Ramaniac

My dad had a 69 Mustang with the V-6. It had shoulder belts that attached with thin, flimsy, wire up on the headliner on top of the door. We were forbidden to use them. Our black interior was vinyl and had a plastic curve to the seat in the rear seat. It did not have the pony interior. He had to park the car with the back end up hill so the gas would not leak out. Sooo, if you are doing a Ford Green, put a brown streak right under the gas cap. That Mustang was cool, but it was God's little mechanical joke. Every oil change required a can of STP (remember that honey like stuff!!) or it would chatter like crazy.

What does NNL stand for? Sorry for asking, new here.

My wife is going to absolutely kill me :shock: . I just purchased an airbrush on ebay for 2.25+13.00 shipping. I was just dorking around and I won it!!! Most of the things I bid on, at the last second some swooper comes in and gets it. It comes with 2 jars, hose, can adapter, in a plastic case. I know nothing about it, or airbrushes in general. I had better learn though. Help me guys. Please :?

What is your best source of information? Books or magazines? I was outbid on Ebay on a book by .25 which was frustrating. I found that Terry Jessee's Build and Detail Model Cars Like a Pro is going for $81.00-used on Amazon. New it is going for $95!!! It cost our library 22.95!! What is going on here?

Do you guys paint any parts while on the tree? It seems the parts we did paint had to be re-touched. Here is another question. I see my wife has nail polish drier. Can that me used to accelerate the drying time of paint? I guess I should test it on a tree to find out.

Bill Geary: I looked at all 11 pages or your Chysler Turbine build. I would like to give you a compliment, but I do not know where to start. I even liked the filter in your paint booth. I told my wife and kids, that one of the worlds' premier model artists is taking time out of his day to talk to me! (a ham-handed beginner) Thank you so much.

I do hate cheap tools. I have had a buffalo socket wrench break, and I just threw away a set of 12" adjustable end pliers, type pliers I found on the road. When you squeeze them, they clikcked out of the tracks. My original craftsman set is going on 23 years, has grown, and have never let me down. Mark: Thank you for telling me about Testors Sprue cutters. My son and I tried the flat black wash on one of his old Hummers. It was fun and easy. We did the wheels and the front window vents. It did not work with the gloss white o the logo on the rear-bumper. I had tooth-pick that. The Batmobile is done, it turned out pretty good. Most important we had fun and learned some new things.

I love learning! I feel like one of my students. I hope I am not wearing you guys out. Do you buy your things from one place or do you get them all over? I am a shade-tree mechanic and have many hand tools. I look forward to new projects so I can purchase new tools (BTW if you want a power miter saw, build a swingset, then tell your wife you must have it! Worked for me.). I would like to buy some hobby tools, but as a Teacher am fantastically CHEAP, ahh...errr...THRIFTY. I have never seen a pin vise for sale. Spure cutters look just like diagonal fingernail cutters. I am hoping there are more CHE ahh THRIFTY gentlemen out there who have a great soure for stuff. I need to know where to get a model polishing kit too. The cutting mat was a great idea as well.

Thank you. I will. I guess you use a pin vise for the small drilling?

When you submit an Avatar is it an instant type thing or do you have to wait for an aministrator to check the picture? I tried to put up an Avatar and it did not seem to work. Of course, I have never done this before.

It would be cool if one of YOU did an engine build up pictorial and used those photo etched parts for a model you are going to be doing. It would be neat to see the steps you go through to put the wires, hoses and linkages all together. What do you paint? What do you not paint? Do you have to scrape off paint/chrome when making a joint, or do you just glue it? I have been scraping off the chrome and paint and it is quite tedious. Thank you in advance. You guys are great. Please, don't go out of your way to do this just for me. If you happen to being doing it, this thread will be here. Jim

Went out today in search of cheap plastic for the next project. The guy at our Big Lots in St. Peters, MO said they get plastic around Christmas. ToysRUs used to have a huge amount of models, now they only have three. $7 bucks and boring. No supplies. Wal-Mart has the best price on Testors Paint.

