ctruss53

I think this is how I am going to have to do it. I have some thin styrene to use for a template. The best part is the "bump" forward on the 5 door is a mirror image of the "bump" back on the 3 door, except for that little radius at the very bottom. So I can trace the original door seam. I don't have to fart around with scaling a photo.

I have completed most of the plastic work. I am currently filling and sanding all the seams and work that I did. Then I'll need to create that panel line at the rear of the doors on the 3 door.

This panel line is not straight. Based on all this great info I may have to invest in a thin metal french curve. And Ace, I know french curves and other drafting tools all too well. I went to college for architecture, took classes on the boards. I think I have all the right tools, I am just looking for the best way to use them to make a new panel line that doesn't exist. See attached image. The doors on the 3 door hatch are longer than the front doors on the 5 door hatch. But if you look close, the panel lines "bump" in different directions. So I can't just move the panel line back. I have to re-create the new line.

I am taking a sedan and converting it into a coupe. I am making a mess of it, but I am getting there. One hurdle I will run into soon is creating the new panel line for the rear edge of the doors. How can I do this? I watched some youtube and people are just scribing new lines along a piece of tape. They make it look so easy. But I have tried that before and the scribing tool walks all over the place. Any help you can provide would be great.

I have some of that Tamiya cement with the orange lid. I stuck some bits of sprue in there. We will see what happens.

I need to do some searches. Never hear of this.

Bondo is even stinkier. Can't use it in the house. Yes, it works better than those putties, but I can't have that much stink in the house.

I got some 2 part epoxy putty today. I really dislike Tamiya and Mr Hobby puttys. They smell bad. They dry weird, meaning the surface dries in minutes making them hard to work with but once they are spread onto a part they take days to fully cure. And they always shrink which requires more than one application of putty, and waiting more days for it to cure. I was searching for something better and saw a youtube video about two part epoxy puttys. You knead the two parts together, you press them onto the plastic. And you have a hour or more to shape the stuff. It cures hard in a day. And it doesn't shrink. I can't wait to try this stuff tonight.

HAHAHA

Great info. But it is quicker and easier to just post pics and type that text into the post. I can't help it. I just gotta know why you did that?

Luggage compartments are not fully pressurized. They are partially pressurized. And no, propellant will not leak out. The low pressure and low temperatures do not increase the possibility of leakage, they decrease the possibility of leakage. I could go on and on about how spray cans on airplanes are not a problem. But none of you ever break any laws at all, what so ever. So it is pointless.

Like Dave said, thinning with water might work, but it isn't optimal. I thin Tamiya Acrylic paints with water, and it seems to work just fine. However, Tamiya acrylic paints are the only acrylic paints that seem to work with water. Every other acrylic paint I have tried to thin with water just don't act like they should. The skim milk thing. I just said that as a joke. Because everyone and their moms all say to thin paint to the consistency of skim milk. I don't know what that looks like in a paint cup. I have never had milk in my paint cup. So I think it is funny. What I do is similar to something Dave said. I thin the paint at 1:1 to start, unless there is a recommendation from the manufacturer. Once I mix the paint up with thinner, I pull my stir stick out. If the paint flows down the stick and drips off pretty easily, I would consider it about right. If it runs right off, it is probably a bit too thin. If you are painting whole parts, and not trying to do close up detail work, it is ok if the paint is a little too thin. If it looks a little too thin, just apply it in light coats. And if it is too thin, don't be shocked if it takes several coats for even coverage. I guess what I am saying is you can work with paint that has been thinned a little too much, so it might be better to error on the too much thinner side. if it looks a little too thick, add a little more thinner.

I didn't know this was the Boy Scouts forum.

Yeah, that is what I thought. I was attempting to ask what you use. Have you had good success with a dehydrator? What dehydrator do you use? Have you had any problems with it? I have heard horror stories about melting and warping parts.

