dmthamade

Vacu-forming would be last resort, though it would give thin clears. I can see thin clear plastic working for side or vent/wing glass. Don

Okay, I've been doing aircraft for decades. Canopies on the scale I worked with (1/32) were thin enough that they looked "right" for the most part. Aftermarket ones are also available for some as well. Car kits I find the clears seem to be really thick especially on older kits where they are joined with a web. Are there thinner alternatives available? Is there a way they can be thinned?(long shot)Or are the clears just the way they are? Don

Actually from last week. Got the Audi, Mercedes and BMW finished right before I took two weeks for vacation. The weather has been great so far with more on the way

Do you apply this before or after the clear coat. Just wondering if adding a sealer on top would help to stabilize and lock the tape into place. Don BTW, that BMW looks great!!

Yup!! As far as I can remember, visible on outside on older vehicles. Newer stuff, sealing glue on inside, sometimes. Like I said, check refs. Been thinking about small details like this since I started car models. As In any genre of models, small details make the build. I thought of black fine point Sharpie for the seals, small things to learn... Don

Looks good!! Black decal material too, maybe? Check refs, sealing materials are inside the glass sometimes. On most aircraft, seal is on inside, looks "off" when applied on outside. Don

New tires have a bigger inside diameter than the old tires, wheels fall right through the new tires. Don

This one sat on the SOD for a while. I had some issues on another build with Vallejo Metal Color paints. This build is done primarily to test these paints for color, masking, weathering and durability. Have to say, the paint worked great as long as you stay away from their recommended primer!!! Absolutely nothing accurate as far as markings to pain scheme here, this is only a test. Don

Like steve, i use paper to cover big areas after masking borders, or i just exercise airbrush control. As far as tape goes, i use Tamiya, Aizu, Jammy dog, post-it notes and green painters tape. I have had issues with pulling paint with tape, though it never happens anymore. Last time it was with Vallejo primer, never again. I have to say, i haven't done a lot of gloss schemes, warplanes are a flat finish. Something to keep in mind as i use different sheens of paint. Don

It's a different color, red is usually the default color for these builds. Wanted something different. I hit it with another coat of clear today, has a nice shine that i may be OK with. I used Tamiya X-22 thinned with Mr.Color thinner sprayed at 15 psi. Has the look and shine of Tamiya TS-13 clear but i have better control through an airbrush. Working on the front and back chrome parts, found the rear piece that has the park lights is poorly done, the lights barely show through the grille due to flashing. I stripped the chrome and will work on opening the grille slots so the red shows better. Don

Once you try Tamiya primer, you'll never go back. There is an argument that it's expensive, but so is redoing a paint job or even dumping a kit full of resin(more an aircraft thing)aftermarket because the paint went sideways. So, paint once with good materials, or do a redo because of sketchy materials.....your choice. Don

Prep before any paint goes on is important. Surfaces have to be CLEAN of oils, grease. Any gloss surface gets a scuffing with 600 wet/dry. Primer choice depends on color coat choice, lately it's been Tamiya spraybomb primer for everything, though will try Duplicolors in future. It's not the tape you use, it's prep and primer/paint choices that are the issue. What paints are you using? Don

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Don

Thanks for the positives, guys!! On holidays now, had some time to work on the build. Primed with Tamiya spraybomb, then applied color coat. Tamiya XF-28, Dark Copper. I thinned this with Mr.Color thinner, 3 coats. Sealed with Tamiya X-22 Clear thinned with Mr.Color, 3 coats. From what i'vre read, i should let this dry for 3 weeks before sanding/polishing. Don

Great history lesson on early ford pro stock!! Look forward to the build. Don

Thanks, guys!! It's been a long time since an update, life got in the way. Did manage to get it up on all 4, interior done, engine installed. Have to say, the engine takes up a lot of room, fitting it and the headers and steering linkages was fun. I don't know if it is accurate to the real Dyno Don car, but the pedals look off, gas pedal is HUGE, clutch/brake pedals look too high and too far way from the firewall. Steering column/wheel look too high, angle should be less. Other than that, all else looks ok. Would have been easy to fix the column, the pedals would need to be mounted lower and closer to the firewall. Next up, working on the body. Still haven't decided on a color. I had to scrape away the bottom of the hood to clear the air cleaner, easier to do on a plastic kit than a real car. Fit onto the chassis needed a little tweaking but otherwise was ok. Don

Yup!! Did a P-38 in NMF using their specific primer and paint with sufficient drying time. Masked to paint different panels and the pant came off in sheets. Had to start over. At least stripping the paint was easy, used green masking tape. Have used their normal primer with mixed results. Prime with anything else and the paint is great!! Don

Be careful with their primer. Have had bad luck with paint and primer pulling up with masking tape. Especially true with their metal colors and primer. Priming with any other primer the paint works great. I've even used Tamiya XF-19 as a primer for their paints, worked fine. Don

Tamiya X-22 thinned with Mr Color thinner or Mr Color leveling thinner. Next would be Tamiya TS-13. All this might change doing glossy schemes. Don

Guns!! Car like that, gonna need guns.

Classic hotrod!! Don

Hello all!! New here, first in progress build. I'm not building this in the kit colors, going off on my own. I've done very few cars, been doing 1/32 aircraft for decades. This build is more an exercise in building and painting, i'll worry about details as i build more car kits. Still haven't figured out what the color will be, building this with a black interior. I have been using different sheens of black to try and avoid a monochrome look. There is matt, semi gloss and gloss black in the interior. I did hit the handles and cranks with silver. Dash is gloss black on lower parts with top semi gloss. Might hit the dash with clear flat to take away some of the shine. Engine is painted ford blue with various metallic silvers for manifold, valve covers, timing cover. Fan belt looks really odd, something to change in later builds. I stripped the chrome off all parts but the bumpers and grilles. Don

Have used Model Air, find it needs a primer or it would scratch away easily, not stick to bare plastic. Use your go to primer, find Vallejo primers don't stick too well, though. Can't say enough good about Tamiya spraybombs, they work. Best over a primer though have sprayed over bare plastic OK. Metallics need a primer especially if filler or work was done. Don

Great topic!! Years ago I was building a 1/32 A-7E CorsairII by Trumpeter. All going great, glued wings, etc together, dried and sanded seams. Parts fell apart. Huh. Reglued, resanded, fell apart... glue had zero effect on the "plastic". I was using a hot solvent cement, tried spilling some on a wing part and pressing with finger...nothing. Don't know what material it was, but it got binned. Just bad juju when a kit can't be glued together. I've got a few recent car kits in the stash now, I can see the plastic looks "different" from the aircraft kits i'm used to. The only thing that will matter will be the end results, though. Don

So, you like Mustangs? Back in the day, I remember how my buds wanted the 60s ponys over the 70 because they were smaller and lighter. I always liked the 70s Mustangs. How long you figure to build all these? Don