Dave G.

Yes 4030 will seriously improve hardness and adhesion of waterborne acrylic paint. Just 10-15% or so added to your mix will help it kick to a hard finish. I have not conducted tests with 4030 for alcohol based acrylic paints though, like Tamiya. 4050 is interesting too, though thicker than 4030. 4050 also adds UV protection to the properties of 4030. These are Createx products, they convert acrylic paints to PolyAcrylic. Either can be used as carrier for the Candy2o system as well. FWIW, Stynylrez primer is also a PolyAcrylic primer. It's ability to stick to hard plastic is phenomenal. And a natural to use under acrylic paints.

What stops me most is scale effect from 1:1 down to models. If it's off, whatever "it" is within the kit, I'm set back. That could be wheel base, tire or wheel size or profile etc. And just desire to finish it, because I enjoy airbrushing most at this stage of my life. I tend to finish more crafts or oil paintings than I do model cars at age 75. Some of this goes back to my 1:1 days of painting, refinishing, rebuilding all sorts of automotive equipment. Including building my own trailers for my drag racing cars. A model car can be fun to do but it won't ever fill the slot of having done the real thing ! In model railroading with my boys I came to a similar conclusion. For instance, while nice, a model of an EMD E9 isn't ever going to behave like a 317,000 lb real locomotive. So when the kids grew up and grand kids came, I reduced everything down to an annual On30 Christmas scene railroad, filling an entirely different purpose at that point. And by the way, one of those boys today is an engineer for CSX and his son ( my grandson) a conductor for the same railroad.

I could be wrong but I think the One Coat clear is a mild lacquer. Enamels gas out for weeks compared with lacquer, thus shrink at a different rate and you get the cracks at some point. I bring up mild lacquer, because hot lacquers would wrinkle fresh enamel right away.

Pearl Ex are mica powders but finer than some other brands I've used. My wife and I both use pearl and metallic mica powders in art work. Pearl Ex isn't the only game in town but you have seen the effect it gives in Mike's Corvettes, so who can argue ! This is from our google Ai buddy: Pearl Ex powders are made from powdered mica, a mineral, and are considered inert, non-toxic pigments designed to create a pearlescent or metallic effect when mixed into a viscous medium. These pigments are used in art for applications like painting, ceramics, and polymer clay and will not tarnish or fade. Composition: Pearl Ex powders are powdered mica that provides a lustrous glow without being a metal. Pigment type: They are classified as inert pigments, which are stable and don't react chemically. Usage: They can be mixed with any viscous medium such as acrylics, oils, resin, glues, inks, and varnishes. They can also be spread dry on porous surfaces. Durability: They are extremely colorfast and stable, making them suitable for both interior and exterior applications, and they will not rust or tarnish. Safety: While they are non-toxic, they are specifically for art and craft use and are not intended for cosmetic use.

Supposedly it was a custom color painted by a company named Dream Machine. No specification. But I've seen online photos of the car at various tracks, in various lighting, looking from just dark red to royal burgundy. Undoubtedly there was more than one body as well, if not cars. It does look to be a solid color, non metallic, much like a red that Ford had around 1969-1970ish called Royal Maroon.. Lots of manufacturers had a maroon through the years, though, pick one that looks close I guess ! Here is a chip of Royal Maroon

I have that kit in my stash someplace, since about 1990 I think. Thanks for building it ! You're brave going with black on your fist build, arguably not always the easiest to get right. You did well on a first build, congrats ! You will grow from here, half the battle is just finishing that first kit. So no nit picking, not from me at least.

I've learned after 60 years of modelling, somewhere along the way, to sleep on it before tossing the baby out with the bath water. Sometimes sleep on it for several nights.

If you want to see how Mazda paint is done, or for that matter the systems I mention also about Createx, watch this paint repair on a Mazda with Soul Red.

Black JB Weld 6 minute cure is what I would use.

Well it's only to polish if that's what you want ! I don't see it in person though, as such I can't say or see that it needs sanding. When that's the case for myself I just go with a fine scratch remover, that tends to bring up the gloss. Then I may use a soft polishing/ soft wax. Or not.

Looks to me like the Camaro mostly just needs polishing

There are a couple of different ways to get to that color and the effect using Createx products, then with a clear lacquer top coat. It's in steps though. That color doesn't look to be single stage paint anyway though, fwiw. I'm pretty sure it has a base color ( probably gold), the red which is likely semi transparent and builds to the desired saturation in multi coats, deepening with each added coat, and finally a clear top coat. I said lacquer clear coat because I personally will not use 2k clear, but that's an option for those who do. That's my take anyway.

I notice that over in the FSM forums, the guys there are heavy into both armor and military aircraft.

