E St. Kruiser50

Hey Chris I really like the way your build is coming along . My son bought me one of these for Christmas last year, and it's a beautiful kit. One of these winter month's I want to tear into it. I especially like this pic and all the detailing you've done to it.

As I haven't a clue as to what you did to get here, I'd pick a spot and sand through the primer with around 600 sandpaper to see if it's just paint or if the plastic was attacked. If the plastic was attacked, you're SOL, as the body is ruined. As far as stripper to use fot Rustolium I haven't a clue - never used Rustoleum primers. Like the guy's said here, use DUPLICOLOR OR PLASTICOTE in the future. Some here seem to have pretty good luck with Tamiya's primers also. Personally, I like Duplicolor primer and have had no problems with the one I've used for decades.

Hey Peter My first reaction after reading you were going to vacuum form the body, and looking at the shape, was that you will have some challanges, especially using an inexpensive former. To me the most troubling issue will be the plastic thinning un-evenly during the forming process, that in the industry is called "DRAPE FORMING". Plastic cools very quickly, so anything it touches when hot becomes an instant heatsink, to chill the plastic, whether it's steel, alum, wood, etc. Some just make it "CHILL" faster than others. What happens during forming is the plastic hits the roof and top of the fenders first, and immediately beging cooling very rapidly. The plastic wants to keep moving because of the vacuum, so it continues to "STRETCH" over the top, and down the sides, getting thinner as it reaches the base the mold sits on.. You'll have places where the plastic thins out dramaticaly, because of the point where the chilling ends and the "STRETCHING" continues at several points. In the "INDUSTRY" we used a method called "SNAP-BACK FORMING" to overcome that problem. An "industrial Grade Machine has a moveable lower portion, and an upper portion, where accessories for different styles of tooling and forming can be mounted. For what your doing, we constructed a "DRAW BOX" which the heated plastic was either draped and vacuumed into, or pulled up inside of with vacuum, to form a "BUBBLE OF PLASTIC" that the mold was pushed into, and then the vacuum turned on - All done with timers, and now computor controlled. The stretching of the plastic was done ahead of time under controlled conditions, and as you know, us guy's LOVE CONTROL . This process allowed us to get a very even thickness all over. PLENTY OF VACUUM HOLES is another area I can't stress enough to be important, especially in the lower area's, and recesses of the body where the plastic will tend to STRETCH ACROSS. You want the plastic to "SNAP DOWN" very quickly because of cooling and un-even stretching you'll experience. The last thing is that plastic likes to form "WEBS", especially at the corners, because it has to do something when it get's there . When you get to that point, I'll help walk you through it, if you want. If there is a vacuum forming business in your area, you may want to go and talk to them, as they could be a good resource, if they're willing to help. Depends on the company. Other good resource's for your research on the HOW TO'S OF VACUUM FORMING are librarys and book stores. I'm sure you can pull this off, but you'll find there is a learning curve - SO BE PATIENT AND STAY WITH IT, AND YOU'LL LEARN A LOT , and have a beautiful project to show for it when your done, and it'll be a lot of fun too - WE NEED THE FUN . For me, NEXT YEAR, I have a couple of "PRE-CAR SCRATCH-BUILDS I MAY DO FIRST. A few of my own surprises . By the way. The plastic you'll be using is extruded rather than injection molded, so don't expect the same properties in the sheet you'll be using, as you have in the kit bodies, as they are two seperate types of processes. Your extruded sheet will be much more 'FLEXABLE' AND SOFTER, so you'll have to depend much more on the shape, and how you support it and mount it, to give your car the ridgidity it will need .

WELCOME GERALD I'M A RARE '43 MODEL. DIDN'T MAKE M(ANY) CARS THAT YEAR, BUT WE DID MAKE SOME GREAT MILITARY .

HEY PETER - YA BEAT ME Seriously though, this is gonna be cool. I'll have fun watchin' your progress . My career was in vacuum forming for nearly 40 years. At Lancer Co., back in the 60's we made multi-piece molds, so we could form over compound curves and under-cuts, and then get all the pieces out - sometime 5 piece molds. Next year when I do my scratch bodies, I'll be using fiberglass instead of forming with styrene. For me, a lot more stable and ridged to work with, even when layin' up with a veil cloth. Beautiful design on the body style. Lookin' forward to your progress - dave

How >NOT< TO RESPOND TO SOME OF THE THREADS ON THIS FORUM, AND JUST KEEP MY OPINIONS TO MYSELF AND KEEP MY BIG MOUTH SHUT . THAT'S A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR ME .

