Harry Joy

1- When I use Testor's acrylics, I go about 50/50, but you have always have to experiment a little. I have found that the Testor's Acrylics prefer Testor's acrylic thinner more than anything, but distilled water is ok in a pinch. 2 - I used Tamiya primers. It prefers a primer. 3 - I have used everything from Future, to Tamiya clears, to Testor's clears. All are good. 4 - I don't know. Never have used it.

I am in the grocery business. If you ask the manager or supervisor, most any chain grocery will sell you some plastic clamshells if you ask nicely. For the 15 years I've been doing this, I've sold them for anywhere from ten cents to a quarter. I've also given them to customers on occasion. The "dust cover" that I use to protect painted projects is a round dome cake cover.

For Monty - here are my prior "Under Glass" topics: 1966 Olds 442: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/105081-1966-olds-442/ 1971 Fairlady: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/106674-1971-nissan-fairlady-240zg/ 1969 Riviera: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/106933-amt-1969-buick-riviera/ 1972 GTO: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/107629-1972-pontiac-gto/ And since recursion can be fun: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/108967-1967-pontiac-gto-my-year-in-review/

They are back there. I'll link to them later tonight when I get a chance. Thanks guys!

No spray cans this time, trying to get over my automotive finish issues. Painted with Tamiya acrylics (silver is Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver) and Alclad. And my year in models - five completed cars, one real space. Two cars are underway, but there is no way I'll finish them this year:

Yup, alligator clips and toothpicks on a Styrofoam stand I made a few years ago. Sometimes tape.

I open the closet door, and let my wife pick the one she wants to see next.

Bottle #3 of Alclad's Hot Metal Violet. That will teach me to try to paint an entire model in Alclad Hot Anything (yes, I sprayed an Alclad base coat of aluminum.)

I'm building a GTO that came with no wire for the rear axle. I was terribly tempted to drill a hole through the engine to use some of the wire I bought, but chickened out.

What's been bugging me - mass production of cheap quad-copters, and their marketing to every yahoo who has the wits to play a kazoo. Their sale from vendors who do not support the buyers with spare parts. And the mass media glomming onto the word "drone" to describe what are, in fact, quad-copters. And no, I don't work at a hobby shop, but I hang out at the local one whenever possible. And I own a tiny quad-copter my wife bought for me, but I never fly it.

I like Counting Cars a lot, but the fiction about chasing down hot rods on the highway and pulling them over, or knocking on strangers doors (who don't have for sale signs on their rides) gets silly. If it were real, they'd all be wearing bullet proof vests. Edit - I don't know if I mentioned this before, but the Count's real life dad and my dad were friends back in the 70s, and the Count's background is very churchy, so I doubt if he's a bad fellow.

Beautiful! What did you use for the gauges?

As hard as this is for some people to seem to believe, I've checked several stores and none of the Testors cans had bar codes. The stores I've looked in range from Memphis to northern and central Mississippi. And on top of that, there was no correlation between manufacturer codes on the cans and store codes on the tag. (I'm in retail, btw, and have been since about 1978. Hardware, lumber, grocery and records.)

When I was learning to airbrush, I hated it when people told me this - I wanted hard numbers. But you have to just feel it out. There are too many variables, from airbrush, to paint, to thinner, to compressor - to conditions where you are (actual air pressure, weather, etc). Not only that, you have to play with distance, airbrush to model. In the last picture, it looks like you are spraying from too far away. Get something to test on, and play around. When I started airbrushing, I went right away spraying on the model in front of me. But I've learned patience. Whenever I'm trying something new, I find something to test on. That said, I usually airbrush at about 18psi. But there is no golden number. I've just found that 18 fits most situations.

Well, part of the problem may be that you are using a lacquer thinner with what is probably an enamel paint.

I lived near St. Louis when they snagged the Rams. The big dig against LA was always that they did a poor job of supporting teams, and never went to see them.

I got a kick out of this car. I passed her on the road, but then she pulled up into a filling station behind me. I asked if it had anything to do with Mary Kay, and the owner said no. Said she just wanted something a little different, and painted it herself:

Graveyard Cars is the one that drives me the most nuts. He does authentic restorations, but the "zaniness" and scripting are horrible distractions. Fantomworks, I want to like but it rubs me wrong most episodes. The ones I like best are Bitchin' Rides and Counting Cars. Counting Cars is the one that got me back watching these things. Yes, it's goofy, but enjoying these shows is something where you have to put your critical thinking on pause - if the main players are people I enjoy watching. The Foose show I hated (it's done with now). Primarily for the reason in the OP - Foose tears down really cool vintage cars to turn them into modern cars. Gas Monkey doesn't usually do that.

Thank for the advice, StevenG and AceG. For my current project (and my previous one, currently shelved), I've gone back to what I'm most comfortable with and I'm using regular old Tamiya paints in the jars with my airbrush. They have the colors I need for now, and sand and polish well enough. My last couple of kits ended up with finishes I'm not terribly proud of, so this is a reboot. Now, that's not to say that down the road I won't want sparkles. In fact I'll probably want them sooner that later. I'll check out the MCW paints.

UPC bar codes have been around that long, yes, but did not go into widespread use until the '90s. I know, because I worked on some whole store conversions in the 90s. That being what it is - the Testor's One Coat paints do not have bar codes. Not the ones I have seen in stores, ranging from mom and pop hobby shops to Michaels and Hobby Lobby. And the cans are new.

As I am new to car modeling, I took some advice from guys at the shop and spent money on several cans of these paints. And ended up tossing them all. I think those flakes would look awful on a 1:1 car. The Duplicolor paint flakes, as much as I have learned to like that paint, stand out way too much on a model.

The grocery store is a good measure of true prices in the US, as long as you are talking about a regular grocery like Kroger, Safeway, Publix, Albertsons, or a local chain. True grocery chains are very price sensitive, and run on very low margins. A small bump in commodity prices is reflected very quickly in the stores, especially in milk, eggs, meat and produce. However, those same items are very much ruled by weather and other conditions. Wal-Mart, Target, and specialty chains operate a little differently.

Not the OP, but I was looking at some Testor's cans at a store a few weeks ago, and they were mixed up on the rack. I tried myself to figure out which was which to no avail. The cans had neither items codes or bar codes. There is the lot number on the bottom, but that's it. - - - Just looked at some cans I already had, no bar codes on them either. The only identifier on the cans at the store were the store's own stickers, and the numbers on them did not align with the Testor's numbers on the rack. I think this is what the OP is speaking about.

The way they are cutting back their paint lines, Testor's might be back down to fifteen again very soon.

I was pleased that my wife didn't ask me to hang lights on the house this year. Working at ground level in three dimensions was much better.