Rich Chernosky

I also spray a lot of water based acrylics like Tamiya. Most acrylics will dry to the touch within 20min. But that is not curing. Curing is when the paint fully gases out. In the case of water base paint this can take upwards of two months depending on the humidity. It will stay soft and handling will leave marks. On the plus side when they do cure out they dry rock hard...harder than most solvent base paints. There are many ways to speed the cure process up as previoulsy mentioned in this post. Hope this explanation helps.

Definetly one of the better Cobra builds. Great job Bruce.

Hot off the bench is this Fujimi 1/20 Ferrari F1 90. This car is a continuation of the 641 series with a few changes. Car was raced in 1990 by Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell. They won 6 races, Prost 5, Mansell 1. Car had a v-12 engine that was only slightly underpowered than the Honda and Renault V-10. But it handled better and had some refinements like traction control. Season ended in controversy when Ayrton Senna ran Prost off the road in the last race and robbed him of the championship. Color on this is Cobra colors 0313 Rosso Corsa. This was a recent purchase of mine and I didn't realize it at the time that it dried almost flat. Several coats of clear later it came up on color. The rest of the details of this build are in the captions. Thanks for looking and please comment. Chassis before installation of the upper body. Fujimi didn't miss out on too many details and I like ot have this shot before buttoning it all up and never to be seen again. That wonderful V-12 engine. I added the satin chrome pipes last but should have done it according to the instructions as they were a pain. Seatvbelts did not come with the kit. These are a Tamiya item. Interior was decent. Front suspension may look delicate but it went together well and the steering worked like it should. Body fit was exceptional although I used the Dzus button locations to pin the upper body in place. Its removable if I ever want to add more detail. Like that is ever going to happen. Rear veiw. The rear wing went together easily and secured in place nicely. Rear suspension also fit well and was sturdy. Fujimi had a unique way of attaching the wheels that allowed the disc brake assembly to turn with the wheel. Car sits on all four wheels. Pays to take you time with the suspension on an F-1 kit. The helmet and trophy were part of the kit but the helmet decals had to be sourced out of the archives. Same for the tobacco logos. I have a large notebook filled with extra decals from other kits and this saved some time. Thanks for looking.

AS a former MR2 owner I couldn't help but smile at this one. The creativity and craftsmanship on this project is way over the top. Detail everywhere. Now who are you going to get to drive this beast.

Michael...thank you for the well thought out review. Very informative. I have been on a Revell kick myself lately and it is nice to see them step up their game. The only problem I see is now I may want one myself <G>

Since I spray a lot of older paint I find thinning is generally necessary. Newer paints like Tamiya will spray unthinned but I like to thin my last coat anyway. Adding thinner will also help to gas out the de-canted sprays. The Testors laquer line in my collection is about the only ones that leak out the seam. I think it has to do with the run of cans Testor used at the time. I understand from my LHS that it was a problem through out the line.

Peter..you are right about that. Some of the pigment does settle to the bottom...especially in older cans. That is why I rip the can open and stir that stuff back in with thinner. Most decanted sprays have to be thinned anyway. BTW...for some unknown reason I save all those glass marbles. I have a quart soda bottle almost full of just the Tamiya ones.

Peter..you are right about that. Some of the pigment does settle to the bottom...especially in older cans. That is why I rip the can open and stir that stuff back in with thinner. Most decanted sprays have to be thinned anyway. BTW...for some unknown reason I save all those glass marbles. I have a q

When I owned a business, I had my workshop in the basement. When business was slow I would sneak down to the bench and just putter. No sense getting involved because sooner or later I would hear someone come in and have to quit. I often looked longingly at my stash and would say to myself that "someday" I am going to tear into all those. I sold the business 3yrs ago and retired and hit the bench with a vengeance. Often spending 10-12hr a day. I get 1-2 projects done a week and sometimes work on a few more at the same time. A recent move sowed that down but now that we are all set up and I have a better set-up I am back at it. I have slowed down only slightly to about 8-9 hours a day but I have not forgotten all those times when i was prevented from doing something I have done for the past 60yrs. Its great to be retired and when someone asks me if I miss the store my answer is NFW. A great discussion BTW. Thanks for starting it Carl.

