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Everything posted by Spex84
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I'd like to put forward an impassioned request that this thread not be trashed. It looks like a great kit, we're all excited, lets keep the discussion polite if possible. I'm getting the distinct impression that we're all on the same side, and talking past each other. It's like "who's on first", 1/25 scale version.
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Gotta say I approve of the front scoops, the trunk louvers, and especially that interesting Porsche dash. You might not like the belly-button body, but you're turning it into something pretty cool IMHO. Those mods should go well with the wheels. For some reason I'm imagining it painted maroon, or that dull blue that some vintage porsches are painted.
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Awesome review Tim, thanks. I'm very excited for this kit. The ribbed chrome pan and valve covers look great, and I'm stoked to see a 6x2 with separate air cleaners (no seams!) Re: the frame horns: google "32 ford frame diagram" and you'll see that the horns do become parallel in front; however the effect is more subtle in reality than in the kit's depiction of it. I think maybe they placed the bend point too far forward, or perhaps the horns need to be tapered more. Like you said, a few swipes of the file will sort that out very quickly. The reveal looks great. It almost looks too shallow, but probably because I'm used to the too-chunky reveal in the old Revell '32 frames. While I'm not super keen on the coilover rear in this application, the parts look SO nice that I'm already trying to imagine which of my current builds needs them swapped in. I'm truly impressed by how sincerely this kit tackles the problems of building a traditional style hot rod. Must have been a headache to develop, but it' going to look great.
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Nice mods so far! For the confused: Zipper Motors is a manufacturer of 1:1 fiberglass hot rod bodies. Their deuce roadster was popular in the early 2000s. I think that's what the resin kit replicates.
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Nice shine! I use Beauti-Tone as well, the lacquers go on smooth but are quite 'hot' and need a good primer underneath. I've never found it for under $8.00 a can though, so you totally scored.
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Mini Cooper S Countryman 8/17/17 fixed photo links and added some new
Spex84 replied to Foxer's topic in WIP: Model Cars
I have encountered that "sandy" finish before, when I was shooting lacquer paint at too high a pressure (and possibly too high an ambient temperature). The paint was blowing around and particle deposits built up on the edges of the window frames, etc. I think the thinner was drying too much before the paint even hit the model. -
Hey, that's a fun kit...or frustrating, depending on your expectations. I've only built 1, but I really enjoyed it. The Revell-monogram '30 Touring has a tri-carb intake that will fit this engine. The SBC in the Touring also has higher detail than the old roadster parts. This kit sits pretty high, out of the box. Grinding/filing some material off the front crossmember (and possibly the back), and shaving the front spring down, can get it lower. The '30 Phaeton has a more detailed dashboard with a separate chromed insert, as well.
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Hey, thanks for the excellent paint ideas Skip, In the end, I think I'm going to try and execute the original concept, which is a mostly silver-and-black scheme. Progress has been slow lately... -stripped the wheels and shot them flat black. They may stay this way; they may get a gloss coat. -made a taillight out of the corrugated plastic on the side of a CD jewel case, painted it with Testors clear red, foiled the back, and shot a bar of flat black in the center...and recessed this into a slot in the body. It kind of matches the rear window slot... -various filling and priming -new seat risers -tweaked the floor so it's easier to get into the body Barely visible in the background is an attempt at making thin interior panels by embossing aluminum tape over layers of paper and card. The idea is to paint them with acrylics, which hopefully will be flexible enough that they can be installed without cracking the paint.
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Another local shop closes it's doors
Spex84 replied to timc's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
I sometimes wonder what the deal is with hobby shop owners. -went to a shop many years ago that turned out to be 99% armor, slovenly owner smoking at the counter acted like I was a bothersome gnat rather than a customer. I didn't buy anything. -found a hobby shop about an hour's drive away (in rural Canada, this counts as 'nearby'), but it was mostly the guy's storage for his e-business, and never seemed to be open. I eventually phoned to see when they'd be open, and they were closing that week, couldn't make rent. Prices were high anyway. -found another hobby shop a few years ago that had some hot rod kits, a copy of Rodder's Journal on the counter. Stock seemed decent but picked-over...and as I was browsing, I heard the owner and some other fellow discussing the financial situation that was forcing him to close within the next month. Whoops, I killed another one. -located a hobby shop about 2 hours drive away, they had very little stock but some good kits. Paint rack was thin and picked-over. Woman running the till was maybe the wife of the owner, seemed very uncomfortable there, like she'd rather be someplace more stylish -a hobby shop I've visited several times now, about 3.5 hours away, has a fairly wide selection, but employees who know jack squat about their stock. I asked the employee on the till (employee of the month according to the little photo in the corner!) if he built models. He replied "I sort tried to put one together once to see what it was all about". I asked if they had liquid glue for styrene, and he seemed surprised that such a thing existed. -my local 'hobby shop' is a small section of a general-hardware store, has a variety of kits (mostly corvettes, mustangs, and trucks...that's what sells here apparently) but the same Testors paints have been on the shelf as long as I can remember. So at least 15 years, maybe 20. Most of them have gone bad/ have separated in the jar. Prices are also about $30 per kit, which is steep for those AMT reissues. I occasionally buy a kit in the name of supporting local business, but any time I can get a deal elsewhere, I take it. If I could find a well-lit place with decent prices, relatively fresh stock (particularly paint and glue), and staff who have half a clue, it would be like locating a living breathing unicorn! -
We need a '27 Tee Roadster in plastic.
