kurth

I love the story, it was really fun to read, and a great way to tie all the models together. The weathering on the first truck is perfect, that surface rust is awesome. Then grafting the edge of the hood? That sounds like it was quite a challenge to get it that clean.

I think the largest box I have dealt with in terms of length and width combined is the Otaki 1978 Corvette. It is pretty hard to get it out of it's place so I do not have a picture or measurements. The longest, most awkward box I have is the Revell 1/400 Queen Mary 2, which is similarly buried deep in a closet, but I found an old picture of the kit, it is 4 model car boxes long: But in terms of Box:Content ratio, that VW Van is probably the biggest box. The largest mass market kit box I have seen was a Hasegawa sailboat ... The box was sitting on the ground in the vendor section of a model show and I want to say the box was at least 3 or 4 feet tall.

Oh wow this is the 1/24th kit, one of my favorites. I will need to get this one. For some reason I thought this would be the 1/25th revell kit. I think the no chrome is a plus, since the only thing I would really want to be chrome on this one are the headlight buckets. The decal sheet looks very nice.

Thanks Dave G. I think I have had at some point the california compliant stuff and it really smelled like acetone. So this is a case of "Know your materials" and ensure you get the right stuff.

I seem to remember several videos on youtube popping up at about the same time a few years ago, and maybe even the technique being discussed here, where you pour a small testors bottle in a 3 ounce airbrush bottle, then filling it with hardware store lacquer thinner. The results looked impressive. I never tried it. I would be concerned, like Dave G. says, the lacquer thinner you see in the stores now is a different blend. I think it is much harsher, it does a great job cleaning but I would be concerned about it attacking styrene. I recently used Mr. Rapid Thinner to spray some floquil silver enamel, which worked great. Were I to airbrush small bottle testors, or Model master, I would use one of the mild lacquer thinners, like the Mr Hobby thinners, or Tamiya Lacquer thinner.

It sounds like a fun challenge to make a all in one video, or a series using better materials and techniques. I actually started working on this idea with the recently re-issued 79 Nova. I did not get to far before getting side tracked with different projects. I would have to review the footage but I think I got the removal of parts from the tree using sprue cutters and then assembling the main parts of the engine with liquid cement. I think I got overwhelmed with the idea of editing it all.

I guess to complete 2 models a week, you would have to cut every corner possible. There were a few models where with just a little more effort, the model would have been much nicer. The problem is that these videos influnce lots of people to use general purpose paint, and this leads to so many new modelers getting bad results and wondering why. There are lots of channels where people share what they are working on, and say what they did, but not necessarily in a step by step manner like Night Shift. I thought about trying to do it, but it is hard for me to work on camera and keep in frame, and in focus, and then edit it into something anyone would want to watch.

I do not know what kind of budget you have, but a great used, pro grade digital camera might be more accessible than you think. Buying into a digital camera system is a huge decision, but look at keh.com and mpb.com for used cameras and equipment. Lots of great advice here, lots of light and a tripod will help you get great pictures.

I can not recall all the details, but I do remember several posts and discussion in other places where Humbrol had to change the formula of the enamel paints. There was a chemical which was banned in europe which was an important part of the formula. This was two or three years ago. I do not think this would impact the color of the paint, maybe some other shortage or change in materials for the pigment impacted the color.

What a mess! did you happen to pour paint in the cup with no needle installed? If not then the needle bearing, or what ever Paasche calls it must have failed. It keeps paint from flowing backwards, which is what appeared to happen here. Or the nozzle is so badly clogged the only place the paint has to go is backwards?

I built one of these about 15 years ago. I did not know about the problem with the engine. The headlights do look weird. I think I did a build thread here at the time. I built it because I had one I got for christmas in the late 80s which I brush painted and I wanted to finally do it "right" as an adult. I did learn a lot from the challenges I faced with this kit. Good luck! I look forward to see what you can do with this one.

Yeah, I bought one just for the grille but I don't want to waste the rest of the kit, and I have 3 pickup kits of that generation so I feel like it is a huge waste to buy several kits just for the grille. Or maybe buy his work truck grilles for the donor kits. ?‍♂️ Either way more options is always better. All his stuff looks awesome. That Dodge Truck conversion set is interesting as well.

And he has Chevy pickup grilles! Finally! I can build a 454 SS and not have to find a a way to make headlights. To keep it on topic, yes the Dodge and Plymouth grilles are also beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

Nice work. And thanks for mentioning Evan designs .. I have had ideas for hypothetical Knight Industries cars but they never got any where as I had no idea where to start with the LEDs

Very cool model, and an interesting subject. I like the texture you achieved on the seats.