I did some quick searching. Found all kinds of conflicting info. According to Testors, if you are using Model Master Acrylic, they say you shouldn't have to thin it. I doubt this because I have brush painted with it. So it has to be too thick. Then when I looked for the best thing to thin it with I see people suggesting Windex. I'm sorry, Windex might work, but I would never put something designed to clean windows, in paint. It appears Mr Hobby Leveling Thinner works. I would actually consider this. I have heard nothing but great things about that stuff. And if Mr Hobby Leveling Thinner works, then Tamiya X-20A Acrylic Thinner would work. That stuff is great. And if Mr Hobby Leveling Thinner works, which meand Tamiya X20A works, then Mission Models Thinner will work great as well. Short answer. I think you can use any lacquer thinner. And the general rule of thumb is thin to the consistancy of skim milk. Whatever that means. haha

Who makes the paint? Because every paint is different. EDIT: Oops, you said who makes the paint.

I can't tell you for sure what is happening when your paint beads up because I don't know what conditions you are spraying in. However, in the past when I have had acrylic paint come out of my airbrush splattery, it is one of two things, or a combination of the two things. 1. Not enough air pressure. 2. The paint is too thick. For condition 1, look online for a suggested air pressure setting. If you can't find one, I like to start at 20psi and adjust from there. Unless you are doing close-up detail work, it is pretty hard to have too much air pressure. And then if your paint is too thick it will not atomize properly. It will come out splattery and it could clog your airbrush up. Then it could be a combo of both things. Like your paint might be too thick, but only a teeny bit too thick and in some cases uping the pressure can fix it. I hope this helps.

Baking? What are you doing after you paint?

I'll check that out. The reason you have to buff out SMS Hyperchrome is because they instruct you to apply it in very light dust coats and build it up until everything is coated evenly. The problem is using dust coats, the finish is not smooth. It comes out looking hazy or dusty. But they say this is normal. Just wait a day and then buff off the particles that were already dry when they landed and the shine will come out. It was strange to do that, but it worked.

Do you have a better photo of the marker?

It is just like the small difference between any similar products. I don't name the things, but if a company calls something an ink instead of a paint there has to be a reason for it. They don't just call it something else for no reason at all. I mean by your logic paint is just paint. Enamels, acrylics, lacquers, they are all just paint. But good luck getting some of them not to react with others.

That turned out really well. Thank you for the photos. I had bad luck with Spaz Stix, maybe because I used their backer. The product that has worked best for me so car has been SMS Hyperchrome. You can't handle it a lot, but you can handle it a little bit. And what is best is you actually buff it out with a dry cloth to get best results. I like this because I can handle it a bit to assemble it, then buff it out when I am doing handling it. On this hot rodded Mercedes engine, all the chrome is SMS Hyperchrome. When applied per their instructions it comes out hazy. But you can lightly handle it to assemble things. Then you buff out the haze with a dry cloth.

If you really don't want to mess with decanting and you want those spray cans just package the spray cans in bubble wrap, put them in a box, and ship them like anything else. Yeah, yeah, technically that is illegal. But you are not hurting anyone if you do it once. Or if you do it every once in a while. Don't get on my case. This is like speeding. We all do it and it is illegal. This is just as harmless. Yes, any package with spray cans in it could possibly explode. But the odds are so incredibly slim that if your box explodes you better have a lottery ticket, because you just won. The main reason package companies charge extra for hazardous materials like spray cans is to make businesses pay extra because they are constantly shipping those hazardous materials, so the odds of explosion or contamination increase. Average Joe that ships one or 2 spray cans once every few years is not what these regulations are trying to prevent. So ship your spray cans as a regular package. Nobody will ever know unless you tell them. If I was in your shoes, I would ship the spray cans to myself in a regular box.

Oops. Yes. 25 years. When I typed 20 years I was thinking about classic car license plates. In Minnesota if your car is 20+ years old you can get classic, collector plates.

By showing photos.