atomicholiday

I’m trying something a little different from my normal routine. When I started building again a little over a year ago I went ziplock bag crazy. Still am actually. It protects the parts and I lose less pieces. Going through my old kits, it’s hit or miss finding one that’s not missing something. They’ve been through a couple of moves and that’s taken its toll. But the baggies have really helped keep that problem in check. But for a change of pace I decided to try out these little parts tackle boxes I have for current builds. I got a couple of these when I was into amps. I’m trying to organize by category, so interior pieces are together, rear suspension is together, etc. Time will tell if I end up liking this method, or go back to the bags. But I thought someone might be interested and maybe find this useful. Here’s my normal method. All parts in ziplock bags, all in one box. Lots of baggies. And here’s my “new” method.

Just finished up detailing the taillights. Not perfect but not too terrible. I can live with ‘em. Edit - man I need to figure out how to make my pics smaller. You can see WAY too much detail with these larger pics.?

You’re off to a good start. Looking forward to seeing your progress on this one. This kit is on my list too.?

Agreed. I’m thinking the smart/safe way to do this would be to mix up a fairly thin mix a couple shades darker than the base coat, and then tweak to taste. Looks like I need to make a Hobby Lobby run soon.?

Hey! Happy birthday Carl! Hope you’re having a good one by.?

Magic Factory? I’m not familiar with them. Good stuff?

Exactly! You've said it much better than I did when trying to get my objective across. On most of my builds, that's the goal for me. I do mostly out-of-the-box builds, but I'm after as much realism as I can obtain within that realm. Someday I may (probably will) start adding scratch-built and after-market parts. But I'm not ready for that step yet. I want to see just how good I can make what's in the box look for now. So adding depth. Take the pic I posted of my Z28 engine, specifically the intake manifold. If I had left it alone after painting it aluminum, to my eyes, it would look toy-like and lifeless. Add some shading to the recesses and it would look much better, adding depth. Where I think mine falls on its face it this. Notice the dark areas in the recesses. Firstly, they're too dark. secondly, the edges are very defined, almost like it was filthy, and someone came along and wiped off the surfaces and left crud in the corners (actually, that's exactly what did happen?). I think it looks artificial. By contrast, look at the pics of the excellent model posted by Jason. While this is definitely more weathered than what I'm after, the techniques would be the same I believe. Same with the models posted by Steve. I think I'm going to try a couple of things. If I'm off base, feel free to tell me your thoughts. 1) This is a tip I picked up on another forum. Prime everything that gets painted with Vallejo Metal Color in black. It takes the color much better when primed, looks a bit better and seems to hold up better too. I haven't tried black primer yet, but that by itself might solve a few problems and add some depth on its own as long as I go light on the Metal Color. Win, win. 2) Not sure on this one yet, but I'm leaning towards clear coating the Vallejo prior to adding any weathering agents. 3) I'm definitely going to try out some craft acrylics. I also like the idea of trying out the Vallejo washes. I wasn't aware of those. Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. I always find it helpful to post stuff like this on here.

For me it’s not a specific kit. I can’t resist a white box Monogram kit to save my life. If the price is half way decent it’s coming with me. Know they have their issues, but it’s what I cut my teeth on. Love, love, love ‘em.

Agreed. I can work with it, just wish we didn’t have to.

Sweet ride Rob! Man I remember when you’d see those everywhere. I’ve driven a few and always had a great time. Have fun with that bad boy!

Fort Wayne Ollie’s was a bust tonight. Very picked over, and none of the Monogram kits I was hoping for. Nice! I see a couple there I’d snag if I had the chance. None of the local WMs have kits yet this year. Fingers crossed.

Thanks guys! Feels good to finally see this one moving forward. Mike - check out your emoji. Back at you buddy!?. Joking of course. I think I’ve hit that one a number of times by mistake too.??

Beautiful! Those both look great.? I’n with you on the GTs. I used to work at a place that made a couple of parts for them. Always took a little more pride in that stuff than the other run of the mill parts we made.

That’s is an absolutely beautiful build. Perfect color choice too. Nice work.?

Thank you Carl! Much appreciated my friend.

I might have mis-led you guys some. I'm not using the panel line accent for panel lines. I'm using it more for weathering. Especially things like engines and undercarriages. Stuff like this.

Those look great! I think I built this same kit about 3-4 times as a kid. Two of the off-white ones and one of the orange cars. But I’ve never done the box art. Might have to if I come across one though. Definitely has that 70’s vibe I’m currently into.

I’m a big fan of this stuff. I also really like Vallejo Metal Color acrylic for detail painting. Here’s my problem. Applying the panel line accent over the Vallejo works fine. But frequently, I need to go back over it with a thinner to tone down the effect. I was told to use enamel thinner for this. The enamel thinner can easily remove the Vallejo too though, and that’s a problem. Is there a better way to clean up excess Tamiya panel line accent, without removing the Vallejo acrylic? Or should I coat the acrylic with something before applying the Tamiya?

Is that Camaro a recent addition to ollie's? I know this is by no means one of the the better camaro kits, but it brings back a flood of memories for me.

Engine is basically done. I opted not to wire this one. Maybe next time. I do still need to finish the air cleaner, but its paint is curing now. I’m hoping to chrome the lid. We’ll see how that goes. I gave it a bit of weathering with Tamiya panel line accent. My plan is to lightly weather the undercarriage, so the engine may or may not get a little more at that time so it looks uniform with the rest. Also drilled and pinned the exhaust where the pipes will connect. That seems to be a trouble spot for me, so we’ll see if it makes the connection easier.

Excellent job. That paint is gorgeous!?

The color works. Looks really good on this car. Great build overall Brian.

I love Civics, and this one looks great! Really nice work here Gary. The colors work well together.

Cool build. And excellent work you've done with it. I agree with you about the Revell tuner kits. I think they're a little underrated. I have two in the stash (Focus and Civic coupe) and both are very nicely molded, with lots of options.

One more vote for dark green.?