Lordairgtar: I am so sorry...the model is NOT an ERTYL: I once found a die cast 1995 Dodge Ram by that company so I assumed....sorry. This 1955 Buick Century Coupe is done by Mira by Solido in 1/18 scale, Ref.8101. I found it at K-B toys marked down from 24.99 to 14.99. It was green but had the 4 round holes. One of the 55's had 3. My dad had three pictures of his car so I know the color scheme. I hope to get a custom license plate made for it. I did not know it was 1:18 scale until I went back and found the box. Thank you for saying something! While I have you here, how is a detail wash done, like on wheels or hubcaps with flat black? I hear it thrown about, but here are the only steps I know: 1. Get a wheel or hubcap. 2. Get flat black. 3. Thin it. 4. Put it on in some amount. What is next?

How are guages done? This 1967 Batmobile has guages, a TV, etc. There are no raised marks on any of the guages. They have been painted with a gloss black. When I did airplanes, I seem to remember putting on a blop of paint and sucking it off with toilet paper. Please tell me ways to do this. Do I need to prep the gloss black? As always thank you in advance Jim P.S. I showed my son how to use a toothpick and put a small blob of paint, then spread it out on the tiny bat wheel spinners. I did two, he did two. He did great.

I once saw a Trans-Am and a Camaro both brand new both the same color. If you took off the quarterpanels and hood, the body you would be left with was exactly the same. They just hung different stuff on them.

I just did some internet checking. My dad did NOT have a 455 in his buick. On the breather was written 465 ft.lbs-meaning of torque. The C.I.D. was at most 421. The previous owner was a doctor, who had a competition cam put in. The car would easily cruise at 120 while the gas lasted. The air cleaner on the Ertyl model is correct, needs to be flat black. The engine was green, and call a nailhead. The internet is so cool

We are going along pretty well. Every part we touched seemed to be soft still. I know we have had high humidity here, but I was still suprised at how soft the paint was even after 24 hours, especially the silver. I am hoping to touch up after it is all done. I will definately try the oil trick! You see, that is what is great about forums like this! Thanks again. I would like to know how long it took to do that Ferrari engine I keep seeing.

Thank you Bill and Mark! I just got back from Hobby Lobby and they did not have clear flat enamal. They did have clear flat acrylic. I was going to have my son paint his seats in the Batmobile red and black and then with clear flat to give that leather or vinyl look. Also for some of the various parts inside to throw different sheens. I did not purchase the paint because in the back of my mind, I thought acrylic was water based and would run from the gloss red and black. Am I wrong here? :?: We are having fun, and we did paint the drive shaft white, differential (front) red because we figured Batman probably used many of the same parts that NASCAR uses! I am also taking things slowly, so he does not get frustrated. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. It is much appreciated. One of the things I like about these forums is that you can go back and re-read answers, they sort of become timeless in a way!

The set-up: My son and I are doing a Batman die-cast car he purchased somewhere. He is 8 and has had the car for two years. Our first. The experience: I used to put together airplanes up until I went off to college. I even found my set of exacto knives (blades rusty). Got pretty good but WOW you guys are awesome in every sense of the word! This is what I need to know and you can give short answers if you would like. The glue: what are you using? We are using the orange and white Testers tube, like I used in the 80's-very early 80's. Primer-everything? Does this avoid two coats? Paint: Drying time? How long does it take? What is the deal with Gold? Do you need to shake it every few minutes? Paint on the tree/runner or off? I will get Spure cutters-wow-and whoops! About year ago I found a green 55 Buick-my dad's firts car that I was going to custom paint and give as a present. I got some Krylon and could not get the orange peal out! A book I have 'Build and detal model cars'-Terry Jesse shows an awesome shine with 1 COAT!! How is it shined? I used several high grits like 1200 and rubbing compounds all to no avail. He also said he waited 3 weeks. I did not. I plan to strip it down to bare metal and start again. Since then my dad found the exact same car and purchased it. I could not get a decent shine so I never told him about it. Engines: can one get period engines. Dad had a 455 in his 1955. The one in the car looks like a funky ram-jet. I would love to get the right big block and put the wires and carb linkage on it. Sorry this is so long, as always, thank you for your help!

The stones you are talking about are flat circles used for cutting metal. Dremmel comes with some 'stones' that are actually spherical, conical, cylindrical and other shapes. Does the speed matter?