MGL

Beautiful model. I've been looking for this color in a spray can, do you remember what color it is and if it's available in a spray can or do I need to break down and get an air brush?

I've recently started giving the chrome a lite coat of Tamiya smoke to tone it down and it seems to take paint for washes and wheel better afterwards. For example, the black in the hubcaps of the 69 F-100 came out looking great. I suspect the smoke spray (I assume its lacquer) gives the paint something to bite.

Are you sure that's not for a real truck?

If the conditions allow you to drive on the salt don't forget your GPS and mark the point at the sign so you can return. I came across a guy that had been driving around for an hour trying to get back to the road, that place can be intimidating if you aren't prepared. Also, since you will be in the worlds fastest car (a rental car) if you can, wring that thing out on the salt, you won't regret it. There is a car wash in Winnemucca, Nevada where you can wash the salt off that poor rental, also the place Johnny Cash was picked up while hitchhiking in the song "I've Been Everywhere, Man". Petaluma, north of SF up the 101, is where American Graffiti was filmed. When you get to the Bay Area, on the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the Marin Headlands and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. This is the place they film every movie or TV commercial that has the Golden Gate Bridge behind and kind of below them, the scene in Ant Man after Paul Rudds character gets out of prison and they are driving in the van for example. From there you can drive down Lombard Street, another SF icon. Don't forget to get a T-shirt at the gas station on the road to the salt flats, I didn't and regret it. Bring a sweater, As Mark Twain supposedly said, "the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco".

If I remember right they said in the episode that it wasn't the movie car, it was a promotional car used during the movie premier and other promotions.

Agreed, and the decals on the van are sweet, does anybody know where they came from? Never mind, I just looked back at the WIP for the van and saw they came with the kit.

I agree, from the picture it looks like the roof slopes to the back and the windshield might be too high or the rear window could be too short. If the problem is in the windshield I imagine you could graft the windshield and front half of the roof from the MPC kit to correct it. If the problem is the rear that would be a bit tougher, you would have to do the opposite of a chop. Either way it looks buildable, I might take this on soon.

Bandit Resin has a 69 notch back but I have never ordered from them so I can't attest to the quality or service. http://www.banditresins.com/1969_plymouth_cuda.html

This looks really nice, I like it a lot.

Wow, I appreciate that but I don't know if I will be there for a couple of days or just stopping for fuel. I can IM you when it gets closer but in the mean time the offer stands, if there is anything I can pick up that you have a tough time getting let me know before June and I can bring it.

Gregg, I normally buy my copy at the LHS, I feel like I'm supporting you and him that way but in the interest of insuring the magazines cash flow, does it make a difference to your bottom line for us to buy it from another vender or from a subscription? In other words, do you make more from subscribers or from retail sales?

Primer typically has a slight texture to it so I wet sand to about 1000 grit until it's smooth. The smoother the surface the smoother your color coat will lay down. I go by feel but if the primer has a bit of shine to it it's about right. That being said, I have gotten some pretty good paint jobs without wet sanding the primer and one of my best paint jobs was Tamiya British green over raw plastic, no primer, no prep, just removed some minor mold lines with an x-acto blade held sideways to the line and perpendicular to the surface. I have never been able to reproduce that with so little effort.

Really neat, I keep thinking about doing one of these and adding those really obnoxious long valve stems to the wheels like you used to see in Cartoons when I was a kid (Trosley maybe?), but I never get around to it.

Personally, I clean everything in a big Tupperware tub with water and Dawn dish soap, then while that is drying I work on something else. After everything is dry I prep the body for primer by inspecting it for mold lines, scratches, sink marks, and any other irregularities and clean/fix any problems including body parts that are separate but should be body color (including attaching things like valance panels if it won't hinder assembly). Then I prime the body and while its drying I move on to the engine sub assembly just doing the parts that will be the main engine color. Then I work on the chassis and suspension, then the interior subassemblies and if the primer is dry and ready I move to wet sanding the body and prepping for paint. I move around a lot to allow paint to dry but I try to get the body painted sooner rather than later so while it's drying I can work on detailing the engine, chassis, interior and wheels. But as many have said, there is no one way to do it and most of what I just described happens over days and weeks and sometimes months. Most of us have multiple projects going at any given time so while we are waiting on paint to dry or cure we have something else to work on. I currently have a dodge van waiting on decals and clear, I mini cooper waiting on final color coat, clear, and assembly, and a 69 f-100 in final assembly, with a 56 Chrysler 300 getting ready for cleaning. And a 69 Barracuda in mock up. And a revel 29 Model A in the staring at waiting for inspiration stage.

This is cool, I didn't even notice the grill until I read your comments. How about some close ups?

Looks good. I'm going to be in Kodiak some time this fall, let me know if I can bring you anything from the lower 48.

Nice job, I like what you did with the air cleaner.

The licensing deal I would like to see would be with Gas Monkey Garage. Most of the stuff they build retains the factory stock lines, mostly parts swaps and such. They also tend to build more off beat cars rather than the same old mustang and camaro although they do there share of those too. Imagine the kit-bashing potential of that 59 rambler wagon and the hellcat dart, or the cool gasser parts in the 52 ford. And since they don't do a lot of heavy custom body work almost everything could be a 2 in 1 kit. Personally, I would rather see Moebius do a deal with them, they could start out with any of the ford shop trucks they built but Revell's deeper catalog would give them a leg up.

I bet an enterprising aftermarket company could sell custom mixed engine paints for models and make tens of dollars. They might even break even if they got some distribution deals with some of the internet dealers.

I use either the Testors international orange or Duplicolor chevy orange. As Snake and Colby said, its close enough for a shelf model. I do wonder why Testors doesn't sell Hemi orange considering the number of Mopar models with Hemis, 440's, 383's, and 340's. They do have Chrysler blue and red, Ford blue, and I believe Oldsmobile blue, why not Hemi orange?

That engine bay looks really good, nice subtle use of washes both on the engine and the interior, well done.

Looks great but that 68 Barracuda on the trailer has me drooling!

I have nothing of value to contribute to this discussion and it will in no way help me to build better models but this has become one of my favorite threads to read. The information here has been informative and enlightening and now I want to build something with functioning suicide doors.

Steel guitar string (string made out of steel as opposed to plastic, not steel guitar) looks like it would work. The E, D, G, and A strings are usually wound with another wire and when painted should look just like the convoluted plastic wrapped around the harness pictured. If you don't have any guitar player friends or family check any music shop that services guitars, I'm sure they would be willing to let you have it. Do a Google image search for guitar strings and you will see what I mean.

A 49 Ford would look great in there. Or the Galaxy Limited 48 Chevy sedan delivery riding low in the back.