Chariots of Fire

Don't bother with it. Not a good model paint by any standard.

I have 2 barristers' bookcases that have glassed in fronts that lift up. Models can be seen but the dust is kept out. When I ran out of space on the 4 shelves, I added some intermediate ones using pre-finished shelving. Some have been there for over 20 years and are nearly as clean as when they were put there. Short of that a very fine brush can be used to remove dust from time to time along with a little mild soap and lukewarm water. (That's if your decals are sealed).

I saw a couple of things that I do myself! Not to the extend that they were displayed here but similar. Extraordinary skill with that Xacto knife in making the radiator louvers. I would have either slit my fingers or some other feat of disaster! I love the tool that he used to turn the steering wheel and the elongated sanding disk. The latter makes sanding long lines so much easier. Thanks for sharing that with us!!

Looking very nice, Justin! Clean and neat for sure!

Too bad they put FOOSE on the tailgate! Some nice aftermarket FORD decals would go better!

I agree with all of the comments here. I've been building since I was about 12. Not so much in late teens and into my 20's but now that I am an octogenarian I can say that I have been doing model work for most of my life. It came back in my mid 40's. Being mostly a scratch builder now, it does take some additional thinking about how to begin a project and how it will advance toward being complete. Plenty of research and working out little things along the way. Always searching for new materials to build with. The process seems to be a bit like climbing a mountain; a strain to get started, a steady pull toward the top of the hill and then a bit of relief as the end of the build comes into view. Also a little like the story of the Little Engine That Could. A real childhood favorite of mine. I think I can..I think I can, I think I can.......................I thought I could! I thought I could! I thought I could!?

Mark out where you want the slot to be and get the general opening done with a dremel and cutting disc. Stay clear of the ends and edges. Use small flat and rat tail files to finish off the opening. When I do mine I cut the slots and other openings before I cut it away from the sheet. Much easier to handle that way. You can still do yours with what you have done already. They look nice and clean. Make sure the slots in the flashing are smaller than the openings in the panel you have. You don't want the red to show.

Got the same truck as a built up, just as you did. Took it apart, cut the bed from the cab, cleaned it up and repainted. I separated the front bumper from the grill and cast the grill and headlights in resin. The headlights were opened up and new clear lenses were cast. Wish the chrome trim was in better shape but it is what it is after a lot of years.

I like what you are doing! But I don't think I'd lower it too much. Some boat ramps are quite steep!?

Any lumber yard should carry it.

That would be aluminum flashing. It shines up quite well with some steel wool.

Jeff: Have you ever worked with aluminum flashing? It makes good trim for around the gate valve handles, etc.

Glad to help.

Pre-building will work up to a point but as sooner or later during the build, permanent bond is going to be required. I do a lot of scratch building so I guess pre-building is part of the process I use but I never think of it that way. Thinking ahead about what will be coming next is a good way to keep things moving in the right direction. Many times during the building process I have had to make adjustments. It's just part of the process. Sometimes what I thought would work actually doesn't so an alternative has to be used. In the fire service it's called pre-planning, that is, doing all you can before the s.... hits the fan and you have to fly by the seat of your pants!?

I found Rustoleum paints to be no good for model building. Paint is too thick, whereas paints like the new Testors go on in a nice fine spray. I don't use an air brush for the most part. Last cans of Rustoleum I bought for other purposes was junk. Large nozzle just would not work after the first spray, even though I cleaned it out. No more R-eum for me.

That's what I use also. Good stuff, even though it does take a little time to fully cure. But that's not an issue at all.

Thanks, Peter. Will check it out. Never knew the group existed!

I'm with you, Peter. Very small decals are hard to reproduce even with the ALPS due to the pixelization methods the printer uses to create the various colors. I'm glad to have mine though and it works for just about all the decals I would want to produce.

A chance that the material would crawl up the sides and not leave the surface fully flat. (fancy name is meniscus)

Here's what I did. I had a 1960 Ford PU to rebuild. I separated the grill from the front bumper first. Then laid the grill down face up and built a dam around it. Poured in 2 part RTV and let it sit. When the mold was set the grill was in reverse including the headlights. Using some 2 part clear 50/50 resin I dropped just a tiny bit into the headlight depressions. It took a couple of days for the clear resin to cure but when It did I had 4 nice clear lenses with all of the striations and linework of the original chrome ones. That can be done with any size lens whether the smaller ones like dual headlights or the slightly larger ones for single light. A bit hard to see but the clear lenses took the place of the original chrome ones in this resin cast duplicate grill.

You might give a second thought to the clear. If the coat of red has any luster at all let it be. JMHO!?

If it's not too late I'd cut down on the size of the booster hose. Most booster hose is either 3/4" ID or 1" ID with garden thread for couplings. If you can remove the current hose load try substituting some red electrical wire about 1/16 diameter. That will put it more in scale for what you are doing. Got a good start on the red paint. What brand are you using? Here's a look at some of the electical wire I've used on rigs that I have built. This happens to be a 1961 Maxim. The hose reels are the same as yours, only thinned down so you can see the relative size of the hose is smaller. Same wire again and on this one I slipped on pieces of aluminum tubing to look like couplings. The hose may appear larger but it really isn't. There is just more of it on the reels.

Nice piece of work. Great tribute to FDNY!

Looking to see some of your work, Karl.

Welcome, Neighbor! Been here a while myself. Hope to see some of your work!