dmthamade

Most recent Revell P-51D Mustang in 1/32 is a good kit to start with. Easy to assemble, good fit, very reasonable price and availability, good size if your all thumbs...there are others in different scales/manufacturers, but the mustang would be my first choice. HTH Don

I've found they work great as long as you don't use the recommended primer. Don't know how they would be for a shiny, new finish or chrome, but for a used finish I find them great. Just started into car models, primarily aircraft for a long time. Did this with the Vallejo Metal Colors. Don

That Charger looks great!! Had to look twice to see it was a model. I bought a tin of the TS 42 to paint a Porsche, wasn't sure it would be right. Will go ahead now!!! Don

Still enjoy drive -by-me still, not ready for self driving car of my own. Have to say, there are some "drivers" out there where a self driving car would be a BIG improvement over them driving. I can definitely see some benefits to some people that a self driver would give. Want your hotrod or muscle car still? no problem, keep it for fun, a self driver/electric car as a DD short run, grocery getter, why not. Hazard a guess that some here have more than two cars, in the near future I don't see any reason why not have a self driver/electric car.

Sorry about the really late reply. Thanks all for the feedback and ideas, guys. I get that the older kits may be not up to current stuff, been doing aircraft for the last 20-30 years so i understand this and about specific kits. Concentrating on these manufacturers as the quality of the Revell/AMT/Polar Lights kits are known to me. Tamiya quality is great in aircraft/armor and as i've experienced in car kits is also great. Fujimi/Aoshima/Hasegawa car kits are unknown to me, reviews and builds on Youtube help a lot, better still is from modellers that have BTDT. I'll probably stick to newer kits, ask about older kits if needed. I have seen your Youtube channel, martinfan5, very informative!! I already go to Hobby Search for aircraft stuff, did see where there are a lot more kits available than what i've seen, IOW new ways to lighten my wallet. Don

Model shop I frequent has a decent selection of car kits by these manufacturers. They concentrate on German, Italian, Ferraris, and Japanese cars, which i'm OK with. Question is, how are they as far as fit/finish/engineering? Done Tamiya kits and have a couple in the stash, quality is great, dryfit is excellent. Are the listed manufacturers equal? Don

U-2/TR-1A chase car? Don

Nothing special, fast or exotic. 2015 Toyota Venza XLE. Work on cars all day so I don't want to work on my own stuff. V-6 AWD lots of options. Much better vehicle than the 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 it replaced. No pics because ...it's just a Venza. Don

Thank you again, guys. I agree about silver porsches, would be my choice of color for pretty much any teutonic auto. Exception would be a black full size Mercedes sedan. I did buy another Tamiya Porsche kit, a 911 GT3. I should look at the Tamiya catalogue, see what else is available. Don

Thanks for the positives, guys!! I have to say, not having to worry about the engine or drivetrain was a big load off my mind. I'm an auto mechanic, have been for 42 years, and inaccuracies under the hood would drive me nuts. Starting to think building car kits as curbside builds has a definite appeal. Not a big fan of Porsches, but we're doing a Boxster/LS1 conversion at work, saw this kit at the model store, and I wanted to try a Tamiya car kit. I have a very small stash of car kits, AMT/Revell/Polar Lights/MPC, have to say the Tamiya kits quality is leaps and bounds ahead. Will see what else they have. Don

Well, i did have an in progress thread on this kit, never updated because....i forgot. This build took a while because i would spend little time on it, hour here or there with periods of inactivity. Simple kit, no engine detail except the bottom, mostly one piece body. I've built a few Tamiya aircraft and tanks, common thread is the great fit and finish of the parts. This kit was no exception, everything fit with little fuss!! I was worried the head and tailight fit would be a problem, in the end i just cleaned off the sprue attachment and glued them in. Windshield fit was great, and there was no overly thickness or distortion of the clears. They supplied two tops, the hard top and convertible top, both molded as clear parts. Masks were supplied for the windows, worked great. Enough talk. Had a problem with paint on the panel behind the top. Clear coat, TS-13 reacted with the decal solvent i used and didn't clean off. Darn. Don

It's funny, but that was the movie i was thinking of...i did read a bit more about the truck, some stuff sounds ok. Still can't get over the looks, kinda stealth, toy like, origami look. Consensus among friends/coworkers/aquaintances is "blech". I would like to think this is an engineering mule, the pretty outside is yet to come. Wonder how it would look like with a 6 inch lift, tires, etc... Don

No. Don't see much "pick up truck" there, looks more like a low budget sci-fi movie prop. Maybe it's just an engineering exercise? If they had a "tradititional" looking pick up with the same load/tow capabilities as a gas rig, might be more receptive to the "traditional" buyers, not just the trendy buyers. Don BTW, who the heck needs armoured glass on a pickup!!?? No pick up owner/driver i know...