Hey Curt WHAT A WAY-COOL PROJECT . I LOVE WHAT PEOPLE DO HERE . O.K., if it were me, and I'm the "Massive-Methodical whatever it takes kinda builder", the old AMT 3in1 kits came with strips of louvers as accessories, in white plastic. I would cut singles loose, for the singles on the hood, with a little flange left on each one, make a rectangular hole in the car body hood for each louver the same size as the louver flange, and recess the louver flange to be flush with the panel, so only the louver is raised. Looks like most of the rest are in strips so should be pretty easy to recess those flush in the body so only the louvers stick up. Lotsa work, but so will be the rest of the project - 'sides - YOU ASKED . My 2cts - dave

Hi Arni REALLY COOL POWERFUL MINI-MAGNETS. I posted a thread about these last week under"GENERAL". Click on my screen name, then go to options, click on that, and you'll see several links. CLICK ON TOPICS POSTED AND SCROLL THROUGH 'TILL YA FIND IT. IT'LL BE JUST A FEW TOPICS BACK, ON THE FIRST PAGE. YA CAN'T MISS IT. THERE'S EVEN A WEB ADDRESS FOR THEIR WEB-SITE, AND FOR ORDERING. HAVE FUN CHECHIN' IT OUT - dave

Never done a vinyl roof, but that looks really cool. Nice build too . I like the colors and the contrast.

Yeah Bernard, that's pretty much what I have in mind. A pretty stock body, with the running boards you see in the pics, a complete race/street chassis, full drive-line, and a nice interior. Probably cut the doors open too, like I'll do the hood, and add hinges and those tiny magnets to hold them closed - THEY'RE COOL COLOR?? - I'm not sure. BRIGHT PAINT?? WHAT ELSE ??? HEY RAUL You asked where do I get my wheels and tires. Over the years I've collected a lot of die-cast that I remove parts from for my build's, including the wheels/tires. Here's a sample of some I have collected and get to choose from.

Thanks Peter Comments like yours are humbling. Also humbling is remembering how my life changed 12 years ago, and the one who's responsible for that change, and a new life of peace, contentment, and serenity. The skills I have, however their seen, are a gift I use to honor the one who has changed my life forever, and given me a love for people, and a joy of life and modeling, to be celebrated with happiness. I have been given a sense of purpose beyond myself and my skills, that fullfills and completes my life. It's nothing I asked for or earned, let alone deserved - It's simply called GRACE AND MERCY. UN-DESERVED LOVE - UN-DESERVED FORGIVENESS .

In 1976 I painted my house in San Bernardino, when it was >115 DEGREE"S< . I LOVE IT IN OREGON . I did struggle myself with cutting up my Anglia, but HEY ??, I can buy another one when I need it, and I have recycled the rest of the body for other projects down the road. I'll bet PETER LOMBARDO still thinks I'M NUTZ .

I think your the last one to figure that out . Actually, I build mostly according to my "mood", and that seems to work pretty well for ME . I never get in a hurry to finish something, but they always get finished - eventually . Of coarse there are always other things I work on that you guys never see. I only work a few hours when I do sit at the bench, especially during the summer when the SUN'S OUT. PART OF ME IS STILL A CALIFORNIAN .

I use Plati-Kote CLASSIC LACQUER #349. BEEN USIN' IT FOR DECADES ABND IT WORKS BEAUTIFULLY WITH NEARLY EVERY OTHER BRAND. REMEMBER - ALWAYS DO SAMPLES FIRST .

Bill Sorsby AKA Gramps If ya don't like what I say. DON'T LISTEN WHAT???

<img src="http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="cool.gif" /> . <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> . <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> .

Hey Raul Glad you didn't "chop the top", as it has a sort of CONCEPT FROM THE FACTORY LOOK, which I like . It's a full custom, but you've used very elegant styling cues and great details to achieve a "SUBTLE", BUT A VERY EFFECTIVE, and FLOWING STYLING STATEMENT. VERY NICE RAUL . ( The artist always shows through )

