Karmodeler2

To all those that responded to my method of decanting.... I don't know what you are talking about. I told you.....you did not hear it from me. But if you did hear it from me, you would hear that I use ALL the paint that I decant (that's why I decant it ALL) and rarely use spray cans for spraying. I have much better results with my airbrush and that's what I like to use. Others may use what they want. As far as poking a hole in a can. If you read carefully, you will see how I do it. I'm not going to be a "non safety" guy, but I will tell you that a Tamiya can will not blow up on you if you poke it on bottom near the edge. There is not enough pressure in there to cause the can to explode. Think about it. If that were the case, they would be ticking time bombs just waiting to go off if they were punctured during loading and unloading at the dock. Sure they are going to spew paint (duh...it's under pressure....but not that much pressure. And the union between the bottom and the side where it has been crimped is one of the strongest parts of the can. You do it your way. I do it mine. I have been doing this for over 10 years and never had one explode........yet. And for all those that believe what you are told about paint cans.......don't read the next line. I even do it with full size primers and paints. Really, it's no big deal IF you know what you are doing. I hate the straw and pressure relief method with the nozzle. Just not my style. May be yours, just not mine. Now, I must go and wipe off all the paint that just exploded on me. David

Hey Gary, I have to agree with Bob. (and he knows a little bit about paint since he has a book on how to use an airbrush). You will save yourself a TON of grief if you take the paint out of the can and use it in an air brush. It will go 3 times as far (trust me) and the pigments will cover much better. A little note about the Tamiya paints. They are so great, but the sprays come with an extremely volatile propellent and that is what you are fighting. That propellent is great for spraying out of a can but has a nasty tendency to pull paint away from the edges of panels (yellow is the worst). If you decant it, you will eliminate your problem. What I'm about to tell you works 100% of the time, but don't tell anyone I told you to do this. I do it all the time and even demo for others, but you didn't hear it from me. I take a fresh can of Tamiya. I don't even take the cap off. I turn it upside down, pop the plastic on it, cover it with a paper towel and hold it between my knees. I place a sharp awl on the bottom of the can and rest it between the bottom and the lip that is on the bottom. I hit the awl with a hammer while holding it tight against the bottom of the can. While I continue to hold the awl, I will vary the angle of the awl, and start to allow some air out. I close the hole. Move it again, let a little out, close it again. Repeat until all the air is out. At this point, set it aside for at LEAST 45 minutes and let it gas out. That propellent is so volatile that if you start to pour it out, it will spew everywhere (trust me, unfortunately I know). You can even see the gasses rising up from the bottom of the can like asphalt in the desert. When you 45 minutes are up, punch another hole 180 degrees from your first one. (let's the paint flow out easy) Pour it in to two 2 OZ. jars (yes, I told you there was alot of paint in there). It will fill up one and half of the other. Let them gas out for another 30 minutes before putting the tops on the jars. You will be amazed at what coverage you get when you do this. I could not believe it when someone told me. And, there is a pretty blue marble in the can, if you collect marbles. David

Very Nice job. Could you tell me what the door is for that is located on the rear of the trailer, at the top of the ladder to the right? Did they use this for inspection? Thanks, David How long did it take you to build that trailer?

Hey Will, If you don't want to do the tape thing, or have problems with it, there is another way. Get a gallon zip lock bag. Take some wide masking tape (I use 2 inch) and tear off a piece and fold it against itself so there is no sticky side anywhere. Maybe two or three folds and make it about 2 inches by 2 inches. Place it and your photoetch in the bag and shake it. Just kidding. Put them in there though, and put your photoetch on top of the piece of tape cushion that you made, and cut your photo etch off the tree. If it is MCG photoetch, use a optivisor and if you look really close, on the detail side (front), you will actually see a small line between the tree frame and the little "arm" that is holding your part. Your razor blade will actually rest in this little groove. Every MCG I have used has this. The tape will give you a cushion and the bag will keep you from looking for the lost part. Good Luck. You can also polish the photoetch before you part it off. Take a piece of glass, put your photoetch on it, put some liquid polish on it (wenol or flitz) and use the dremel polishing cotton wheel that is about the size of a matchbox wheel or slightly bigger. Keep you polish always present (prevents the wheel from grabbing the parts) and always keep the rotation of the wheel so that as you get to the edge of the photoetch frame, it's always spinning down and away from the edge of the frame. Otherwise, as you move to the edge of the frame, your wheel will lift the frame and bend it. It would be good to practice on the one you have already ruined. This one will be a great teacher. You will be amazed how shiny this stuff gets when you polish it. Looks like chrome, David

Hey Marcos, Nice attention to detail. I like the way you have trimmed you decals so close, that they are like the real car. You can see the door lines (which you have darkened and they look good) and the crisp end of the decal going into the door jamb area. Nice attention to detail. It's builds like these that stand out on the table. Very nice work. David

Hey Chris, I saw a diorama that had what you are looking for. I asked the guy and he said he used sugar (fine and course) to replicate the pieces on the back deck led. Very convincing. David

Hey Monty, Here is a pic of the model I was talking about. You will notice that the "S" is the red strip between the blue and cream. This template allowed me to do it on both sides and keep it the same width with the plastic shims between the blades. The front area was done the same way, with a plastic template as a guide for the blades as I cut the curve in the stripe as it turns down toward the ground. Hope this helps. David http://images17.fotki.com/v297/fileruhu/fc7d7/5/573883/4267404/DSC05133.jpg http://public.fotki.com/turbo590/nnl-nationals--30-2/dsc04049-jpg.html

Hey Monty, I have a solution, similar to my first post, where I had to cut an exaggerated "S" for a pinstripe. What I did was to cut a plastic template in the shape I needed. The cool thing was all I had to do is flip the template to get the other side. I used .020 evergreen. I then taped two razor blades together. (I use the smaller "snap-off" blades you get at Home Depot. If you really want the good stuff, go to your Benjamin Moore paint store or Sherman Williams and get the OLFA brand. They are Japanese and they are very sharp and very nice to use...like the Tamiya stuff). You can put a piece of plastic ranging from .005 to .060 or more between the blades and this will alter the width of the pinstripe. You can practice on BMF to see what you like and what looks correct for the scale. The cool think about this is the pinstripe, which has two edges, actually has two radius, where the inside arc is "smaller" than the outer. You will create this, with ease, with the two blades taped together and using the template to "trace" the arc. After you figure out the template, you can then print decal paper the color you need (see how wide of a strip of red you need that will allow you to cut the arc of the pin stripe...you will know by the plastic template) and cut to your hearts content. Good luck....and let us see it when you are done. David

Hey Monty, You will probably get as many ideas as there are people on this board, but I will toss in my two cents. If I use masking tape, I usually cut a fresh edge using a ruler to create a "clean" edge that is not so prevalent when using the factory edge straight from the roll. Also, I cut templates from plastic for curved areas so my mask are the same for each side. You can use a drawing template with all those holes in it to get the right size. Place the template on the masking tape and cut your mask. I use BMF almost exclusively when doing two tone paint as I find it had ZERO run under when applied correctly (Burnish down with Q-TIP, then with flat tooth pick). If you mist your first couple coats on, then go to heavy later, you should not have a problem. If you are doing a white/black car, then you may want to spray a coat of clear first, then the color. That way, only the clear ran under and filled all the "holes" and then when you spray your base, remove the tape and clear the whole car, you don't see it. Hope this helps. David

Hey SImon, Your work continues to amaze me and doing this in 1/24 leaves me speechless.....but I'm still able to type. Very nice work and I'm glad you were able to get the body color you were looking for and that I did not hold you up. I look forward to seeing this build at GSL next year hopefully!!! Your work always stands out on the table and it's a joy to compete against you cause you always show up strong and fierce. Your paint is always clean and realistic and I look forward to seeing all the hours and labor you spent making this one correct. It will be a treat to see all this up close. David

Hey Dave, I share you pain and I agree with Harry and Mark Taylor. When you go to "someone else's show", then a lot of times you are subject to their way of judging, albeit wrong in most circumstances. I have completely, and proudly, distanced myself from IPMS for life. I sleep well at night. Also at NNL events, I have seen the Best Of model not actually be the "Best". I had a good friend tell me that Popular Choice (PC) is completely different from Best of Show (BOS). The BOS is normally a judged event and the PC is just that, where people (not necessarily model builders) choose what they like. You can strike out on your own and start one with a different system, but you are bound to offend some, while making others happy. Unfortunately, that's the nature of the beast. It happens in the 1:1 world too, and I do NOT think we should ever try to adopt their system, or any facet thereof, to judge our scale models. Chip Foose built the Impression for a guy who paid Chip to build it. The guy takes it to shows, wins best of everywhere, and is it the guy's work that gets the trophy? Is it Chip Foose that gets the trophy? Is it the car that gets the trophy? Can I pay Mark Jones to build me a complete model, pay for it and take it to shows and win? You can see how this could get out of hand. Generally the builder in the 1:1 world is not the one who enters it in to the shows. Also, even the big contest are subject to errors, so it's hard to escape from them. At GSL one year, I know that there was a discussion among the judges where one model was obviously the winner of a certain award, but another model was deemed the winner by the leader because he felt that the one he chose was more "difficult" in some aspects. Fortunately, both models were by the same builder, so it was a moot point. It is tough to get an unbiased approach in this hobby and this will always exist because we are human and biased. I'm sorry you had to endure such craziness, but I have to extend a hand and say welcome to the mad mad world of model judging. I love the ATL NNL, even though they hand out awards. It's the friendships and meet & greet on Friday night that has more meaning for me than the contest. Let that be the experience you look forward to and that will keep you happy. I trust your next show will be a better event. Sincerely, David

Hey Randy, I joined this thread probably too late, but I do have some insight for you on metal work. If by chance you have someone locally you can go and get some hands on training, then do so. It is well worth your time, I enlisted the help of a friend (Morgan Barclay) who is a metal master and that's the only medium he uses. He taught me an awful lot. One thing to do is get some plain, manilla folders, the kind from Office Depot or the like. You draw out your template right on the surface of these. If you lightly score your folder with a knife, you can fold it the way you need it. (Score on the top {outside} of the fold...you will be folding away from the score line). Trim this to the shape you need. Take your sheet brass and cover with dykem. It's a lacquer based tint (normally blue or red) found at metal shops. Call metal supply places in your phone book to see if they carry it. If not, use a fat sharpie and trace the outline of you template, then remove the template and mark the other side of the "trace outline". Then put your template back on top of the brass, and use an awl or scribe and score the brass by tracing the outline of your template. When you remove your template, you will have a "brass" line showing the outline of the part. You can use a dremel with a disc to remove most of the unwanted stuff, then use a file to fine tune it to the "line". This method will save you TONS of time once you get the hang of it. A bastard file is one of you best friends. When I first got into machining, a machinist told me that a file would be one of my most used tools. I thought that he just didn't know how to machine. Little did I know he was right. Brass files differently than aluminum and the same could be said when machining them. Don't use the same files unless you clean them very well. (Get your self a file brush...Micro Mark). You can solder aluminum but it is tricky. The product is called Alumi-rod and I have used it with great results. You will need a propane torch (home depot....a plumbers tourch). It melts around 700 degrees and can solder aluminum to aluminum. So far, non ferrous metals will not bond to ferrous metals, so you can't solder brass to aluminum with success. Also on soldering: Take your solder wire, smash it with a hammer on an anvil or metal surface, and then cut small slivers of it and place them near the joint. Use flux around the joint and the flux (I use liquid, some use paste) will hold the solder in place. Apply your heat and the flux will pull the solder into the joint. Will give you great joints and clean joints. You can also cut little "dashes" of solder wire (instead of flattening it) and put them against the joint. The heat will pull it into the joint. If you are having difficulty with the above process, then "tin" the two pieces first, then join them. By that I mean, melt some solder on a piece of glass/marble and dip your brass piece in the wet solder, remove it from the puddle, and let the solder dry on the part. Then do the same with the other part. Now take the two parts, clamp or hold them together. Brush on some flux. Heat the joint and the heat will melt the solder on both pieces and they will be one. I often clamp them so they are pushing against each other. When the solder melts, you will know because you will see them move toward each other. I use all methods of soldering.(Iron, torch, cold torch, resistance) All are great for their respective ways. The best thing you can do to start out, is to go to radio shack and buy their $20 torch. It's butane and it has an adjustable flame. Very useful. They also sell different solders. Each has a need. The ones with 3 numbers (instead of 60/40....it says 62,36,2) generally have nickel or silver (I forget...help me out Bill Geary) and this is helpful when you need to have a really strong joint. They also have different melting points which is helpful when you are doing intricate work. You can go with the high temp stuff first, and then do the low temp without undoing the first stuff. They also have different diameters which is helpful (melts faster it seems when it's smaller) and you can use them for brake lines on models and they look real. If you have questions, just email me. I have included some pics to show you dykem and what I'm talking about. All of these parts started out as flat sheet brass. I made a template, used dykem, scored it, ground it, and then filed to the "line" that I scored. I then used a miniature metal brake to bend the small pieces while the grille is solid 1/4 inch brass that I just filed to shape. Remember.....a file is your best tool (and friend). Not sure what part of MN you live in, but I'm in MSP for 3 weeks starting Sunday, 14 Mar. If you want, I can show you how to use the folders and some techniques that Morgan showed me that were invaluable to me when I built my truck. Good luck. Sincerely, David

