StevenGuthmiller

They are photo etched, but they're not speakers. They're kick panel vent covers. Steve

Secondary color is on, except for the dash pad. (need to let the clear on the lower portion dry a little more before masking) I'll shoot a light coat of clear on the door panels to accentuate the color, (as I did on the seats) once the darker color is dry. The interior is beginning to take shape. Steve

Corn starch will work as well. Steve

I used a similar approach on my '64 Grand Prix project. I don't remember that last time that I actually saw a car with a transparent steering wheel that hadn't yellowed, and this "clear" paint is the perfect yellowing formula. Steve

Here's a little tip for anyone who's building an early 60s Pontiac or Mopar with a transparent steering wheel, and an opportunity to use some of that unfortunate Testors clear enamel in a spray can. As it's pretty much standard for these transparent steering wheels to show discoloration virtually every time you see one, spray a little Testors clear enamel into a cup and brush it onto the clear portion of the steering wheel. I knew I'd find a practical use for this stuff some day. Steve

Starting to finally get a little color on some of the interior parts. Steve

Enjoying a little kibble while you tinker with your '36 Ford, Jeff? I find that Fancy Feast has a nice picante flavor, but Friskies is a little too uninspiring for my taste. Steve

I suppose it depends on what kind of wheels/tires you're looking for. There are any number of 1/24th scale kits, (a lot of them Monogram) that have various "after market" wheels and tires to choose from. If you're looking for stock, the original Monogram 1/24th scale '56 Chevy hub caps paired with a set of the wide whites from the 1/24th scale Monogram '58 Thunderbird will work perfectly. Steve

The cost is irrelevant, but if you're using good paint, which is either designed for the hobbyist, or there is adequate information, feedback and instructions available to you to know how to use it, these sort of things won't happen. A paint doesn't necessarily need to be plastic compatible, as long as you know what your getting going in. With these bargain paints, it's going to be the user's job to figure out what's in the can, as many of them state no real information on the can, other than, as in this case, "Clear Acrylic", which is basically meaningless unless you analyze the ingredients. With virtually all of the mainstream paints used within the model car building hobby, there's a plethora of information available to the modeler of how to deal with each one of them. With a paint such as this, you're either relying on the off chance that there's information out there from someone who may have used it once, or else you're going to have to spend the money and hope. I belong to a multitude of Facebook groups, and several modeling forums, and in all honesty, paint issues are by far the most common problem that I see out there, and in the vast majority of circumstances, it's because the person is going to Walmart, Home Depot, Menards, etc, and buying something in a spray can that they have zero idea of what it is their getting. Next thing you know, they're asking for advice on how to fix a disastrous paint job that they got from using some furniture paint that they got at the corner hardware store. My only contention is that if you use products that are tried and true for our hobby, you're much less likely to be spending your time asking the next inevitable question, "What do I use to strip this paint?" Steve

Might have been some sort of chemical that had gotten on the parts before the kit was built and there's some kind of delayed reaction happening? At this point, who knows. Chalk it up as a mystery. Did you happen to have cleaned the parts with anything before assembly that might have been the culprit? Steve

I understand that most modelers take the word acrylic to mean a water based, plastic safe paint, and I often take it as such myself, but people need to understand that that doesn’t necessarily translate when it comes to buying a product, especially when you’re dealing with this sort of bargain store stuff. There’s no way of knowing how these cheapo paints are going to perform without some testimonials from other hobbyists who have had some experience with it. Steve

I guess my first question would have been, why was it necessary to spray clear paint over a clear part in the first place? If the part was scratched or damaged in any way, it might have been a better approach to polish it. If you feel that it is necessary to spray clear coat over it, you could try Testors clear lacquer. I’ve sprayed it over virtually everything with no adverse affects, and while I don’t recall ever feeling the need to spray it over clear parts, (although at some point I may have) I have used Testors lacquer window tint on kit glass before and it worked well. I assume they are one in the same as far as formulation goes. Just be sure to test it on a spare part, (as should always be your practice when working with unfamiliar products) Steve

Acrylic can be one of those terms that doesn’t explain a whole lot. They run the entire gammit from a water based acrylic craft paint, all of the way to an acrylic lacquer, which is essentially automotive paint. It appears that you have something here that’s closer to the latter. Plastics are not a one size fits all affair either. Styrene plastic is an entirely different animal than some other plastics. Might be safe to use on your lawn furniture, but not necessarily your kit parts. Steve

I don't want this to sound like a personal attack Michael, but I have not been the only one to warn people again and again about buying these cheap paints. I get the fact that they may be more inexpensive or convenient, but in the end, you might have been better off to just flush the money down the toilet and save yourself the aggravation. It's been said before, but here it is again. "You get what you pay for". Or more to the point, "you get a can full of rubbish for a few dollars less". Steve

My feeling is that if you have a high moisture level in your shed, that might also affect the chrome. Dealing with a lot of vintage kits, I can tell you that I’ve seen a lot of chrome that’s all but completely gone from kits that appear to have been stored in very humid conditions for long periods of time. The optimum solution would be to get your finished builds out of the shed and into a more climate controlled area, preferably inside of a clear acrylic case. Steve

I use mostly Duplicolor "Primer Sealer", with other occasional Duplicolor primers, and some Testors lacquer primer. Steve

The plan at this point for my '64 Fury was going to be either "Sandalwood" or "Chestnut, or a combination thereof. The '61 Dart is going to be a full detail, all red, D-500 version with the 383 "Long Ram" engine. Steve

It looks a lot to me like the model got misted with some sort of chemical solution that is removing the chrome. This is exactly how kit chrome would look if you shot a very small mist of one of the lye based solutions that a lot of us to remove chrome. One of the degreasing cleaners, like Super Clean, Simple Green, or Easy Off oven cleaner would probably give you the same affect. Even something as benign as Wesley's "Bleche White", or ammonia will take chrome right off of plastic. If you look at the pinned "removing chrome plating" thread in the Tips and Tricks section, you'll see that there are a thousand different ways to ruin your chrome. I would say that it's extremely likely that the Odo-Ban that you're spraying has something in it that's creating the problem. Active ingredients appear to be "Alkyl" and "Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride". I don't like the sound of the ammonium chloride thing. Every kit is different as far as the chrome goes. Some are much thinner than others, which could explain why this one was affected, and others were not. Steve

Hi Tony, and welcome. While cars are a slightly different game, judging by the skills that you obviously already possess, it shouldn't be a huge leap for you making that transition. Good luck! Steve

I have several of these that I'd like to do someday as well. Time will tell, but I have a '63 Fury hardtop that I got a start on a long time ago, as well as a '62 Fury convertible and hard top, and '63 Polara and '62 Dart convertibles. I've got an original flat box '64 Fury, and '64 Polara that will probably take precedence over any of them though. Next one on my bench after my '64 Bonneville is very likely going to be a '61 Dodge Dart. Cool stuff!

All looking fantastic! Love to see all of the extra "love" going into them. Are these all originals, or are some of them resin? Steve

Or if you use lacquers. Steve

There you go. I imagine the smaller, the better. Steve

Thanks! That’s pretty much what I had pictured in my minds eye. Just trying to think through the best way to get there. ? Steve

I just went to the website, and went through the entire ordering process up until the final “place order” tab. (PayPal) Up until that point, everything worked fine. I wasn’t going to hit that final tab because I don’t want the product. Steve