I thought I'd respond to this because I've tried future on samples to compare to some of the other clear finishing products I use - PlastiCote Clear & HOK Catalyzed Urethane UC35 Clear. I've read several post's here saying that even though Future as a nice finish when first applied, over time it yellows and cracks. Many here rave about it, and really promot it as a Viable alternative, inexpensively giving a fine finish. FOR ME, after comparing the three just for the GOTCHA FACTOR, SHINE BRILLANCE AND DEPTH, Future comes WAY LAST. THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE A CRITICISM OF ANYONE HERE, THEIR CHOICES, OR THEIR PERSONAL OPINION ABOUT WHAT THEY LIKE OR CONSIDER APPEALING - >IT'S MY OPINION<. The "TEN FOOT TEST" will allow most anything at a distance or here on the computor, to look good, but get up "closer and personal", and everything changes. If you want something that's inexpensive and just good enough for what you like, to me that's fine. But to promote it as a viable choice for an upper-end build, to me is a bit deceptive, from my years of experience. One of the things I've learned over time is that PERSONAL PERCEPTION PLAYS A BIG ROLE in the choices we make. Our own idea's of what we think is good can best be answered at a contest you enter, or at a club meeting, where there is honest feed-back. Over the years I've heard a lot of complaining about contests results from participants who thought the judges "WERE BLIND" (Well - there was that one time when I KNEW THEY WERE ), because they just knew there's was "THE BEST THERE". If you do contest, you've heard it - some even go ballistic . Paint color, contrast and quality is what draws people to a particular model, as well as the model itself. I realize most people here build for their personal enjoyment to relax, and far fewer here enter contests, but it's also nice to have a build, that ten years or more down the road, the car still looks the same. Seems to make all that effort all the more worthwhile .

Hi Jeff I have a nice fresh copy of those instruction. If you want to P.M. me your address, I'll send it to you as soon as tomorrow - SNAIL MAIL .

I read on here an open letter to school age modelers, and I thought about you guy's who are still working out the daily grind, that aren't there yet to retirement - IT'S GREAT <img src="http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="wink.gif" /> . AT LEAST IT IS FOR ME. But I thought some advise and encouragement might be of some help FIRST. I loved my 40 year career. I got payed to play <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> . I woke up everyday, looking forward to the challanges and the things I got to design and create. If your not doing what you like, I suggest you find what you do like, and make a plan to eventually make a change to where you'd love to be - even if it means going back to school and struggling for a while, maybe even years - IT'S WORTH IT. EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR JOB SPILLS OVER INTO EVERY AREA OF YOUR HAPPINESS FACTOR - YOUR LIFE, INCLUDING YOUR MODELING, SELF-WORTH, AND YOUR RELATIONSHIPS, AND SENSE OF COURAGE. LOVING YOUR JOB IMPOWERS YOU TO ENJOY LIFE MORE. IT HELPS YOU LOVE PEOPLE MORE, and have more self-confidence, AND A STRONGER SENSE OF HONEST SELF-WORTH, and have more confidence in your model building. RETIREMENT IS GREAT. It allows you to do whatever you want to, any time of the day you feel like. I BUILD MODELS WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT, FOR AS LITTLE OR AS LONG AS I WANT. I'M SINGLE AND LOVE THAT - I DON'T HAVE TO SHARE <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> Being retired has opened up a whole new world of modeling for me. It took me 2 1/2 years just to develope the water-based chrome system to use to where I was satisfied with the results. Never could have done that while working a full-time job. Now I have time for research, and more time to spend here on this forum, and still have time to build models, and work on getting even better at it SOONER, Travel a bit, go out and eat with friends, and so on. ANOTHER THING ABOUT HAVING A GREAT CAREER, IS THAT WHEN YOU RETIRE, YOU HAVE ALL THOSE GREAT MEMORIES OF ENJOYMENT AND MAKING A GOOD DECISION, TO DO THE KIND OF WORK YOU LIKED. YOU HAVE ALL THE POSITIVE FEELINGS ABOUT THE PAST THAT CONTINUE TO PROPEL YOU TO EVEN NEW ADVENTURES IN YOUR RETIREMENT. THE PAST BUILDS ON THE FUTURE. JUST BECAUSE YOU RETIRE ISN'T THE END OF LIFE. IT CAN ACTUALLY BE A NEW BEGINNIG TO A NEW FUTURE OF EXPLORATION, AND INCREASING YOUR CREATIVITY.

Hey Eric I like where this is going - LOVE THE MONSTER MOTOR AND THE CHOP. Here's a pic of one I did a while back - A LITTLE INSPIRATION . This was on the bench over 2 years too. (Good choice on your wheels )

Italeri makes such beautiful kits. A friend of mine has been a collector for decades, and has collected some of my favorites in multiples. As it's turned out, he had everything I've wanted for years, and was willing to share, without having to pay ebay prices plus shipping. I probably paid a third of the value on what I've bought so far. I have two more older Fujimi Enhusiast kits coming from him near Christmas. PRESENTS FOR ME <img src="http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="wink.gif" /> . <img src="http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh49/treehuggerdave/2009_0917Photobucket10036.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

Your welcome Travis . These were just TOO COOL to keep to myself. Can't wait to get the Auburn where I can permanently install these and play with them .