coopdad

Dave, I believe you are correct with those donor choices. I remember seeing these Bronco conversions pop up every now and then but could not find the thread. I did find a link to a guy that built one but pix-only. Link You might be able to figure out which kits he used from the photos. I will keep searching. John

Bigphoto, I believe he means Revell's Bronco kit. John

Great job. We need more rally cars posted. Can you get some bigger pix of it? John

Yes, too wide BUT it should be easily thinned if it is all we we can get (without having to make it ourselves and the price is right). I wanna do my 1:1 also. John

FUNNY!!!! Bookmarking this one for future use (my Mother-in-Law.) John

While reading the Model Car Contests/Clubs: Bias or Fair? there was talk about people that build solely for contests, not the enjoyment of modeling. It got me thinking (and I did not want to highjack), what do the judges look for? Sure, the obvious is that the build be well done... no fingerprints in paint, fogged glass, etc. There was also talk about box stock beating models that have Photo Etch "hanging" all over them. And another discussing hand-fabbing. Would a box stock Mustang for instance beat a totally, 100% handmade Mustang thats quality is slightly below that of the box car? How about 1:1 correctness... would an awesomely built Mustang with an incorrect part (say an 8.8 rear end rather than a 9") lose out to a lessor one that had all factory correct? I am certainly not wanting to become a contest modeler, just wondering... John

We have discussed various ways of making contests more fair, more praise/exposure for hard work, and more fun. BUT we are still bandaiding the ultimate problem: how to deal with the people that caused this tread to be started. My guess is that the people that have posted to his thread are not the problem. It is the people that are not reading the info and thinking about how their actions effect the masses. The clubs that are wanting better themselves and their events have brainstormed and come up with some if not all of the options we have come up with. BUT adding classes for every skill level, age group, model class, stock or modified, pro or amateur, etc. all don't matter if we let the few bad apples to drag us all down with their negativity. What we need to be talking about is how to deal with these extreme people BEFORE they work their way into positions (such as club president or judge) where cause maximum damage. I hesitate to say it is not possible as we are all human, but I have been wrong before. Is it as simple as asking anyone involved with an event to sign (and read) a mission statement that reminds them of what is truly important... the goal of the event? At the minimum it would hopefully remind guys bad behavior will not be tolerated (even if there is not much that can be done about it). That should at least tone down the "middle ground" over reactions. I don't think there is much one can do about the guys that have those high end public temper tantrums other than making notes and not allowing them to compete again. John

Sorry to break off topic but 66dragfreak, your question about the magazine "pre-exposure" got me thinking. What if we worked to everyone's advantage. Let me explain... Many of us are not yet at the award-winning level or don't enter contests because we don't need hardware... but we do like a little praise every now and then... praise that is usually garnered at a show. Why not let the magazine help. I publish a couple automotive magazines where I print, in a special section of the mag, vehicles of all build levels, from junker to jewel. The only criteria is the photo be decent enough to print. The reasons are many so I will explain in the terms of a model magazine... #1. the builder can show off his model in a real magazine, a model he is proud of even if it not award-winning (how cool is that?!). #2. The other readers can get ideas for their projects from yet another source... not every great idea comes from models by the best craftsmen. #3. The readers will feel a little more grounded... I can't be the only one that occasionally feels a little discouraged with my skills seeing PERFECT models all the time? #4. The magazine gets regular content, less to try to fill on their own... it will come to them. #5. The magazine will have another chance to sell an issue... who wouldn't buy at least one issue their model was in? The only negatives I can think of are no one-on-one friendships made, but it sounds like that is happening less and less anymore. Just a thought Gregg. John

So Dave, would your suggestion for helping would be to have "shows" rather than "contests"? I am not sure why they don't do that more often. It seems that would encourage exactly the opposite behavior. No trophies will mean no trophy-mongers. Only the people who love to build and share ideas would attend. And isn't that another major reason most of us do this? I entered my first contest recently after a twenty five year break and was also disappointed. I had all these hopes that people would be sharing ideas, talking about future projects, making friends. I will admit it, I am greedy... I want to learn from everyone. I tried my best to talk to people but nobody seemed to want to discuss anything, even their own builds (and who doesn't like to talk about their stuff). After the trophy presentation the judge (the owner of the LHS) came over and told me (very loudly) about all the things I had done to my model. I knew what I had done over the past 9 months to my model, what's the deal? Only when I got home did I realize... after the trophies were handed out a couple guys stormed out. At the time I thought that it was because the judging took too long. But I now surmise that the judge was justifying his choice in a manner that everyone would hear. He did not want to get into a fight with every guy that thought he should have won. So, there is another local show coming up early next year. It will be my second contest. Should I enter? Should I bring a couple builds and mark the "Do not judge"? Should I stay home? I guess I will enter and hope that there are others like myself that love the hobby, not the attention. John

