Dave Toups

I was extremely disappointed with the SHM resin Montego body so I decided to make my own. I thought that since the 76 Torino and Montego were based on the same basic car it wouldn't be too hard, I was wrong!! This is really making me appreciate even more the kind of conversions that folks like Juha Airio do I see below that Gerald (gks1964) is working on one of these too! I thought I was the only one crazy enough to try this. This is my attempt so far: I started by trying to make the nose, because I figured that if I couldn't do that there wasn't any reason to proceed further. I basically narrowed the Torino nose and added the ends from the SMH resin body along with lots of bits of sheet plastic. I've got it close but It's still pretty rough and needs refining I also took a stab at the hood. Again, I used the Torino hood and narrowed the raised portion in the center. This was a real pain! It's still pretty rough and I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it or try something else. I"m now starting on the sides. I've filled in the indentations on the Torino quarter panels and added sheet plastic to change from the indented lower body of the Torino to the raised portion on the Montego. I also too a notch cut out of the top of the front wheel opening to "droop" the nose. Again., it's still in a very rough state but getting there. There's still loads to do! Grille, front bumper, finish the sides, fix the side window openings.....

Last weekend I painted a few parts with some paints from Splash Paints. It didn't go well. I primed all the parts with Duplicolor Automotive White sandable primer. It was my first time using this primer and it went on very well with no visible crazing at all. When I tried to spray the paint over it, however, it didn't seem to cover well and showed quite a bit of light crazing when it dried. Any ideas what I might have done wrong? It was my first time using this paint and I've heard good things about it.

Replicas and Miniatures Co. of MD. makes a left-hand drive dash for the Aoshima MG kits. Part number RM-95.

I haven't worked on it lately. I got hung up on what color I wanted to paint it, then I got involved in another project. I need to get back to it soon!

I'm planning to use the Italeri/AMT Peterbilt 378 kit, so I will be using the tires from that kit.

Yeah, October apparently.

I don't know who you spoke to, but I placed an order for some thinner and they canceled it.

Thanks for the suggestion of SpotModel. I have purchased from them in the past too and they are really good to deal with. I placed an order with them and we'll see how it goes. They were out of stock on quite a few of the colors. Must be pretty popular stuff. I had previously tried buying some on ebay from a Hong Kong seller, but had to ask for a refund when they said it would take 2 months to ship. I can't even get Canadian shops to ship here. Tamiya USA will probably take a year or more to bring them in. It seems all they care about is the R/C stuff. It took YEARS to get the spray can lacquers here.

Is there anyone out there carrying the new Tamiya Lacquer paints that will ship to the US? I've been reading some good things about it and would like to try it, but Tamiya USA is dragging their feet bringing it into the USA.

I remember reading somewhere that the 4-door Olds in those photos raced with an automatic transmission!

Great job on the restoration of the Cuda Tim! It's cool that you still have it after all these years. One the stereo front, I still have all the 1980's Technics equipment I bought with my dishwashing money when I was in high school. I'd like to set it all back up someday. All I need is speakers. I never really had decent speakers back in the day.

I found it online. Apparently Walmart doesn't sell it in stores any longer. Apparently they're out of stock. Hope that doesn't mean it's discontinued

I looked up ColorPlace online and apparently it's also made by Valspar! Don't know if that's a recent change or not. Our Wal Mart only seems to carry Rustoleum primer. I bought a couple cans of Duplicolor and I'll try that.

Well....my order hadn't shipped yet, so I've tried to cancel it. If that doesn't work, I'll be out the $36. Thanks to everyone for the heads-up. I should have waited a bit before I pulled the trigger, oh well. I appreciate the suggestions. I love Tamiya primer, I'm just worried about how it'll hold up under automotive paints like MCW, Scale Finishes, Zero Paints, etc. All those companies make their own primers, but I like the convenience of a spray bomb for primer. This looked interesting. Has anyone tried it? https://www.semproducts.com/product/high-build-primer-surfacer

I hope I didn't waste my money! We'll see when I get it and try it out. I noticed they list two different primers Sandable Automotive (What I bought) and something called "Essential Primer". I have no idea what that is. I really like Tamiya primer, but I'm a little worried about using it under automotive lacquers (like MCW). Same with Stynylrez. That's a water-based primer and that's usually a no-no under solvent based paints. Has anyone tried "body shop" primers like SEM or UPol?

I just ordered some from Amazon. The single cans they had listed were out of stock, so I had to buy 6 cans! I'll never use that much. lol

Yeah, right! I've never had any luck with Krylon paints or primers on models. I know a lot of folks like Duplicolor, but I've always found it to be much "hotter" than Plastikote and it doesn't seem to wet sand as well either.

I am having a hard time finding Plastikote sandable primer. NONE of the local auto parts stores carry it any more. All anybody has is Duplicolor which I don't like to use. Valspar still lists it on their website, so I assume they still make it, but it's nearly impossible to find. Does anyone know of a source (besides Amazon) where I can buy this stuff?

M&R doesn't list them either. Maybe he could make a custom set, I'll have to ask. I was trying to avoid going the machined aluminum route due to the high cost. They would look awesome though!

I looked at his website, he doesn't appear to make the ones I need. Everyone makes 10-Hole rims, but no one seems to have the 8-Hole ones. Are they rare or something?

I'm gathering up parts for a future big rig project and I'm looking for rims like these: Does anyone make them in resin? I want to use them on the Italeri Pete 378 kit. I believe they are Alcoa rims but I'm not 100% sure. I'm not super familiar with big rigs and all the various aftermarket suppliers.

That's good news! I have the KFS conversion and it's a great kit. Haven't got up the nerve to tackle it myself but I've seen some and it looks like it builds nicely. I hope he takes over the International 9670 and White Road Commander too I didn't get those when they were available

They are available now but he doesn't have them listed on the website yet. You can contact him through his website http://www.madmodeling.com He's also on Facebook if you want to contact him there.

Norman Veber at Replicas and Miniatures Co of Maryland makes a nice Ford 6 that would work well for the Bronco.

Does anyone make rims like this? Do any kits have them?