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That really catches your eye! Great work! Bart

Here is my 1968 VW Beetle. This is the Revell 1/25th scale kit. The model went together very well - I have to hand it to Revell-Germany for a well engineered kit. It is finished in Rustoleum 2x paint - the color is Spa Blue. The rear engine cover hinge was the only part I omitted. I test fit it and it felt kind of stiff. I was also afraid that the paint on edges of the body and cover might get chipped in the process of opening and closing it.. So, the cover just rests in place. Thanks, Bart

I have tackled a few Metal Earth kits - a guitar for a musician friend, and a BNSF train for a friend when he retired from BNSF. I have a few of the Star Trek kits to build, and also the Fokker tri-plane. I will work on these someday when I want a challenge and want to practice my swearing. 😊. They definitely require a lot of patience to build them. Good luck with the Arizona! Can't wait to see the finished product. Bart

Len, I recently repaired a 67 T-Bird with a broken A-Pillar. I did what I think most people do - which is to use various sizes and thicknesses of plastic strips to rebuild the pillar and roofline. I used a wider strip for the back of the pillars, and then used thin narrow strips to build out the exposed portion of them. Some body putty and some very gentle sanding were also used to fill in any small gaps that still existed Hopefully these photos will give you some idea of how I did it. I think it was a pretty "solid" repair. The window glass behind the pillars also helps to provide support. Good luck with your T-Bird. It has more damage than I started with, but you should be able to rescue it! Bart Almost there - still had a little bit of sanding and body putty to be done. The finished restoration

Thanks everyone for your ideas and suggestions. I had tried stamping some script with the eraser method before, but was not very successful with it. However, I decided to try the stamping method again with the tail lights. I used a Metallic Silver craft paint and a fresh flat eraser from a retractable pencil. The craft paint was easy to remove with a sharpened toothpick if the paint strayed too far from the ribs. Here are my results. I think it came out very well. If this method didn't work, my second choice probably would have been to try bare metal foil over the tail lights, apply Tamiya Transparent Red carefully, and then remove any red that strayed onto the ridges. I did like this approach since you could peel the foil off and try again if your results weren't that good. But, I do agree with others that the tail lights look better when you keep the original transparent red plastic in place. Bart

Brian, Do you have a photo of the gel pen you used - that shows the product name/info on it? I looked online and find several different types of Pentel Metallic pens. Thanks, Bart

I am working on a 1967 Mercury Cougar. Trying to figure out how to paint the vertical chrome strips on the tail lights. My first idea was to paint the entire piece silver/chrome, and then use Tamiya Clear Red (maybe thinned down a bit) to act as a wash with the hopes that the red would settle down into the areas between the chrome strips. What do you think of my approach? Any other ideas on how I might approach this? Thanks, Bart

Commander Data would be proud of your work! Looks great! Bart

Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions and tips! I think I have enough ideas to feel comfortable to tackle the painting of my die-cast model now! Bart

It is a 1/18 DieCast model ( Matchbox Jeep Liberty). I removed the existing paint using an Aviation Paint Stripper. Bart

Can you use Tamiya TS sprays on metal? The TS cans say "For Plastics", but their Fine Surface Primers say "For Plastic & Metal". If I prime the metal with their primer first, can the regular TS spray be used after that successfully? Thanks, Bart

I have also used Krylon paints and have been satisfied with them. Rustoleum had colors that were closer to what I needed. No clogged nozzles yet with Rustoleum; but that may eventually happen to me. Let's not turn this into a debate about paint brands; instead, let's please focus on my questions about dehydrators. Thanks, Bart

I have used Rustoleum 2x Paint w/Primer on my last two kits. The can says that it takes about 5-7 days for paint to fully dry and harden on plastic. I definitely agree - since the models are tacky to the touch for quite a few days! Would a dehydrator help speed up the drying time for this paint? If so, any recommendations for an affordable one that can be found in today's market? I've seen that 105 degrees seems to be the preferred temperature to use. How long would you generally leave the model in the dehydrator? Thanks for any advice you can offer! Bart