My final polish to remove any haze or light scratches is with a dab of Johnson Formula 1 Scratch Out, using the softest old worn out cotton Tee Shirt I have. And you need very little pressure, really just enough to keep the T on the surface. Let the polish do the work. Let it dry Then buff it up lightly with a dry part of the cotton T.. Sometimes to that I add a polish with bees wax in it, and it's done. I use no hard wax at all. My clear gloss lately is one of two, both polish right up with ease. It's either Createx 4050 UVLS clear. That is waterborne clear with UV protection. Or the Rustoleum in the green can with a black chair on the can, which is a bit softer lacquer than the automotive stuff.. Both are crystal clear.

I like 23-26 psi working pressure, so with air flowing. Especially for the Createx lineup. I tend to use the #5 tip on the H, which likes air. Createx in general doesn't need to be thinned as far as some other paints, it flows and levels well when using the 4030 and 4021 combo. I've found 4030 and 4021 to be a great combo in most truly waterborne paints ( not the alcohol paints, never tried that).

Most of my models these days are painted in waterborne acrylic paint. A combo of craft paints and Createx, for the most part. Stynylrez is a fine waterborne primer. So is a quart of Zinsser 123, which sticks like glue to about anything, including plastic, but you have to know the thinning method well, as it's a thick primer. I haven't tried the 123 Plus yet on models, no need really. But with craft paints and with Createx you have a ton of options, including true candy finishing usin Createx Candy 2o.. I've found that Createx 4030 poly additive and their 4021 reducer work in all Createx and all craft paints. This brings better bond, better flow out and a much harder finish. 4021 to me causes acrylic paints to lay down in a similar way as spirit based enamel. I only use the Paasche H as the airbrush for acrylic paints, fwiw. I've run many tests on acrylic paints over a time of about 10 years now. From thinner formulas, to tape pull tests and scratch tests. Just my own home brew testing methods, nothing official. But in so doing I've come down to where I trust the methods I'm using and that the finishes will last. So at that point I started dropping spirit based paint more and more.

That's a valid point, assuming the airbrush someone owns has the needle stop feature. Not all DA airbrushes do. As I mentioned though, for me it's preference. I own a gravity feed dual action airbrush, with needle stop and mac valve. I own a suction feed dual action with the stop. I still prefer single action on car bodies. For that matter so did Donn Yost, in particular, he liked the Paasche H with #5 tip.

I saw that contributor cool hand is confused over this post. What are you confused about, Luke, maybe I can clarify it ?

I'm just not a fan of double action for car bodies, personally. I get my paint mixed to where it flows right through single action, airbrush setting to the flow I want and shoot the body. No inconconsistence due to varying trigger pull. I find double action convenient for T Shirt art, and maybe cammo military models ( though I've done military fine with the Badger 200 and .25 tip).

If you're shooting Tamiya LP lacquer, the single most effective means to a better finish is thinning 50:50 with Mr Leveling thinner. That's more important than what airbrush you use. In fact, my experience is you have to try to screw it up. It just melts on like butter in my experience. You just might have to back up from the surface a little in putting down metallics, but to me that's pretty typical anyway. I can't speak for 2K, I won't have the stuff in my house.

I keep Testors cement for clear parts on hand for this sort of thing. But Ideally drilling and pinning would be the way to go. Anyway, as with the canopy cement I suppose, this stuff sticks about anything to anything else, not just the clear parts to frame. But it's very stringy to apply. It goes on as kind of a milk or cream color and dries super clear. It comes in a white square plastic bottle with a metal wand ( or used to anyway, I haven't bought it in years, as I need very little). It doesnt bond by melting plastic to plastic, it's it's own bonder.

Several people here like Duplicolor primer to use under MCW lacquers. I don't know about Alclad.

The 330, 361 and 391 all look alike in terms of build. But they all in that regard look different in many ways to a 352- 390 car engine. For one thing, the front balancer is different, as the HD truck engines are externally balanced. Then the water pump, the dual belt pullies. The oil pan is a long deep sump pan. As I recall, the fuel pump is a dual chambered thing and has a filter on the bottom. The exhaust manifolds are very much HD. The oil filter is larger. The timing cover too.

MPC kits weren't particularly tricky to build, if that's what you're asking. I built mostly the classic era kits, like the 1928 Lincoln. Similar to Monogram at the time, only 1/25th rather than Monograms 1/24. This was before the Monogram/Revell merger. I did find the fine work, such as chrome door handles, spoked wheels, the hood ornaments to be of better scale than AMT by a little bit, in that era vehicle at least.

3 on the tree was great for getting worn, then not recognizing you needed to be very deliberate on the shifting pattern, you found yourself under the hood getting the linkage unstuck from between gears, while the tranny itself was still in first.. I had one so worn, you had to move the lever slightly towards reverse before letting it slip through the neutral gate. This is when I went and bought the Hurst shifter for three speeds. Seems to me that back in the day, that was around $30. Course you bought the car for $100 ! Sometimes $75. Hah, I just looked that shifter up. It was the Master Shifter, Summit racing still sells them, now in the upper $400 range.