Spex84 replied to Greg Myers's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
I'd buy a couple. And if there was a coupe, I'd definitely buy several more! -
The coupe Toner 283 refers to as the "Deathtrap" is actually called "Death's Doorstep". The other info appears to be correct. It's pretty awesome I'm surprised that people hate on the Von Minden coupe (top photo posted by the OP). Sure those headlights are goofy, but the car is gnarly. Not every car needs to be a beauty queen. I love that one. Here it is on the street (kind of insane considering the skinny front wheels):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipkUt1v0IQ4 As for the "Little Boy" rat-rod coupe (named after the Bomb....not very subtle there), if you replaced the wheels and grille with something more conventional (read: boring) and re-did the interior in thin-pleat tuck n roll, and painted it, you'd have a spot-on 60s style show rod. The 60s Barris Surf Woody had a twin-paxton centrifugal blower setup as well. When the car first debuted, I thought "well that's it, I'm out. These rat rods are getting stupid now". Years later, now that rat rods are _really_ ridiculous, I can appreciate this car for all the vintage parts and crazy concepts the builders packed into one build. The proportions are awesome, if stubby. Here's an article that describes the cool parts and attention to detail in the car. http://www.speedhunters.com/2009/08/car_feature_gt_gt_a_littleboy_s_rat_rod_dreamin/ Anyway...when the 30 coupe is finally released, I will be building a range of styles. For some of them, I ABSOLUTELY intend to get carried away. Hoo boy.
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Nasty yellow junk under chrome plating
Spex84 replied to Relic_Models's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
Neither did I...until one day last year when I lost a small taillight bezel in the bottom of a yoghurt container full of slightly diluted Purple. I spent longer fishing the part out than usual. I felt a prickling sensation in my hand, nothing major. I washed my hand thoroughly afterwards, as usual. Within 3 days the skin of my hand was dry and cracked, especially at the joints. A mild chemical burn. Now I use tweezers to extract parts from the Purple bath! //back to the original comment: Purple works well to strip chrome and the yellow stuff. At one point I tried using Coca-Cola...it took the chrome off, but not the yellow undercoating. -
Today I pulled a '30 Phaeton model off the shelf and looked at that very nice separate firewall on the sprue tree, and felt better. Even though it's 1/24, I'm sure there will be a way to make it fit the new '30 body. I don't know why anyone is getting hung up on the firewall, when it's the shape of the body that is critical. Everything else can be swapped or kitbashed. Building my 1/24 Monogram A (still WIP), I had to flatten the stock firewall quite a bit to allow engine clearance. It doesn't make sense to have completely stock-appearing firewall. ... Finally pinned down what does bug me about the firewall though. It's toy-like, stylized in a way that we probably would never see in 1:1. The old flat/recessed '32 3-window firewall is stylized, but at least it's plausible and not too chunky. ... As long as the body is more or less on-target, Revell will be giving us complainers the greatest gift of all: the opportunity to "correct" the model and then feel accomplished and superior. Lol. ... If anyone from Revell is reading this thread and feeling put out by all the unappreciative comments, here's a saying I came across a couple days ago that I think applies here: "A b******* (complaining) sailor is a happy sailor". There's only a problem when everyone goes unnaturally quiet...
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Sweet, looks like a model version of Keith Weesner artwork!
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Looks like a great start! Nice catch with the corrected headers. I'm building a model with the same engine right now...ended up modifying the kit heads to accept Ford y-block headers, which are similar in shape and have the same spacing as the Lincoln Y-block. The other thing you might want to correct is the distributor location--MEL 430 has it in the front, but Lincoln Y block is angled about 45 degrees and mounted in the back.
