bobss396

Very easy Len, just mail me an money order for $50 and I'll have my personal PM service do all the dirty work for you! Bob

If I have cars on the table, I take a powder while the judging goes on, just out of respect for what the judges go through. Some of the decisions are hard to make, ever try to pick the BEST of the WORST? Sometimes 3rd place comes down to cars with major flaws in them somewhere. I judge a couple shows a year and can sometimes pick up on someone looking over my shoulder. I've politely asked a couple of guys to give us some "elbow room" so that his car gets judged as fairly as the rest of them do. It doesn't happen often but the best bet is to shoo the person away diplomatically. After the awards I'll try to find the person and give him some constructive critisism if his car doesn't place. Or congratulate him on a well done entry if he does. Bob

I have 4 local Wal Marts by me. I stop in at a few upstate NY now and then during the year. They all seem to be doing their own thing model wise. Even on Long Island, some have huge model areas with the KK paints, some just have one shelf dedicated to models with a handful of kits on it. If you try to analyze it or form some sort of predicition that they control the fate of the hobby, you will go nuts, save yourself now! Bob

Paul, It would be great if you can make it. You can do a yahoo map if you need directions. The address is 39 Montauk Hwy, Blue Point, NY 11715. Bob

I wander through Michaels once in a while (do NOT get on a cash register line behind some old bat that is buying a loose bunch of fake flowers!). I'll look for the Krylon pens. They also have some gold leaf and silver leaf that might be worth a try. I always pick up their Plastikote lacquer primers in the big can, great stuff and on;y around $2.25 with the 40% coupon. Look in the "jewelry" section for those liitle gems that can be used for tail lights. A great place to wander around on a rainy day for sure. Bob

I would still give the Mr. Color thinner a try with the enamel. I also like it for nail polish work, just helps it flow out a little better. Bob

The AMT '66 Riv should still be around somewhere. I'm sure my LHS has a few. I grabbed a nailhead out of the low rider version with the bike for my '39 Ford. Car is blue-green on the box. Bob

FINALLY GOT ONE! Actually 2 at a local WW at $13.97 each. Not a bad kit, just looked through it. This WW is fairly new and has done their model shelf over a couple of times already. No KK paints, just some Testors and Boyds spray cans. Bob

If you're in town, try to stop in at the LIARS club meeting on Thursday night 8/16. It is held at the Henrietta Acoumpura Lodge on Montauk (Rte 27A) in Blue Point. Take Nicholls Road south from the LIE (exit 62) or Sunrise Hwy (Rte 27) to Montauk Hwy, make a left. The lodge is just past the King Kullen shopping center on the left. If you go more than a 1/4 mile, you missed it. The meeting starts at 7, goes to 9:30. There should be someone selling kits, or there usually is. This month's theme is 1932 Fords and there will be a 1:1 car show in the parking lot. Many members bring their "rides" for a show and tell. Bob

Great idea, I'll have to try it out. And easy to paint a different color for contrast. Bob

I use acrylic paints myself and brush it on. Poly Scale reefer white is a good one, so are the ones I pick up at the craft stores. They can be thinned with water very easily. I use tires that have a natural "dam" that will contain the paint. It usually takes a few coats so the black doesn't show through. Bob

Ooopppss, I blew it on the firing order. It is indeed 18436572. Thanks for the correction.

Ditto on Goo Gone. This is a citrus based product which I have used to remove tape from models I've masked. I always rinse and wash the area with soap and water afterwards. Bob

1- I've made up my own MSD boxes, generally for stock cars and just run the wires where I think they'll look realistic. Look at car pictures on the net, eBay auctions, searches on Google, car magazines, online sites like Summit. Firing orders for Chevy V8 engines is 18436752. 2- Again, look at 1:1 car pictures for help. I keep it simple and use Model Car Garage or MAS linkages. I make my own return springs from wire wrap wire wound around a small drill bit. I just strip a piece of wire wrap wire, run the insulation through the firewall most of the time. Don't get too crazy with it, just my opinion. 3- I make my own master cylinders from rectangular styrene stock and a flat piece for the top. I'll run either small wire or small braided line and fittings. Skip the coil with the MSD box. Parts by Parks makes a coil without a hole in it, how annoying! I turn my own with a wire hole in it. 4- For schematics, I would just wing it off real cars. Approximate is just fine and nobody really looks at the bottom of models that closely. Unless the bottom is on display with a mirror. You have to crawl before you can walk, I walk fast enough for me, others run, some sprint. Work on the detail in increments if you like to go slow. But do it squeaky clean or the effort loses some or all merit. Try to balance out the whole car, don't overbuild one part of it and neglect others. Work on the paint jobs, that is the first thing that people notice and comment on, "nice paint!". If you have model clubs or if you go to shows, take a look at what people are building. Pick out a style that you like and talk with the builder. Bob

