patrol52

Wow, I was building one too, and painted it that same color even. It was looking good, right up until the paint went to ######. I decided that since the body was ruined, I might as well chop it, so it became my first successful chop, and now has an "aged" paint job. Yours looks like more radical of a chop than mine, but still looks cool. I really like the tail-light detail and placement--something different.

I have one of those molded in bright yellow. I probably wouldn't go with white and yellow, but that is just me. If it suits you, go for it and prove me wrong. It could work. For some reason, orange and yellow popped into my mind, as working well. I am considering chopping mine slightly, but still can't decide.

That's looking really good, but there is no way those headers would get capped if it were mine !

I don't know all the official categories, but having entered 1:1 cars in cars shows, and building models for 4-H judging, I understand the competition to a certain extent. I know that if my models were in a show, I would be comfortable losing to a model like the merc custom, provided it is a superior build. As far as it being already chopped and "customized", I think is fine, as long as the mods done out of the box are not mis-represented as being done by the builder/owner. In the 1:1 car shows, often times competition is between professionally built cars, and homebuilt cars. When a victory is achieved by a homebuilt car, it is that much more sweet; knowing something you did is at least as good as something a "pro" did, in someone's eyes.

My dad still has a tube or two of that green acrylic sitting around from the good old days. The biggest problem we had with it were 1) takes a while to dry 2) it will eventually shrink 3) it's pretty hard to spread, even when new. We painted my dad's 66 Chevy II in red lacquer and had used old filler technology (acrylic spot putty, lead, bondo) in several places, which are now beginning to show up (not bad, since it was painted over 10 years ago, but it has been cracked for awhile.) When we started building an Auburn replica, there were large amounts of fill work on top of the fenders, where ironically even though 1:1, it had mold lines. The fill had to be done in layers with heavy filler (Duraglass) and lightweight (featherlight), but both required sanding with 40-80 grit sandpaper. Obviously, there were very deep scratches that needed to be filled, and that's where the finishing putty became wonderful, because it dries fast and can be sanded with 400 grit sandpaper, which is a perfectly acceptable surface for a slight build primer. Because the filler is all reaction based, filler shrinkage is minimized, and dries usually within 30 minutes, which can really speed up your work. On other thing I forgot to mention, is that you need to make sure you give it something to stick to, otherwise it will not feather out very well. I usually sand the area to be filled with 360 grit, just to be sure that the filler adheres. It will also work if you have a deep scratch and fill it in, then wet-sand it smooth. I used it here, around the bottom of the trunk opening, to get the body to match the lid. I also used it to fill around the tail lights to get them level with the surface. Sorry about the bad photo, I still haven't got the hand of taking pictures of the models. Here I just filled in the gap down the hood for the chrome strip and sanded it into the peak shape on the front. I also filled in the bumper notches, and just sanded smooth. With the chrome strip, it would look like this.

Looks good especially for the time investment. I can't build them that fast. The ElCamino is one of my favorite cars, I mean trucks! This is mine. Somehow my model of it lost a front wheel.

I finally got around to finishing this one up. I built it for 4-H, but was never really satisfied with the paint on the rear fender. In addition, when it got back from the fair, the paint had shrunk on the other rear fender causing it to look like a big dent. I peeled off the rear fenders and re-painted. This time I did not paint the vent in the fender black as it took away from the truck (I think). chopped top, cleaned up body lines fender vents, corvette tail lights, filled tail gate 396BBC, blower, electric fan, 3x2 carbs, wiring corvette front and rear suspension grafted in, 57 chevy car gas tank replaces spare tire, made inner rear fenders, custom exhaust, oak bed, and moved just about every cross member I noticed I have way too many trucks, so after this I built a few cars for a change, but I still love old trucks!

I'm not sure about the primer issue, as I have never used that specific primer. Is it lacquer? I do know it should be safe to paint lacquer color over epoxy or lacquer primer. It might be possible to put the lacquer on in mist coats until covered if the primer is not lacquer or epoxy (definitely test on spare parts or scrap body first, as this sounds risky.) If you plan on painting with lacquer paint, I would suggest getting lacquer primer just to be safe. I hate having to sand paint off. If you look at the automotive section at walmart, there used to be bottles of touch-up paint that have a brush-in-cap. These were lacquer based paint, so you could use just about any one of the colors as a primer coat for your finish color, just spray it on with an airbrush or spray gun. My local walmart stopped stocking stuff recently, as they are moving to a new building, so i have not been able to check, but I think they may have even had primer and flat colors at the touch up section. Another option is to look at a hardware store, as you can find lacquer spray cans in several colors that may work.

