Jon Cole

A good color of black no herd of bottle paints should be without is Testors 'Aircraft Interior Black'. It has a slight gray tint to it. Where you use it on a car is up to you.

Time to buy some tires!

I am considering a windshield tint band using Tamiya Smoke. I don’t want a solid lower edge, but a “blend†like on factory stock cars. Will the paint edge look dry? Will I need to clear the entire inside of the windshield?

Sharp!!!

About scale convertible up-tops, I recall about a decade ago (give or take a few years) a company, possibly Brookfield Collectors Guild, did a convertible Chrysler Sebring with a working convertible top. I remember looking at it in the box, and being rather unimpressed. It's difficult to get a fabric to cooperate, and look 'in-scale'. I like the '66 Mustang up-top idea. I also recall years ago, one of the two following resin dealers, F&F, or R&R (I always get them mixed up) used to sell many different resin up-tops. I don't know what is currently available. Something I have always wanted to try, is to build a static version of what Bill did with his '64 GTO. For my tastes, I would use a mix of plastic square rods (PlastiStruct), and aluminum (K&S) to build the shape. I would 'skin' that with either wide masking tape (don't forget the seams!) or even use facial tissues glued taunt and then coated with a thinned mix of water & white glue. BTW, the "water & white glue" idea is a good way to give any molded up-top a nice texture. -Jon-

How long of a process is dehydrating the primer? It's been an on again, off again process now well into it's second day. Problem is, I don't want to leave it running when I leave the house, and no one is home or when we are sleeping. So I turned it off last night. Started it back up this morning, and I think I can leave it run all day. I think it had about four hours in there when I turned it off last night. This morning, the PlastiKote primer still felt slightly sticky, and I could still catch a whiff of the paint. This weekend, I want to paint all 4 body sections (Ford GT40)

I like the new Stang! Is that the Shelby? I think that big honkin' vent on the hood may be Shelby (correct me if wrong). What I want, is what I see every day when I drive by my local Dodge dealer... ...except the one at the lot is a 2009 R/T. I want one soooo much! But that would require a real job

I've tried it to tint windows, but I wasn't impressed. Use an old sauce pan. Mix the dye into the water. Bring it up to a rolling boil. Turn off the burner, and then lower the part into the pan in a wire basket. Leave it there for about three minutes. As long as the water is not at or above boiling, it should be OK. I forget which mag I read this in. My first attempt barely tinted the windows, but no warpage. Suggest using a double batch of dye (use both bags in the Rit Dye box) Oh, and if you spill any dye on your wife’s stove, don't say I didn't warn you! (TIP: Use side burner on outdoor gas grill, over the lawn)

How do you 'dehydrate' a model that has masking tape on it? Do I need to wait for the lacquer spray to cure enough so I remove the tape before baking it? I built my voltage regulator, and I got the temp down to 105º to 110º inside. I placed the 'upper greenhouse' to a Ford GT40 in it for about 20 minutes. It did come out with the sides slightly outward. It is not a warp, I don't think, as it will still fit just fine when I glue it down. I just don't feel comfortable putting anything else in there. That was just for the primer, BTW. I have yet to spray the Tamiya. Is masking tape not a good idea in a dehydrator? Thanks -Jon-

This model puzzles me. It has been mentioned on some message boards in the last few years that Trumpeter didn't do as well as they hoped for with the sales of their 1/25 scale car offerings, in part due to their complexity (in spite of many modelers asking for just that), but also for some inaccuracies in those offerings, plus the price of those kits. So the general concensus was, they (Trumpeter) must have thrown in the towel on ever pleasing (and therefore sales to) the adult model car market. Now, instead of making more "typical" and less complex model cars, they seem to go in the opposite direction, with this "Mega-Kit". I love Ford GT40's (in fact, I have one on my bench now), but like many other posts here, I just cannot justify the price of the 1/12 kit. I am NOT saying it's not worth it, I am saying it's out of my price league. And I think the price will hurt sales. So, if... that's the case, won't that just lead Trumpeter back to the same conclusion as they (apparently) had with their 1/25 scale line of kits? -Jon-

The back of the rotary switch has NO screws- just three wires: The back of the two outlet has 5 screws- two gold, two silver, and one green, which I know is for ground. Tell me how to wire the the three wires on the rotary switch, and I think I can get it! Thanks, -Jon-

Well, I showed 'hardware dude' the photo of the home-made voltage regulator to control the dehydrator: And this is what he sold me: He explained how to wire it... BEFORE he got the rotating switch. So then he started over, but that threw me... I was in "D'uh?" mode from there on. OK, I know the plug wire goes to the rotary switch, and from the switch to the plug. I also know I have to run a ground wire from everything, to the box. Can someone look at the pic, and tell me how the cord (one each: green; white; and black wire) connects to the rotary switch (black wire exits from one side; black, and a green wire exits from the other side)? He said the plug unit has colored screws; green; chrome; and gold. Also, with electrical wiring in general, what does the color coding for green, white, and black stand for? Thanks. Oh, BTW, all this cost more than my dehydrator did! -Jon-

