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My go-to is still DOT 3, but it doesn't seem as potent lately -- prob just me! It still takes car paint off the inner fender of a car if leaked or spilled! So not just rattle can formulations vulnerable to it. Testors PLO -- about three times the cost -- is not more efficient, and I ruined a glue bomb '61 BelAir with that, leaving it in too long -- the bubble-top c-pillars, of course! It seems some old styrenes stand up better, but some worse; 1960 JoHans probably the most fragile. To each his own magic potion?! Wick

I haven't built A/C in forty years, but I got a kit at the Yuba City (CA) show, and need silver paint suggestions for WWII Japanese Shinden Mk. 2 jet conversion. I want to build it as if it were a captured enemy A/C being wrung out by the allies. It would have a fine silver/metal color, and USAAF markings. This will be my interpretation of the Shinden with a jet engine -- not super authentic because I'm using what I think is a J47 (from an ancient Vought F8U Crusader I built in the mid-'fifties which I have made molds for and cast in resin. Still, could be fun. I have lots of automotive silvers, but all are 'glam' metallics, in 1/48 scale look like metalflake! Help an old modeler? Wick age 77

As I posted elsewhere, I'd like to find source(s) for 1/25 scale 'teenage' figures for my sitcom diorama. I'm going to take a whack at it thanks to all your encouragement. Need Wally Cleaver, Eddie Haskell, Lumpy Rutherford, plus Bud Anderson... and maybe a teen babe for his tub. Ideas?

So easy for you experienced modelers; but I need advice: I want to find a source(s) for 1/25 scale 'teenage' figures for sitcom diorama. I realize my '50 sitcom layout: Lumpy's '40 Ford ragtop (with rear axle chained to a tree) and Bud's hand-flamed Ford A touring broken down won't have any impact without the figures of Lumpy Rutherford, Wally Cleaver, Eddie Haskell, (Leave It To Beaver) and Bud Anderson (Father Knows Best). A 'fifties deb for Bud would be nice, too! Could some helpful soul give me an expert shortcut to finding adaptable figurines for these characters? I've never don figs before, but the forum has been very encouraging to me so far on the topic. I guess a guy with an MA. in art could give it a try!~ Thanks very much! Wick

Did the Comet come on the market as a '60 model, or a '61? To me they were just a bollixed-up Falcon. I built some 1959 AMT kits, but the first one I actually finished was a '60 Edsel ragtop. Wick

I have a worn Iwata airbrush needle that is scary-sharp, also a modified crochet needle; my best is still the Micromark hooked one. No scriber is perfect when going through styrene, then filler, and back again! Agree about the light touch, and patience -- aaugh! Still, a metal radius template is my most desired tool; an eraser guide has too much radius; corners look silly. My go-to is still a PE brass bookmark of Mark Twain (not scribing his face, oc) but the tight-radii of the corners -- but it is small and hard to hold steady. Did I post my drawing-conpass idea for following edges? Wick

More than a home-run; for this old rodder it scored four! However -- and I enter this topic with real trepidation -- I couldn't believe what I read in the Atlantis '57 Chevy kit review: "... for once, the tips of the tailpipes don't have to be drilled out, as the '57s exhaust pipes exited through the bumper, under the taillights, painting those flat black will surely suffice." Friend Greenberg, while the '57 Chevy was designed to have that feature, it never did. That port came blocked from the factory, and the only cars that actually ran it open (with the chrome getting dark and eventually rusty) were those who took it to a muffler shop and had the duals modified. I only recall seeing one or two cars thus modified, and I was an eighth-grade car-guy wannabe in that year-- and also have owned 3-4 '57s. Chevy designers had only to look at the Ford Thunderbird with it's open bumper ports, and see where that not-better idea lead. DeSoto, other MoPars too, perhaps? Well, if there is going to be an authenticity mistake (re: 1:1 cars) you might as well call attention to it by advising as above. Now, if I'm wrong, you can call me on it; but please, no hate for merely stating a fact-check on authenticity. This is print, folks, and print has staying power. Besides, why not drill out the bumper port, if it did indeed have a pipe outlet? Deep breath, and push 'submit topic.' Wick