The bad news is that it's fairly expensive, but there is a lot of it as it's for full size cars, (24 oz. tube is about the size of a model car.) They use the stuff as a skim coat over any body-work and sometimes the whole car to get it straight. According to this, eBay the seller says the price per tube is about $30 online (I would guess this to be the approximate name brand price.) We have bought the off-brand on sale at like $10-$15 per tube. I do not know if you can find it at stores like Autozone, but Napa stores that sell Valspar paint have a version of it. We have a local Carquest that sells Dupont paint, which has it. The main thing to look for is something like flowable finishing putty. I would guess if all else fails, stop by a body shop and see where they get theirs. A useful idea is to sign up for a "corporate account" with the supplier for local body shops, as they often have the sales of filler, paint, and sand paper. The other good thing is they might deliver every couple days to bring stuff to the body shops and could deliver your order while in town (not all do, but it might be worth looking in to if you do much painting.) My dad and I get our supplies from Keystone Automotive, which is one such body shop/crash parts supplier. It uses a creme hardener component that should come with it, but can be found in most places that carry normal bondo (like walmart and autozone, or the paint supply stores) (usually mix mine hot, so I have extra hardener around.)

I bought one of the L700 trucks as well. It looks like the chassis detail is right up there with some of the best. It looks like it should make a nice truck when done. Now I have to decide whether to leave my Ford C-600 a flatbed, or semi to use with the trailer as well. I didn't notice any of the problems as mentioned before. My tires appear fine. They are solid, unlike my C-600. The doors and everything also appear to fit well, so it may just be an individual thing, or I just didn't look hard enough! The C-600 does have a lot more chrome parts, but it's ok, since most will be painted anyway. I was a bit disappointed with the 40 ford model that was included, as the Revell one I built awhile back seems to be more accurate and detailed. The plastic seems much thinner than my other 40, which may be a plus or a minus. If you are planning on making it a junker, like on the box, it should work just fine. I still haven't decided what color to make them, but I want to do something realistic looking, a "used" look. I am also thinking about oak bed floors, bu am not sure if that is too much work for the payoff.

Looks good, I mean bent, uh, whatever--you know what I mean! Good work. I have always wanted to attempt a wrecked car, but never been sure about just what to do, and you don't see alot of wrecked older cars around to have something to go by. They had a special showing of that movie awhile back on TNT or something, and the really cool thing about it was that Toby owned almost every car wrecked in that movie. He had one of the largest fleets of privately owned service vehicles (cop cars, trash trucks, fire trucks, ect.) at the time. And by far the coolest part was that most of the freeway scenes were shot on Sunday afternoons, when the guy in charge of permits for filming on public property was not at work. It was also really neat that the train wreck and other scenes in the movie were just strokes of luck and random scenes that just happened to fit and were used. Although the dialog is the reason most people seem to dislike the movie, a 40 minute chase scene is awesome no matter what car chase you compare it with. If you see the new version, every now and then you can spot remnants from the original to which they paid a great homage, in my opinion.

Like I said, I don't know what is widely used for model car filler putty, but I use 3M "Piranah Putty" or some variation thereof. It's official name is flowable finishing putty. I have used other brands, and all seem to work about the same (I use a version from a auto-body shop wholesale due to it being less expensive.) The reason I use this is because it is a 2 part epoxy type, where it will get hard once mixed. I tried the Testors filler sold at walmart, and have never had good result from it. The piranah putty is ready to sand within an hour (depending on how hot you mix it, usually less.). It is real automotive filler, but unlike garden variety bondo or the heavier fillers, this is easy to work (application) and also easy to sand to the tune of 400 grit sand paper will knock it down easily. Unlike the walmert filler, the piranah putty does not have little bubbles in it and seems to weigh less. It can even be wet-sanded before primer to get an ultra-smooth base coat.

You also should make sure that you only use the moisture trap when you paint. If you use the compressed air for other things such as air sanders and other air tools, the amount of air/moisture moving through the system will destroy the moisture trap (unless it's an industrial one made to handle that kind of volume). That's why you are supposed to oil your air tools before use, but NOT your spray gun or airbrush. At home, my dad built a pipe system for the compressed air that has water traps at the bottom of each leg, so when using grinders/sanders/impact wrenches, the moisture is slowed down, but when painting, we always connect the dryer at the outlet before the air hose to the spray gun. Of course the pipe system is not necessary, but it nice if most everything is connected with quick connects.

Wow! My dad built one of those back in the day. It was purple (one of the only cars I've seen that looks good in purple) I still remember it from when I was younger. It had all the opening doors, hood and rear I think. I also remember the roll down windows. It was probably the reason I got interested in building model cars at all. Unfortunately it got thrown out when the hood became unattached and other little parts had fallen off. I wish I still had it, as i could probably restore it now. Oh well, what's done is done, at least until later!

Looks awesome! I love the look. New street rods are cool, but nothing can beat the elegance and simplicity of those old style rides. I am also partial to the 40 Ford, having built one myself. The chopped top looks real nice and I like the windshield treatment! Is that the dash from the 47? -- It fits right in there (and possibly looks better than the 40 dash) What engine is in it?

