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I got inspired by some recent posts from others who built the Revell Lightning McQueen snap kit. It looked like a fun kit to build and add to my display case. A quick build for me, but it turned out well. Thanks, Bart

Some photos of a Ferrari F50 I just completed. This is an old Tamiya kit I finally got around to building. Thanks for looking! Bart

This is a clever topic! I started building model cars almost 60 years ago. Back then, my cars were brush painted ( or Q-Tip painted!). They looked good to me as a kid. I saved a number of my early builds and plan to strip the paint and restore them all someday. This is a 61 Buick Invicta pre-built model that I painted. This is a 64 T-Bird - brush painted. If you have a good imagination, you might even be able to read the poorly painted Thunderbird script on the side. This is a 1960 Lincoln Mark V - originally built in 1960. This is one that I stripped the paint from a few years and rebuilt it to look like this. These are some of my more recent builds- a 59 Caddy Eldorado, a Ford GT, a 2010 Mustang and a 58 Edsel. I think my skills have improved a bit! Thanks for looking! Bart

I agree - the smoked finish for the headlight covers was a bit of a disappointment. I had tried to make a mold of the covers to try to make my own clear covers, but never was able to come up with anything remotely satisfactory.

I bought this Dodge Viper kit back in the 90's and it just sat in the closet in an unopened box until recently. I finally decided to tackle this kit and here is the result. I think the kit was one of AMT's better kits; a lot of detail and the parts fit together very well. Thanks for looking! Bart

Thanks for all the kind comments on my work! To answer one of the questions, I used Tamiya TS-39 Mica Red as the color for the body. The actual color on the model may be a bit darker than how it came out in the photos. ...and for all of you who mentioned you have one of these kits and haven't built it yet, take your time and be patient. It is quite a bugger to build! Bart

Here is my completed Polar Lights USS Enterprise 1701-E. This is the kit that is about 7" in length. The hardest thing about this kit is applying the million or so decals (OK, I am exaggerating a little here!). Everything that is not light gray on the ship is probably a decal. The decals are so thin and often cover large expanses of the model that I found they were prone to breaking apart as you worked with them. I ended up needed to get a second set of decals from Polar Lights. Thanks, Bart

Some photos of my recent Cougar II model. I remember building it as a kid and wanted to try it again. I pretty much disabled all of the features it had (windows that went up and down, retractable lights, opening doors and truck, steerable wheels, etc.) since I remember that they seemed to be pretty finicky and never worked all that well and I felt they detracted from the model. All in all, I am really satisfied with how this kit turned out! Thanks, Bart

I painted it using Tamiya TS-50 - Mica Blue. Used Testor's Wet Look Clear Gloss, also. Then a lot of polishing after that.

My latest kit... The Revell 1/25 Snap-Tite Ford GT. The stripes were spray painted after a lot of masking was applied. I've been practicing with my last few kits prepping the body better and at polishing them up. I think I'm getting good at putting a shine on my models. Thanks for looking! Bart

I've got a model kit I built over 20 years ago. It's not a model car, it's the USS Voyager starship...but this question should apply to any model. The background of the decals are now turning yellow-gold. Is there any way that this can be fixed? Since it was 20 years ago, I can't tell you exactly how I applied them, but this would be my best guess. Since the model was painted with a flat finish and still appears to have the same finish, I am betting I applied the decals directly to the flat finish. If I recall, isn't it best to apply decals to a smooth gloss surface, and then spray a flat clear over them if that's the final finish that's needed? While this knowledge won't help me with my current situation, it would be nice to know for future kits. So, is there any magic solution to my yellowing decals? Thanks, Bart

Thanks for your comments! The color that I used is Testor's One Coat Lacquer #1846 Pure Gold. Bart

Here is my 1/25th scale 2010 Mustang convertible. It's the Revell Snap-Kit. I was trying out some new things with this one. Worked on my painting skills by doing a lot of prep work on the body, a lot of wet sanding, and polishing. Trying to get to that shiny smooth finish that many of you are able to get to. I think I'm getting close! Also used embossing powder for the first time for the interior carpet. While it's a GT, I did take some liberties with the front end. The real GT has black between the headlights and the Mustang "corral" - so it's a solid black expanse across the front. I prefer seeing the body color dividing the headlights and the corral (like on the non-GT versions). I also noticed that one corner of the convertible boot needs to be snapped in a little tighter. It's a little high on the passenger side. All in all, I am happy with the results! Thanks, Bart

