bobss396

20 odd years back, I would scour the earth for cheap primers. Bondo brand, Bright Beauty was carried by Napa and worked with lacquers, their clear was quite good. Plastikote had a good basic gray one, Krylon was not so good. I would endure what I got out of the cans and sand away. The only Duplicolor primer I can find is the high-build. Which does not really cover fine details like I thought it would. The Mr. Hobby one I use is a high-build but the same story as Duplicolor. I have used a professional series by SEM and Transtar which are good ones. So far Mr. Hobby and Tamiya Fine Surface products lay down to a fine finish, I may have to wet-sand quickly with 2400 grit before going top coat.

I can see why you opened the doors, the panel lines on my kit are all but gone. I'm going flip-nose with mine and have already started on the chassis. I removed the entire trunk area and "boxed" the rear chassis rails. I'm using a VCG Resins 9" Ford rear and am dropping that onto the opposite side of the rear springs to drop the rear lower. I will likely construct an entire new firewall as the one on the tub will be ungainly to handle and make it look right.

My older one followed me to the bathroom every trip. She would yowl by the door if I closed it, so I would leave it open if nobody was home. The little cat would play in the sink while he waited for me to be done.

I still use DC primers on chassis priming and on other details. I will probably buy more down the road. Their DS104 black primer is still a good one.

I will look for it. I see that Tamiya does have some new paints out. I picked up a TS82 rubber black and a TS100 semi-gloss gray recently.

I used to take some flak at shows (around 2011) for having machined parts on my cars. I drew them up in CAD to get the bugs out and cranked them out on manual machines or CNC equipment at work. Nothing looks more like metal that metal. 3D printing is no different that the old resin slush-casting that thankfully has numbered days. My only gripe with 3D parts is that some should be better thought out. The material is quite brittle if you have to open up a hole in delicate parts.

My older cat that we lost last year was never more than 2 feet away from me when I was modeling. She slept curled up on the floor next to be, I had to be careful when doing any sanding or dropping things on her.

I ran across a decent one at Ace Hardware, Krylon non-yellowing Crystal Clear #1303. It goes on well, I have used it on stock cars over decals with no harm to them. Lighter coats are the way to go with this product.

I was always into engines as a kid. home-grown motor bikes, boats at an early age as in 14... worked as an outboard motor mechanic, moved onto motorcycles and cars once I was old enough to drive. Did a bunch of street racing, eventually wandered into the world of stock cars. I drove for a few years locally. This is how I got to know what-goes-where on a car. Like I mentioned, fuel systems like dual quads, injectors are a challenge to detail up. I get fuel tees from Pro Tech. I also have some really small brass tubing I could use. This stuff is TINY for sure. It has to look right or becomes a waste.

I was mentored by a great builder in my club, he said to treat EVERY part as a model. The steering wheel is a model in itself, so is a valve cover and so on. This guy had opening glove boxes, working sun visors, gas tank doors, etc.

I did, the cat is treated like royalty. I had a '48 Ford chassis primed on the counter when he was like 5 months old. I come down in the morning and the chassis is sitting on the living room floor.

Nicely done. I did one MANY moos ago and painted it Testors flat red.

I have a slew of them. I have an OG version from around 1961 started as the blue box-art custom. I have always said, when in doubt, crack open a 40...

I was thinking of attaching one of those Harbor Fright fake light switches under the table and still might do that. When I built in the basement, that was a tile kitchen floor and parts flew off into another dimension. In my dining room it has an area rug. I lost a completed header for a NASCAR build. I wasn't sure if was on the kitchen counter or floor, so I tore both areas apart. Looked under all appliances, no luck. It was a month later, the part magically appeared in the middle of the kitchen floor, the cat must have come across it.

I use beer bottle caps for CA glue. I rotate them to get a new spot for a few drops of glue, then toss them.

I still struggle with complex things like carb linkages. Like others have said, battery cables, plug wires, radiator and heater hoses are basics. I'll do brake lines off the master... that vanish into nowhere. Whatever you do has to look flawless. I see too many "detailed" builds that are too sloppy when displayed.

I feel it is best to use a good primer as a basic barrier to color bleed. Probably using lacquer paints are also a good idea.

I'm doing a 3D printed engine now, just getting into the prep part. Lots of tiny pieces to contend with. Most I was able to drill a small hole (won't show on assembly) so I can spike them on a toothpick. Others I will have to hold with fun-tack. Choose vendors wisely for sure. I just did a couple of disc brake assemblies from one vendor, the rotors were way too thick, lots of labor on my part. I tried another set from someone else, like night and day. I have some parts from VCG Resins that require almost zero prep. I can go right to a top coat without primer. On things with post-finish assembly concerns, I'll drill them for small pins, so the parts register well for assembly. Less chance of messing them up. I have yet to have to strip a printed part after it was painted.

Up until recently, I swore by DC and professional body shop primers. I gave up on cheap primers a long time ago. Plasikote made a good one, haven't seen it in eons. Now I'm Mr. Hobby all the way, they also make a black primer. Also Tamiya Fine Surface white. These work with lacquer top coats and go on smooth. Minimal sanding is required in most cases.

With me, plus the fact that I am lazy... I avoid the airbrush since I have to clean it after and there are too many variables along the way.

My bad, is there an address for AMT on them? I have seen some promos with something other but Troy Michigan on them.

And I thought I had a bad case of OCD... I am a pure amateur next to some of you guys. But it is a great reference without a doubt.

Nice build! I had always wondered why a relatively obscure driver like Pond was chosen for this kit. Drivers like Donnie Allison or Benny Parsons would have been my choices over Pond.

Another great kit that has held up over the decades. Back on the 1st issue, it was revolutionary with steerable wheels and a tail gate that worked. I have built a few over the years and it was always a nice build at the end. Lots of foil on yours... whew... looks mint.

It may be an SMP kit, precursor to the AMT line. I know of a club member that scored a pair of them recently. I'll have to ask him later in the month. I see them on eBay once in a while. Modelhaus used to be the only source for lights and chrome for those.