The 70-72 GSX Model would be the correct engine, as it has a 400-430-455 engine w/ TH-400 transmission (the kit is 455, but the only difference is valve covers and intake manifolds for those engines.) The only thing you would need is the correct air cleaner, as the GSX had the hood induction scoops. This is the GSX This is a normal Buick 400-430-455 and most GS models (different air cleaner sticker) I think a later (late 60's-early 70's) Impala chassis should work, but may be different from the buick chassis in the rear part around the trunk well. I believe the 70 may have migrated to the perimeter frame, instead of the X frame design. Many Buick's have 12 bold rear-differentials, so one from the GSX might be able to be used if the impala does not have one.

While temperature of the paint is important, also keep in mind the humidity level of where you are painting. If the humidity is high, the paint can become milky, or dry with a matte finish, or even worse a combination of them. Enamel is really bad when humidity is high (usually dries dull) Lacquer color will dry dull, and clear lacquer fogs Base clear seems to be fairly immune. The only time I've heard of heating the can is for getting maximum pressure out of aerosol cans for airbrush propellant, but you definitely want to get the paint somewhere near the temperature range listed on the can, as cold paint doesn't work, and (really) hot cans explode or leak their contents (like the R-134A refrigerant can inside my dad's corvette.) For heating, I agree with the heated or tap hot water to sit the can in.

Looking good. I love old trucks. I have a 50 chevy that will one day be a custom. Here is a picture from a car show I went to. It would be nice if I had a picture of the front, cause it reminded me that the grill on that truck would look awesome if opened up. This one has a really good looking body color panel between the grill and the radiator.

Very cool. It looks like it is just begging for a set of side pipes from front tire to rear tire, or thereabouts. Any ideas on paint yet?

I have been delaying work on this one for a while. I need some ideas. I plan to paint it black with a color changing (chameleon) top and the bullet down the side. I have the underside done and the engine is almost done. It will have a 348 with a offenhauser cross-ram dual quad intake and valve covers under the hood. Where I don't know what to do, is with the rear bumper area. The problem is; the rear bumper has a huge gap when put on upside right, but when flipped over, it fits the curve on the rear pan. With this, the middle part pr the bumper occupies the license plate space. It actually looks ok, but I think there may be a better option. I found a smooth 59 Impala bumper, but it has the same problem of the gap, when put on correctly. Any Ideas? Move license plate under bumper, and leave it upside down? Use 59 Bumper w/ license in OEM location? Other? I would like to fill in the gap, and use the OEM bumper, but I don't have any way to re-chrome it, so any tips on doing that would be appreciated!

I have a real 1:1 58 Buick that I would like to have look like that.

That really looks good. I have one of those kits, and the only things I dislike about it are the stock wheels and the fog lights under the bumper. Those wheels and brakes look really at home on that car! Good job!

You may recognize the design of this car from a hotwheels car released a few years ago. I built this from at least 3 models for one of my 4-H fair projects. I ended up cutting the doors and trunk out of this one, and cutting around the doors and trunk on another with a dremel tool. I bought a third 40 Ford for the rear suspension and graphics. I grafted the front suspension from a 34 Ford streetrod kit. I hate to say it, but the engine is a SBC, but it isn't a 350, it's a 327 from an Impala. I used welding wire for the hinges and plastic sheet to hold both ends of the hinge. I also had to fabricate all the inside parts, since the door panels did not match the profile of the door, and the trunk didn't have anything inside. It is painted Viper Red enamel with a HVLP gravity fed spray gun. I painted all the gold-ish colored parts with lacquer touch up paint, again with the spray gun.

I believe that the tail lamp is of Hudson origin, but came with a 34 Ford truck kit. Beside a 29 Model A pickup powered by a Hemi. For a sense of scale, the tiles are 1" square. I built it to resemble the L-29 Cords with a long front and low profile compared to the other cars of the day.

I built this from a Revell kit and a bunch of other parts. Basically all I salvaged from the kit was the body and grill/radiator. The engine is a Lycoming I-8 with supercharger from a 1935 Auburn Kit (heavily modified for more detail.) I designed the frame by placing the body on a sheet of paper and tracing the outline on the inside and then tracing around the engine. I then formed the rails out of plastic bar stock. It has a X-member from a 40 Ford and a Columbia 2 speed rear axle. I built all of the floor and inside panels with thin plastic sheets. I also had to make new windows to get rid of the "etched" windows and due to the fact that the top is nearly 1/4 inch shorter. I wanted to build a "rat rod" type car, but wanted it to have a finished look, as most people aspire to one day finish their hot rod, so it got a coat of metallic blue but un-intentionally ended up with the flat finish.