Some (duh!) incompatibility between the paints: I usually think of the crazing as occurring when a hot (fast-drying paint; like lacquer or shellac) is applied over a cooler substrate, but it seems like to me that you have the opposite effect? I often use a 1:1 refinishing product, like catalyzed polyester or epoxy primer/surfacer for the direct-to-styrene coat, and have never yet had any issues, other than it going on too thick to save minute details. It's impervious to most topcoats. But then I seldom buy scale-modeler paints, sticking with PPG topcoat systems. It is bad juju to mix products, in the 1:1 world! OC, having worked in a retirement job with a PPG Platinum dealer, I not only am prejudiced, but also have a trove of left-over and mis-mixed color topcoat products. Wish I could share them! A note; I don't consider most harware-store rattle can products to be top-notch; too many problems -- despite how much advertising they do! Krylon, Rusto, and others usually don't find a home on my shelf, other than blacks, or colors hard to source from suppliers. I did a '57 Ranchero in wild pastel turquoise from a rat-can my wife was using ("Hey, this was a full can...") with PPG 660 Clear, and it came out very well--if very '80s. Truthfully, I risked using Harbor Freight aerosol primer-surfacer on a couple of kits, and they turned out well, also, even with 2K topcoats and clear. Also I experiemented with high-quality UPOL clear, which seems pretty good, if allowed to cure a week. Just sayin'... Wick

The trick to convincing rusting, or weathering, is just NOT to over-do it! The eye of the beholder will f'ill in the gaps' on a rusty/weathered finish, but too much instantly ruins the effect. I'm not expert; I do very little of this, but I've fought a lot of 1:1 rust in sixty years! Also, be aware of what materials do not rust: my favorite was the derelict Chevy Cameo pickup that was in SA's auto show issue a few years back; the builder had a fairly convincing derelict pickup going, but through ignorance of the above, he'd elaborately rusted-out the fender sides, which are of course fiberglass!

The old Hubley plastic kits had a similar mounting, and it was for me a disaster. I had an offer that came in Shredded Wheat cereal boxes in late '59 that let us boy the new '60 Corvair kit for fifty cents, with proof of purchase, postpaid! I eventually sent for about four of 'em, and they were good practice for the expensive AMT 3 in 1 kits for $1.39 (printed right on the box! And they said we had inflation back then!) but I don't have anything but one dash-board and an instruction sheet. However, the block of wood method was theirs, and 14-year-old me managed to ruin a few wheels! They were thick-axle style, with a one piece wheel/hubcap, all chromed! We seldom saw Hubley kits in N CA (the rural part!), and JoHan only at the old 88-cent stores... which even with wierd promo wheels and tires, was a good deal! Minimum wage was just about a buck, back then! Ole' Wick

To drive a Bug is to have a lot of good stories. My own Dad was like that with the Model T; it was in his blood! Wick

Since I own one, I'd still like to see the '62 LeMans ragtop (or coupe) returned, esp as it had a banger motor included, whereas the '61 sedan was 'closed hood'. Also, a true '51 Ford club coupe, not wanting to mod any more '49s! Wick

Trimming to fit a W-motor in a tri-5 ( I hate that appellation!) Chevy? Try in on a 1:1 version! A car pal of mine in high school did it, but he said (with 1963 tech and tools) that he wished he hadn't! He acquired a 4-bbl version of the 409 from the local dealer when it spun off a cam lobe in a new Impala a lucky classmate had bought in '62, still under warranty. GM sent a crate replacement, the Chevy dealer replaced the cam, and my friend was able to buy it for about $400. But he said that while it bolted up to his trans using stock parts, the pan interfered with his steering linkage, and about three other fitment issues plagued the project; he lamented not buying a good 327! Of course, nowadays, it seems easy, but there seeme to be mod kits for everything for sale. Well, I still say that I have not end of probs with my '55 models, and they never really look as they ought! One of my favorite rides, too!l Wick

Not vets club, but I once 'starred' in a TV spot for the Vets Services at CSUC: I was to pretend to be a hitchhiker (in 1970) and vainly thumb for a ride, all the cars passing me by forlorn with my back-pack while a voice-over asks vets if they are getting anywhere, and suggests that they utilize Vets Service Office. However, EVERYONE tried to give me a ride that day, and I was forced to (red-faced) explain the situation; not all thought it was funny, either! I wasn't picked for my handsome puss, but for the fact that my GI haircut hadn't grown out yet, and I didn't look like a Deadhead! I got my MA in '73. And recently celebrated our 50th Anniversary! Wick + Benita~

No flies on that job! But y'know, even tho my retirement job was working in my favorite PPG store, I was never sure which final-finish products had silicone or not. Meguirars, Mothers, and some others simply don't always 'state' what is in their magic brews (for fear of formula snitching, I suppose) and so with the non-abrasive later processes, I usually am very circumspect. I do use sometimes Meguiars plastic buffing stuff, but not if I think any other painting would be going on. I have what we used to call Ditzler 330 Wax & Grease remover, which can be useful, but more often I fall back on just plain old alcohol -- and if that doesn't do it, I rub it on the car body too! Maybe it'sh all jusht luck? Wick

