peteski

The engine looks really good Matt! As for the distributor, if I can drill out a 1:43 scale distributor, you should be able to handle the one in your 1:24 Rolls-Royce.

That wheel half with metal spokes looks excellent!

Warm day anytime soon? Dude, it is middle January as in "middle of Winter"! Actually this Winter seems to be a bit milder than average, at least in New England.

Yes, Micro-Mark is a mail-order (back in the day) and online purveyor of speciality tools for modelers. AFAIK, they do not manufacture anything in-house, but they do have some tools custom made for them. But many of their tools are made by other companies and simply re-badged as Micro-Mark. For example they sell Proxxon tools as their own (or maybe copies of Proxxon tool). Many items they sell can be found elsewhere, usually less expensive. But if you don't feel like searching for bargains, Micro-Mark is your one-stop source for all sorts of modeling tools and supplies.

Funny, that is about the same I paid for mine (including shipping)! Mine also is the standard (not Lorinser) version. There were several others listed, but the prices were much higher (from $90 to much higher). Like I said, I lucked out.

While I wasn't specifically looking for these wheels, I ran into a set of "Resin 1/24 American Torq Thrust D Mag Wheels - Staggered Offset Street Set" The price was reasonable and they looked good in the photos, so I ordered a set. They arrived today and I'm really happy with them. They are flawless! Crisp castings, no pinholes, no bubbles, no flash. I would say that they are as good as parts from Replicas and Miniatures of MD (and that says a lot)! I woudl not hesitate to recommend Forward Resin to anybody looking for resin parts. They mainly sell wheels (in multiple sales), but they have some other items in 1:24/25 scale. Their eBay name is forward_resin, and they have been on eBay since 1998.

Thanks for the pointer! I just scored one of these kits on eBay. The seller accepted my best offer (quite reasonable too). Open-box, but the parts are all sealed. Another good looking kit to add to my "to be built in the future" collection. Funny thing is that back when it was new, it probably sold for about 2000 yen (or around $20 US). It has an engine, so it was one of the better kits. Curbside Tamiya kits probably sold for around $15 US.

While it is a metal model kit, I don't know if I woudl call it die-cast. As I understand the die-casting process, it is done using steel molds (very similar to the molds used for injection molding plastic kits), and injecting a liquid metal (zinc-alloy) under high pressure. Again, similar to injection molded plastic. This metal kit is made by a small cottage industry type of company. They likely use vulcanized rubber molds, and low-temperature soft-metal alloy (likely pewter). I is probably done using spin-casting technique.

Yes, USPS is all messed up. As far as state names go, that's what ZIP cdes are for, I think the ZIP code takes priority over the state abbreviation. or if they don't match during the OCR process then a human gets involved. As far as the path of the package goes, this strange routing has been mentioned here, and on other forums many times in the past. Sometimes packages seem to travel in circles for a while. Or go to way out of expected route.

Thanks for the info about the tires and the seat piping.

Charles, the diorama looks excellent. One suggestion though: the tires (the ones on the van, and the loose ones) have tread that is too clean. You have the sidewalls of the tires weathered, but the treads look clean (as if the tires were new, or driven on paved roads). Junk yards are muddy places, and the treads woudl be filled with dried up mud. Actually, to take this one step further, maybe sand the tread on some of the tires down, so they look almost bald.

Sweet! Great looking model! Can't go wrong with a Tamiya Mercedes!

This one looks correct. I'm pretty sure I know what it is, but too lazy to try finding out the specific details.

Are the gold line and lettering on the rear tire dry transfers? They look clean and sharp. How did you paint the color stripes on the seat?

I have painted many models using "stinky" plastic safe paints (like old-fashion Testors) without primer. Every extra layer of paint (or primer) adds thickness to the paint, decreasing the model's realism. The thinner the paint layer is, the more realistic the model looks (and has crisper surface details, not obscured by multiple paint layers). I only use primer if I use paints which will attack (craze) plastic. Yet, even without primer, I have never had paint peel or separate like that. Here the paint not only separated from whatever is under the paint, it has cracked (shrunk?). I don't have a good explanation, and we also see many examples on this forum of paint incompatibilities with primers or with clear coats. What were all the layers of paint used on that models? What brands? From the initial post write-up I suspect those were the water-based paints. Those might need primer over bare plastic. I have no experience with these in that application - I do not use it for this type of work. I only use water-based paints for weathering or washes. I still only use "stinky" paints for my models.

I would recommend that over keeping rags soaked in flammable liquid in a can. Much less dangerous.

Funny, I don't find this vehicle ugly at all. To me it has some hints of the VW bus and even some similarities to American flat-nose vans of that time period. Even some similarities to its contemporary peers from the Eastern European bloc. I don't see a puffer fish in it at all. But we all see the world differently. It does seem to have a bit of a "sad face", but it is still darn cute.

That is one cool looking model, and it is not you'll see built up often. Great job! Right now both threads are fresh and easy to find. But in a year or two it will be harder to find the build thread. For future reference, all the build details for this finished model are in Few years down the road someone looking at this Under Glass thread will appreciate this. I'm speaking from personal experience. IMO, more people should post a link to each thread. I'm also not sure about why we need to separate the In-progress and finished models. To me it would make more sense to follow the build progress (from start to beauty shots) in a single thread. But that's not how the forum is laid out.

That sure is an interesting vehicle. I like your kitbash. I think it's a good looking speedboat.

That is an excellent advice. Good way to get rid of the smell is to put them in your paint booth over the filter (if you have one) with the fan running. It will dry them out fast, and the fumes will be sent outside.

Is that 3D model just a body, or complete kit? Paul's is a full kit, with window glass, clear parts, plated parts, tires, and interior. While the selling price so far is out of my league, I'm sure the buyers will be happy with their purchase (assuming that they bought it to be built, not stashed and resold later).

Ok, thanks Andy. I'm not in a market for that jig right now, but I was just wondering how it would work.

Thanks Roger!

Can anybody confirm whether the MPC Ford Van came with the smaller Desert Dogs? I'm about to make trade - want to make sure those are the tires I want.

Don't forget that the decanted paint will be degassing for some time. If you were to tighten the lid, the pressure will build up and next time you open it, the pain might foam up and come out of the bottle making a huge mess. I usually leave the lid not tightened for a day or two, and keep gently swirling the jar from time to time to the liquid propellant to evaporate from the paint.