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Thanks, Peteski! I decided to go with a "vanity" plate in place of the actual plate that's on the car. In Texas, your plates are automatically replaced every 7 years and you will be assigned a new plate number. So the plate on the model would have eventually fallen out of synch with what was on the real car. ? Good to see you on this forum and the Railwire forum, too! Bart

I completed my Revell Mazda Miata kit. This is a replica of my neighbor's car. I presented them with this model the other day. I also worked on their life-size Miata recently since the paint was flaking off on the fenders and doors. The paint on the real one isn't perfect, but it's a great improvement over what it had looked like! The Revell kit has a lot of good detail, but it definitely took a lot of patience and some swearing to get this to go together. A lot of trimming and shaping of many parts to get them to fit cleanly. For example: front and rear bumpers, windshield wiper frames to get the hood to sit flat, radiator, mounting tabs on the bottom of the engine, trimming the dash and interior side panels to get the interior to fit flush (another option is to trim the bottom of the windshield and vent windows, but I had those glued in by the time I noticed the problem). Also a lot of clamping when gluing the chassis to get it to fit tight with the bottom of the engine compartment, and clamping on the front and rear bumpers to eliminate as much of the gaps between them and the body, too. Thanks for looking! Bart

Thanks! Yes, the largest one is probably the most "right" to me, too. On the kit I just finished with all of the decals, I think the gray on the aztec decals is way too dark for me. (Too much contrast between that gray and the lighter gray I used for the hull's base color). On the production model used on the show, the difference between the base color and the aztec panels was very slight. The largest one has aztec detail on it, too - each one of the thousands of panels were all hand painted. I created a custom color that was just slightly darker than the base color. It took me months to paint all of the panels. I could only do so much each session before I'd go crazy! In person, you have to look closely at the model to even notice the 2 colors, but they are there. A funny story about the larger kit is that I finished the painting, and then got busy with other stuff for a while before I finished building it. When I did finally start working on it, I noticed there was a section on the upper saucer that I had missed painting the aztec color on. I opened my old bottle of custom color and it had dried up. ☹️ I had no idea what colors I had used to make this color, so I did my best to match it. Not a perfect match, but I think it was pretty good since I have to look really hard to identify that section. Bart

I completed my Polar Lights USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. Here are some shots of it, as well as my collection of other 1701-D's. This kit was previously released in the 1980's, but with far fewer decals to apply (photo provided). Thanks for looking! Bart The original release of this kit from the 80's.

Do you need to clean the brushes after use? If so, what do you use? Bart

I use Plastruct's Plastic Weld Solvent Cement. Can I get some recommendations on applicators (other than the brush in the cap) that can be used with this? If you can provide the manufacturers and any info on where to get these, that would be great! I think I'd be looking for something that has a fine tip that could dispense the solvent - both as a "stream" of solvent or as individual "drops". I've seen various tools online, but want to know what everyone uses and prefers. Thanks, Bart

Looks good! Congrats! Bart

I've always liked the Cougar II and the Bordinat Cobra. I wish Ford would have made both of these. They could have been a worthy competitor to the Corvette. I spent a lot of time building my Cougar II model (a challenging kit to build!) and will be watching this thread for your progress. Good luck! Bart

I totally agree that these kits are a good size! I have several of the larger kits (the ones that are about 18" to 24" in length) - a couple have been completed, and others are still in the boxes. The larger kits are nice, but it's a lot harder to find a space in my display cases for them. Bart

Finished my Polar Lights model of the USS Defiant starship from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It's a 1/1000th scale model, measures about 7 inches long, and had over 80 decals to apply. I have built several of the other 1/1000th starships from Polar Lights and they have all turned out well. These are very nice kits to build! Thanks for looking! Bart

Looks great - especially like the pattern on the seats. I recently completed one of these kits - built pretty much as stock. It is a nicely detailed kit for its small size. Bart

Thanks, everyone! A lot of good ideas here. I'll definitely give some of these a try with the kit I am working on (a 1963 Ford Galaxie 500XL) I had seen the posts that described foiling the scripts before painting. Not ready to try that yet - but I'll get there someday when I feel brave enough. I usually paint the script and other very small details and have gotten good results - my hands are still steady, my toothpicks are sharp, my patience is good, and my magnifier lamp is extremely helpful. Bart