Patrick, Thanks for the answers! I hadn't seen any replies for a while after my original post, so I got impatient and decided to go ahead with polishing and waxing the model. Then, I painted the flat black. I can see why you said to do it before the wax. I had also wondered if the waxed body would be too slippery and too smooth for the paint to adhere. The paint did not behave as it usually does for me. It did not go on evenly, but at least it was pretty smooth. A second coat has been applied and the black looks good. The car won't be handled much after it goes in my display cases, so I think I should be safe. One benefit (trying to make something good out of this!) was that any place the black would accidentally drift up onto an area that needed to stay gold, it was easy to take a toothpick and get the offending paint off quite easily! One more question - if you put the flat black on before waxing, how do you keep the wax from getting on to those areas? I was using part of a t-shirt and put wax on the material where my index finger was to apply the wax. You'd need to be able to be pretty precise to keep the wax off of certain areas. Any suggestions? Masking off those areas (seems like this would be a pain to do), or is there some other way to apply the wax more precisely? Thanks, Bart

I'm working on the Revell 2010 Mustang convertible snap-kit. Trying to improve my painting skills with this one. The final color is Testor's One Coat Lacquer #1846 Pure Gold. Note: Questions are at the end. This is what I have done so far. Removed mold lines Wet sanded body (600 grit) Scrubbed with toothbrush and toothpaste A couple of mist coats of Tamiya Primer ( gray, then white) Final cover coat of white primer Wet sanding with 1500 grit (I only did the hood, but when the gray primer appeared on hood ridge, I stopped and repainted hood. Probably won't do this again with Tamiya Primer since it's so thin.) Scrubbed with toothbrush and toothpaste (worked better than wet sanding - no gray primer became visible!) Several mist coats of the gold. First wet coat of gold. Final wet coat of gold. Scrubbed with toothbrush and toothpaste Applied clear coat (Tamiya Gloss) The finish actually looks pretty good at this point. Smooth and shiny, at least to my eyes. I would be tempted to stop here, but I plan on following with polishing and waxing to try this out. Next up will be: Polishing (Meguiar's Ultimate Polish Pre-waxing glaze) Wash and dry Waxing (Meguiar's Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax) Questions: Do the steps I've listed make sense? Anything I have missed or have out of order? When would you paint areas of the car that have a matte black finish (Under the bumpers, rocker panels, etc.) or other areas that would get painted (Door handles, logos, etc.)? What about decals (if using any) - when do you put them on? Appreciate any advice or suggestions! Thanks, Bart

*** Edited to get the photos grouped together. Thanks for the tip, Patrick! *** Hi, everyone! I've been following this forum for quite a while and finally decided to post some samples of my work. I've been building models (mostly 1/25 autos) since I was a kid in the 50's and 60's. Hopefully my model building skill has improved with age. I've always used rattle spray cans and painted the chrome trim by hand. I have an air brush now that I will be learning to use, and bought some Bare Metal Foil so I can learn how to use that, too! Sorry for all of these photos...but I wanted to give you a good idea of what I've done! I've included some non-automobile models I have made, too. Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think! Bart The 2007 Mustang Convertible is a Mustang coupe that I converted into a replica of my car. To replace the GT grill, I took a photo of my grill and used that with the Mustang emblem from the kit added. Not the best painting effort on my part. It looks as rough in person as it does in the photos. My 1/25th Mustang, with a Barbie Mustang...which was originally bright Pink! A Model T The Polar Lights USS Enterprise (about 7" in length) - photoshopped over a star background. The Polar Lights Enterprise Bridge - with some modifications to the Turbolift alcove and the navigation console. AMT's 1958 Edsel kit The Polar Lights Batmobile Snap-Kit and the Lincoln Futura I'm also an N-Gauge modeler. Here is a 1/160th scale Batmobile on my layout. Batman and the Police Chief are having a meeting - at the donut shop, of course! Some other Mustangs I have owned - a 66 Mustang and a 75 Mustang II This 60 Lincoln was originally built when I was 8 years old. Using Q-Tips to paint the kit. Repainted many times after that, with paint getting on the windows. Later in life I stripped the paint and rebuilt it. Felt good to fix up a glue bomb model that I was responsible for! Revell's HO Scale Big Boy locomotive MPC's 1928 Lincoln Monogram's Caddy Kit. All chrome trim was hand-painted! Monogram's 1958 T-Bird Made this 57 T-Bird for the guy who owned it. Even added the fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror!