Karmodeler2

You can also shoot some of the Tamiya clear blue on top of your blue to give it a real deep looking blue.

Hey Simón, I think it is TS 15. I'm almost positive and can give you an exact number next week (25th), but I'm almost positive it was TS 15. David

Also, don't forget (and this is why I use it for all my windows, emblems, lenses, and such), if you don't like what is glued, just put it in water, and the water will resoften it back to glue. Also, if you glue an emblem on and a little bit squishes out from under the emblem, use a wet q-tip to wipe away the excess. Leave the streak and let the part dry. When it's dry (I usually wait till overnight, but it's not necessary), use a q-tip dipped in hot water. Touch you hand first to get off most the water so you don't have water, with it's capillary action, going under your part. For cars painted black, or dark colors, I boil water on the stove, did the q-tip in the water, press it against my palm (there is not enough water or surface area to burn you) and then wipe the model. The warm damp tip will remove ANY residue and your stuff will look super clean. I use this especially when I remove the molded in windshield washer nozzles from the hood, prime, paint, clear and polish and then put them back. It makes your paint look that much nicer and you did not bury them under all that paint and clear. Then take a toothpick. touch a small drop to the hood (a speck really) and put your nozzle back. Let it dry and then clean as directed above. I use it all the time. Great stuff. Sorry for the hijack Mark, but needed to add some positive things since we have been accused of not doing that in other "locked" threads!! David

Hey George, I can understand your position and respect it. I also know that most of us here do NOT think we are the best, and I can vouch for Mark, as a close friend of mine, that he does not feel that way. While he is an accomplished builder, and good at what he does, he is not the best. My gut tells me that the "best" are some we have never heard of or seen because of this very reason. They don't like the politics and the antics that go on at shows and on boards. That being said, you have every right to have your opinion while I have mine. And we can freely post on here together. But what we don't have the right to do is sit back while some here lie about their accomplishments and what they have done. When I see what I know is untrue, I am going to call it. If you think I'm jealous or something else, then that's your choice. But my parents taught me to stand up for what is right. Officer School in the military taught me the same thing. So I fight pretty hard for the truth because it's the most powerful weapon in the world. That's why it cuts some here so deep. And they get defensive in all the wrong places. We did not attack Dave, we attacked his lies. And he still has not come forth with the truth. But for some reason, that goes unnoticed. David

Thanks for clearing that up. I could not get my eyes adjusted to it to figure it out. I saw raised bumps at times and holes at other times. Thanks for making me "not so" crazy!!! David

Sorry, Lousy response on my part huh? I'm out on the road with my job and won't have an answer for you but I think it is just a plain blue, one on the darker side. I will PM you when I get back (about 8 days from today) and let you know. You can email me or PM me if you have not heard from me and remind me. David

Hey Simón, I used Tamiya blue. And I hate to say it, but it's the same as on the car. I got the stripes too dark by spraying too many coats and the wheels too light by not spraying enough. I did the wheels before I did the stripes (big mistake and I knew it and even told myself not to, but I was excited about getting paint on the wheels after getting them prepped) and the wheels where already superglued together and finished before the stripes went on the car. I was using a dremel and I have a built-in vacuum nozzle in the top of my workbench so I can sand or file or whatever over it and I have a screen that is removable if I want it to be. Well, I was removing material from the back side of the rim so you could see through the openings and the resin dust kept blocking the screen and I kept having to stop, remove the screen, clear it and start over. Well, I was getting close to the last rim and I thought, Hey! I can hold this thing and dremel it and not let it get sucked into the hose without the screen on there!!! Well, that's not true. The vacuum sucked it in and broke it by snapping off the delicate rim on the outside....and it was the last one....I was almost finished!!! So I had to cast another one, and I ended up ruining 3 more by being impatient and trying to take away too much material at once and the bit came right through the rim on 3 different ones.....so I finally got a good one cast, and cleaned up from the back side, so I was a little excited about getting paint on them. I tell you all this because this is my lousy excuse for why the stripes don't match the wheels!!!!! Pretty lame, huh? In this shot it's hard to tell they don't match. Maybe I should just put the pic on the table at the show and not the model!!!! As far as the blue paint is concerned, I took the paint out of the spray can and used an airbrush for both. The white is Tamiya Pure white and the primer is Tamiya primer (starting to see a pattern,,,care to guess what the clear is? Yes, TS-13). All of them applied with an airbrush after I took them out of the spray can. The tires were sprayed with MM Black Chrome Trim thinned with lacquer thinner and sprayed through my airbrush. This paint is a very convincing black for rubber tires and for black leather seats. I use it all the time. I did use a mix of MM black and MM grey primer for a dirty-more grey-black for the tread area. You can see it in the front view shot. It's more noticeable in person.

If you would have just held onto yours and not tossed it out willy nilly, then you would not be experiencing the jealousy that you feel right now!!! And in close ups, it makes my parts look really big!!!!! David

Like this?

Thanks Wayne. We need to plan another planning session. I called out and don't think I'll be back for about 10 days. Maybe the latter part of June in your neck of the woods. I will see how scrappy's schedule looks too. David

Hey Mike, Nice work on the Chaparral. what type of material was used on the body in the area above the tires? The detail looks amazing, but I could not figure out how you did it. Very nice, clean work. David

Great Idea! It will be our secret. I went back and looked at it with my eye, and not the camera, and you can't see the little jink in the stripe that I see that is forward of the front edge of the hood and aft of the grille opening. I guess I'm getting older and my eye sight is not what it used to be. Let me know what else we can keep as our little secret. David

Not sure...is that you asking or is that me?

Here are some more pics. You can see through the oil cooler and the solder I put in there to simulate the oil lines. The stripes came out okay. I still have to cut and buff everything. I noticed in the front view pic that the stripe is off. I did not see this with the naked eye....amazing how this is that far off!!! The last pic shows how bad the orange peel is!!!!

Thanks! Will Do! David

Thanks for the kind words. That is pretty cool. Especially autographed!!!!! I wish someone would do the C4-RK. Now THAT was a mean looking race car. How would you like to see that coming up behind you at Le Man?

Thanks Jon for your kind words. I took some .015 brass sheet, and trimmed a piece, filed it to shape, and then did that again to get my two channels for just the door piece. I then made a template out of plastic, coated my brass with Dykem, (a tool makers die....basically lacquer thinner with some blue dye in it...you wipe it on the metal, let it dry...about 10-15 seconds, and then place your template down, scribe the metal with a scribe, and remove your template and you will have an outline) and then cut and filed the base to the shape I wanted. Then I just kept bending it to match the contour of the door lip. When I got it right, I took the vertical pieces that would form the channel, and soldered them in place one at a time. I sandwiched a .010 piece of brass between the two ( and slightly elevated so it would not get soldered in the process) and had to do it several times to get the correct angle. It was not fun, but it was rewarding. I then put two .032 "pins" on the base so it will always be in the same place each time on the model. The placement is important, as the stripes on the car will cut across two of these windshield holders. This also lets me polish the car, then add this later and the paint at the base of the windscreen holder will look good. I won't have to try and cram a piece of polishing cloth between the base of my brass and the top of the car. And rub the paint off the brass!!! Then, just repeat all that for the other two window holders........sounds great doesn't it? David

Hey Mike, What I did was to use the photo etch one supplied in the kit. The bezels were raised, but I wanted a little more depth or reveal. I used Norm's Wizard "O"s ( he has the replica and miniatures of Maryland Co). These are different sizes of "O" rings and I just stacked them on top of the existing ones. The reference books I have show the bezel rings to be a little bit "taller" than the ones on the photo etch dash. I put the ring in place, and then take a paint brush with thinned down clear (lacquer thinner and MM clear top coat) and bring the brush up through the hole from the back side of the dash for the gauge that I'm working on. The clear will capillary under the ring and when dry, it will secure it in place. After that, I take the .015 piece of plastic that I have cut to match the outline of the dash. I have a collection of gauges that I have xeroxed from my collection of gauges. I use normal copy paper and I just copy about every set I ever get for a model. I then cut the paper gauge out, use a little bit of Elmers, and put a dot of it on the plastic piece, put the gauge down, then place the dash on top and take a toothpick and stick through the opening in the dash to move the gauge around to match the opening. I then repeat all of that for every gauge. When done, I place a piece of clear .005 that I have cut to match the dash outline, and glue it on top of the plastic piece. When dry, I glue the dash onto the clear plastic piece. This give the appearance of "3-D" gauges and not a bad detail for a little work. If your kit does not have a PE dash, take the plastic one, remove the material from the back of the dash to form a flat area for a piece of plastic that will hold your gauges. Then use the correct size drill bit to drill out the round gauge and then do the process listed above, just glue it in from behind. Hope this helps and is not too confusing!!! When I first bought this kit years ago, it came with a resin dash. Paul Fisher now has PE for the dash and I was able to get one from him. If I did not have the PE one, I would have removed material from the resin one from the back, and done exactly as I described above. Also, if you do race cars..sometimes the dash is nothing more than a flat piece of metal on the real thing. Get you a punch set (no, not the kind you drink out of) and mark your holes and punch them out. Then you have a simple looking one that you can add detail to. I will get some more photos up this week to show the final product. I cut plastic rod in small "cookies" to simulate the bolts that hold the dash. I secure them with a drop of the clear, and I use hex rod sometimes and even make little knobs and stuff from different sized rods. Once it's painted and in the car, it's hard to see it the way the camera does, so if it looks good or great in the camera shot, no one will be able to see it any better. David

Thanks Curt. I have the body painted with the signature stripes and will try and post some more pics by weeks end.I have the blue too dark, but it will do. Thanks for looking. David

Finally decided to finish something I started a few years ago. I know I'm the only one who has "works in the works", so I'm sorry if this is a new concept to all of you. (yes, this is pure sarcasm). I am doing a curbside with some small detail. I deepened all the lines with a needle in a pin vice. I have drilled holes for "snaps" and "buttons" based on what goes where. I have removed the molded lip for the windscreen and replaced it with one made from brass (15 pieces) so that a .005 piece of clear plastic will fit in the channel and wrap the way I want it to. I have removed some molded on stuff and made it in plastic, will paint it and then after polishing the car, will add it back. This keeps the polishing easy, so to speak, and gives a smooth finish all the way to the edge of the detail. The big "can" sitting on the cowl just aft of the hood is the oil cooler. It will have screen and screen holders with a coil (probably solder wire) inside so you can see through it. I added some rings to the dash to give it some more depth. The whole thing gets painted black. I still have to machine all the lights and some of the lenses and cast them. While this is an obscure car for some, it's another great kit from Mr. Fisher. His D-type Jaguar was a great kit too. For those familiar with the history of Briggs Cunningham, you will appreciate the build. Hope you enjoy it. David

Hey Jeff, I think he was referring to your old avatar of yourself with your arms crossed. I have a 1/18 scale model of your avatar now. That was a crazy movie...I was young when I saw it and it scared me. Just like Salem's Lot did. David

I would ask for permission. Makes the time in the dog house less (now, if I can figure out how to get my modeling stuff in the dog house, we might have a win win situation). Kyle, my wife and i have the same agreement and it has worked well for 8 years. I thought we were the only ones that did this. It's cool to know others have the same set up. David

I get my tea from Boston, not Scotland. Sorry. And Taylor, I think I know why your models look the way they do.........they are not out of scale, but overweight.......by about 750ml!!!!

Ron & Donn, Thank you soooooooo much for saying the things above. I have uttered those words countless times and it seems only a few get it. The builder I am today came out of getting my butt handed to me on numerous occasions. I did not try and change the rules, judging, classes or the entire show. I changed my building habits and improved my skills. And guess what? It worked! Thanks for saying what you did. You are singing my song!!! I believe that I take the chance of being a winner or a loser every time I step into the contest area to compete. I know that going in and can accept either one. I don't think most people see it that way. And just because you have a trophy, does not mean you are a great model builder. The absence of one does not mean you are a bad one. It would be a sound practice if most of us understood this. Thanks for bringing this stuff up. David

THanks. Now I can't pick my nose cause the guy next to me will see me! David