Some great restoration work on these promo kits. I like the solution you came up for the taillights - plus I hope you got to eat some Valentine's chocolates, too! Bart

I did my first attempt at using Bare Metal foil on this 66 Impala. I did not paint the Impala; the color is the color that was molded into the original plastic.I was pleased with the results and will be working on another kit I'd like to use Bare Metal foil on. This new kit will be painted. I've got a few questions I could use some help with: Question 1: Is this the right (or best) sequence for applying paint and the foil? My understanding is that clear coat over the foil can cause the finish to dull a bit. Primer coats Mist coats of body color Wet coats of body color Painting any body details that I will be doing by hand Clear coat Apply foil Question 2: When doing the Impala, I noticed some "adhesive residue" from the foil on the body when I removed it from the unneeded areas. Since the Impala was not painted, I was able to use some lighter fluid to remove the adhesive residue. Is this residue normal, or am I doing something wrong (maybe burnishing the initial pieces of foil too strongly with my Q-Tip and fingers)? If it is normal, then how should I remove the residue without destroying the paint/clear coat on the model? Thanks for the help! Bart

I completed my 1960 Ford Thunderbird - a 1/32nd scale AMT kit. The exterior is Testor's Honduras Maroon. Only 20 parts to this kit. All of the chrome details were painted by hand. The hardest thing about this kit was the white plastic tires - painting them black while still leaving the base white color of the plastic to represent the whitewalls. Thanks for looking! Bart

I completed my Polar Lights model of the USS Discovery NCC-1031 from the TV show Star Trek: Discovery (of course!). It's a 1/2500 scale model, with over 70 decals that needed to be applied! Overall length is about 12 inches. It looks good with the USS Enterprise I recently completed. Thanks for looking, Bart

It's actually 1/2500 scale. About 8 inches in length. Bart

I finished my Polar Lights kit of the USS Enterprise (as it appears in Star Trek: Discovery). A nice looking model - with a lot of decals!

Is the Krylon Paint that you used their "Premium Metallic" product? I looked at the Krylon site this was the only one that showed a "silver foil" color. There were only a few reviews for the product, but several mentioned that "the paint was a beautiful smooth finish.....until it was touched. It leaves a dust like residue that wipes off on anything it touches" and that it easily loses its shine when touched by anything. Have you had any issues? Thanks, Bart

We may have the same model - here are some photos of what mine looks like at the moment before any restoration work. I'll be waiting to see what your 67 Impala looks like when it is done! This also has a friction motor in it. My 66 Impala also had a friction motor, too. So, neither one is a true promo. These were built-up kits AMT made that I purchased at my local hobby shop when I was a kid. Bart

Thanks for the suggestion. I often do remove the molding lines on kits that I will be painting. However, I didn't do it on this one since I was leaving it the original molded color. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get the shine back after doing it. What process do you use to do this? What grit sandpapers do you use, and what polish do you use? Several people have commented about the polishing I did - but, I actually did NOT polish the kit. I pretty much just stripped the paint with Oven Cleaner and then washed in dish soap and water. As I recall, those old promos had a pretty good finish on them to start with and I was glad that this one still did after it was stripped and washed. Bart

Finding it wasn't too hard - it was already part of my collection of some of the kits I had accumulated in the 60's when I was much younger and saved. Some of the other promo kits I have that will get the same treatment are 66 and 67 Ford Galaxie 500's, a 66 Fairlane 500, a 70 Ford Maverick, and a 67 Impala SS.

This is an AMT 1966 Impala SS promo kit that I had worked on as a kid. I had painted the interior completely black, and did my best as a kid to paint the chrome and logos. I have included 2 "before" photos to show what it originally looked like. I stripped the paint repainted the bumpers using AK Interactive Extreme Metal Chrome, and applied BMF for the first time. I left the body in the original molded plastic color. I also had to create a new rear window due to some cracks in the original window. The fender emblems and script on the trunk and sides were hand-painted. Thanks for looking! Bart BEFORE PHOTOS AFTER photos

The windows came tinted. Makes it pretty hard to see the black interior! After I completed it, I wished that I would have cut the "door windows" out so you'd be able to see inside the interior better.

When you look at your photos, you often notice something you forgot to do. ? In this case, I had neglected to paint some black on the ends of the exhaust pipes. This has since been corrected.