Snake45

Very interesting! The first question I had was, can you make a second custom body of some kind out of the leftovers?

Fabulous! But then we expect no less from you.

Or, as Calvin once famously said to Hobbs, "Verbing weirds language."

And, now that I'm at home with access to my pics, here it is. Looks like it's about due for one of my trademark "survivor restos." Better yet, maybe I should just build another one.

Are you trying to hand-brush bodies, or are you talking about engines, interiors, detail parts, and so forth?

I converted one to a Sedan Delivery about 50 years ago. Didn't do a very good job because I didn't realize at the time that whole tailgate and back end of the two are completely different. Oh well.

Yes, you can sand/polish them out. Future isn't necessary. If you're lucky, the body's not mounted yet so at least you can support the piece from behind as you work on it. If you're working on a finished model, you'll have to be even more delicate and careful. Good luck!

Very, VERY nice!

Beautiful!

Very clean! A couple of the photos could almost be "real." Well done!

Oh my. Now you're asking for a complete painting lesson.

I don't believe any white ZL-1s were built, but I'd have to doublecheck the list. As to 9561/L72s, just about anything goes. But I'm not sure column shift would have been available with the heavy-duty TH in Camaro. Hurst Dual gate of course wouldn't be "factory." I think every TH '69 Camaro I've ever seen has had the U-handle in a console. I'd have to do some more research on that. The trick with polishing the black MPC Vette will be seeing if I can fix the body's flaws without filler or putty. I guess I can always fall back on my black embossing powder trick. ETA: Well, that didn't take long. Second pic is a white 9561, black interior, column shift, and judging from the brake pedal, it's an automatic. So, drive on! http://www.69pace.com/interior711.htm

It's a pale yellow. I know Testor has something very similar in the little bottles now. Don't know if they have it in rattlecan. Closest I can find in Krylon is Gloss Bright Idea yellow. http://www.krylon.com/products/?N=159827624&paging=false Didn't see anything appropriate in the Tamiya line.

Future can't be polished (at least not by me). You also can't can't use rubbing alcohol on it to clean up BMF residue, as it will remove it immediately. I don't like or use Future for these reasons, but if you just MUST use it, then your order would be foil, cleanup, Future. If you're brushing the Future, then you can put the windows in either before or after Future. If you're spraying it, then put them in after. The only (model car) thing I use Future for is, to put a nice shine on one of my very old builds where the paint is okay but not shiny, and I don't want to risk spraying it with a permanent clearcoat. In these cases I'll brush the Future on, and then maybe in a few years I'll take it back off with ammonia and brush on a fresh coat. Future is made for putting a nice TEMPORARY and easily removed shine on kitchen and bathroom floors. It's not made for model use and IMHO it's not particularly good for model use. There are better products and better techniques available.

Yeah, the Testor rattlecan enamels can take a good month or more to dry out enough to polish, or even be safely handled. I routinely airbrush them, but cut with lacquer thinner. So applied, they're ready to be polished in 48 hours.

I am LOVING this thread! You do know that Jimmy Flintstone has a '70 body with the Trans Am fender bulges molded in, don't you? Of course these days the problem is finding the rest of the parts to finish one off.

Boy you are reading my mind! I've got a '67 Z on the bench I'm planning to do in Marina Blue but haven't yet decided if I want white or black stripes. (Are those '67 Rally Wheels on your '68?) BTW, you did a terrific job on both those '68 grilles. Did you drill out the headlights and add lenses? If not, whatever you painted them with looks great!

And speaking of the gangbusters, how about a set of guns? Or maybe guns, tools, and stuffed animals, something like that? Oh, and a gun rack or two for the back window of pickups.

Very interesting! I'm pretty sure I still have one of those first-issue Z/28s molded in blue in the stash. You're making me want to dig it out and polish it. I recently got one of the Snapper Zs molded in yellow. Gonna polish that up, too. I'm interested to see that white body polished. I've never polished a white one, although I'm hoping to do one soon--Revell '67 Corvette coupe. I want to do three "naked" Sting Rays--white Revell '67, black MPC '67, and silver AMT '63, and then add the naked polished Revell '63 I've already done and do a comparo writeup.

Yup. And what you have here is a coping saw blade. Might work for VERY coarse cuts.

Well, since it's a racer, I'd just paint the hood matte black, put a lump on it, and do it as a Modified Production. MP would also give you more freedom with the engine. I would LOVE to restore this one! It would look fabulous!

Metallic plastic is just about the only place I ever see swirls. I can't recall ever seeing them on any solid plastic I've polished. At least nothing that bothered me at all, much less kept me from doing it.

I believe there are several aftermarket station wagon resin bodies available, but I couldn't tell you offhand what they are or who offers them.

Fabulous! I assume you have the hood? If that were mine, I'd restore it as-is and preserve it as part of modeling history. I've done several restorations of this sort, and I'm starting to find them just as satisfying as my own new builds. This one has good enough "bones" I could easily work with it and turn it into something fairly nice. But hey, that's just me.

Congrats on having a Paasche H--that's a GREAT airbrush for model car work. Don't let anyone talk you into anything more complicated/expensive. What's your air source if you don't mind my asking? The best paint FOR YOU is the stuff you have easiest access to. All I can get locally is Testor/Model Master but that's okay because I'm very comfortable with airbrushing enamels. I use basically the Don Yost method (although I believe I started doing it about 15 years before he did, and I'm sure I wasn't the first). Enamel cut 1:1 (sometimes even more) with cheap generic lacquer thinner. Lotta coats built up thin, with extra on sharp edges for polishing insurance. Clearcoat if necessary (I try to get by without it if possible, but sometimes you HAVE to). Color-sand and polish. You'll get the hang of it, if you stick with it a while.