Great save! It looks fantastic! Bart

I usually use an older Olympus digital camera - nothing fancy, no interchangeable lenses. Some key points that others have mentioned which I also use are good lighting and good depth of field (range of focus). For the lighting, I shoot models on top of my washing machine with a sheet of gray art paper taped to the top of it. I bring in my torch lamp (a pole lamp with 2 bulbs in it). The laundry room is fairly small and has white walls and ceilings, so the light from the lamp is reflected very well throughout the room. If i need additional light on the sides/front/back of the model, I have some inexpensive battery powered LED lights that I will use - however, I don't find this necessary to do very often. For depth of field, the camera is on a tripod and I use the camera settings to shoot at the the highest F-stop I can. The higher the F-stop, the greater the range of focus will be. The tripod is needed since the exposure time is well beyond what you could hold the camera steady for. I also use the timer on the camera to snap the picture so there is no chance of me shaking the camera by pressing the button to take the picture. Finally, I always use Photoshop to enhance the image - usually using color correction and adjusting the Levels to brighten up the image. Sometimes, I will use the Shadows/Highlight feature to bring out details that are in the shadows. I also use my iPhone sometimes to grab shots - I find that it is able to get closer shots than my simple camera can get. I'd use this for close-ups of interiors or close up details on the body. I can usually hand-hold the camera for these shots, but also have a tripod mount for the iPhone if needed. Here is some samples of the results I get. Thanks, Bart

Outstanding model. I especially like the interior! Bart

An excellent model! Bart

Thanks, Ken! I did the chrome detailing using two methods. The BUICK letters on the trunk were done with a Zoet chrome pen (similar to a Molotow pen). I will push the tip up and down on a piece of scrap plastic to get a small drop of the chrome paint. Then, I will use a very fine brush or a toothpick to pick up some of the chrome and will very slowly and carefully apply it to the letters. I have tried applying chrome directly from the pens and have not been successful doing it that way. I don't think that the tips on the pens provide me with enough control. The rest of the chrome (window frames, chrome strips on the sides, etc.) was done using a Metallic Silver craft paint from Hobby Lobby. I like using these paints since any mistakes you make can be cleaned up with some water. I usually mask off the areas to be painted, but once in a while some paint may seep under the tape. I would then use a toothpick dipped in water to run along the edge of the trim to remove the paint that seeped through. If you painted the car with lacquer paint, you can also use Testor's silver paint and remove any mistakes with a toothpick or small brush dipped in lighter fluid. The lighter fluid will not harm the lacquer paint. It takes a bit more work to remove the Testor's paint and it takes forever to dry (if it ever really does!). The Craft Store paints do dry and that is why I prefer them. Bart

Jeffrey. I am going to try the wheel backs and axles that the other person listed. If they do not work for me, I will reach out to you with the dimensions I would need. Thanks much, Bart

Thanks, Michelle! Live long and prosper! That may be Bill Shatner's Corvette in the background.

Here is my newest completion - a 1963 Buick Riviera. I bought this already built model off of the internet. I disassembled it and stripped the paint off. It was repainted with Tamiya TS-102 Cobalt Green for the exterior and DecoArt Sand Grey for the interior. Chrome trim and script were hand painted. Thanks for checking this out! Bart What it looked like when I received it Removing the paint. Looks like a good car for Cruella DeVil at this point!

Thanks, John! That propellor looks absolutely amazing! Next time I have some woodgrain to do, I'll give your technique a try. The longer working time for the oil paint would be a definite advantage over acrylics. Bart

John, and others, had asked about my technique for the woodgrain on this kit. This shows the technique I used. I did LOTS of experiments on a scrap piece of plastic using many different shades of tan/beige (Craft paints, Tamiya colors, and Testors) to see what they looked like when the clear orange was applied over them. The photo below is only a small sample of the many colors I tested. My final choice for paints were Testor's Gloss Wood , Tamiya Clear Orange, and DecoArt Dark Chocolate craft paint. (NOTE: As I thought about this, I think I actually used the Flat Tan as shown in the above photo for the base color! The important thing is to experiment with lots of different base colors until you get the woodgrain color you are looking for!) I painted the exterior trim with the Gloss Wood paint and then brushed clear orange over it once it was dry. While you want to have good coverage for both paints, some visible brush strokes will enhance the woodgrain effect. Be sure to always brush in the direction you want the wood grain to go in. The outer wood trim just used the Gloss Wood and Clear Orange paints. For the interior panels, I used the Dark Chocolate to create a darker woodgrain effect. I dry brushed the Dark Brown paint using a flat, somewhat stiffer, brush. I applied the paint in this strokes using the outer edge of the brush (as opposed to the whole surface of the brush). This gave me finer lines and allowed me better control of the effect. If you really don't like how it's going, you can always remove the craft paint with a wet tissue while it is still wet so you can try again. You can also use a brush lightly moistened with water to thin down any of the Craft paint if it looks too heavy in any areas. Thanks, Bart

Here are some photos of my 49 Mercury Station Wagon. More information about the build can be found in my Under Glass posting. Bart

I got a kit from a model car show. It was already opened and I thought I had checked that all parts were in the box. I don't know how I missed this, but it was short the metal axles and the inner wheels. Would anyone have any of these? I don't think it matters too much what kit they are from, but my kit is the 1961 Ford Galaxie. If I need to, I know I could make the axles out of some metal rod, but would prefer to avoid that if possible. Thanks, Bart