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" the whole engine is sort of made up" Haha, I forgive you. I was mocking up a V16 for a rat rod project a while back, and it looked SO good with a row of carbs atop the engine...but I couldn't figure out a way to realistically hook them up to the intakes on the sides of the block without covering those sweet valve covers. You're right, it looks way cooler this way!
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Nice work on the mods and paint! Reading the description of what you started with, I wasn't sure what to expect! ...now that I think of it, why didn't more of the exotic 30s classics get the full 60s Kustom treatment? They would have been much cheaper back then. I guess Fords and Chevies were just more accessible. *looked again--are the injectors connected to the intake ports at all? Very cool. Swingin'!
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What a lovely automobile! Great job, I've been enjoying the build thread too. Love the off-white rubber tires, they really set the whole thing off in combination with the blue paintjob and red-stained cherry accents.
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Looking great so far. The '56 is such a good-looking car. Heck, I'd even drive a pink one. Ok, Salmon, whatever
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I like what you've done with that goofy Vicky roof...it looks much more distinguished now! My eyebrows certainly raised when I read the "three day" goal, haha. That was really ambitious. Looking forward to seeing this build progress!
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It doesn't make any sense
Spex84 replied to forthlin's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
It's funny that as classics get older and tougher to find, and all the truly iconic classics are becoming increasingly unaffordable, 4-door sedans and wagons are starting to stage a comeback. Especially overseas, where any american classic car is a cool novelty. A few years ago, somebody down the valley from me entered a '57 Chevy in a demolition derby. Naturally it was destroyed in about 2 hits. The youtube video is full of commenters blowing a gasket that anyone could derby a '57. But for decades you could barely give them away. Across the valley from me, there are some cars that were chopped into pieces and pushed over a bank, partially covered in dirt. A 55 Chevy. A '50 Mercury....and more. But they were all sedans, so they were evidently stripped for useable parts and then disposed of. This probably happened around 30-40 years ago. In the year 2040, 1950 Dodge 4-door sedans will be desired and sought-after! Oh, and all the restaurants will be Taco Bell -
"It appears to be too tall, and squared off" That "squared off" look is something that is very visible in the new-tool Ala Kart that was released a while back. It just sucks the life out of a design. I call it "chamfer-itis". Rather than accepting that a part has a gradual curve, the sculptor/3D modeler has decided to make a box and chamfer or fillet the edges (anyone who does CAD will know what I mean). And having seen that 3/4 view now...yep, the roof is way flat across the visor. That's going to be tough to fix. I personally lack the "eye" that some people have for curves and compound forms. I understand compound forms as a series of cross-sections. I'm not much of a sculptor because I can't instantly "feel" a form; I have to dissect it first and that takes time. I'm getting the impression that whoever is doing the 3D modeling for these kits has a more pronounced example of this condition, and is missing the forest for the trees in some areas. Some aspects of the kit are totally understandable--the firewall dimensions allow for the thickness of the hood, and the squared-off shape will help the hood sit level and flush. But it doesn't look remotely like the real thing...feels like kit engineering has taken priority over realism. I recently almost purchased a Moebius '56 Chrysler (one of my favorite cars), but something looked "off"...I went home and did some comparisons using photos of the real thing vs photos of the built-up model, and discovered that the real car has this glorious taper to the taillights and bumpers, like the whole car is leaping forward. The kit, on the other hand, presents the taillights and bumpers as vertical, squared-off, and stodgy as hell. Because the taillight frames and bumpers are chrome, it would take a collossal amount of work to make the back end of that car look like it should. It was enough to stop me from buying the kit, because it would be a parts kit and I don't need any more hemi engines right now. So in this case, if they fix the roof/cowl--- I'm happy. I don't care about the firewall, that's an easy fix, or someone will make an aftermarket piece that is more accurate. Even if the body has serious shortcomings, there will be enough cool and useful parts in the '29/'30 kits to make them worth buying.
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1935 LaSalle convertible coupe - 3d printed at home Aug. 30
Spex84 replied to my66s55's topic in WIP: Model Cars
The old filament-style prints are what I tended to have in mind when visualizing the output of home 3D printers. But the parts you're getting out of the new machine are light years better. Love it. That new, more resilient resin should be a welcome change as well. -
The new door cut lines make it look more like a '30. Cool! Molding the fenders on was an interesting decision. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.