Would work either way. I usually apply after a clear coat of Acrylic or Tamiya X-22 gloss. Apply the Line Accent, being on a Acrylic clear, if you make a mistake it can be cleaned up with enamel thinner without hurting the glosscoat. Don

Painting stuff for the Porsche i primed a spoon with Tamiya primer rattlecan, waited an hour, then applied Vallejo white aluminum by brush. Let dry for one hour, and did not scratch off. Stayed put. For small parts it would work fine, as long as you prime. Don

Bondic doesn't solidify fast, it stays flexible for a while( can't quantify a while unfortunately) Doesn't sand well, tends to ball up if tried. I've used it for marker lights and instrument panel lenses on aircraft builds. Will be curious to see how it turns out in your application. Don

I just tried this on a plastic spoon and a yellow sprue. The paint is pretty thin, i spray this direct from the squeeze bottle. It did dry brush mark free, but i think it would need more than one coat. It did scratch off easily from the spoon, so a primer is needed. I have used anything but the recommended primer with good results. HTH. Don

That's a challenging green to match, Canadian zips usually showed a weathered finish, thought IIRC that one was maintained . Did the kit not have those decals? Don

Off the top of my head, Leading Edge Models, Belcher Bits and Canuck decals. Don

We do mechanical work/SRS work for body shops in the area. Seen lots of cars that didn't make it through their first tank of gas or first oil change before getting badly bent. Some of them weren't being driven, just parked and unfortunate casualty. Repair bills total into 20-30 G's but when the car is worth 100-130G's, it gets fixed. Don

A trick I've never tried but have heard and seen give excellent results is to mist a coat of straight lacquer thinner or Mr Color over the build, supposed to help level the last coat. Don

Never used it over Alclad,. I have used a lot of X-22 as a gloss, thinned with Mr Color Leveler Thinner, start at 50/50 at low pressure. Excellent shine, levels off and dries fast. The fumes are like TS-13, so ventilate!! Used this on aircraft before decaling to prevent silvering decals.

Hobby shop visit yesterday yielded the Tamiya Porsche Boxster Special Edition kit. What makes it special are different mags, hard double bump top cover. This is a curbside kit, body moulded in one piece with no opening hood or trunk. Bottom plate does have some moulded in drivetrain detail, looks pretty accurate as well. Hoping for a straightforward build. Not may parts or sprues, 6 in all. Up on the board. Wouldn't normally do a Porsche, but just started on a Chevrolet LS into a Boxster conversion at work. Something different in the display case. Don

It does look like gold color coat, but it is dark copper. In some light it looks pink at times. Nothing bad really stands out as far as the build goes, normal stuff, clean up parts, flash removal, dryfitdryfitdryfit. Pedals look odd, gas pedal looks too big, other two maybe too high? Steering column angle looks like it should be shallower. Interior side panels are missing a panel line for the door gap. Part 41 rear body panel sticks out, should fit flush with rear of body. Used a piece of stretched sprue to temporarily spread the rear to properly fit part 41 and rear bumper. Part 40 stone shield has a odd fit, dryfit and trim before painting. Fitting the headers and tie rods required patience and holding your tongue just right. Can't vouch for accuracy, looks like a Comet to me. Don

Late to the party!! I've done the three different Tamiya spraybombs, and the results are fine, but I've also painted a fuselage the dominant sheen of black, then masked off and airbrushed different clearcoats. I found this works well, is more economical, easier to mask and clear small areas, easier to control the amount of clear than a rattlecan. Clears are available in lacquers in most sheens. I've also mixed sheens to get the desired effect as well. Had to do this aloooong time ago on a A-26 Invader in a black Korean War scheme. Depending on the desired result, I've mixed Tamiya clear colors with the clear coats for jet exhausts. Don