I decant and airbrush almost all of my spray paint. Most of it is stored on a rack next to my paint booth. I find the very small neck 2-3oz bottles the best. BTW a full 3oz spray can holds exactly 3oz of paint. I use baby jars for this while it de-gasses then transfer it to my bottles. There are two ways to decant spray paint. The easiest way is to take the spray nozzle and pry the center out. Insert a tube into the hole and spray into your chosen container. If the can doesn't spray then it has to be punctured. An almost empty can has very little pressure left so this is not much of a problem. A full can....well that's different. In both cases do not shake the can. Lay it on its side and take a very sharp awl and very slightly poke a hole near the top. Fold over a paper towel and punch through that while squeezing the towel. Very slowly pull the awl out while releasing the pressure. The paper towel will catch most of the extra paint. When it stops hissing you can open the hole more and then punch a hole through the bottom at an angle. Bend the awl backwards to create a rip in the can. Now you can pour the paint out. Open up the rip and squirt thinner in the can. There are solids that collect around the bottom of the can and the thinner and a stir stick will help get them out. This takes some practice so start with an empty can first. There is still enough paint in an empty can to do a 1/24 car. The tube does not pick it all up. I collect all the empty cans from my fellow modelers and have enough now for a lifetime. I still buy paint though...go figure.

Harry....straight acetone thins it the best. Nail polish remover has other additives in it. Yes its kinda thick so it has to be thinned a lot. A heavy nozzle on the airbrush is recommended especially for the pearlescents. Spraying the pearl over a dark base also brings up the color faster. Spray at the lowest pressure possible. The more air in the stream the quicker it dries. I have had it dry so quick in the airstream that it spider-webs. You are right...ex-wives and girlfriends was a very expensive hobby. Model cars is much cheaper which is all I can afford now.

Harry...now that made me smile. Nooooo...I don't. I usually do a test swatch over white cardboard. I will lay down a variety of base coats then spray over all of them and pick the one I like best. Most of my nail polish has come from ex-girlfriends and ex-wifes of which I have a few. I have a lot of extra and you are welcome to it as most women never even come close to using it all. This will save you the embarassment of having to go to the store and buy it.

Here is a re-visit to my earliest days of car modeling. Back then, anything sporty or custom looking really caught my eye. Saw this kit in my local department store. Had to have it, had to build it. It looked like nothing on the road and I was hooked. This turned out to be the 2nd model car for me. The build, the paint, everything thing turned out horrible and it was eventually discarded save for some pieces. This kit has since be re-issued at least three times and finally I decided to take another shot at it. 50 years of building might make a difference. I have actually worked on this on and off over the past 15yrs and finally decided it was time to finish. Paint finish on this is Pactra Candy Apple Red. (so was the original) A note on the paint. I had saved a can from 1964. It was decanted and airbrushed. It was still good. Pactra Candy Undercoat Gold (also saved) was used. Along the way I discovered why this kit didn't turn out so well. It had a two piece body shell and in order to get a smooth seam between the upper and lower halves the interior, engine, frame and suspension all had to be completed and installed. This would mean some careful masking later on. Much more details on this build are in the picture captions. Thanks for looking. Completed car in its trailer. This trailer was AMT's idea and never part of Cushenbery's original build. It had lots of fit problems all by itself. The top hinge in particular had to be re-engineered. Car is a tight fit BTW \Finished car on its wheels. Several items in the kit were left off. Those included the front and rear nerf bars, engine fairings, and a few other bits. I feels they ruined the sleek look of the car and looked awkward. Getting the front wheels to steer was fairly easy. Had to make a tie-rod though. All three pieces to this project. The Hot Wheels diecast is a stylized version of this car and it was painted to match. Allegedly Bill Cushenbery had planned a Silhouette II and it might have looked like this. Never happened. Imagine seeing this baby on the road even today. Wire wheels were my choice and still are some of the best I have sever seen in a plastic kit. I even have the originals from my first build. Picture was taken in my backyard. the sun finally co-operated. This is a 427 engine that was not originally in the car. It was a later addition. It was a very tight fit. Distributor was a pre-wired unit. Interior is Tamiya flat white with some detailing accents. Note the interesting steering yoke. A little history on the Silhouette. It was revolutionary in the fact that it was the very first "from the ground up" custom. Frame and suspension was a shortened Buick and Cushenbery hammered the body out of sheet steel. The car was a hit of the show car scene in the mid 60's. It was also featured in the movie Beach Ball in 1965 and also in 1968 on the Wide World of Wheels driven and narrated by Lloyd Bridges. After that it resided on a trailer in Cushenbery's shop where it slowly fell into dis-repair. It was stolen in 1983 and never recovered. Someone apparently wanted the trailer or the 427 engine. Rumor has it the the bubble tops have been found but that is unconfirmed.