Really appreciate feedback guys; it was the result of trying to build one car from two busted up kits -- and having two hoods left! I made a little easel for the 'spare' one, whichever on is not on the car. The orange is PPF 'Hemi Orange', what our Mgr, a MoPar racer from 'the day' says is a one year exterior hue. Who knew? But it has subtle metallic flakes in it, and I have a whole gallon, in JE arcrylic direct-gloss enamel. Wish I could give you a pour-off! Wick

Oh heck! PS: the trunk edge lines were done from 'scratch' (sorry for pun!) with various sharp thingies. Does the old feller look like he's focused?? This is my Phantom Plodge, Plymouth with '61 Dodge front clip. Photos soon! Wick

Forgive me, I'm old. If I posted this previously... well, I guess I posted it again! This is how I used the edge of the 'chrome strip' to allow me to draw a parallel scribed line on a faked '61 Plymouth (started out as a '60, you know, with the world champ fins?) using a pair of dividers from my high school mechanical drawing class days. A bit of plastic rod in the pencil lead side, and the usual pokey-pin in it's usual place. Worked first time out! I'd built the horizontal edges with quarter-round strip, but what might have passed for an 'edge' that I could have used as boundary for the BMP was filled in with the prime coats. Setting the guiding rod and the point about 1/16-in apart gave a decent line that I could improve with a scriber tool. Sorry about pic quality; taken with my laptop cam. Wick

My wife and I are CSUC grads, late '60s. I got BA in '68, did Army in '69-70, and MA in '73 -- unless my memory flops! Come up anytime!! Thx, Wick

Alan, Thank you so much for the approval; I like the treatment too (note the early 'Vair air cleaners?) A committed gearhead nephew just loves the Dodge, and I'm going to leave it to him!! The hoses are made by putting a coil spring (ex-blender motor) inside heat-shrink tubing with a piece of thick solder for a temporary armature, then warming; viola: low-pressure tubes. I use various sizes (ball-point 'click' pens are perennial!) and recently for a scratched McCulloch blower intake for a Maisto 1:16 DC remod '53 Stude. Note: a lot of Maisto (Thai) 1:16 DC's have really neat V-12 plug wiring harnesses on V-8 motors! Thanks again; this rescued kit(s) got a third place at the 2021 IPMS show in Yuba City CA. Even with the bad BMF! Wick

I think I can do that one too! Gees, the lengths we go to for good (effective!) tools, huh? Still, it's important!! Wick

Should have made that more clear: yep! But I don't want to despoil a vintage boxed one, come to that. Hoping some modern version were available; sure is cool! I made a few resin-casts of the Offy, and one siamesed into a straight-8 to simulate a vintage Miller. So far my replicas to create a NOVI v-8 haven't looked accurate enogh. Also did some protos of the Hawk M-B GP V-12 of the late '30s (the 1:1, not the kit!) with mixed results. That model was for display only, not adapted to fit their 1:24 car, but was sadly lacking in detail; not even exhaust manifolds or carb! Well enough of that! Thx, Wick

RRR, I have patience (77, retired) but not the time -- obviously! I don't use lacquer clears, but PPG JC660 or 661 with hardener. It rubs out too, same techniques, natch, but isn't too difficult. Easy to put too much on, tho; gets out of scale. Recently I tried UPOL rattle-can clear, and it worked very well indeed. About $20-ish per. One has to let these finishes cure/oxidize a bit longer than lac clear. oc. I don't shoot for show finishes, but at the last IPMS show, I heard a group talking about the gloss I was getting, and wondering how! On the other hand, being an ex-PPG store employee, I get the counterperson to pour me off a few ounces of flatting agent for a dull finish. This takes some experimentation on the model kit scale to get the right dullness. The flatting is just like thick paint, but has tiny chips (of silica, I'm sure) in it. Just reading about this makes my arthritis start to ache! And I still cut and buff out a 1:1 car occasionally! Wick

Is anyone producing a repop of that Monogram roadster? I have a freebie that sat too long in the direct sun, and looks like a Sal Dali watch! I was a kid then, and came to love the look of those old Kurtis, Watson, and other roadsters; had a few die-cast toy ones. I'd love to build a NOVI version; got the book. I'm not an avid race-car builder at all. Wick

Steven, The JoHan '61 Dodge body: coincidentally, this kit was the last bod that I opened the hood on, and only a month ago! I put it on a '60 Plymouth body that -- no kidding-- had been converted long ago to a '61 replica, to prove that only the 'front clip from Mars' of the Plymouth was the only thing keeping it from being a pretty car. That front went back onto a '61 Dodge 2dr HT body, which I will present free to anyone who wants to build up a bizarre looking MoPar!. (Photos soon). And it sure is thick!! And brittle! Wick