Remember, Math class can be tough for some. And 4 out of 3 people have problems with fractions. David

Hey Bob, I have some lenses that I cast for Dirk for the camaro. You would have to drill small holes, use a file and file only inward, not both directions as you may pull the paint up if you pull the file toward you. I know it's too late for B'Ham, but if you want it for later, let me know. Go look at his "Ebony" and you will see the depth of the lenses. Have fun without me!! I wish I could go. Maybe next year.....I always say that, huh? David

Oh, I think you finally found something that most of us on this board agree with. We won't have to disagree at all.

And you wonder why you got smacked down? PLEASE!!!! You can be informative without being "boastful or arrogant". That's the problem you seem to not understand.

Brown. Like Bacon, cooked crisp. And bread, toasted well done (not black). Eggs are yellow.

And remember boys and girls....... the chicken is one of the few animals that you can eat before it's born AND after it's dead!!! David

I thought that too. He sure did exit the room fast, but comes back and says "kind of a girly effort" ?????? Must not of been too girly, or he would have jumped right in. And still hasn't shown us the chrome stuff, but I digress.

HUH? type what you want. Read what you want. Do what you want. If people stay, fine. If people leave, fine. Trust me, there will ALWAYS be people here. Whether they get their feelings hurt or not is their problem, not yours. David Let's all go have a group hug.

Okay Harry, You make a valid point. Thanks for the compliments. IF you think we are funny here, you should see us in person!! We'll be here all week. Tip your waitress. Try the roastbeef. IT's great!!!

I will see if Gustavson will let me do another paint seminar and just for you, I will include the realistic flame section for you.

Only if you have developed a system, unique to your style, that you can use to roll away. Otherwise, you may need to search for a topic about rolling away or start a new topic on how you developed a method (that you are willing to share) on rolling away. David (Morton....not Susan)

Actually work more better with real leather...especially the smells!!! I WON MOST REALISTIC FLAMES WITH AFTER SMELLS AT THE WINTER NATIONALS IN 1948 IF YOU guys keep asking me QUESTIONS AND ALL, I'M GONNA LEAVE SEEMS WE HAVE some haters showing up AND I'M NOT YELLING

Sorry Scalemister, but I CAN'T GIVE ALL my secrets because SOME THINGS YOU HAVE TO RESEARCH YOURSELF :lol: I did use a system that I invented and the matches have a SPECIAL white tip system that I Machined on MY LATHE using C4 (availbale at my local hardware store) why don't you look at the pics before you start bashing me on how I do something?