Clay, Great build! Love the color. Any guesses to which kit the BFGs came from? John

Us too. Heard it was a great show/contest. Here is a link to info about it. John

You have at least one pre-sold (me). John

Again, simply awesome! John

Dave, yes, it is possible. There are a few things I would like to add to what has already been mentioned. 1. I have had much better luck using laser printer than ink jet. The ink was thinner than toner, it was harder to get the preset settings right giving best printout and was a little more finicky when spraying the protective clear coat 2. I had much better luck with Detail Master's paper over the Testors paper... a little clearer outcome plus the 8.5 x 11 paper size was easier to deal with in the printer compared to the Testor's 8.5 x 5.5. And the DM paper contoured the body better than the Testors. 3. The lighter the car's paint color, the better the results. Ideally the decals should work best on a white car because paper is pretty transparent. 4. Check you settings in your paint/vector program that the color mode is CMYK rather than RGB BEFORE working on your art (if your software will do that.) Your colors will match what you see onscreen much more if viewing in the same mode that you will be printing (CMYK). Also, be sure when using "black" use 100% black rather than "rich black" (made up of all colors to give a deep, rich black. It will look the same on screen but will print very differently. 5. I had better luck with Tamiya clear than Krylon clear. The Krylon blurred the art slightly more than Tamyia. Good luck and post us photos! John

I don't normally build 60's American cars BUT this car is too beautiful not to build. Racing Champions, AMT, Ertl, RC2, whoever, you are to be commended... now keep up the great work! Bring us more cars we can't do without. John

My six year old son got 16 out of 20, even got a few I missed (like the color of the Kia logo)! Not sure if I need to proud or worried that he will be going into the auto industry John

I thought I would share my experiences with my attempt at this tutorial. I had tested many, many variations of this process on spare fenders and most of my problems were paint lifting off the primer layer. 1. I found that the rougher the primer the less of a chance that the bottom layer of acrylic paint would pull off. In other words, don't use a gloss bottom layer or sand too much on the primer. 2. it seems to work best with many layers of paint. In my tests, I found that only one or two layers pulled away from the primer much easier than the four or five layer tests. 2a. removal of THIN paint was much harder to control than a normal layer of paint (don't want to say thick paint). Example: the left door had very thin paint toward the bottom (I thought I would be getting rid of it anyway so why waste paint). The paint instantly lifted off leaving only primer, requiring touch up: 3. In my arsenal of tools I found that a very stiff bristled fan brush (any shape should work but the smaller, stiffer the better) was very handy. It was good at very focused paint removal. I found it good on edges, such as door edge that had paint scuffed off. If the acrylic paint is not too soft, then you can use it to "sand" away the paint. Example: around the fender edge and where fender meets the body: Of course, I have not yet done Step 5 (rust streaks and black washes) but I have full confidence that after I do, the final project will be very realistic. John

Ryan, Another question... In the tutorial you do two color "sets" for lack of a better word: a basic (light blue with its faded color white) and a complex (greens and golds). Is it that the hood is supposed to give the impression of a factory paint, and the rest of the car having many layers of colors like years of being repainted? I am trying to get the concept of the process. If this is indeed true then the two could be used to give the impression of different ideas in a model project. For instance, again assuming I am right, your Olds would be a very used beater that just happened to need a new hood for whatever reason. The hood would have been less abused over time as it still had its factory paint, all be it faded and rusty. Using the hood's basic color set on a whole car could convey a car that was found in a barn... still relatively stock with no paint fixes or changes. Am I understanding correctly? John p.s. the models on your site are truly inspiring!

Ryan, I am unclear, did you let the pastel blue dry before using the alcohol or did you use it on wet blue paint? John

Awesome! Truly creative! Built two years ago? I would love to see what you could come up with with two years of practice under your belt! John

Nate, you are correct, most later broncos you find out there are 80 broncos with front clip from another kit. There are no kits of the 87-96 Broncos. I have seen a resin front clip on eBay for a 92-96 a while back. When you get yours built, post it for us to see... some of us really love Broncos! John

Ditto, great job! John p.s. where did you get the tires/wheels?

Hey, ModelKing, I forgot to ask before... where did you get the wheels for the Bronco? John

Yes, really nice job. Subtle and very 1:1 looking... I could easily see this out at the lake. Black with red interior is my favorite color combo. John

Wonderful work on the bike. I have never really liked bikes but after seeing my first race this weekend (Indy's GP race) I now have a great interest in trying one. One question, how old was Rossi in 2003? He looks like his is 10 years old today... that would put him 5 back then John