StevenGuthmiller

Aside from the obligatory mess, and a shelf full of paint cans, the shelf directly behind my bench contains a good portion of my most valued kits......where I can keep a good eye on them. Steve

I would just ask in the “Wanted” section. Somebody probably has one and at the very least would probably be willing to cast one in resin for you. I have at least one of them, but I’m no good with resin casting. Let me check my stash to see if I have any extras. Steve

Shouldn’t be too hard. There are a lot of the Johan “USA Oldies” 1962 Chrysler 300 kits around. They all had that air cleaner. What are you going to use it for? Steve

Not going to call it my favorite, or my best, but I’m pretty happy with it so far. Steve

Only the old Johan 60s Mopar kits. Steve

I always drill them out and replace them now, but in the past, I would just use some clear gloss mixed with just a touch of white, and maybe an even smaller dab of silver. Steve

My wife and I would be having a “discussion” on that one. I love my wife with all of my heart, but the cat is not going into my shop under any circumstances! My wife knows that, and understands the reasons behind it. Cat hair in my paint jobs being the largest! Steve

I just mean, don’t let someone else’s perceptions dictate your own. If it looks good to you, that’s all that really matters after all. I mean, I understand trying to rectify the occasional glaring imperfection, but if you take everyone’s advice and spend all of your time trying to fix every tiny little fault, you’ll never do anything else. Steve

If you don’t see them, they’re not worth worrying about, are they. Steve

Absolutely! My thoughts pertained more to the fact that the Revell kit might not lend itself as well to a custom or racing subject than anything about the AMT kit. Steve

That’s pretty much par for the course. I’m pretty sure almost all serious builders have way more than they could build in two lifetimes As far as myself, most of what I have for modern kits is pretty much just kit bashing fodder anyway, so I really don’t care a whole lot about any of that. Modern kits are easily replaced, so I’m not particularly concerned about preserving them. The vintage kits, on the other hand, have some value, so I do think about which of those I’ll be able to finish in my lifetime, and what will become of those that I don’t. Steve

You just have to jump in with both feet. Testing the water is not going to get it done. I don’t want to discourage you, but I’ve seen people far too often in recent years, that spend months and.month’s amassing kits, tools and equipment, waiting for just the right time to start......which never comes. I became friendly on line with a gentleman a couple of years ago who did just that. He spent a year or so collecting everything he thought he would need to start, and when he finally did, a couple of months after, he was selling everything off. If you really want to get back into the hobby, you just have to cast your reservations aside and go for it!! Steve

Here's one that just happened to me recently that about sent me through the roof!! A few weeks ago, I was moving a few things around in one of my model cases, and had taken a couple of models and a trophy out, and they were sitting out in front of the case when I reached in to move something else. My sleeve caught the trophy, knocking it over onto the back end of my beloved Johan 1965 Plymouth Fury, crushing the rear suspension! It was one of those OMG moments because initially, I didn't know whether it had cracked the body, damaged the paint, etc. Luckily, the only damage appears to be the suspension parts, which I can easily repair.....some time. This just goes to show you that it's nice to bring home some hardware, but it sure can turn around to bite you in the backside!! Steve

I had basically the same thing happen to me. When I initially moved out of my parents house, I left behind all of my models that were in my parents basement. Most of the stuff was packed into it's boxes, but I had a few models and parts sitting out on a table in various stages of construction. When I came home one weekend to retrieve all of my stuff, my mother informed me that dad had had enough, and went on a basement cleaning tirade. All of my boxed kits were thankfully still there, but he had thrown away all of the loose stuff, which included such things as a Johan '69 Road Runner, an X-EL '58 Oldsmobile, and the interior from a Johan '63 Olds. He threw away a whole box of models and parts from more common kits, and that never bothered me, but I still think about the Johan stuff that he tossed out occasionally. Never did replace the '58 Olds. Steve

Who cares! If it's fun, do it. Having fun is the whole point. Steve

Maybe give the base coat a light sanding before applying the color might help. I’m not very familiar with Tamiya lacquers, but if they’re anything like Testors lacquers, they’re not a particularly aggressive lacquer, meaning that it might not etch into previous coats as a hotter lacquer would. But, on second thought, sanding the base coat might not work all that well with a transparent color. Steve

Oh, I agree. While a good cleaning with warm water and dish detergent will remove any remaining WD left on the surface, I would also suggest not using it if you are still planning on adding any more paint. I apply the lions share of my foil after all of the paint work is finished, so I don't worry about using WD-40. In the same vein, care must be taken when using IPA as well. Alcohol doesn't play very well with some paints. Steve

As I said, It just makes it easier to see what you're doing, and has the added benefit of giving the blade a straight edge to ride against, helping to prevent slips or wandering. Nothing more than another tool to help with issues that I see people having with applying foil all of the time. I can tell you that it has made applying foil to trim, especially fine trim, a lot easier and much more enjoyable for me. I foiled trim without using this method for decades, and I won't go back. By the way, I don't worry about adhesive residue on the paint either. Whether burnished down or not, it will still often leave residue behind, but a little WD-40 on a Q-tip will take it off instantly. Steve

I have to ask what you used for a base, (primer) and the type of paint you used for the color coats Ron. I had this sort of problem often, years ago when I used to use enamel paints, and often used Testors metallic silver as a base. Steve

Utilizing tape for applying foil is a terrific technique, but you have to be careful of the type of tape that you're using depending on your painting regimen. I use thin strips of blue painters tape to get a perfectly straight foil edge, but I apply the foil first, and then lay the tape along the edge of the trim to be foiled. This guards against the type of issues exhibited by Ron's above photos because the tape is contacting the foil, and not the paint. The blue tape not only gives a color contrast between the foil and the blade to make it easier to see what you're doing, but the tape gives you an edge for the blade to ride up against as you cut, making it much easier to get a perfectly straight and clean edge on the trim. Steve

Unfortunately for me, not nearly enough time in most cases. I would love to spend a few hours every day at the bench, but there are other things that take precedence that need to be done. As it is, I'm lucky to get 2 or 3 hours a week in the shop, and often times, if I can get that much free time, it's likely all in one session. Either that, or it's 15 minutes here and there throughout the week. Goes a long way to explaining why it can take me a year or more to complete a project. Steve

The Revell kit is very nice! But I think for anything other than stock, the AMT kit might be better. It's my understanding that the Revell kit was developed from a diecast platform. Don't know that to be a fact, it's just what I heard somewhere, but it kind of makes sense when you see things like the screw posts and screws that attach the chassis to the body. steve

Absolutely. This is the biggest issue with fitment that I run into with my projects. I have a habit of being too precise with fit during the engineering phase, and with the addition of paint, it can occasionally become a problem later. Steve

There you go. Steve

It’s been done over and over again throughout history. It’s extremely common to mix metallic and solid colors on 2-tone paint schemes. Look at any paint chip chart, especially from the 50s, and you’ll see these combinations over and over again. Steve