StevenGuthmiller

Might be pretty labor intensive, but if I was going to try it, I might start with a length of half round, and either split it down the center, or sand it down half way to make it a quarter round. Then lay out and mark where each louver is going, cut precise lengths of the quarter round and glue them to each mark. Once dry, I would round over the outside edges with sand paper. Of course this would probably work best with plastic on plastic where you could use a MEK type plastic cement for gluing, but I suppose that it could be possible with super glue. Just an option that might be worth trying if all else fails. But you’ll have to be ready to commit. That’s going to be a lot of individual louvers to recreate. Steve

Of course. But coverage also suffers the thinner it gets. The best advice that I can give if someone is having issues with enamels drying too slowly, is forget about the gloss enamels and use flat. It dries much faster and you can clear over it to achieve whatever finish you desire. I probably only own about a half dozen jars of Testors gloss enamel, and that is generally used for air brushing, so it gets thinned with lacquer thinner. Everything else that I have is flat. Otherwise, you might want to consider switching to one of the many acrylic options available, especially for brush painting. Lacquers are pretty much all that I'll use for bodies, and the only thing that gets brush painted as a rule on my projects are small details. Any small parts that are large enough to get sprayed, get sprayed. I've gotten to the point in my hobby career where there's no way I'm going to wait for days or weeks for enamel paint to dry when there are other options, and in most cases, much better ones. Steve

I understand that, but mineral spirits will not help it dry more quickly. Not only that, but I've had Testors enamels curdle on me occasionally when thinned with mineral spirits. Steve

Not particularly, no. However, if I have a Testors enamel that has dried up somewhat and become very thick, I have thinned it back down with lacquer thinner. But in that case, it then needs to be sealed very well, or it will dry up quickly. Steve

This is just one of the reasons, (but one of the biggest) why I don’t use Molotow, and why I continue to try to warn people about it’s shortcomings. Personally, I can’t quite figure out how I could ever get the body and window trim chromed with Molotow with almost all of the final assembly finished. The way it is, I generally foil the trim WAY before I ever even get close to installing windows, interior, engine, chassis, etc. I would not only have the trim all smudged and dulled by the time I was finished, but I’d probably have half of it worn completely off! Steve

If you’re planning on airbrushing it, just use lacquer thinner for thinning. Speeds up drying time exponentially! Steve

I agree. I get a little perturbed every time the bill comes due, but all that I have to do is envision employees and patients at my place of work and I feel better. Almost invariably, people that don't have Verizon have to step out the front of the building just to get a signal. I see it umpteen times every day. I'm not good with that. It's worth the extra money to me not to have to stand outside when it's 30 degrees below zero in the winter just to make a phone call. Steve

I got an e-mail from "Amazon" a couple of weeks ago claiming that there had been "suspicious activity" on my account. Claimed that someone had ordered an item for several hundred dollars. Also a scam. They're hoping that you'll call the number provided to "verify your account information". U-huh. Steve

I’m pretty sure we all do, but that’s the assignment. ? Steve

Uh, the task was to name your 3 all time favorite "songs", not your 3 favorite bands. If we were talking about favorite bands, the 3 songs that I listed at the start of this thread wouldn't even rank in my top 20! Steve

Amazon still carries these "American Line" blades. Steve

Getting the interior colors custom mixed. Steve

For this kind of price, the cheapo blades would definitely be worth checking out! On Amazon. 200 for $11.99. 300 for $15.99. Steve

Wow! That's nice! But I can't see myself spending that much time on a box. I usually use an upside down display case with some foam in the front and rear to help hold the model stationary, and wrap any loose parts in paper towels and either place them under the model, or along side. I also often pack a separate small box with cotton cloths and layer my loose parts within. This wouldn't be a good way to ship a model, but it works very well for transporting a couple hundred miles to a show by car. I have yet to experience any broken parts or damaged paint. Steve

If you need a larger tip for the metallics, wouldn’t that mean that the particles are too large to fit through a standard sized tip, ie. out of scale metallic particles? I might be alone on this, but that’s my absolute biggest killer when it comes to metallic paints. Steve

I believe that they’re some type of lacquer, but I’m not certain. I don’t use them myself. Steve

My personal opinion? You’re better off just getting into the habit of priming everything. Not only that, but you’re going to get much more satisfactory results by spray painting everything that you possibly can. I brush paint almost nothing, with the exception of very small details. Not much else says “amateur” more than brush marks all over your finished model. Steve

Do you know anybody who has a little bit of heated space that you could borrow occasionally? Someone with an unfinished basement, or a mechanic’s or auto body shop, or the like, that would let you use it for a few minutes after hours once in a while? Otherwise, you might be stuck. Steve

I listened to the Hair of the Dog album constantly when I was kid cruising main. I’m certain that I know every lyric to every song on that album! ? Steve

Shelf life. Apparently Molotow has one. I have 2 pens. Neither of them lasted more than a year before they degraded. Personally, I'll stick with the "better" alternatives.......for several reasons. Steve

You know, everybody loves their brand new car right off the bat. That’s universal. I’m sure you have all seen those television commercials from the auto makers boasting about their “JD Powers” awards for “initial quality”. Those awards are based a lot on consumer’s initial thoughts about the vehicle that they just bought within the past 3 months and are most likely largely based more on emotion than actual hard evaluation. I’ve never given much weight to an award based on surveys of people within the heart of the honeymoon period, right after spending $40,000.00 on a new car, when nobody wants to admit to themselves, or anyone else, that they bought a piece of junk. The real test will come down the road when that honeymoon period is over with, and the the true gravity of the consumer’s decision becomes apparent after getting some real miles on the vehicle. Steve

Couldn't agree more! Why "settle" for something that you "sort of" like, when there are so many options available to us today. Is it really worth getting worked up about a buck or two here and there? I've said it before, but people sure don't seem to have a problem spending fist fulls of cash on their other hobbies. How much does a fishing boat, a new shot gun, or green fees cost? Seriously, just about every other hobby known to man costs more than building models. Steve

Mock up the main engine parts, (glue it together temporarily with a glue that will let you easily disassemble it) and then see how it fits. Some times you just gotta jump in. Steve

If I didn't have to pay a small fortune to send it to Poland, I'd give it to you. I doubt that I'll ever build it. Steve

Shouldn't surprise anyone that paint prices have gone up, just like everything else. I look at it this way. With the price of gas at 4 or 5 bucks a gallon, I can afford to not make trips to Hobby Lobby or the auto parts store and order my paint online from MCW or Scale Finishes. As a matter of fact, I'm almost definitely saving money, not only on gas, but all of the other stuff that I don't need that I would probably buy on a trip to the hobby shop! I guess I never fretted too much about paint prices, especially in the last few years, since I've been taking a lot more time to build one model. Maybe this would be a good time for all of us to focus a little less on quantity, and spend more time detailing each project. Get your modeling fix without spending gobs of money. Steve