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This is a fairly new product here - if you've used it - is it any easier to get a durable chrome look with this product? Perhaps you could draw some comparisons with Alclad and Ultimate Chrome (Spaz Stix)...

Anyone here who has assembled this kit? I'm a little gunshy about these - bought one on eBay that was supposed to have been unopened, and when I opened it, there was a big paint error on one of the front fenders - looked like someone dropped a blob of cement there and just decided to pack it up and resell it. So, if you have any experience with the paint jobs in these Proshop kits, please post your reply here...

Doors having issues would not surprise me in the least, since many early diecast makers couldn't seem to get the doors to be operable and still have minimal reveals next to the doorjams.

Wow, Snake! You should turn pro! Nice job on that front end. I am still gunshy - you know - twice bitten, etc.

I tried Briggs & Stratton Carb Cleaner - it did nothing more than regular old lacquer thinner, which I need to have on hand anyway...

Tamiya cotton swabs come in several different tip sizes and styles... My favorite is the medium triangular tip, but you don't have to go by that. Just offered it to help you decide which you would find most helpful.

Well, not particularly for the script, but more for it being a better "airbrush cleaner". Do you think the term "high evaporation" means... "hot"?

I have had a very difficult time with Revell's Pontiac GTO and iterations like "The Judge" - the ones that require the hobbyist to assemble the front end out of 2 parts that don't exactly fit together without a lot of body filler, etc. Then, there is this one by Testors, that features a metal body that is pre-decorated... I'm wondering if anyone here has actually built one of these kits, and can tell me if it'd be worth trying to find one on eBay...

I did some checking online and the only lacquer thinner that I could find that was not strictly "medium" is this one by Rust-Oleum... http://www.autozone.com/paint-and-body/paint-remover-stripper-thinner/rust-oleum-1-gal-fast-evaporation-lacquer-thinner/660012_0_0/ What do you think?

Wow - that stuff sounds like the best airbrush cleaner, as well! Thanks for the Tip! BTW, since MCW sells 99% acrylic lacquers, is it safe to assume that their "airbrush cleaner" is really just a very HOT lacquer thinner?

I wish I had known about your plight earlier - in instances such as this, I have used a black transparent "wash" - it's thin enough so that it seeks the lowest part of the object, and then rarely leaves any behind on the tops, but after it's dry, you can go over it with a dampened finger or q-tip and just hits the tops again if you see some wash has been left behind. The wash I use is Iwata Com-Art Transparent Smoke.

I actually use the Tamiya swabs with BMF, as a "pointed tool" (to replace toothpicks, which can easily tear the foil). So, at least I don't have to buy them to try them next time. But I can see how your technique using a toothpick to remove the paint would be a good one - can't possibly hold enough thinner to run the paint! BTW, remind me - you use enamels, right? So, you would use mineral spirits or some other substitute in this process? I use lacquers, exclusively, for body work. Would the technique of employing a toothpick dipped in lacquer thinner work as well?

Wow - yours look fantastic - right up there with a PE part! I take it you have to be real careful applying the paint thinner to the writing - by the way - how do you do this? Would a Q-Tip work?

I'm building this kit right now, and I have to be honest with you - I usually don't even bother with this part (steering gear box) because of its usually horrible attachment to the frame. However, this one isn't that bad and you have a clue as to how to install it by installing part 31 temporarily - the stubby control arm on the left side of part 31 is supposed to attach to the upright control arm of the steering gear box - the upright control arm is the shorter of the 2 arms - the longer one simply points up at the steering wheel. So, knowing this, you have to install it in the frame where you see that odd shaped cutout in the drawing right behind the spring. Just try it without glue - get it in the recess so that the upright is touching the control arm of part 31. Once you can see how it should be installed, go ahead and glue it in place, and then make sure you glue the upright arm to part 31 control arm (they should be touching at this point).

Wow - the hood looks almost... organic!

Well, it's that kind of embellishment of the company's instructions that I was referring to when I indicated different directions - I found several other variations on a theme at YouTube, and I believe one of the variations I found in a back issue of MCM! They all vary a bit - now, the first time I ever heard that you could NOT substitute a lacquer or an acrylic for the black, and yet I seem to recall that Alclad recommends their black and it is not an enamel - it's a lacquer. Finally, where you refer to "mist coats", Alclad says very mysteriously that you should mimic a "brushing motion"... whatever the heck that means...

That's what I thought at first, but IMC is on the box and that company became affiliated with AMT, I believe... maybe we'll get some historical background on it. This kit may be a very old tool, but when I was a young'in, my family owned one of these in pink!

Found this at Megahobby - supposedly out 6/15...

Except that those directions vary from user to user - I tried it several ways, and in some cases, the results were impressive... until I touched the surface and left a mark that would not go away. So, even if you follow application directions, this is still not the most durable of products. And there is nothing you can put over it that will help the durability, without it also reducing the reflectivity. When I see both of these things corrected by Alclad, I'll give it a shot again, but in the meantime, take off your rose-colored glasses and don't expect this kind of result, especially if you're a rookie and have a limited budget, because you will need to do a lot of experimenting before you start getting great results.

Yes, in art-speak, a medium is an addiitive that affects the main product in some way - they have transparent, opaque, retarding (slowing down drying time), and other mediums. In the case of Liquitex Airbrush Medium (what I use in place of water), it is an additive for acrylic paints that will act as a thinner, but also an enhancer of the acrylic.

I would add that like Vallejo's new 60ml Premium line, it is already thinned for airbrush. However, I do not recommend using water if you do thin it... this is what everyone in the industry says when they know you won't need to thin it, but in some cases, you can actually damage an acrylic by the overuse of water as a thinner - it has a tendency not only to thin, but to break down its properties. So, I have taken to using an acrylic "flow medium" or "airbrush medium" to thin acrylics, because it actually gives everything an acrylic needs to thin it and perhaps even improve it. Now, as far as hand-brushing goes, you'll have to give it a try - if it goes on nice and smooth right out of the bottle, you have no need to thin it further. I would think, however, that it isn't going to make the best hand-brushing acrylic on the market, simply because it has been thinned for airbrush. You may find you'll have coverage problems...

Can you tell from the info on the bottle exactly what kind of base they're using? Because you mentioned "paint thinner", I'm assuming you think the AK varnish is enamel-based, correct? If so, it should thin with mineral spirits or even odor-free paint thinner. However, Tamiya also makes alcohol-based acrylics, and you can use 91% alcohol or denatured alcohol to thin. You're probably not going to find a "ratio". Most hobbyists thin to suit their application - if airbrush, thin until it atomizes correcty; if hand-brushing, if full strength goes on too gloppy, just add a few drops of thinner until it goes on smoother without sacrificing coverage.

Guess we'll have to give them a new name... how about "Keystone Treker Turbo 3"?!

Yes, that's the one you mentioned in your first post, but the veins just look way too smooth to me. Could be that having the actual wheels is leaving you at a disadvantage - I should have photopgraphed these at different angles.

Yeah, that's strange - I sure wouldn't have known that Hendrix models were buried in here! The only way I could tell was by comparing the photos of the 51 Pontiac Fastback on both Star and Model Roundup's websites. Yep, they're the same, but MR tacks on a hefty fee in the process! Guess this would make Star's more acceptable, but I'd still have to concern myself with chroming... Thanks for the reply!