Got to dig those big finned Caddys! And this one... well, if I had a dozen built Monogram '59 Caddys in my display case (but I don't), I would have still bought this one! -Jon-

I guess I'm a sucker for the Ford GT or GT40 in any shape or form. This one is a 2006 GT-R by One Badd Ride. -Jon-

Let's see if I can at least get this post in line with the rest. Tho I didn't take the pic of the '39 Lincoln "Sunshine Special", it's a beautiful die-cast of FDR's Limousine. I have all 9 Presidential Limos currently available from Yat Ming. The following is my photo of the re-bodied '61 Lincoln X-100 refurbished for LBJ after the Kennedy Assassination. This car was originall painted the same dark blue metallic that Kennedy's car was, but Johnson wouldn't accept it, so it was again repainted black. -Jon-

CRS has struck again. Tho I have painted a few models with Tamiya white, I cannot for the life of me remember if I clearcoated them. Do I need to clear over Tamiya white? -Jon-

That is, if I can find a "volage" regulator! Maybe I can find a "voltage" reg. instead. -Jon-

Now that's what I need! I'll zip on over to the hardware store and start my own volage reg! Thanks! -Jon-

Hi everyone Hey, I finally set up the dehydrator that I bought a few years back. I often hear that for curing paint, it should be set at about 105º f So I plugged it in, and set the food thermometer in the large coin sized hole in the center of the cover. About twenty minutes later when I checked on it, it was up to.... 148º YIKES! I want to cure the paint, not melt it! So what do I do? Drill a thousand + holes in the lid? Maybe I could just get the shotgun and blast the cover with birdshot? Seriously, I need to cure some primer. Should I vent the lid? Maybe the sides too? It has the stackable shelves. So far I have cut the 'floor' out of one ring only, I may need to cut a second ring from it's 'floor' to get enough clearance for the parts. This one has no temp. adjustment. Hope someone can advise on this. Thanks. -Jon-

Well, I am trying to put together an order with a friend, so we can save a little $$$ on shipping. But now what I don't understand here, is you say he prints them as ordered, never anything in stock. And now his printer is broken. If he has no inventory, but you are saying we should order from him to help him out... why? His ALPS printer is broke, and he has nothing to ship. So that apparently means that he cannot possibly fufill any order I send in, yes? Maybe he needs to make a business decision, and find a way to get the printer back. Once he gets the printer back, and up and running, then he should make a promotional push, get the word out, such as right here and on other message boards (Like on Spotlight... they LOVE advertising!) You and him can then do some shameless self-promotion! I hope he can make a go of it, and earn some $$$ at the same time. Good luck, and all the best. -Jon-

Funny you should mention red oxide primer, topcoated with red paint! I just did that on my last build, and boy was I disappointed! Fortunately, it was just the wheels on my model that came out wrong, but I was counting on a bright red for contrast. The red oxide primer will indeed darken the red topcoat. I should have used light gray or white primer. Both will treat your topcoat much kinder that red oxide will. With red lacquer, it is common to depend on a good quality clearcoat to get a gloss. For a rattle-can, I would recommend whatever brand lacquer red paint you used. I guess that's not 'carved in stone' however. I think others need to chime in on that one. Just remember, the gloss is not in the can of red paint, you must apply it after the color coats. Just like in the 1:1 auto body world, base coat / clear coat. -Jon-

The reason the "clearcoat only" method looked toy-like, is you're still looking at colored plastic when you're done. You need to apply pigment- actual white paint. Avoid topcoating the white paint with an enamel based clear, it will turn yellow over time! I am building a Ford GT40 to be painted white, I will use Tamiya Racing White, and I hope to avoid clear in this particular case, but if I wanted to, I would use Tamiya clear, or one of the lacquer based clears from DupliColor. I find that Krylon is too chemically "hot" to use, but I know someone who uses Krylon exclusively Another reason to not just clearcoat white plastic- every model you build, no matter the color, should have the inside of the body painted flat black. My GT40 will have the inside of the flip up nose and rear deck in flat black. On a street car, this helps hide what is still visible around the edges and the gaps, and gives the model a more 'finished' look, in most cases. This is true especially in wheel wells etc. If the outside of the body had no paint, that 'black inside' would be obvious from the outside, depending how translucent the body is. -Jon-

Actually, I did heat the can for about 4 to 5 minutes in warm to hot water, and I also shook the can. If I had to guess based on my own opinion as well as what I read here, I suspect the paint didn't shake up enough. But it sounds like in another day it should be fine. So, does this mean it's an enamel-based primer? Because the reason I bought white primer is I will be painting Tamiya Racing White. I hope they're compatible! On a related note, do any of you fellow "Olde Pharts" remember going with your dad to the hardware store to buy a gallon of paint, way back when? Remember how they always clamped the can in a shaker? I could use one now. I've been dealing with back aches, and shaking paint isn't high on my fun list these days.

I bought Plasti-kote White Primer. I sprayed three coats. Is it normal for the paint to feel sticky a day later? -Jon-

IIRC, it was a pre-production car, so basically it was a 1 of 1.