

Yes, it is a trophy top, which I might add, was included in a bunch of other AMT kits back in the day. Steve

That’s the only reason that I decided that it was worth a try. I was becoming entirely disillusioned with the performance of virtually every rattle can of black paint that I had tried. If the cans were not all but unusable, they were far too expensive. Steve

Another advantage of using a clear coat over something such as Future is it’s ability to be cut and polished. I realize that polishing is often viewed as something to be avoided by many modelers, but in my opinion, it’s an essential process to a flawless and realistic finish. I don’t mind taking that extra step to achieve my objective, and I do it on every build whether it needs it or not. Clear coats are exceedingly helpful if you choose to polish your models. Not to say that there’s anything wrong with avoiding the polishing process, but achieving a perfect, flawless paint job is not particularly easy, at least in my estimation, and clear coating, followed by cutting and polishing is a way to get that perfect paint job even if you have difficulties obtaining one straight from the can or airbrush. Steve

Testors clear lacquer will work fine over enamel. However, Testors enamels, (and most enamels for that matter) cure very slowly. I would let the color coats cure for at least a couple of weeks before clearing with the lacquer. Avoid Testors clear enamel. It's not clear. It's more of a clear yellow. It will yellow lighter colored paint pretty badly. A couple of illustrations. I used Testors clear lacquer just in the past couple of days over several different kinds of enamel, (MCW, Testors, Rustoleum) while working on the engine for my current project. It will not harm the enamel in any fashion. I use it for over coating enamel all of the time. As far as Testors clear enamel goes, you can expect it to have a yellow tint directly from the can, and it will yellow even more as time goes by. It's for this reason that it makes a good product for doing some jobs such as aging transparent steering wheels such as manufacturers like Pontiac and Mopar offered on some of their vehicles in the 60s, but other than that, I wouldn't use it on a body, unless it's a very dark color to begin with. Steve

Did some painting today, some of which included spraying Testors clear lacquer over this black enamel paint. It all went exactly as it would have with the little bottles of Testors enamel. Seems as if my days of wasting $3.00 on a 1/4 oz. of paint is over. At least for some colors. Steve

I found a starter from an MPC 1969 Olds that looks like it should work. just need to check clearances. Steve

I'm beginning to think that there might be enough "grey area" on this to just say the heck with it and use the one I have. That's going to be the case unless I can find a decent substitute. Steve

Maybe a 421 HO thing? Steve

Just weird. The Moebius '61 and the AMT '62 Pontiac kits both show the solenoid down as well. Steve

Hmmm. Looks like I may have to find a different starter. Of course I’ll want to check exhaust manifold and frame clearance first. Thanks for the photos Bill. I wasn’t having much luck. Steve

Anybody have an answer as to which way the starter would mount on a '64 389? Got to looking at the instructions for the Revell '66 GTO, and it shows the starter mounting "upside down". At least what I consider upside down. With the solenoid on the bottom. Anybody know if this is actually a thing? Steve

Just a little tip that many of you might already use that I learned over the course of my modeling career. Do all of your small engine and chassis detail painting, (ie. bolt heads, attached parts of a different color, etc) and then spray a coat of appropriate clear over the top of the entire piece afterwards. This protects all of those brush painted details from wearing off from handling as you continue to detail/assemble. And of course it's beneficial to apply any decals prior to a clear coat to prevent damage as well. Steve

In case anyone is interested, here are a couple of parts airbrushed with the canned Rustoleum paint. Heater box painted in satin: Fan and Starter painted in gloss: I've got some flat mixed up for airbrushing, but have yet to try it. Oh, by the way. For those of us that are still somewhat addicted to Testors enamels, The stuff in these cans appears to be basically identical to the stuff in the little jars, albeit a little thicker, (it does require a little thinning to be brush painted) And it's a heck of a lot cheaper!!! Very good possibility that I'll be purchasing a few of the other colors available, like white, red and aluminum, so I'm not constantly running out. Steve

Well, it is an enamel paint, so using a lacquer clear over it is most likely going to be a risky proposition. Steve

I agree with Greg, and as he stated, if the type of tire permits, I will flat spot, or "weight" the tires to add another touch of realism. Steve