Mark...I can well apprecite your struggles with this one having done this kit myself. Of course my decals wern't as old as yours having done this about 15yrs ago. But matching paint to printed decals is no easy task. It takes a lot of resources, a lot of patience and skill with a brush. From all indications you have pulled this one off as well. Looks very good. Do you ever coat your old decals?. I use Liquitex Gloss Polymer medium thinned and brushed on.

Michael...this is one outstanding model. The carbon fibre work alone, is beyond compare. I have this kit and your post will definetly help me on my way. I also read with great interest the history of Pagani and your struggles with the model. This isn't just a great model but an exceptional post as well. Thank you for your contribution.

This project started back in 2008 when I aquired the Revell of Germany berlinetta kit. It was sprayed then. When I aquired the spyder kit a few years later I stripped the berlinetta and painted them both the same. Color is a Wet "n" Wild nail polish called Bijou blue. It was sprayed over Mr Color #8 gold (70%) and Mr Color 317 grey (30%). Nail polish is slightly translucent so some of the base shows through. Both kits were polished last year and that was the incentive to finish them. While both kits were made by Revell and look like they might share some parts there was very little they actually had in common other than being able to paint a lot of the parts at the same time. Assembly was a little time consuming because of the differences. But both kits came out to my liking . More info in the picture captions. This is the v8 engine in the berlinetta. The spyder has a v-12 in it. Very little of this shows in the opening engine covers of both cars. But it has some nice detail. Interior of the spyder. There were many simialarities in this area so they were painted the same. Color is a mix of Tamiya LP's to get a soft blue grey. Brown insert is also and LP color. Side view of the berlinetta. I did not care for the dark "sail panel" that is in the middle of the real car. I filled in the lines and scribed a new panel line. Gives it a cleaner look in my opinion. Back end of the berlinetta. Som,e nice detail here. The tail light over the rear engine cover was a real pain to fit. Ride height and chassis fit on both kits was spot on and assembled no problems. Same for the spyder. Note the different wheels on both cars. Spyder has a seperate insert to cover the bolt pattern. Kinda cool. Window frame and rear louvers on the spyder were AK Stainless steel. This stuff airbrushes sooo good. Spyder came with a removable soft top which I sprayed to match interior inserts. Both kits together. If I had a choice between both models it would be a hard decision.

Mark...the Sunoco car looks real good. That is one tough kit to paint and decal but you really pulled it off. Good luck on the Hot Wheels.

I have this kit kit built stock right from the box many many years ago. Burt this is a very cool concept. I will be watching.

Helmut....some very interesting observations. Thank you for your input. I have other un-built Japanese kits of Can-Am and Endurance cars raced in the All Japan series at the same time as the Can-am. It would seem they borrowed very heavily on the current cars, both Can-Am and Endurance. One car in particular, the Toyota-7 started life as a re-bodied Mclaren chassis with a v-8 Toyota engine. They later made their own chassis. These cars were very popular in Japan in the 60's and the model companies followed suit by issuing kits of these. Many found their way to the states. I have found most of mine on Ebay over the years with some coming straight from Japan. Had to pay dearly for a couple. Still wish there was more info on these facinating cars.

Jim..I airbrushed de-canted Tamiya TS spray straight over white plastic. Start with hi-pressure , low nozzle and work your way to open nozzle, low pressure. 4 light coats should do it. Tamiya TS decanted and airbrushed is almost fool proof.

Both models are a masking and decal challenge, but it looks like you mastered it. Good job...on both.

Jim...I built this kit and it is clearly a mistake on the instruction sheet. Trevor is correct and go with carbon or paint it semi-black with a little silver added. Race cars are changed from race to race and placement of smaller details is often left up to the artist. Model companies are never perfect so use your judgement. The kit goes together well and makes a nice model. Don't let this slow you down. Enjoy yourself. Look forward to your build.