The only plastic kit I know of is the Monogram one in 1/24th scale. I'm kitbashing one into a pro-street and used the new tool AMT '57 front bumper on it, just looks a lot better in proportion. Otherwise your choice is the expen$ive resin one. Bob

The only plastic kit I know of is the Monogram one in 1/24th scale. I'm kitbashing one into a pro-street and used the new tool AMT '57 front bumper on it, just looks a lot better in proportion. Otherwise your choice is the expen$ive resin one. Bob

I have mixed feelings about resin products. The smaller parts I tend to get along with fine. Kits and bodies I tend to struggle with even though I consider myself an OK modeler. Ismael has good advice to offer. I would also suggest to start out with smaller add-on parts first before tackling a trans kit or a full body. Resin sands with about 1/3 the effort of plastic so go easy on it. It will also withstand lacquer paints, but I always use a primer regardless. Bob

For carb linkage, I try to use a small pin to hold them to the carb, looks more realistic. You can use a short piece of wire if you like. I'll use Tamiya X22 clear or a dot of CA glue to secure it. For carb linkage I'll strip a piece of wire wrap wire most of the time. That conductor measures around .008-.010 in diameter. Craft stores sell spools of small gage wire too, already stripped. Something like 36 gage should be good for you. Bob

Great advice from everyone here. My two cents on the ghosting problem is, the more you disturb the plastic under them, the worse the "memory" will be in the remaining plastic. In other words, just don't hack off trim with a dull xacto blade, use some finesse and take your time with it. I try to take trim off in a long of a piece as possible, not going the full depth in one shot for big pieces. I also use light coats of primer, sand and prime a few times until it goes away. If you are using lacquer paints, use a GOOD primer that will withstand the lacquer and go easy on the color coats as too many solvents may cause "exorcised" ghosts to reappear, sometimes months after the paint job is done. Bob

I heard that a certain 'Mart store has them NOW. I stopped in my local one the other day, alas, no Mercs as of yet. My LHS is not sure when he's getting them. The original release date was for late July. Bob

I had too many weird things happen with Krylon primers. I have a heavy hand with my paints and Krylon primers don't respond well to such abuse. I'll use some of their colors on race car chassis as it will take a beating for handling when test fitting parts. Their Ultra Flat Black is pretty good stuff. Bob

Good post. I've experimented with primer colors before and usually make up a long strip of shirt cardboard with all the primers side by side. It makes it easier to compare them at least for me. I'll even hold it up to a mirror (bathroom vanity has the best lighting). I still don't see why people are gun shy with lacquers. All you need is a good primer under them. The overall advantages are well worth it. It dries a lot faster (less time for bugs and dust to get mixed up into it), is a harder finish, polishes out well. I just had my fill with enamels, I know some guys work miracles with them. Bob

IMHO, if you have to use a lot of any type of bondo, you'd be better off getting it to near-net shape with plastic first and use a minimum of a spot putty. I use Nitrostan glazing putty. This is for 1:1 cars and comes in red oxide, white and gray. It shrinks minimally (which is not a problem with a dehydrator) and sands extremely well. I've used others like Cargroom, 3M and Bondo, but prefer the big tube of Nitrostan, which used to be known as red lead years ago. Now it comes without the lead. Bob

I try to avoid mixing brands myself. It takes some experimentation on scrap parts if I have doubts, but well worth the the effort. I find that most people get themselves into trouble painting when they don't wait for one coat to dry, then they clear coat over it and terrible things happen. I'll use Krylon paints once in a while, not sure about any of the 'Mart paints. Duplicolor and Plastikote touch up paints are a good deal and go on nicely. They have the best spraying cans in my opinion. Bob

I have one question, was the body totally free of mold release for the first round of testing? I would soak another body in Blech White and run it again. I've been using Duplicolor for all my final body prep work and have never had a problem with it. Bob