Steamboat

Nice! The weathering is spot on.

Nicely done. Great finish and detailing.

Wow! That came out amazing. It looks so real I want to drive it!

It came out beautiful. Nice job!

For me it depends on the part. As previously mentioned, I assemble most of the engine first and then paint it. However I paint a lot of parts right on the sprue. I spend a lot of time cleaning up the parts while they are still on the sprue. After paint, I touch up the attachment points to the assembly and where they attached to the sprue. For parts like seats, dash and headers there is generally so much prep work needed that I can't do them while still on the sprue.

Nicely done! I drove an orange one back in the 80's. It was a little worn out. I had to crank it for about 15 seconds to build compression before it would start. When I stopped at a light, blue smoke would come from the hood vents. Great memories though. Thanks for building this rare one!

Now that is cool!

If the decals were as nice as the ones in my kit, you should have no worries. They came loose from the paper in about 30 seconds! Watch out for the rear axle spacers though. If assembled by the instructions the rear wheels will be offset to one side. I cut one of the bushings in half and added it to the other side.

I like how the decals follow the body line perfectly. Little details like that really add to the model. Nice work!

I just built this one for our quarterly club project. I spend a lot of time in Japan, so I wanted something appropriate. I bought the kit over there. Apparently the kit comes in 2 versions,a box truck, and the other version being a mobile kitchen type with openings in the sides and rear for the roach coach. This kit came with opaque plastic panels to cover the openings. I had to use about 4 coats of primer to get it so the openings would not show through. It's a pretty simple curbside kit, which could be motorized if you wanted to. I tried the Walmart Rustoleum high luster lacquer for the first time and I was very pleased with it. It went on dull (could have been my primer choice), but polished up easily. Just noticed the rear bumper would look better painted silver or black. Oops! All in all, a fun little slump buster.

X2! A Testors rattle can is OK for flat black and that's about it!

Also, I polish clear plastic down to 12000 grit, then use polishing compound.

I use an automotive spray wax for the final coat after any polishing. Just spray a couple of drops on a flannel rag and rub it in. The"haze remover" in my polishing kit dried out and I wasn't able to revive it so I had to look elsewhere.

Sweet! You wouldn't know it's not the real thing! Absolutely beautiful work.

Any plans for how you will make the headers?

Nice! It's been on my bucket to-do list for a while too. I'm doing the Hilborn injected version with the flat black roof, using a combination of the Monogram 55 hardtop and the Revell 56 sedan. Decals (and life) have been my road block too.

Beautiful build. Excellent job with the engine compartment detail and the paint looks great. I'm not crazy about the black grille, but I guess you could say I'm a Mopar purist. Otherwise it's a sweet ride!

Super nice! Can you tell us about the wheels?

Nicely done! It looks great as a 'vert. One of my favorite cars.

Beautiful truck!

I love scratch building as much as anyone, and I think it is true to the roots of our hobby, but sometimes you just need to take time into consideration. It would have taken me a couple of hours to scratch up some tubs for this old MPC chassis. 15 minutes of CAD, and 2 hours of printing while I was doing something else, and here's the result. I'll spend a few more minutes of CAD time and make it fit exactly!

The detail is just sick... Awesome!

It's a picture from a picture from a book!

I have a picture of Earnhardt's 77 Olds showing the top part of the coil protruding from the firewall. I have several pictures of mid 80's Fords showing the coil mounted on the engine. Of course the distributor is at the front of the engine so they kept the coil wire short. Maybe it wasn't mandated by the rule book.

Here's a trick I use. I picked up these sequins at HL. They are a little over 1/4" in diameter. I glue the head of a pin (preferably a spherical one) into the center hole, and mount the assembly in place of the kit's reflector. Here's a picture of a finished model. I'm working on another that needs better headlights right now, I'll let you know how it comes out.